Autumn Hunting with Gilbert

Autumn is the most colourful time of the year. The evergreens as their name implies stay green all year. The deciduous change colour, their leaves green,  gold, orange red and brown.  The leaves fall and trails become carpeted with the crinkling cracking old leaves.  It’s a cycle, a message of nature.
I left Vancouver after the Friday morning clinic.  I had to first drop my Harley Davidson Motorcycle at Trev Deely for winter storage.  They feed him oil toddies through the winter, play Doobie brothers, Third Day, Steppenwolf and Led Zeppelin in the night, have girls dressed in leather bikinis wash and shine him, then give him back to me in spring ready to ride. After that I loaded the white Ford F350 pick up truck.  I thought about brining the KLM 690 enduro but white the weather was supposed to be sunny I feared frost and snow.  Also as the hunting season progresses I tend to strip down to basics.
I only had my Ruger 30:06, Ruger 223 semi auto and over under 20 gauge.  The 223 was as much for target practice as a back up rifle. I always have a back up rifle since the gunsmith I only used once gave me my Browning 30:06 back firing when I put it on safety.  Thankfully I had tested it out in the woods before the morning hunt so didn’t shoot any of the fellows I was with. I had another rifle and that served. I did give the gunsmith a piece of my mind and didn’t go back to him again.  That was on the Island.  Reliable Guns here in Vancouver have only done praiseworthy and Reliable work.
I enjoyed the drive up with Gilbert, beating the regular traffic jam at Langley.  I had a William Johnstone Western Audio book and enjoyed the tale of good guys and bad guys, good women and fallen women. I stopped at the Villager having phoned ahead for a room. That’s the motel I had in my mind when I booked it but they had no reservation and I didn’t remember which other motel it could be. I checked out the Villager in the summer, finding it pet friendly and really well run. Fortunately they had a room.   7 pm and I  was already unloading.  The pub next door had a great burger and an extra paddy of meat for Gilbert. We watched tv in the room and enjoyed dinner before an early night.
I was up at 530 and at the A&W which opened at 6 to get my thermos of coffee, an egger and sausage sandwich and hash browns.  I’d forgotten Gilbert’s sweater, having had him groomed at Dogtopia that week. It was frosty and cold with a light wind.   I wrapped him in a blanket and carried the blind old guy with me to the side of a cut, upwind.  Sitting in ambush in the woods I watched the sun came up.  Not a sign of game.  After an hour with Gilbert shivering I decided to walk up the trail.  It really was serene and beautiful. I had Gilbert’s leash tied to my belt. He followed right along behind trusting, with that endearing high wide stepping walk he’s developed.
I read a fellow saying he didn’t like the term ‘hiking’ for his time in the woods preferring  ‘saunter’ as it was more sacred word. I wasn’t ‘stalking’ .  That required more effort, a kind of tai chi stopping and starting slow motion movement in the woods.   I wasn’t hiking either.    Slowly sauntering, seemed to describe it. I was stopping for Gilbert to maneuver any obstacles as we moved through the forest. It was a lovely time. The colours so divine, the scents of earth and forest so rich.  I was warming up too so I  stripped off an over coat leaving it hanging on a tree for  pick up on the way back.  I’d seen a grouse but didn’t shoot it for fear of frightening other bigger game.
Later in the day I saw another grouse. I stopped the truck then, reached for the 20 gauge shot gun,  stepping out of the truck  and loaded the gun as I went.  Just as I was raising it to my shoulder the bird flew off leaving me only a tail on shot, least likely to succeed, especially at that distance. I then let Gilbert out. He was so excited.  Despite his blindness he ranged out through the underbrush and woods sniffing up a storm and trying to find another bird to raise.  That’s been our pattern. Usually I shoot the one I see then he raises several more.  Today there was only that one but I was so moved by the intrepid little fellow plowing blindly through the bush in search of game..
No more birds and no big game. I shot some targets.  It was so warm in the afternoon I was able to go shirtless.  I’d taken Gilbert for a walk using the clicker that my nephew Graeme gave me for the blind dog. Gilbert responded well to the clicker and following behind me and whenever he got off track, listening for the clicks and correcting his course.  It was a long grassy trail through a pasture.
 Eventually we headed back into town.   I was able to find Gilbert a black and red sweater coat hoodie at Everything Pets. I had a delicious meat pie at Thomasinas where the delightful owner is running for Council.   I stopped by at the hunting store for more targets and couldn’t resist buying a little knife made locally.  I hardly had time for a half hour nap  before it was time to head back out for the night hunt.
It was 5 pm.  Aunset is about 630 pm. Hunting is over about a half hour after official sunset because of darkness.  All the hunting spots around Princeton are about 20 minutes drive.  I was loving my Cabelas lined moccasins but made the effort to put my Romanian hiking books back on. Night hunts are more serious affairs.  Still bending and lacing boots gets harder every year.
I drove around the woods passing a regular convention of other hunters doing just the same thing. We’d wave at each other, sometimes stop and chat. No one was seeing any bucks. Lots of doe but no bucks.  With the bright moon and the sunny hot days the bucks tend to stay up high and not come out till after dark. The views were wonderful though. I loved the dusk with the moon coming up and the sun setting.  I saw a couple of really fast rabbits at end of light disappearing a second after their shy appearance.
Back at the motel my neighbour had a buck in the back of his truck. A handsome young man with beautiful blond wife and what looked like a younger brother. All us old guys had been talking about there being no bucks. Here was evidence to the contrary.  A dedicated hunter who was going to feed his family in style that winter.  There were a half dozen does on the lawns in the town too, spies, taking note of the hunters and their trucks to pass on the information to their male colleagues. So much for old guys saying they’re not catching fish or shooting game because of Climate Change:)
Next morning I planned to head back to the city on the  back woods logging roads as opposed to the highway.  I packed everything in the truck and checked the room one last time before driving to A&W to fill my Thermos and get another egger and sausage and hash browns to go. I finished the Johnstone audio book and now had begun a Bill Brooks Audio Western.   I iistened as  I drove on the highway to the logging road.  That’s when the hunt began and I had to turn off the gunfighting and give my undivided attention to looking for game and avoiding driving over a cliff.  The sun was beautiful coming over the mountains.   At the top I was surprised by two does crossing the road. I was out of the truck loading the rifle in case a buck was falling. No such luck.
Then a bear crossed the road running full out down hill.  Another black bear going the same speed crossed the road going up hill. Neither left the woods and bush except to cross the road and by their speed I guessed that someone had already shot at them this season.  I expect they were ‘prejudiced’  against us and objected to sound of the truck.  They would need to have some sensitivity training before either would embrace ‘diversity’ after this season’s experience with the strangers in their midst.
Another lovely autumn morning.  When I finally come out on the freeway I enjoyed the ride home with the audio book and a thermos of coffee .  I was back before noon.  As yet no big game for the butcher or freezer.  But definitely Gilbert and I had a good hunting weekend in the autumn woods.

Princeton Autumn Hunt

Laura arrived pulling her flight bag at 3 pm on Friday. I’d loaded the white F350 truck with my bags, guns and ammo. Gilbert was beside himself barking with glee when he smelled Laura. He can’t see her so he was distracted a bit my the more powerful smelling female dog, Bella who happened to be going for a walk outside as Laura was arriving. It was all very exciting for him.

Great day. Great drive. Lovely sunshine and blue sky. We stopped at Cabelas so I could pick up some rubber soled moccasins. After that we stopped at Macdonald’s for Gilbert’s angus paddy and quarter pounders with fries for Laura and I. I had my Thermos Thermos and filled up with double double coffee. 

Back on the road, we only stopped again at Manning Resort to use the facilities and let Gilbert have a pee break. We’re talking about going snowshoeing there this winter. It’s been years since I stayed at the resort but remember the cross country skiing winter trip in the Vanagon fondly as an ‘adventure’.  It takes adventure planning to get through the Canadian winter. Downhill skiing at Whistler really was a winter relief for decades but it just lacked appeal when there wasn’t any dope smoking. With Weed Wednesday coming up next week I expect more people will be up on the slopes this year enjoying the combination.  

I’d booked Ponderosa Motel, sorry to hear the Korean fellow had gone into receivership under a cloud. I’d like him and his wife when we stayed but understand why townspeople wonder about his losing money on such a successful motel.  What’s with motel’s these days?  Greenwood Motel last week was such a nightmare from hell.  Anyway, Princeton has always been a great place to stay and we’ve stayed in several of the motels over the years all of them being a great time. Which is why it was sad to hear Ponderosa was in receivership.

The good news though was Karen and Jim were temporarilyt manageing the place. We’d met Karen and Jim years back when Laura and I would ride the motorcycle up to Princeton and tent in the in town RV park.  We loved our times there.  Laura would lie in a chair reading or sun tanning while I was more often than not off exploring, spring or fall hunting or summer trout fishing.  Karen says she’s older than she appears and both Laura and I were amazed at how well they were. Jim’s the epitome of a country gentleman, a bit Clint Eastwood cowboy with a touch of Carey Grant.  A truly handsome couple who used to summer in Canada and winter in the south when they closed the RV park. Smart by Canadian standards.  

Laura loved the motel.  I walked over to the Mall Pizza and got the great the ultra meat and cheese sticks. The large was so big we could have fed a half dozen.  Thankfully the room had a fridge and cold pizza became the next day’s lunch.  Gilbert loves Princeton and seems to remember the lane way walk and the town park.  Having hearing aids now I also was able to enjoy TV without offensive people banging on the walls.  It’s amazing how that phenomena ended when I got the NexGen hearing aids.  Go figure.

I really did get up at 6 and was on the road at 630 am.  I picked up A&W egged and sausage and hash browns, filled my thermos and actually was at the front of the line of hunters going through the hills first thing in the morning. There must have been a half dozen or more campsites with tents or trailers and I slowly passed each seeing they were just getting on their quads as the sun was coming up.  I think sun up was near 640 am.  I didn’t see anything but it was great to be first on the trail.  

I did have an obnoxious Jeep with hunters behind me who actually tried to pass me but I sped up annoyed that their following kept me going faster than I would choose.  I assumed they had some place picked and wanted to get to it but the hunting etiquette is you don’t pass another hunter early morning since he’s there first.  Mostly what we do is take a turn off and hunt some side road. At the first turn off I did just that losing the irritation that was affecting my prayer and concentration.

A grouse stood in the middle of the road. I shot it with #6 20 gauge , too far away. It’s feathers were ruffled but it flew straight and long. Of course my shot cleared all the bucks out after that.  My old hunting buddy Bill Mewhort would curse me when I’d shoot grouse out hunting. “We’re hunting deer, Bill. Your shooting grouse is scaring all the game away.”  But I’d tell him I was first and foremost a grouse hunter and had the greatest difficulty resisting shooting the tasty littler birds.  

I did see three doe. Watching one through my telescope I hallucinated horns but then before firing checked with my binoculars and saw it was a doe.  I’d want it to be a buck so bad. Probably a transgender deer but I let her go.  None of the deer this time of year as ‘self identifying’ as male. Bucks are doing anything they can to conceal their horns.  I left the truck on the mountainside and walked a trail a half mile or so before sitting in ambush. I saw 4 more doe climbing the hill but no bucks. It was chilly but the air is so fresh and the evergreen forest, blue sky, white clouds, mountains so beautiful it was a job to be out there.  Shivering I finally slogged back to the truck.  

I’d put all my gear in the laundry from last week, my long johns specifically. The Stan field greys weren’t missed but I have these Italian pair from the Bay that are just perfect. Without them I’d bought XL Women’s “leggings”.  Leggings are women’s thin ‘long johns’ whereas ‘tights’ have the feet. They sell them in Fields in Princeton.  Not as good as the Italian Long Johns but better than Stanfields which are warm but baggy.  They’re meant for overalls not for stretchy jeans.  

Around noon I got tired of driving about the backwoods and headed down to join Laura and Gilbert. The day had heated up with the sunshine so we were able to sit outside at Thomasina’s in town. Laura bought me Cafe Latte and Pastry.  We love the uptown flavour of Thomasina. Laura said she heard the owner was running for mayor. He’s a great guy and has been running a fine business so I think the town would do well to have him at the helm. Laura is a source of all manner of gossip and the story is the big events are a community public swimming pool. Laura heard that the older people would be keen for this because all the doctors recommend aqua fit. Apparently there’s also going to be a pharamaceuticial enterprise which would provide jobs.

We love Princeton and always talk about how much we’d love to live there.  I even bought a 649 ticket and gave it to Laura to manage. I lose them.  She put it in the machine and it gave her another ticket.  We love the Home Hardware because the staff all love dogs and Gilbert likes the staff who all welcome him.  

I did the evening hunt seeing lots of little fast moving rabbits at dusk but all too fast for me. More deer too. The amazing thing was another moose came out on the road in front of me and ran down the logging road. I’d done this last weekend and here again I was trying to get the iPhone to believe I wasn’t driving while I was bouncing all over the road road trying to work the screen with one hand. When I finally got the picture it flashed with a perfect windshield shot and just the faint impression of the moose’s great antlers.

At night I walked over to Little Creek GRill for take out. It’s a wonderful restaurant with great atmosphere, service and food but we like to watch tv in he room with Gilbert. The lasagna was spectacular. Laura loved the casesar salad best and something about the garlic bread was just perfect.  I don’t remember what we watched on tv.  I fell asleep right after eating.  

No plan to hunt in the morning I ‘slept in’ till 7 am. This is what working for 40 years steady after a decade of studies does to one.  Gilbert woke us first at 5 am but then let us sleep in till 7 am.  

It was only a little after 8 when we were packed up and headed back, stopping only at A&W for Eggers and hash browns and coffee.  A lovely drive home.  Back in Vancouver a little after noon.  No game but a great weekend backwoods and enjoying Princeton.  

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Hunting BC - South Kootenay Boundary

Thanksgiving is usually the annual hunt. In previous years I’ve shot  deer, bear, turkey. It’s also usually autumn with the forest colours at the their finest. Yellows, oranges, reds and greens.  Sometimes the snow begins but usually it’s just chilly autumn. The air is so sweet too.
With so many forest fires this year it was a challenge to think where to hunt.  I reviewed the maps of the fire areas. We really like deer hunting Hundred Mile House and have had great years in Nakusp, enjoying the hunting and the famous hot springs. My friend Laura comes along, mostly staying in the motels. Gilbert, blind now, keeps her company.
I have a camper which we loved but thought there might be snow this year and decided to go with a motel, a bad mistake, I wrote Motels from Hell about our Midway and Greenwood experience. The scenery and terrain was terrific.
I love BC, God’s country.  We’d travelled on this Crownest Pass #3 highway back from Nakusp last year enjoying the towns along the way, Grandforks to Osooyos. I love the cowboy sage country and rugged douglas fir.
Because of the horrible motel situations we cut the 5 days trip short. It’s a 6 hour drive from Vancouver but that leaves 3 days of hunting with morning and evening hunts most profitable.  The mule deer were plentiful but I was to find they were hiding out in the sanctuary farms with so few in the backwoods.  It was four point buck season for black tail and any buck for white tail. I asked someone if that was reverse racism but they only frowned. .
While I did some stalking one day and another day at dawn waiting in ambush, mostly I drove around the back woods. I enjoyed the comfort and pleasure of exploring in my 2017 Lariat Edition Ford F350 pick up truck. The weather was overcast and chilly first day but I was saved from rain.
Saturday was sunny and warm and I rode my KTM 690 enduro.motorcycle. I’ve a rack on front to carry the 20 gauge shotgun for grouse and rabbits and carry my Winchester 300 win mag short rifle own a strap cross my back.
I’ve also got my favourite bolt action Ruger Stainless Steel 30:06 rifle but the strap is shorter and I can’t get it over my helmut like I can the Winchester. It’s that stupid a reason for my choice in rifle while I’m on the motorcycle. I also carry a semi auto Ruger Mini 14 which takes 223 in the truck. I didn’t see any 4 points at all on this trip. The bucks I saw were safe in farmers private property.
I did shoot a grouse though missed 4 other grouse. If Gilbert my grouse hunting cockapoo hadn’t gone blind and was with me I suspect I’d have got two more. He used to find and flush them for me.  I saw lots of quail but none where they were legal to shoot, too close to private property. I did see a bear that might have made great ham and sausage. It was sitting by the side of the road but there was a cabin behind it. I have to be certain of what is behind whatever I shoot. As it turned out the cabin was abandoned.
I had a great drive up to the top of Mount Dhu where they have all the cell tower and communication antennas. An old cabin is up there at the top and looked like it was still being used at times by work crews.  Someone would just need to sweep out the rat droppings.
I loved the folk at Jewel Lake. I’d just been driving about exploring.  I took my ocean inflatable kayak with me, having an idea that I might shoot ducks and geese and use it to retrieve them. I never did get to a lake suitable for that.  Jewel Lake had a great RV campground and was a significant fishing concern. The lake is stocked each year and they have pictures of big trout they’ve caught there. Lots of boats for rent and cabins with heat and electricity.  They invited me in and I had coffee in the clubhouse looking out on the fabulous lake view.  In addition to the $120 a night cabins they had some hunter cabins without amenities they rented for $55 a night.  The fishing lodge part closed by the end of October because they don’t have insulated water lines. The hunter cabins were rented well into November.  Nice people, nice place.  I’d love to go fishing there some summer day.
On the way to Jewel Lake a full grown moose at full gallop cut in front of me out of the bush. There is a spike fork immature moose season in November but no mature moose with great rack season at all.  I was driving behind the magnificent beast bouncing about trying to get my iPhone to believe I
wasn’t driving to take a picture.

ACE Hardware in Midway and McMinn’s family foods were great places.  I loved the Midway restaurant ukrainian meal there too.   6 am they also served eggs, hashbowns and sausage or bacon breakfasts.
Greenwood had the best coffee house and bakery.  I had delicious quiche and lemon and cranberry muffins.  They opened early morning too.
In my travels about I talked with a Guide from Kettle Guiding, a good looking outfit, offering 2 deier, 3 day meat hunts for $2500. Given the high costs of equipment, accommodation,   wear and tear on equipment and all the private land in the area, it really would be a good deal for a successful hunt. I”m as much out in the woods for 4x4ing, motorcycling, hiking and photography.  I want to shoot the big game and maybe one day will go to a guide like the Kettle folk as there is less public land for hunting and more restrictions.  My dad used to call guiding ‘pimping’ but I think the times have changed and guides could be a real asset today.  It’s a long time since I hunted with my dad in his old pick up truck with $100 guns we’d bought at Army Navy and none of the Liberal Government hysteria, scapegoating and taxing of rural folk and hunters. You didn't need a lawyer to hunt with back then either.
Not getting any deer I stumbled on Mulligan logging road.  Golfing with Dr. Gutowski we'd take a mulligan when we hit a ball into the woods. I was kind of hoping this trail would be my hunting Mulligan but no such luck. I did have a great time shooting off a $50 or so of ammunition at cans and targets in the backwoods.  I really liked Christian Valley as well as the further east Boundary and Wallace backwoods terrain.
I used the 4x4 to go up to the top of Mount Dhu almost getting stuck in the snow and rocks and tree falls near the top. Hard to turn a long box truck with a motorcycle on rack out the back on a logging road meant only for Smart Car turn arounds.
Given the motel problems we opted to head home a day early avoiding the anticipatedtraffic back up at Langley on the long weekend Monday.  We stopped at Parson’s in Keremeos and got a haul of fruit and jams and chutneys.  Laura wanted pumpkins for Halloween decorations too.  We got the best pepperoni in Keremeos and at Stemwinder near Princeton.
I shot a couple of rabbits on a logging road paralleling #3.  It was just at dusk and one kindly stopped right beside the road so I could shoot him close with the 20 gauge and #4 shot.  The other one was sitting at a far distance believing itself invisible until I got a head shot with my 223.  I field dressed them and now have them in the refrigerator with the grouse. I’ll clean them up later for the freezer. I might even make a stew with the fresh tomatoes and garlic I got at Parsons, Keremeos.
No deer so far this year.  I hope I’ll get out again.  I really do like having barbecue and venison stew in the winter months.  The main thing is the adventure and certainly the Motels from Hell were an adventure.
The landscape and towns were really quaint in their own way. Rock Creek is a going concern and Greenwood had a lot of tourist appeal with it’s colorful history. I could see coming back with the camper and enjoying one of the great recreational campsites along the rivers.