The Woods Are Lovely Dark & Deep

[Joe ex PNG]

Why do I sense maniacial laughter in the background of your post?

Well, my companions both pussed out on me, and even I'm not stupid enough to make the trip alone at this time of year, so we ended up not going, which pisses me off.

Wouldn't you have a lot of cute, cuddly bears to keep you company?

[blackeagle603]

say the word NPR, never know -- might be some cheechakos here who'd make the flight north to help save your outing.

[Netpackrat]

say the word NPR, never know -- might be some cheechakos here who'd make the flight north to help save your outing.

Well, he took his Jeep with him down the Alcan today. Making the trip to da cabin with one off-road capable, winch-equipped Jeep is okay, but two is just way, way better at this time of year... We did it with the one rig last year in Feb because we had to, but there is no such urgency at this time. I just hope he doesn't have any trouble on the highway.

What I need to do now, is get some of my friends with snow machines together and plan a trip in for new year's or something.

[SeekHer]

Ok folks let me say first off I shot very, very badly but it wasn’t my fault, really! I have my glasses’ focal point set higher and to the left and this new pair’s focus is center and I never noticed it until I would bend my head down to sight and it would be kind of fuzzy…I had just gotten the glasses on Thurs. aft….Nah, my arrows were lucky to hit the ground if I was shooting at it…

I should start at the beginning, we left a hour later then expected on Friday morn at 0500 and drove until just before noon at stopped at a great diner we always go to going to and from the farm because they serve monstrous portions for cheap…e.g. 4 McD’s orders equals one of theirs, served on a platter and has on hand peanut sauce, mayonnaise, gravy, cheese, white vinegar and ketchup to garnish them with… While we’re eating we’re watching the antics of a porcupine on the logs they have been inserted into the ground as a rustic fence for the yard and parking lot …

Drove the final 40 odd miles to where we’ll park the car for the weekend—as it was al gravel roads and zero traffic I let her drive all the way and she did great--unloaded our gear onto the two toboggans, hooked them to the UTV and drove into the bush another couple of miles, got off and started walking the final nearly two miles to where we’ll be setting up camp…The land, believe it or not, isn’t flat as a pancake but has dips and valleys, hills even, some as gigantic as 100’ high--almost alpine you could say…Well as we’re walking in we spy this huge doe Whitetail deer on the military crest of one of these ginormuous mountains (40 foot at best) and as we’re carrying our rifles and even though I was going for the meat animal, my daughter was closer and in front of me and wouldn’t have been able to change to allow me a shot without spooking the doe…We were face into the wind so she couldn’t get us that way but movement she would have detected…

My daughter takes off her new rifle, 7mm-08 Rem, chambers a round and shoots--I’m getting more and more impressed with these 7mm (.284) 140 gr Match VLD .509 BC Berger Bullets--the doe took a couple of steps, paused started to take another step and collapsed sliding, heading downhill…We paced it out to 102 yards…My dear sweet little girl goes over and puts a couple of pine branches on the doe’s back and thanks her for providing food and other things for our family, leans over and slits its throat to drain the blood, opens up the guts to let it cool, takes the liver and heart and then we both go back to the toboggans and finish our trek to our campsite where we set up the one pole tepee, make bedding from some fir boughs and caribou hides over top for a softer surface but because the hairs are hollow and provide excellent insulation from the cold ground…Get a nice fire started, walk back to drag the doe into camp on one of the toboggans to hang it…

Head out at 1530 for the evening shoot to the blinds we had built earlier in the year and leave camp walk around a thick clump of bush and see a lovely 9 point (5x4) across the field from us, about 125 yards…She gets down into a sitting position, draws a couple of breaths and squeezes the trigger, the buck jumps straight up into the air runs about 30 yards and crashes to the ground…We are finished hunting, animals gutted and drained, before 1630 and I’ve not even taken a shot…Cook a lovely supper and go to bed early as we’re tired from a long day.

Saturday after breakfast we drag the deer out to the UTV and take them to the truck and drive into town to the meat cutters and give him the two tagged, skinned animals and said we can have them back, wrapped and labeled tomorrow afternoon…Go back out to the campsite and meet with some cousins for an impromptu hunt…One brought out 3 beagles and a basset hound for chasing rabbit and we grabbed out light hunting bows and spend the day chasing all manner of fauna feathered and furred and I kept missing nearly every one of my shots…got one running rabbit with a blunt tip in the head and another one in the body with a small razor head…I must have taken 30 shots and only get two…My daughter 3 rabbits with five shots…Set out five snares of Friday night and got 3 rabbits so we had a nice rabbit supper with venison soup and some liver strips wrapped with bacon and hung on a stick in the open fire…

Sunday picked up the rear haunches all cut and wrapped and donated the front halves to the food bank and drove home…Temp. was around 20 to 25F (-4 to –7C) day time and went down to 12F (-10C) at night…The candles that she made worked fine and all cooking was over an open fire…We had a great time and will do it again next year with some other daughters…Got home about 2300, unloaded the car and I’m still hyped over the hunt and long drive so to keyboard to hand and composed this…The two hides are with a cousin, along with the brains, and he’ll tan and smoke them for us and the antlers were cut from the head and is just waiting on a nice piece of wood to mount them on—I/we favour the European style of just the horns/antlers or horns and skulls mounted to a plaque over a fully stuffed taxidermist mount, lot less expensive as well!

[Denis]

Congratulations, SeekHer! Sounds like you both had a great time. Pity about your glasses, though...

How does your cousin tan the deer hides? I know it has something to do with brains, but I fear it's not something I can do in the basement of a suburban house with getting a visit from the health inspector, the divorce attorney or both.

[Evyl Robot]

brain tanning

There are other methods, though. I hear that alum works well.

--Michael

[blackeagle603]

Outstanding! Thanks for the vicarious thrill.