DUCK! Incoming humor!

I started out as a child on the family farm in Virden, New Mexico. We had a couple of ducks and a milk cow. As a toddler, I enjoyed chasing the ducks. They would waddle; I would toddle. My dad came up with a groaner of a joke; “What do you have when you have two ducks and a cow? Quackers and milk.” Hearing that joke almost daily kind of soured me on ducks. As a result I have had a lifetime love/hate relationship with ducks. Even today I have a passel of free-loading mallards who have squatted on my…

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Vote Your Conscience

After a lot of soul-searching I have decided to vote my conscience and principles this election.  That means I will not be voting for a person but for an ideal.  Failing to vote is not an option because then others will determine what America will be in the future. My core principles are freedom and God-given rights as enshrined in the Constitution.  I will not be voting for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump or Gary Johnson or Jill Stein or Evan McMullin.  I will be voting for America. Since “America” is not on the ballot, I will need to mark…

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Forest Service oversteps their bounds again

The Forest Service damaged and closed off the Historic Lander Cutoff Trail south of Star Valley, Wyoming. They did this without any consultation with the Lincoln County Commissioners or the Historical Society. What they did is against the law, big-time. Once again a federal agency and its employees believe they are above the law. These people need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent. The Lincoln County Commissioners have filed a formal complaint and request for civil and criminal investigation into the matter. I hope they stick it to them.

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Jackson Hole sign ordinance violates the law

Jackson Hole sign ordinance violates the law By Maury Jones The US Constitution says “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.”  The Wyoming Constitution says “Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all subjects.” Is my bumper sticker protected by free speech?  It expresses my views and is published on my property, my car.  I may “publish on all subjects”, according to the Wyoming Constitution.  Okay, how about a tattoo?  Is that free speech?  That expresses my view and is published on my body, my property.  (Well, on your body perhaps.  This cowboy doesn’t put bumper…

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Petition online to reinstate my column

After 15 months the Jackson Hole News and Guide decided to discontinue my column. They still have their liberal columnists and editors and reporters. The conservative common sense side has been silenced. Please sign the petition to have Cowboy Common Sense reinstated. And write a letter to the editor complaining about censorship. editor@jhnewsandguide.com Petition link. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bring-back-jonesys-voice-and-let-both-sides is the link to sign the petition. Go there and read it. Then comment. Well worth reading the comments. Here it is pasted in its entirety; To: Management and Editors of Jackson Hole News & Guide: The undersigned are current and former readers of…

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A wolf is a wolf is a wolf

Thank you for comments on my last column regarding the wolf, which I compared to a disease infecting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It hit a nerve. Expressing an alternate point of view in an opinion column should set the stage for thoughtful public discussion and debate. Since this is obviously a very divisive issue, let’s apply common sense to what some of you labeled as nonsense. First, search the web for wolf subspecies. Some sites claim that subspecies doesn’t matter while other sites claim there are as many as 14 subspecies in North America. Taxonomic listing, photos, description, habits and…

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The Grinch, himself, carved the roast carrot

A strange thing happened to me the other day. On a late hunt I was in pursuit of the wily wapiti. I was following a fresh set of tracks, which looked like they could have been made by a bull elk, but they looked a bit strange. Just different, somehow. Finally I got a glimpse of a grayish-tan hide through the bushes. Gray? It should be reddish brown, but I’ve seen odd-colored elk before. There!! The tip of an antler! I started to shoot, but my training kicked in; “Positively identify your target.” The antlers had a strange configuration. Palmated…

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BLM Lacks Horse Sense in Managing Mustangs

Horse sense is sadly lacking where management of the wild mustang is concerned. I see that a Judge dismissed the suit that Wyoming brought against the BLM for having too many cayuses on the range. It seems the critters are competing with Wyoming cattle, not to mention damaging habitat meant for native wildlife such as camelopes, muleys, and wapiti. The Wyoming Governor is quoted as saying the BLM “fails to comply with applicable law.” Well, you can pass all the “applicable law” you want, but the biological urge to reproduce trumps any law you can concoct in the hallowed halls…

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