Anyone want to be famous? Potential TV project . . .

I was contacted via email by a casting producer for the ABC show "Wife Swap." Apparently they are looking for a "frontier family" to take part in an upcoming show. I am not sure about compensation, but if you ever wanted to be on TV without being on a daytime talk show or being caught in your front yard in your skivvies on an episode of COPS, this may be just the opportunity for you.

Here are the details:

ABC's Wife Swap Casting Frontier Era Enthusiasts for Primetime!

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Danielle Gervais. I'm a Casting Producer for ABC's Primetime show, "Wife Swap." We're currently casting our fifth season and we're searching for dynamic families with plenty of personality to take part in the show. Specifically, we're looking for families who are passionate about re-living the days of the past through Frontier Era reenactments, battles or lifestyles. Whether your family embraces the Native American way of life or the lifestyles of the Frontiersmen and women, if yours is a family that loves reliving history, we want to hear from you! Families who participate in this documentary-style program are given a unique opportunity to share their beliefs, lifestyles with another family. I've included some further information about the show…if after reading it, you have questions or would like to speak with me directly, please don't hesitate to contact me. In addition, please don't hesitate to pass this email on to whomever you think may be interested in this unique opportunity.

In case you are unfamiliar with the show, the premise of Wife Swap is to take two different families and have the moms switch places in order to experience how another family lives. Half of the week, mom lives the life of the family she is staying with. After making her observations, she introduces several "rule changes," where she implements rules and activities that are important to her family. It's a positive experience for people to not only learn but teach about other families and other ways of life. Wife Swap airs on Disney-owned ABC television on Fridays at 8 pm- the family hour!

Requirements: Each family must reside in the continental U.S. and must consist of two parents and at least one child between the ages of 6 and 17. (There may be other children living in the home who are older or younger than the required age…as long as one child is in the required age range.)

Participating in the show is a very unique experience that can be life-changing for everyone. Families that appear on the show will receive a financial honorarium for lost wages, time and commitment. Anyone who refers a family that appears on our program receives $1000 as a 'thank you' from us.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this email and I hope to hear from you soon. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me! If you're interested in learning more, please include your contact information.

Ms. Gervaise can be reached at casting.daniellegervais@gmail.com

For more details, here's the flier.

- Many Rifles

Fire Ban for TFT Rendezvous IX

Buckskinners!

There is a fire ban in effect in Wilson County (and others).

Big John is trying to get dispensation for the hog roasting fire.

Bring stoves for cooking and candle lanterns for Council "Fire", and maybe fuel lanterns with dimming control.

It's supposed to rain lightly for a couple of days then turn beautiful again.

I went to the site yesterday to drop off 12 hawk blocks. We will try hard to get a Knife & Hawk Walk set up on Thursday.

Stay below the horizon.......shinin' times are a comin'

- Grey Wolf and the Brigade

Muzzleloader Hunting Article Posted in the New York Times!

My friend Erin just sent me over this article she saw in the NY Times online. It is all about a group of folks hunting with muzzleloaders in Minnesota - and also provides a limited overview of what blackpowder/muzzleloader hunting is all about.

The images in the slide show will probably offend some purists in our camp, but all-in-all, I have to say its a fairly positive article coming from a news source that isn't generally positive about hunting or gun rights.

Here are some highlights -

Past Is Back: Deer Hunting Frontier Style

IT was near sunset, a gray Saturday in the Chengwatana State Forest of east-central Minnesota, and a pair of whitetailed deer crunched through the forest. Frank Badowicz — clothed in leather and wool, moccasins on his feet — raised his gun and aimed, sighting down a doe.

Mr. Badowicz pulled the trigger. A spark and ignition, a roar from the barrel, and a musket ball flew — a sphere of lead exploding outward through smooth-bore metal in a chain reaction that’s centuries old but in revival today.

In the past decade, muzzleloading guns — a broad class of firearms loaded from the front, open end of the barrel — have been bought by tens of thousands of American hunters. A nostalgia for old ways, as well as new laws in states like Minnesota, where a special extended deer season bans modern rifles but is open to muzzleloaders, has prompted a rise in the popularity of guns long seen as obsolete.

More than three million hunters and shooting enthusiasts in the United States now put black powder and bullets down their barrels, mash the ingredients in with a ramrod, and hold up the gun to fire. That’s according to the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, an organization based in Friendship, Ind., that has 20,000 members.

Bill Young, a friend hunting with Mr. Badowicz and me during a special early season in October, said: “I appreciate the challenge of muzzleloading. You get one shot, and you’ve got to make that one shot count.”

Reloading the traditional guns that Mr. Young and Mr. Badowicz use takes up to 30 seconds, a multistep process that employs a powder horn, oiled cotton patches, lead balls, a gunpowder vial to measure and pour, and a pick to free soot accumulation in the flashpan. A ramrod then packs the ordnance down with a few taps, by which time the deer you were hunting — like the sunset doe Mr. Badowicz took a shot at — has long since bounded away.

The crew — friends and members of a local gun club — drove up from the Twin Cities to hunt for two days in mid-October. They wore blaze-orange vests with wool and leather clothing and carried traditional accouterments like glass flasks for water. Mr. Badowicz shouldered elk-hide satchels instead of a backpack. Like many muzzleloaders, they often run a vein of historical re-enactment through their outings, their hunting style little different from that practiced a century and more ago by settlers in the same woods.

Full article.

I think it's great to get positive national exposure for a our hobby. I don't know about ya'll - but I am looking forward to getting into some "buckskins hunting" this season!

Lead from bullets could pose risk

Saw this article yesterday about the risk of lead bullets in wild game. This is something near and dear to my heart, as I have moved away from using all but black powder rifles for my hunts.

Lead from bullets could pose risk for game eaters

BISMARCK, North Dakota (AP) -- North Dakota health officials are recommending that pregnant women and young children avoid eating meat from wild game killed with lead bullets.

The recommendation is based on a study released Wednesday that examined the lead levels in the blood of more than 700 state residents. Those who ate wild game killed with lead bullets appeared to have higher lead levels than those who ate little or no wild game.

The elevated lead levels were not considered dangerous, but North Dakota says pregnant women and children younger than 6 should avoid eating venison harvested using lead bullets.

A separate study by Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources previously found that fragments from lead bullets spread as far as 18 inches away from the wound.

"Nobody was in trouble from the lead levels," Pickard said. However, "the effect was small but large enough to be a concern," he said.

Pickard said the study found "the more recent the consumption of wild game harvested with lead bullets, the higher the level of lead in the blood."

Officials in North Dakota and other states have warned about eating venison killed with lead ammunition since the spring, when a physician conducting tests using a CT scanner found lead in samples of donated deer meat.

The findings led North Dakota's health department to order food pantries to throw out donated venison. Some groups that organize venison donations have called such actions premature and unsupported by science.

Full article.

I think that most of us who hunt with blackpowder rifles have assumed this risk exists, but I am not sure that this would keep anyone from hunting the way they feel is right for them.

However, this is probably good news for Otter Woman, who isn't the biggest fan of deer meat. :)

Rendezvous IX promo

Folks are invited to join Joe Wolf and the Texas Free Trappers at Rendezvous IX on November 14-16. 2008.

It is a reenactment of the fur trade rendezvous 1825-1840 where beaver trappers met the wagon train of supplies that came out of St. Louis in the summer to sell their pelts and buy their supplies. It was a time to meet old friends that had survived since the last rendezvous, drink bad whisky, gamble, have shooting, knife throwing, tomahawk throwing and archery competition, have horse and foot races, etc.

We don't do all of that, but we live a weekend in the 19th century as much as is practical and possible. Civilian clothing is the usual, though when the woolen and cotton clothing and leather boots they wore to the mountains were worn out they went to buckskins and mocassins. Weapons were the same as in Texas in the same period. Nothing modern is supposed to be in sight in camp.

The site is a 400 acre on historic Cibolo Creek near La Vernia. Indian dancer friends are invited. There will be a potluck supper Saturday evening with roast pig provided, and a Round Robin trading circle, so bring something to trade. Last year a piece of the Santa Maria's sail was traded for something equally valuable (tongue in cheek).

A Lipan Apache drum group that includes Jimmy Gonzales did a music program at Council Fire at Rendezvous VIII. They enjoyed themselves so much they say they are coming to Rendezvous IX and bringing some dancers.

Download the flier
Download the map

- Grey Wolf - wolfbear@gvtc.com

Shoot yeah - It's Match 53 time!

The White Smoke Brigade’s Match 53

November 8th at 10:00 am

1 single shot pistol match
Minimum of 3 rifle matches

Let’s try again for a revolver match

At our range site on the west side of FM 306, just south of Purgatory Rd

Let’s camp Friday night at the site……

Look for the WSB sign by the gate

Bring your single shot pistols & revolvers!

Grey Wolf - wolfbear@gvtc.com