I was out walking this afternoon when I saw something shining on the ground.  There in the gravel roadway was a gleaming brass rifle cartridge.  The design looked familiar, too.  I picked it up and checked the base.  Sure enough, .30-06 Springfield.  The cartridge was in excellent condition, clean, uncorroded and undamaged.  Then I saw another.  And another.  And still more.  I found 6 cartridges total, two appeared to have been run over but the others were in perfect shape.

This tells me several things:

1.  Someone near here was out hunting.  The markings on the cases indicate the brand of ammo was Federal.  In .30-06, this brand runs about $35 to $45 per box of 20.  Most people won't go firing off $10 worth of ammo unless they're aiming at something.

2.  Someone near here was hunting from the roadway, which is illegal just about everywhere.  In Nebraska, it's a Class III misdemeanor.

3.  Someone near here was hunting out of season.  Deer season here starts November 14th.  In Nebraska this is a Class III misdemeanor.

4.  Someone near here is a really lousy shot.  Assuming they were using a legal firearm, they discharged their entire magazine. (NE law prohibits deer hunting with a rifle with greater than 6 round capacity)