Easter Monday

Easter Monday. Holiday Monday. My alarm went off set for work five days a week.  Gilbert cried to be in bed. I rose to the task. The little licky squirmy rolly bundle of cockapoo got right between beautiful Laura and me, belly up,  intent on getting dual pets, We indulged him. I fell back to sleep. Napped another hour.  Got out of the camper bed because I love coffee.  Stove top expresso.  Cream and honey. A cup for me and a cup for Laura.

I was reading a Griff Hosker Men of Sword “Blood on the Crown” novel, medieval historical fiction.

 I’ve read 3 novels this weekend. I had a new little neurology text I opened then quickly shut.  G.Michael Hopf, the Lawman.  Great fast read.  I love a good western when I’m camping. I read a Greg Loomis Thriller with his ex CIA,  Husband and wife, Lang and Gurt  team and their vulnerable  young son. The Chinese trying to put missiles in Haiti, the superstitious Creole president wanting the remains of Alexander the Great, Atlanta, Port Du Prince, Venice and Egypt shoot outs and chases.  A well crafted intrigue easy to read with good characterization.

The last was a WWII Battle of Britain Spitfire book with alternating chapters one of the English pilots the other of the German pilots. Sad tales of young warriors and men in love with pretty girls in time of war. Such waste. Good action. Sweet romance.

I was reading on my Ipad and hadn’t downloaded more from Kindle. We’re without wi fi so was fortunate to have those to read. I also had to use the generator to charge our phones and ipad.  During that time I read the paperback, Trudy Turner ‘s  Packtrains and Airplanes, memoirs of her and her parents homesteading Lonseome Lake near Bella Coola, BC.  Great read. Hard life but good fun.  Laura has read others of Trudy Turner’s describing the simple but robust isolated life the family had.

The first day here we just set up. We’d arrived late afternoon so I just heated up Stag Chilli to have with the  the fresh buns I’d bought at Superstore.  We read and sat about outside. no mosquitos. But ants bit both Laura and Gilbert. I saw there was an ant hill nearby.  Both of them must have frightened or irritated the ants  Gilbert yelped once. I assumed it was an ant. Laura startled and stepped on the ant that had bit her, probably in self defence.  She just put her feet up on the picnic table after that.  Gilbert lay down further from the ant hill. There weren’t any flies either. No hornets either.  Saturday was an easy day. I had the lawn chairs out and we sat and read in the sunshine and warmth.

We had a neighbour with a dog. From the distance we couldn’t tell if she was a he or he was a she.  Slim short haired androgynous looking with pink running shoes. Girlish face from a distance but tomboyish mannerism.  She’s been alone camping.  I felt like My Favourite Martian’s neighbour, just curious.  It had all started because at first we thought there were two.  A boy and a girl. Because of the clothing changes.  In the end it seemed the was just one.  And the dog.

Our other neighbour was an old couple with a satellite dish. I wondered if it was wi fi or tv, especting the latter because they were white haired and old. No ageism here, and they at most have a decade on me. Probably have satelite phones and high tech in the bus.   

Things were so slow at our site that I actually suggested I get out the binoculars to study the neighbours. Some bikers on Harley’s had a pup tent out one night. Another very fat couple in a van sat by their fire all day. I saw them roasting marshmallows. I must remember to get some marshmallows to roast.

Laura read Reader’s Digest and did crosswords.

I unloaded  my KTM 690 from the front of the truck.  Laura wanted some flameless candles she bought each time we were here at the really terrific Princeton Home Hardware. She also wanted some liver treats for Gilbert she’d got there the last time we visited. He’d really liked them. I had the rifle in the hard case but decided I should have a soft case to make the rifle even more politically correct when I’m riding the KTM.  I carry it on my motorcycle with a trigger lock. But nowadays with so many fragile urban Huffington Post readers I didn’t want to trigger an offended screamer.  I love visitting the hunting store in Princeton. I’ve got knives, ammunition, guns, fishing gears and cammo hunting gear over the years. The couple that run it know their stuff.  

Our toilet seemed full but we hadn’t used it then I realized it was just plugged a bit as the water line descended.I’d decided I needed a bucket to drain off the black and grey water a bit if a problem like this arose. As it was there was lots of capacity. All it took was a stick to plunge it but “I needed” a pail for the future.  We don’t drain the black water though I did once dumping it in the outhouse year’s back with a pail when some of us guys stayed a week in the trailer.  We have run off the grey water , just from washing, under the RV, soapy smells, but a pail would do better.  

The fact is I love the ride into town along the winding Old Hedly Road. It’s beautiful scenery, wild wilderness along the Similkameen River then cattle and horse country.  I’ve loved riding that rode every time on an enduro.  It was just made for the KTM.  

In the town I even got a Nexteck power bar to store power to use later to charge the iPhone’s and iPads.  I like running the Honda 2000 generator a couple of hours a day. The  double RV  batteries on the Adventurer  would last a few days with the little power we use, mostly furnace and lights but I just like using the sweet little machine.  I carry a jerry can of fuel back up but it runs for hours on the fuel in the tank.  I filled it  at the gas station while Laura was selling a spare kidney to buy Trudea Carbon scam Canadian gas. It’s advertised as kissed by Sophie to justify the extortion.   I have the jerry can to top up the KTM too.  I had to give my left testicle to fill that. 

In the town after the little shopping I did, the excuse for the glorious sunshine day ride, I filled up the bike and headed back, my new poop pail bungee corded to the paniers.  After I dropped off the pail  I drove to the nearby wood supply paying $5 each bundle and carried these back bungee corded to the panniers.  The meat store that had been there was moved, a dissappointment because we so like their sausages.

I barbecued beef hot dogs for our dinner.  I’d made a fire and the combinations of  wood smoke and barbecue smells were as good for us as they were for Gilbert.  He was rolling around on his back in dog heaven. Taking him for walks has been another big event in our tedious days.  

Fresh air and Pink Moon sleeps in the camper are awesome.

Prayer and meditation Easter Sunday.  

More bacon sandwiches for breakfast.

I actually got my rifle out and cleaned it then loaded up the KTM for an afternoon backwoods ride, target practice and supposed bear hunting. I waited till noon to head out since that was the least likely time to encounter bear.  I am a serious grouse, deer and even moose hunter but I’ve only shot bear rarely.  Other than the ham I’m just not that great a fan of bear sausage. I have a rug with the head mount of the first bear I shot bullseye in the forehead when it suddenly walked onto the same log bridge I was crossing at Knights Inlet.  I’d had a taxidermist fix it up  mostly for that hole in the forehead. I had it on my wall for a number of years too.  Not that I have ever succumbed to vanity. 

The drive up the gravel logging road was a pleasure.  Each year I’ve a period of time when I’m relearning. Sliding gravel.  Balance. Not to fast.  Not to slow.  I did a dozen miles up to the top of the mountain then headed off on a muddy side road.  I found a great place to stop and set out targets.  50 and a hundred yards.  I had the Winchester Coyote with 300 win mag shorts. I shot off 3 shells at 50 yards all grouping 1-2 inches around the bull’s eye.  At one hundred yards. I put two shots side by side an inch apart a couple of inches from the centre. I adjusted the scope but found I had only a dozen more 300 win mag shorts as I’d brought the 30:06 shells by mistake. Not too smart. I could have shot more and got more accurate but after a year not shooting then shooting that accurately I was confident I could hit a bear well if needed. I’d a good excuse now to go back down and get more shells and have another coffee.

That’s just what I did.  Returning I decided to take the Creek road and met a couple of the local ranchers I’d met previously driving down the rocky hill on their quad’s.  They said they’d not seen any bear but I’d already seen some sign on the other logging trail so would go back to that one.  Ranchers are generally happy to have bear hunters take care of a threat to their spring calves.   

I saw a grouse on that road and bones of a calf which I guessed had died in the fall, it’s bones stripped white. I startled a Mule doe when I came back down and headed up another logging road. It turned on the road and began heading back down the hill, thought better of that, turned and ran back up the mountain, crossing in front of me at most a dozen feet away.  I could see the nostrils flaring and the strong muscles propelling her uphill. Nice encounter with nature. 

There seemed like a lot more magpie, the black and white bird with long tails than I remember. I saw another Mulie out in a field a ways off.  I was delighted to come across the rose grosbeak.  I’ve only seen a few over the years. A Badger was sitting by the side of the road as I passed.  I love the wildlife I see just driving around the back woods. The streams were up high and there was still old snow in the valleys here and there. It got colder as the day got on and I rose higher in the mountains.  Coming down the mountain took all my concentration with the gravel.  The quad really was the best hunting platform. On  two wheels coming down I only had eyes for the road.  I sure was tired and chilled when I got down.  Coffee never was better, just for the warmth.

Barbecued steaks and Caesar salad with another big fire for the evening.  Laura had turned off the furnace but I’d cranked it back up to get warm after riding.  Now after a feast eating a chocolate Easter bunny reading my Kindle book I was warm and content again.  

Laura told me that the girl next door had been wearing a pink tank top and had a definite girl figure and was dancing with the dog.  “She’s definitely a girl.” She said. The great mystery of the weekend solved.  I still don’t know for sure if the satellite dish is for tv or wifi. The old couple might be CIA too with a satellite dish.  Reading Loomis I considered that.

Another great sleep. Though I woke at 1 am for some unknown reason. Gilbert and I took a walk about then. Laura in the morning said she’d not even noticed.  I had some yoghurt and Perrier and gave him some bacon treats before going back to bed. 

I’ve had great dreams. I ‘m on my peninsula with my boat in the harbour and am meeting friends in the church. Loved running into Art. Normally we hug but in the dream in the church surroundings we bowed namaste style.   I joined a Bible study but didn’t know what page we were on.  I had that embarrassment in church recently ,slow to get to the communal readings.  Family were in the dream and others.  I wake so refreshed and happy, comforted by these after death images, the future beyond the grave.  The place I’m going to in my mind at least.  Mansions in heaven.

Now we’re doing more nothing.All I have to do is load the KTM and we’re be nearly ready to leave, Laura stowing the interior, Gilbert observing.  I’ve made a couple of cups of coffee and may have more. We’re out of bacon.  The plan was barbecued steak sandwiches. There is just too much to do on these camping vacations. The stress of decision making and neighbour watching is just overwhelming. We’re have to get back to work tomorrow for a vacation.  

Winchester Model 70 Stainless Steel 300 WSM Coyote Light Rifle with Zeiss Conquest HD5 5-25-50 Riflescope

I am a proud owner of the Winchester Model 70 Stainless Steel 300 WSM Coyote Light Rifle with Zeiss Conquest HD5 5-25-50 Riflescope.  It's taken a year or more to make the decision as to which long range rifle big game rifle and scope to buy.  I have yet to fire it but I'd like to share the discussion of why I bought this rifle.

It all began with the notice of the Canadian military snipers shooting award with the 338 Lapua shell. They were shooting a mile away.  Imagine reaching out and touching someone a mile away.

Well, to put it bluntly, most everyone I talked to said the 338 Lapua was principally a 'man hunter'.  There's a 50 caliber sniper rifle and a 338 sniper rifle. The latter shoots deadly to 1500 meters while the former is 2000 meters.  The Win Mag shells shoot to 1200 meters.  My present 30:06 is said to comparatively shoot to 800 yards.  

Ruger Stainless Steel Bolt Action 30:06 with Bushnell 10 power riflescope

My Ruger Stainless Steel bolt action 30:06 with Bushnell 10 power scope and  Federal  180 grain Nozzler Partition bullet has been a veritable harvest tool of the first order.  I've shot deer in the neck, moose and bear.  It's been a guarameed workhorse.  When I first took it out of the box with my friend Bill Mewhort, of Campbell River, and my ex Sherry, we'd been talking about the Knights of the Round Table and the sword Excalibur.  Seeing this beauty, someone said, "Sexcalibur" because it looked so sexy.  Before that stainless steel rifle I'd had wood rifles with blued barrels. The stainless steel caught the light that day.  And it's served me faithfully now over 20 years.  

I've shot moose at 400 yards with my 30:06. The 30:06, 308 and 7 mm are generally thought of as the mainstream all round hunting rifles. If you had only one rifle for big game it would best be one of these. I love the 30:06 and have used 150 grain shells all the way to 220 grain shells but settled in with the all round 180 grain nozzler partition since I'm admittedly a lazy kind of hunter. I'm out there gathering food and want something dependable simple and reliable. So that's what my Ruger 30:06 has been. A beautiful rifle. In WWII the 30:06 was the principal rifle of soldiers too.  If the Z -wars happen, I'd pick up this rifle first, every time.  It's accurate, reliable, and really simple. The bolt action, safety and trigger have all been superb.

Mossberg 30:30 Lever Action Rifle with Bushnell Scope

Now that said, I bought a Mossberg 30:30 Lever Action Rifle with Bushnell Scope  as back up a few years back. Mossberg's Lever Action is a beautifully engineered rifle. My father had a 30:30 all his life and shot moose, deer and bear with it. I think it was a Browning but it could well have been a Winchester or Remington.  He loved that rifle and frankly in the Cold War Kennedy Missile Crisis when I was a little kid, I took comfort in my Royal Canadian Air Force veteran father having that rifle in the front room gun cabinet. I had nightmares of cold war soldiers ranging the neighborhood but dad defending the house with that rifle.  My older brother would have the shot gun and I'd have the 22 Rifle which I'd been using at the hunting club.  I was 10 then. Even at 12 when I first got to shoot the 12 guage it set me on my ass in the swamp, Dad and Ron laughing, saying how that had happened to them. 

The 30:30 is a 'bush gun', known for it's value in wooded areas. It's the Rifleman's gun on the TV series and the favourite 'boot' rifle of the cowboys.  Grandad was a rancher. My uncle was till he died a true western cowboy and Dad was until his teens when his fascination with engines turned him from horses to trucks and airplanes.  

Dad always hunted on foot, finding a white tail, game trail and waiting for a deer to come along so he could shoot it with the 30:30.  Probably his longest shot was a 100 yards. That's where the 30:30 excells.  The 30:30 round was the hunting load equivalent of the famous WWI  British Enfield  303 rifle. 

I've shot the heads off grouse at 75 yards with my Mossberg. I've shot one deer with it at 100 yards running, dropping the deer as it was jumping.  It was a lucky shot. The deer ran across the road in front of my truck as I was finishing a morning hunt. I was able to get my rifle load and shoot it as it ran along a field. 

The last few years due to injuries, occasioned by vehicles, and the fun of off road vehicles I've done less hiking and wanted less to drag game long distances to the road. There's something about aging and the wisdom that has me looking about to see where I'm going to load the game. This is something I never considered as young man so have the experience of dragging and hauling a deer on my back a mile or so as well as hauling moose quarters an equal distance or more on my back out grizzly woods. The last elk I shot took me all day of hauling quarters out.  I bitch and complain alot about hauling meat and think every old hunter should be bequeathed a slave for hunting seasons. When I see the sahibs on elephants hunting with the beaters all on the ground ready to carry back game, I'm truly envious of the glory days of hunting.  Even Medieval knights had knaves for their game fetching.

I've got a cockapoo called Gilbert. He gets the grouse. I've a Yamaha Kodiac 450 ATV. Before that I had a Honda 250 enduro which was a hell of a machine. I love the Yamaha Kodiac as much and enjoy that I can look about alot more and have the Kolpin muffler silencer which works at low speed quite well.  

My hunting is frankly, longer distance, now.  I'm less patient. I get less shots. I shoot more cans.  I probably have more fun. I ride around the back woods like a mad man. I shoot a lot of targets. I see game at further distance and I am always aware where the nearest access for hauling is.  I hunt mule deer, moose and black bear.  

So the Mossberg 30:30 isn't really suited to the kind of hunting I do.

I was on a Pink Mountain Moose Hunt 25 years ago, which required taking a week off work, loss of income, major outfitting after flying almost to the Yukon and renting a truck. Thankfully I had 2 rifles because one failed though (firing pin wear damage or something not fixable by me) it had worked just fine on the range.  Now one rifle is enough, obviously.  Soldiers depend on one rifle and Dad spent a lifetime with his 30:30.

I've got more money than time when it comes to taking time off for hunting given the work demands. I'm a survivalist too so like to have back ups to everything I can. 

That's one justification. I miss my 30:06 when I just have the 30:30 with me. 

I wanted more 'stopping power'.  Deer seem to always come down on the first shot but Moose and Bear can keep moving.  So that was a real feature in the powerful 300 win mag.  The 300 win mag shell is simply more powerful than the 30:06 shell.  More stopping power. Now the 300 WSM is an even newer and more powerful shell.

The muzzle velocity of the 300WSM is 2980 fps and at 400 yards it's still travelling at 2230 fs. The Energy of the Federal  P300WSM is 3550 ft-pos at mussel and 1900 at 400 yards.  The killing range is at least 2 x the outer killing range of the 30:06 and has a flatter trajectile.  

I once shot a small island deer with my 30:06.  I saw it high on a mountain.  My friend Bill got out his spotting scope and watched as I took a shot. The deer was lying in the sun.  My shot was 20 yards in front of the deer despite holding over.  So with Bill calling out elevation and me leaning over the truck I 'walked' the bullet up to the deer like the rifle was a mortar.  The last 2 shots the deer was out of view of the scope and I was just estimating the increased elevation.  The deer had stood up after a shot landed directly in front of it.  The next shot killed it.  We estimated it at over 600 yards but under 800 yards. We considered it 'our' kill.  

Now everyone I talked to who was a hunter recommend 300 win mag especially if I wasn't planning on hand loading. There are other choices possible for the hand loaders but the advantage of 300 win mag and WSM shells is availability and price. They're all over whereas the 338 Lapua shells are alot harder to find. The price of the 300 WSM and the 30:06 is about the same.  $50 to $60 for a box of 20. The Nossler Partition bullets are another $10 on that.  So it's at least a couple of bucks a bullet where as the 338 Lapua are apparently twice that.  

Now these long range hunting rifles or 'sniper' rifles come in a 'hunting' rifle type, like mine and a so called 'target' type. The latter is more military application.  The difference is 'weight of the rifle' .  My Winchester Coyote Light is only 7 lbs.  The "Target" sniper rifle regardless of caliber are 2 or 3 times the weight.  That means 15 to 30 lbs to carry about. No thank you. 7 lbs with a bit more for the scope is definitely something, I a relatively old man, won't mind packing.  Anything more than 10 lbs is really a load. 

I've got the stainless steel because I'm on the west coast and it rains alot. Further I sometimes think of sailing around the world and I'd like a long range rifle to shoot back at pirates if they open up at me with 50 guage rifles, just to discourage them and have them go after somebody else.  I sailed solo to Hawaii and it's lonely and terrifying out there in the night when another vesell takes an interest in you but doesn't answer their radio.  I had one experience of that, with this boat coming within a mile on the radar.  Thankfully I never saw it but i was considering the merits of being armed at sea then and certainly if one sails in the south China seas now it's recommended though that's a controversy.  This rifle would be ideal for that too though I doubt I'd ever consider it.  Just more justification for parting with a $1000.

The Zeiss Conquest HD5 scope is a must.  Indeed the ratio I was told by all I discussed this with, and the Finland guns were highly recommended and they cost $3000 to $12000, figure at least a 1 - 3 ratio of rifle cost to scope cost.  If you can't see it, you can't shoot it.  So you need a real scope. This Zeiss Conquest HD5 riflescope lets me look 2 or 3 times further than my Bushnell with greater clarity. I love Bushnell Scopes but German Zeiss optics really are a thing of beauty.  Now I can see a really really long way.  The cross hatches are also set up for ranging and knowing the distance of 'holdover' once you've sited in at 100 or 200 yards. I have the beautiful  Bushnell Rangefinder Binoculars which help me get a good idea of the distances though with this scope alone the instruction booklet tells me how to set it up and then know by the scope alone the distance. This is done given the 18 inch chest width of the average deer and the 24 inch chest width of the average elk or moose.  With that knowledge and a little geometrical consideration one can extrapolate the actual distance. Personally I prefer the Bushnell Range Finder Scope which gives me a heads up display in the optics of the actual distance in yards or meters.  

Anyway, that's the kind of reasoning that's gone into my latest hunting rifle. Because it's new, it's going to be the preferred rifle to the Ruger 30:06.  I like head shots with bear and but whether its head or heart with bear, moose and elk the  Winchester 300 WSM will be likely 'superior'.  It will be 'overkill' for deer so I'll probably go for a neck shot. I did this already with the smaller island deer when I had the 180 grain bullet. People shoot island deer with 223 so if I used a 300 WSM I'd probably loose a quarter of the meat. It's  the meat I'm hunting for.  

Silly urban 'critics' are as suspicious of home grown vegetables as harvested meat. If it's not bought in a mall it's questionable. I heard an actual Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio Show out of Toronto with 3 totally ignorant urban sillies talking about their 'opinions' regarding hunting.  They thought it was 'okay' and thought that their 'judgement' and 'opinion' and 'permission' were really important. Thankfully they acknowledged the change in wind from the bad old days of the anti gun, anti hunting, anti male, anti rural , anti north , pro shopping mall and supermarket fashion talking idiots. Still it really reflects poorly on urban CBC when they think there's a need for a 'fashion expert' to comment on clothing and would never ask the opinion of a street bum or northern logger on 'city attire' but they get sillies to talk about hunting depite there being increasing thousands of men and women involved in the sport for the joy of it or for food.  Thankfully to the Canadian Conservation services are as good as ever though there really is a need to 'police' the big time abuses which some individuals and groups perpetuate to the detriment of all those who support resource management.

Spring is the time to buy a rifle. I will likely get a chance to use it perhaps bear hunting but really fall hunting is my time for hunting so buying it now gives me the summer of target shooting to get in the 'slot' or the 'groove'.  You don't want to take a new rifle you haven't used on a hunt.  

I'm looking forward to a whole lot of pleasure on the rifle range.  Maybe I'll get some friends out and do a little friendly competition. I'm a better game hunter than some of my friends but I might take some lessons from some who are winning competitions with target shooting.