The Hunt Routine

I’ve been doing the deal. Bill Mewhort, my hunting buddy and a wealth of hunting lore set the standard. My father used to wake us kids before dawn and we’d be out at the marsh first light.  So no surprise when I began hunting with Bill and he had us up before dawn. We’d eat and wash up and gear up.  

“You’ve got to be in your place before light. You have to be still too. No noise. No movement.”

I followed his advice for years and shot most of my game because of it.  We’d sit in ambush 6 to 10 if we knew the game trails.  I ‘m often new to an area so I’m more likely now to be stalking by 9-10.  Bill didn’t like to move till after 10.  It was okay to drive about only after 11 or 12.

My dad would say, “You see 20 times more game walking.”  He liked to stalk game trails.  

Bill would say “You see 50 times more game sitting still.”

I think the quad spoiled me. I stopped sitting and stalking and took to riding all over  hell’s half acre like a mad man.  I’ve had motorcycles and electric bicycles and side by sides since then. The Hunt became more joy ride. The whole camping and quad ding and hiking experience is just the cake with getting the game the cherry.  

Earlier this year I even rode my Vespa in the back woods bow hunting. Now I’m back to just having the Ford truck.  

I’ve been up at 5:0 to 5:30, made coffee and filled the thermos.  I dress in long johns, jeans, socks, hiking boots, Sturges long sleeve t shirt (luck), flannel plaid shirt, (I need the pocket for my Sat phone and iPhone), red fleece vest and cammo jacket. I don’t wear red because it looks grey like deer at dawn .  I have cammo pants I will wear and prefer the whole cammo ensemble but always have a red shirt or vest I can always show another hunter during the day if I need him to see me when I’m sitting in ambush. 

I’ve got the Ruger 30:06 stainless steel rifle which got nicknamed the Sexcaliber because it was my first stainless steel rifle and it looked so sexy.  I said it reminded me of Excalibur. The girl said, “its so sexy’ .  Bill said, “Sexcaliber!” The name stuck.  

I also have the new single shots Chiappa 20 guage/22 r over under for grouse.  The rifles  ride in the front seat with me.  I have the Nikon 10 -32 binoculars to be able to identify ‘horns’ and to scan the the distance.  My truck is the Ford F-350 Lariat long box.  It’s the best truck I’ve ever had. I have it to haul trailers.  I brought the Adventurer Camper up with it.  I unloaded that at the campsite with water and electricity so Laura has almost all the comforts of home while I’m hunting. 

I’m hunting a half hour to an hour from here.  Sunrise is 630.  So far I’ve been sitting down in ambush by 7 am  Today it was rainy and cold.  Snow had fallen through the night. I was too wet and cold to stay longer than 9 am.  That’s when I began hiking up the mountain, on the logging roads or back along the game trails that run parallel.  It was a terrible slog.  

Hunting is great exercise.  I’m in a boot camp out here. 2 hours straight up, stopping and starting.  Quiet.  Listening. Scanning.  I text Laura my Lat and Long on the Sat phone or cel phone. I get cell coverage when I’m higher.  I love the Iridium feature that sends a location.  I have a Garmin Instinct watch with the GPS.  I like Laura to know where I am. Older I’ve feared waiting for rescue if I break an ankle or drive off a cliff.  

I miss the dog.  He was so enthusiastic.  He’d huddle close in with me in ambush, his little body sometimes shivering with cold , so I’d sneak him inside one of my layers of clothing so we could both be warmer.  When we walked he’d follow on heel. Coming down the mountain I’d let him range out ahead as he sniffed everywhere in search of grouse.

I shot a grouse earlier this weekend. I only got one of five because I didn’t have a dog to find the ones that ran and hid.  Today I saw another grouse but it ran before I could get a shot.  There were three altogether.  Gilbert would have flushed them and I’d have had a shot at one at least in the air. I used to love skeet shooting with my dad. My brother and he used to shoot prairie chickens, our old dog Sonny flushed when I was a child . They were both better than me with shot guns. I’m best with big game long distance shooting today but manage okay with any of the tools for hunting. 

So far this hunt I’ve  done it all, by the book..  Riding around in the truck after 11 hoping to see grouse which come out at that time, between 11 and one or a stray deer. Bear can show up anytime.  I like to explore too since I’m new to this area. 

I loved getting a call from my nephew Andrew and his wife Tanya, and hearing about Finn , now a toddler and explorer. Great to talk to Kevin and Anna and celebrate the new pregnancy and hear about the god kids, a pack my fur baby loved. 

I love the exercise.  I’ve had 2 to 4 hours of hiking each day for three days. Lots of up and down. I’m not a gym kind of guy.  They don’t like me carrying rifles there.  

Even when I don’t get game I’m so happy to find my truck where I left it unharmed. I’ve been lost coming down off mountains and only found my truck the next morning.  That was when I first came to BC ,when I was learning that logging roads were not on the grid pattern so common in the prairies. 

 The coffee was great at noon.  I drove around a couple of hours.  That’s when I saw the grouse.  I’ve only seen deer in the campground and at night coming home. 

With the snow I was exploring where the roads were okay for the morning hunt in mind.  I ‘m afraid of sliding off the road. I’ve had some too exciting adventurers sliding down hills and almost going off cliffs when the snow has made the mountain roads slimy.  I used to have the quad so I could protect the truck.  Now I feel like the old days when all I ever had a was a 4x4 truck. I’m doing a lot more hiking than I did with the quad.  I miss the quad but I only used it a couple of weeks total and storing it was a hassle.  Motorcycles are better but once the snow comes they’re out.  I have chains for my truck tires but I hate lying in the mud putting them on. I also miss my winch. I winced myself back onto the road a few times when I had the HD edition F350.  I hate equipment issues because I’m out here to hunt, not to get my truck out of the ditch.  I’m usually alone and over the years I’ve had to get a wilderness tow truck out to get me in. I tore out a tire and rim on a partially concealed spike and another time sunk into bog that lay under some snow where  the road had been. Now I’m overly cautious. The trouble with an 8 foot box is turning around on a tiny logging road. My Broncho II and the Ranger truck had been better for that.   Sometimes situations just present themselves and it’s that or backing half way down a mountain to find a spot to turn around.

I’ve been getting back around 2 or 3, having lunch and a nap before going out for the evening hunt, watching a hill after hiking a bit then hoping to get grouse driving out before dark.

It’s a routine and a bit monotonous.  It’s exhausting and my whole body hurts.  I’ve taken ibuprofen and Robaxin before bed  Tonight I skipped the evening hunt and barbecued steaks to have a nice meal with Laura.  I’ll be back at it tomorrow. I did get some nice bird pictures today, a Clark’s Nutcracker and a Downy woodpecker.  I put them up on Facebook with whatever I think they are and Rob is nice enough to correct me.  He sure knows his birds. 

It’s a great change from the office.  In my mind I’m running prayers over and over as I sit or walk or drive.  I’m already quieting down. Laura and I feel the relaxation taking over. It’s so peaceful here and so few calls. I have cell but the wifi is only at the office not here which means I’m less likely to work.  I get cell phone connection when I go to town for food or high up in the mountains.  The Sat Phone is really working out well. I’ve not had the Ham radios working out so well - no better than VHS here. Line of sight. I’ve not hooked into a repeater. I’m relearning the tech that I used all the time on the boat.  

It’s all a change.  Exercise is good and I sleep so well. I have wonderful, often heavenly dreams. Lots of people from my past checking in.  Good feelings wakening.  I love the smells out here too, pine and fir.

Hunting is a type of work. The hunter gatherer tribes did about 20 to 30 hours a week hunting.  By the end of the fall I’m hunting full time when I’m out here. My friend in the Yukon said I did pretty good for a city boy. I’ve had good teachers. Older I’m feeling the shift more in the work from desk to outdoors.  

Lots of men and women out here this year. I expect it’s Covid and the costs of food in the country.  Gas prices are awful with more people actually making camp in the deep woods. I come across these great base camps and admire the way different guys and girls have set their sites up.  I’d say I’ve got a skookum arrangement especially since I have the best woman.  I’m missing the dog.  Gilbert was such a good boy.  A puppy should be along before long and ready for next year’s hunt.