Pretty interesting stuff. I take part in these surveys, and also get copied on the results. Very cool. ~DesertRat
Top Hunting and Target Shooting Equipment Brands for 2009
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — Southwick Associates has announced the brands and products hunters and target shooters preferred most in 2009. This list has been compiled from the 44,734 internet-based surveys completed by hunters and target shooters who volunteered to participate last year in HunterSurvey.com and TargetshootingSurvey.com polls. In 2009, top brands included:
Top rifle brand: Remington (16.5% of all purchases)
Top shotgun brand: Remington (22% of all purchases)
Top muzzleloader brand: Thompson Center (29.5% of all purchases)
Top handgun brand: Sturm Ruger (16.6% of all purchases)
Top scope for firearms: Bushnell (17.3% of all purchases)
Top rifle ammunition brand: Remington (28.8% of all purchases)
Top shotgun ammunition brand: Winchester (32.0% of all purchases)
Top handgun ammunition brand: Winchester (22.0% of all purchases)
Top blackpowder brand: Pyrodex (351.5% of all purchases)
Top balls, bullets, or shot brand: Hornady (26.2% of all purchases)
Top bow brand: BowTech (14.8% of all purchases)
Top arrow brand: Easton (30.3% of all purchases)
Top fletching brand: Bohning (30.3% of all purchases)
Top broadhead brand: Muzzy (25.3% of all purchases)
Top archery target brand: The Block (22.3% of all purchases)
Top decoy brand: Flambeau (15.7% of all purchases)
Top game call brand: Primos (34.8% of all purchases)
Top reloading bullet brand: Hornady (30.2% of all purchases)
Top reloading primer brand: CCI (36.0% of all purchases)
Top reloading powder brand: Hodgdon (36.5% of all purchases)
Top binocular brand: Bushnell (19.5% of all purchases)
Top holster brand: Uncle Mikes (21.4% of all purchases)
Top knife brand: Buck (16.7% of all purchases)
Top scent or scent covering brand: Scent-A-Way (24.5% of all purchases)
Top shooting target brand: Shoot-N-C (38.9% of all purchases)
Top clay brand: White Flyer (34.3% of all purchases)
Other interesting facts from the HunterSurvey 2009 annual report: The busiest month for purchasing for hunting was November, for Target Shooting was June, and for self-defense was February
This is just a small part of a comprehensive report offered by Southwick Associates. For more info on this and other reports, please contact them.
David French from HandWarmers.net had contacted me and asked if I would mind reviewing his handwarmers, to which I agreed. I was a bit at a loss though; I received the handwarmers in late February, and all my cold-weather hunts were over for the year. I asked David what he thought and he said he would just appreciate the mention, at this point. I would have rather posted a review based on an actual use, during a hunt. So, I dug out his warmers and sat down to type the review. My daughter was hanging around and said “Oh – those are the things I used on my (javelina) hunt.” “Are you sure”‘ I asked. “The same kind?” She insisted they were so she ran to get her backpack. The wrappers were still inside, and sure enough – they were the same.
In January, I had taken my daughter Mikaela on a javelina hunt, with the help of some friends. Now even though we were just north of Phoenix, Day One was probably the coldest day I had spent afield, in Arizona. We were snowed on, sleeted on and rained on. It was windy, wet, cold and miserable. David’s HotHands packets made the day tolerable for both of us! These are light, easy to use, and take up no room in a pack. There’s nothing to fail, and stuck in the end of a glove or mitten, they are awesome on a cold day. We live in Arizona and they came in handy – if I was still living in Maine, I think I’d be buying them by the case! You can read Mikaela’s version of the story here: Tale of the Sunset Sow.
I asked Mikaela if the handwarmers had worked good on her hunt. “Oh yeah”, she exclaimed, “they were awesome!”.
David also sells “Toasti Toes” (pictured above) to put in your boots, and a large heat patch for those sore spots anywhere on your body. Great products!
Now, this story is funny. First off, there’s lots of data suggesting just how much damage feral cats do to local wildlife populations. If the animal rights groups are so concerned, then they should offer to control the cats, and pay reparation to the state, for the damage these things have caused. Of course, animal rights groups are notorious for not running good shelters, so that will never happen… Second – hunters shooting cats? Umm.. yeah, OK. Not saying it won’t happen once they’re declared feral but seriously?
DesertRat: “Hey Greg – heading out to Thompson’s Ranch Saturday – want to go? I’ve got a lead on a big herd of feral cats out there. They’ve been hitting the songbirds wicked hard this year…”
Greg: “Dude, awesome – I’m in. Any word on the quality of these animals? Any trophies in there??”
A number of animal activists have contacted state officials in an effort to head off a potential reclassification of feral cats, which could end the growing number of programs that trap, neuter and return them back into neighborhoods or the wild, and allow them to be hunted.
The state Fish and Game Council has condemned the idea of leaving cats in the wild and now another committee that reports to the state Department of Environmental Protection is studying the issue of TNR programs.
“Nothing has happened or been proposed so far,” said Michelle Lerner, who works with the Animal Protection League of New Jersey and helped start a TNR program in Mount Olive last summer. “We are trying to work with state agencies to make sure this ridiculous proposal does not see the light of day.”
I was recently contacted by the Trophy Room and asked to have a look at their site, and maybe mention it to my readers. Trophy Room is a free site that enables you to share videos with other outdoor enthusiasts.
From their “About Us” section:
Founded in December 2007, Trophy Room is an online video destination and information source for hunters and fishermen. Trophy Room’s mission is to entertain, inform, educate, and connect you with the most serious outdoorsmen on the Web – all for free. We empower our users to share their experiences in the field and on the water through their own eyes while connecting with other outdoorsmen along the way.
Coming soon, Trophy Room’s users will have the ability to log and share all of their days afield with a new media resource for hunters and fishermen – The Trophy Report.
Tight lines and straight shots – Welcome to Trophy Room.
Here’s a sample video with some Arizona content:
They have some cool stuff posted over there. Check it out!
I own two Ben Pearson bows now and love them. I wish they’d get more of a presence here in Arizona. ~DesertRat
Ben Pearson’s Predator
The world’s top predators attack with deadly stealth and speed. Few escape these silent hunters and all fear their presence. The same can be said for Ben Pearson’s Predator. New for 2010, the Predator not only features Ben Pearson’s innovation, quality and performance, but it’s affordable as well.
Tired of bows getting more and more out of your price range? Ben Pearson hears you loud and clear and has created the 2010 Predator in response. It comes with the smooth-as-butter Z-7 single cam and can be outfitted with a Copper John Battle Axe 3 Pin sight, drop-away arrow rest, peep sight, Sims S-coil stabilizer, wrist sling and Bohning quiver.
Available as a bow only or in a complete hunting package, the Predator is the best way to reach the top of the food chain.
This just in from Sparky over at M2D Camo ~DesertRat
“I just received the new M2D CAMO Snow pattern. I have very limited supplies, like only 55 sets.
I am selling as a set only to the first come first serve. Pants are Med, Large, or XL Jackets are Large, XL , and XXL Hats are one size fits all
You get a
6 pocket pant
Lightweight Jacket
and Ball Cap
Price is $80.00 for the whole set, and shipping. Shipping should be $12.00 for one outfit.
For those of you that waited on buying fleece, you know this will not last long. We may never make this again, so if you really want a good snow pattern, you better get it now.
I found this description of how they (AZGFD) do game population estimates over on my friend Amanda’s great message board at CouesWhitetail.com. This was graciously posted by Jim Hinkle from AZGFD and I found it very informative! ~DesertRat
Jim Hinkle, Big Game Management Supervisor for AGFD asked me to post this since he has seen questions in this forum about how surveys are done. Thanks Jim for taking the time to write this up!!
If you guys have more questions after you read this, I am sure he would be glad to try and answer them.
Amanda
Game Surveys and Management
I’m told there is great interest by members of this web site regarding how Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) conducts game surveys and how that information is used to prescribe harvest and permit numbers. While it would take a book length dissertation to cover the full theory, practice, and statistical considerations of assessing wild populations, I will attempt to cover the basics within this post.
The bottom line for those of you whose personalities, professions or avocations lead you to seek absolutes; be prepared – absolutes are rare in game management! We cannot count all our wildlife nor can we absolutely know how many animals our hunters are taking. Everything we do relies upon estimates. I know that doesn’t make some of you feel very warm and fuzzy, but it is the truth. We do the very best we can given the tools at our disposal and the financial and human resources we have to use them, but we will never possess the precision that many of our critics would like.
Herd Counts (not really)!
The most important rule of surveying game populations is:
YOU CAN’T COUNT THEM ALL!
This is why we call them surveys, not counts.
No matter how many helicopters or observers you have, you will never be able to count all the deer, elk, etc. in the state. Why? Because the state is just too big and many of the habitats are difficult to observe in (think mixed conifer forest or ponderosa pine with a juniper-oak understory). Also the critters don’t enjoy being counted so they do things to frustrate game surveyors like hiding or leaving the country before they can be seen.
So if you can’t count them all, what do you do? You count a portion or subset of them and measure a population parameter other than total number. The population parameters that we and other states have found most useful for the antlered and horned mammals are male to female and young to female ratios. It works like this. Give a couple of wildlife managers a helicopter, a pilot and enough Jet A fuel to fly around for a few hours. The WMs map out a survey route ahead of time that uses either a series of line or block transects to cover a portion of the various habitat types in their unit. They go fly around counting and classifying (is it a male, female or young-of-the-year?) everything they see and generally have a great time when they’re not puking. They come back to earth with filled out survey sheets of their observations. Those observations are then totaled into an annual survey for the unit.
How and When
Throughout my 25-year career I have surveyed every big game species, except buffalo, by every method possible. I have conducted hundreds of hours and thousands of miles of foot, horseback, vehicle, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter surveys. My mule tracks are all over the Blue Range Primitive Area. Without a doubt, helicopters are the most effective method for observing the most animals in the shortest amount of time. Period. Fixed-wing aircraft work almost as well for pronghorn (flat open country) at a third of the cost of helicopter time, which is why we do our pronghorn surveys with airplanes. Foot, vehicle and horseback surveys which we still employ in certain circumstances simply require too much man-power time to be our primary survey technique.
We do surveys for herd animals during their breeding season, so that we have the best chance of observing mixed-sex groups. When one of the main goals of your survey is to measure the male to female ratio, you want the boys to be with girls and not off hiding out in bachelor groups playing cards and smoking cigars. For deer this means we survey in very late December and January. Elk during late August and early September. Pronghorn during late July and August. You get the picture. The other benefit of surveying during the rut is that young of the year are still small enough to be easily distinguished, but they are also old enough to be running with the herds and past the point of the greatest mortality. Most mortality in fawns, calves or lambs occurs within the first few weeks of life. Once they are several months old, their chances of surviving to adulthood is much greater. Surveying young of the year at several months old gives us a better idea of what will survive and recruit to adulthood vs. what was born.
Comparing Apples to Apples
So now you have your survey numbers, but not total population count, so what do you do with the numbers? To explain, let’s use an example. Assume you have a herd of pet deer on a farm. Within your herd you have 10 bucks, 50 does and 25 fawns. You neighbor also has a deer herd. His herd has 12 bucks, 70 does and 25 fawns. Which herd is in better shape? Tough to tell from the raw numbers, so we convert the numbers into standard ratios based on the number of does. Bucks divided by does multiplied by 100 equals the number of bucks per 100 does. Fawns divided by does multiplied by 100 equal fawns per 100 does. Trust me on the math. Converting our two deer herds into standard ratios yields:
20 bucks: 100 does: 50 fawns for farm #1 and,
17 bucks: 100 does: 36 fawns for farm #2.
Biologically speaking, farm #1 has a healthier deer herd, even though farm #2 has more total deer. Why is farm #1 better? Keep reading.
What’s in a Ratio?
So what do the ratios mean? The young to female ratio is representative of a population’s ability to maintain numbers or grow and is influenced by a variety of factors such as nutrition and predation. Generally speaking, for mule deer it takes about 40 fawns per 100 does measured in mid-winter to replace natural mortality. Herds with less than 40:100 are declining and herds with greater are growing. This fawn to doe measurement is an indicator of herd trajectory based largely on environmental factors (precipitation, forage quality/quantity, predation, disease, etc.). Hunt management has little to no effect on young to female ratios, especially for those species where only males are harvested.
Conversely, male to female ratios are a reflection of what our hunt management has done to the herd. A deer herd in an un-hunted state would have buck to doe ratios of near 100 bucks per 100 does. Our harvests maintain these ratios at considerably lower levels. The keys to buck: doe ratios are 1) maintain enough bucks to ensure all of the does are bred (biological) 2) manage buck numbers to balance hunter opportunity with hunting experience (social).
Research studies suggest that ratios as low as 5-10 bucks per 100 does are adequate to ensure that all does are bred. Low male to female ratios are not, nor likely have ever been a biological limitation in Arizona’s elk, deer, antelope or sheep herds. Socially, the effects of male to female ratios on hunting experience can be quite different. A deer herd managed for high buck: doe ratios, say 40 bucks per 100 does, would result in a superior hunting experience (high hunter success, high number of bucks observed, high number of older age class bucks) at a cost of limited hunter opportunity (only a few hunters are able to go). Our alternative management units like the AZ Strip and the North Kaibab are managed this way. Conversely, a deer herd managed for lower buck: doe ratios, say 10-20 bucks per 100 does, would result in near maximum hunter opportunity with the cost of a diminished hunter experience (lower hunter success, lower number of bucks observed, lower number of older age class bucks), which is how our standard management units are managed under the current Commission approved guidelines for hunting seasons. If you have never seen our hunt guidelines, they are posted on our website (see link below).
http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/hunt_guidelines.shtml
The guidelines are the “recipe” for how we manage the hunted species in Arizona. The guidelines web page also does a good job of explaining how the guidelines are developed and approved. If you are dissatisfied with specific or general hunting experiences in Arizona, getting involved in the hunt guideline development process is the best way to influence positive change.
A Simple Hunt Recommendation
Armed with your new-found knowledge, let’s see if you can follow a simple deer hunt recommendation. Your unit has a current buck to doe ratio of 20:100 and a fawn to doe ratio of 40:100. Your target buck to doe ratio is 10-20:100. You are right at the top of the target buck to doe ratio range. With 40 fawns per 100 does you are replacing natural mortality, but not growing. Given that information, would you increase, decrease or leave harvest (permits) the same as last year? You got it…no change. If your buck to doe ratio was higher than 20:100, you could increase tags, especially if you had a fawn to doe ratio of higher than 40:100. Obviously if the buck to doe ratio was lower than 10:100 you would decrease tags. At the most basic level, it’s all about keeping the ratio within the target range.
But Really, How many are there?
Refer back to the rule, you can’t count them all. But you can count them in ways that lead to an estimate of how many there are. The method we are now implementing on most aerial surveys involves the use of a simultaneous double-count recording technique to estimate the observation rate of the surveyors (e.g. a 65% percent observation rate means that of every 100 animals that are within visual distance of the aircraft, only 65 are actually seen). Secondly, by GPS mapping our survey flight and animal observations, we can establish a number of animals observed per unit area and then expand it out to the area of the management unit. Combining the observation rate and density expansion works like this:
We fly 100 linear miles of helicopter deer surveys and record every deer observed within 1/8 mile of the flight path (220 yards on either side of the ship). The exact distance from the flight path to the animal is easily verified using the helicopter’s GPS unit. So the total flight area is 100 miles long x ¼ mile wide = 25 square miles. Say we see 112 deer on this flight but using the simultaneous double-count method to determine our observation rate, it is determined that we only see 75% of the deer that are actually there (remember the rule!). So 112 deer observed divided by a .75 observation rate equals 150 deer estimated to be within the survey area. We then divide the 150 deer estimate by the 25 square miles surveyed and determine an average of 6 deer per square mile of habitat surveyed. If the deer are equally distributed within our unit, and our unit is 1000 square miles in area, we multiply 6 deer per square mile by 1000 total square miles and end up with a population estimate of 6000 deer. Simple, right? Not really. This is an over-simplified example but gives you an idea of what can be done. The simultaneous double count stuff is really quite complicated. Just so you know I’m not making this up, do a Google search for “simultaneous double count” and you will find several scientific publications documenting the use of this technique.
That’s all I’m going cover for now. Post back with questions and I’ll do my best to answer. At some time in the future I’ll do other pieces on the hunter questionnaire program, use of long-term data sets and population modeling to further refine population estimates and assist in hunt recommendations.
Good Hunting,
Jim
If you’d like to ask a question or join in the conversation, you can view the thread HERE.
Public forums, open houses scheduled for 2010 fall hunting regulations
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is hosting a series of public forums followed by open houses across the state to allow constituents an opportunity to provide their input, learn about the process, and then see the preliminary hunt recommendation package before it is set by the commission in April.
“If you have ever wondered why the department recommended an increase or decrease in harvest in your favorite unit, these public forums offer that level of explanation,” said Brian Wakeling, chief of game management. “You will hear from a representative who has the knowledge from the survey data, hunter surveys, as well as the on-the-ground reports from wildlife managers.”
Wakeling added, “This improved hunt recommendation process allows us more flexibility in hearing from our constituents and making modifications, if they are warranted, before presenting the package to the commission.”
Each Arizona Game and Fish region will be hosting a public forum and providing details about the populations within their jurisdiction. This means that if you have interest in a particular unit, you will need to attend the public meeting in that region to discuss management direction.
Public forums will be held on the dates below:
March 4 – 6-8 p.m. – Yuma regional office, 9140 E. 28th St.
March 4 – 6-8 p.m. – Tucson regional office, 555 N. Greasewood Road
March 8 – 3-5 p.m. – Flagstaff regional office, 3500 S. Lake Mary Road
March 10 – 6-8 p.m. – Mesa regional office, 7200 E. University Drive
March 15 – 6-8 p.m. – Pinetop regional office, 2878 E. White Mountain Blvd.
For those interested in attending the forum in Flagstaff, ask at the front counter about the meeting, and expect an informal atmosphere because of ongoing construction on the conference room at this location.
One public forum was already held in Kingman on Feb. 24.
The final draft of the hunt recommendations will be made available for public review through six regional open houses prior to being presented to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. No formal presentation will be made. However, a knowledgeable staff person will be available to discuss regional hunt recommendations.
A PDF version will be available at the Game and Fish Department’s Web site beginning Saturday, April 3 at www.azgfd.gov/huntguidelines.
Open houses will be held from 3-5 p.m. on the dates below:
April 7 – Kingman regional office, 5325 N. Stockton Hill Road
April 12 – Pinetop regional office, 2878 E. White Mountain Blvd.
April 12 – Flagstaff regional office, 3500 S. Lake Mary Road
April 12 – Yuma regional office, 9140 E. 28th St.
April 12 – Mesa regional office, 7200 E. University Drive
April 14 – Tucson regional office, 555 N. Greasewood Road
Each year, the department makes recommendations to the commission regarding the management of game species for the annual hunting and trapping regulations, which establish the seasons, dates, bag limits, open areas, and hunt permit-tag allocations based on the framework of the hunt guidelines set by the commission every two years.
The final proposed recommendations will be presented to the commission for consideration during its April 16-17 meeting in Phoenix at the department headquarters at 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix (1.5 miles west of I-17). The agenda will be posted at www.azgfd.gov/commission under commission agenda.
Arizona hunting and fishing licenses now available online
They’re back: Arizona hunting and fishing licenses are available online once again.
It’s simple and easy: just visit the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Web site at www.azgfd.gov to decide what license or license package suits you or your family best, and make the online purchase using your Visa or MasterCard from the convenience of your own home or office.
“It’s been a long time coming, but the timing is superb for hunting and fishing conditions,” said Game and Fish Deputy Director Bob Broscheid. “Our interior lakes are filling and spilling. There’s a lush green-up in the desert low lands. Plus we have a tremendous snow pack in the high country.”
A $1.50 Internet fee will be charged for buying a license online, which will pay for the service expense. Be sure to have a printer hooked up; you must print out the license you purchase online (color or black and white will work).
If you need help while purchasing the license online, telephone assistance is available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday by calling (602) 942-3000.
There are lots of hunting and fishing license options available, including some exceptional deals on Family Licenses. Be sure to shop online at “Buy a License” for the license package that works best for you.
You will also find lots of online help deciding where to go on your hunting or fishing adventures.
The Game and Fish Department’s Web site is full of where-to and how-to fishing and hunting information. In fact, you can even subscribe to the weekly Fishing Report or the Hunter Highlights e-news products and have them delivered directly to your computer.
Online license sales and other online services were suspended almost three years ago due to workload difficulties the former vendor experienced during the online big game draw process. There is no projected date for when the online hunt draw process will be available online again, although agency officials are actively working on the issue.
A couple of years ago, Camp Patriot was a fairly new organization and I made some efforts to help promote their awesome group. I have reconnected with the Clarks, and friend Bill was kind enough to provide an update. We promised to stay in better touch, so that I can help spread the word about Camp Patriot! ~DesertRat
From Bill Clark:
Camp Patriot is moving along nicely. In 2009 we climbed Mt. Rainier with three new injured vets. Two Army Green Beret’s (SF) who were both badly wounded in Iraq and a third Army Officer Ranger that months before the climb was paralyzed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Video of some of the climb can be seen on our web site at www.camppatriot.org under the 2009 Rainier Climb.
There are a number of still photos there and at the bottom of the entire page; you will find a link to the video. On the Video the first person you see is Ryan Job, wearing a light blue t-shirt with a grey pack. Ryan was our National Spokesman that we tragically lost this past September 24, 2009 from complications in surgery. Ryan was a Navy SEAL totally blinded during a fire fight from a snipers round. Ryan left behind his young bride and their unborn baby. We miss him terribly. The other vets are in the video as well as the climbing team.
We took two more vets on an elk hunt at a ranch in Idaho. On our web site there are news clips and photos of that hunt. A Navy SEAL that had lost a leg, has severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and is mostly confined to a wheel chair along with an Army Reservist from Illinois who had lost a hand and forearm. Both bagged beautiful bull elk.
We did a motor cycle ride through Glacier National Park with two injured soldiers from Ft. Lewis WA.
Other functions in 2009 included taking vets fishing, attending some Seahawks’ games and hunting in Texas.
2010 is shaping up to be another busy year. Our Rainier Climb this year will be July 10 – 15, tentatively. We have four injured vets, three SEAL’s and one Marine. We will have our second annual fund-raising banquet at Quest Field home of the Seahawks. Camp Patriot will be working with the Pony Express memorial ride to put several injured vets on horseback for several hundred miles of that ride.
Actor Cole Houser and his brother are putting a fund-raising golf tournament on in So Cal. this summer. A local lady in SE Washington State is also planning a gold tournament as a fund raiser in honor of her son who will be discharged after honorable service in the Marine Corps, this summer.
We will be planning another Motor cycle ride this year among many other adventures.
More on Camp Patriot:
Our Mission
Camp Patriot exists to take Disabled U.S. Veterans on outdoor adventures.
The task is monumental. Today, there are over 2.3 million disabled veterans in the U.S. The number of disabled men and women veterans is growing with each day the war on terror continues.
These brave veterans sacrificed much in order to ensure our safety and freedom. All of these veterans had dreams about the future, but many of those dreams were lost due to injuries suffered in the line of duty. Outdoor activities that they hoped to do in the future have vanished due to their disability. We want to thank these veterans by showing them that with the right help, they can again enjoy the great outdoors.
Our Vision
We are attempting to provide a great gift for those Veterans among us that have paid a tremendous price for our freedom. They have provided us protection from terrorism, oppression and tyranny. Consider for a moment the world outside these United States and you will understand what I mean!
Camp Patriot wants to renew the dreams and visions of our disabled veterans for a meaningful future. We will be bringing disabled American Veterans to the great State of Montana for outdoor adventures of their choosing. However, outdoor adventures are just some of the activities we provide disabled U.S. Military Veterans at Camp Patriot. We want to create relationships for them through outdoor adventures that will promote positive, life changing experiences.
With the construction of a first-class lodge outside of Libby, MT, we will be able to accommodate up to 20 Veterans per week. We will provide a range of outdoor activities, and will be equipped to accommodate Veterans with an array of disabilities. There will be no cost to the Veteran.
Our Quest
How can we ever repay an American Veteran who has endured so much personal loss while defending our great nation?… losses that can never be replaced!
Our actions will say, “Thank You for Your Service!”
Will you help us by your actions to say “Thank You” to the millions of disabled American Veterans?
Camp Patriot is a non-profit 501(c) 3 Corporation. A simple monetary “Thank you for your service!” could help us go a long way, and bring us closer as a nation in repaying these great patriots for their service and sacrifice.
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