Well now fellers..there I was. Tethered to a tree hanging out o'er a crick..sweatin' bullets and my "cheeks" was clenched so tight I could'a cracked walnuts with my cheeks!! Not them thin-skinned English walnuts nither! I mean I could'a crushed black-walnuts to dust at this point!! It's still puddy dark..but I kin hear that coon splashin' and just make out his outline in the crick...till he hit the bank.... somewhere in the dark.... right at the base of my stand. Arrrghhh! My kingdom for a flashlight!! Anyways..I kept my ears peeled and by now my eyeballs are 'bout the size of basketballs and I'm leanin' out as far as I dare looking down that ladder. Then I heard fangernails scratchin' on the metal rungs and by damn that was all it took. I sucked in most of the free air in Greencastle and left out a scream such as no mere mortal man has bellowed in quite some time. I could see his beady eyes peering up at me and he bared his teeth just about the time I pulled the trigger on Carol Anne. BAAWHOOMMMM! More to come....Audie..the longwinded one..