Camping, Hunting, Ford F350, Adventurer Camper and Honda Tracker ATV

Rifle hunting season opened this week.  I thank Kevin Bustard, a most enthusiast hunter for letting me know he was heading out last night with his amazing older children, Izek, Alex and Kendra.  Anna is in Newfoundland with the little boys, Bobby and Billy visitting.  They are so enthusiastic.  I remember there was a time I drove all night to get an hour of rest before setting up pre dawn to hunt.

I’d had a Happy Jack die on me last weekend bow hunting and camping with Laura.  I’d asked John if he’d be able to fix it short notice.  So I was up at 7 am this morning but after prayer and meditation I was on the couch drinking coffee and waiting to phone John at Chilliwach RV Storage,  

9 am.  ‘Good news! “ he said after greeting, “Your camper is ready to go. My son and I finished up the work just yesterday. 

            “Thank you John!  I’ll be out by this afternoon.”

I loaded the F350.  Hunting license, Rifles, Ammunition Clothes, hand held winch, generator and satellite phone. I’m a little older and in the last few years I’ve taken to carrying the Iridium satellite phone I’d used blue water solo sailing. I get 6 months of limited time. I’ve never used hardly any of it yet.  I phoned Laura with it last week. 

“Hi Laura.”

“Hi Bill”.

‘Madigan and I are up on the mountain. Just checking out the satellite phone”

“It’s working fine. Have a great time.”

“Thanks “.   

Laura like to stay at the camper and read.  She does cross words too. I enjoy knowing she’s there.  It’s comforting to return to company, Madigan loves her,  

I take the Star Link dish as well, That’s why I need the generator in addition to charging cell phone and ipad.

I had to stop at Bosley’s for Madigan’s food.  I forgot how much I had here already but he loved a visit to his favourite store.  He’s been liking chews recently.  He really likes the little squeaky toys too.  Now it’s the little one, once it was big ones.  I try to keep up.

In Langley we stopped at the MacDonalds for the quarter pounder patty for him and a quarter pounder and cheese for me.

It was noon by the time I got to John’s.  His son is taller than him now.  They are both what my mom would call tall strapping men.  Lots of work with hands and shoulders on vehicles.  Remind me of my brother and dad.  Good men.  Skookum work. I love people that are reliable and trustworthy.  I like too that the folk he’s introduced me to like our tow truck driver and Kevin at AdventureRVCentre.  Kelvin from Travco did a great job on the body work. I’d backed up with too short a neck on the trailer.  It had damaged both sides severely.  Kelvin made it all presentable again.

Now John had restored the Happy Jack and reinforced more damage.  

“We had to take our the posts and straighten them, Both rear one were bent.’ John said.

“I thought you were strong but not that strong,” I joked,

“We had the equipment to do it and greased it up so to slides now and won’t burn out the engine,”

I love these guys and the work they do.

After they helped me load the like new Adventurer Camper onto the F350 I drove round and hooked up my trailer.  

Victor had taken my ATV to Kelly at Chilliwack Motorcycle and they phoned just as I was leaving John’s at 3.  I really like having my ATV serviced each year just like my Harley. I don’t want ot break down out in the woods somewhere so I’ m really thankful for the maintenance. I was thankful to Victor for introducing me to these guys some years back.  Just as I was loading the ATV onto the trailer the skies opened and it began to rain buckets.  I drove back to ESSO , filling up the truck , exchanging the propane tank and using the water to fill my tank. Across from the ESSO I saw the Work Wear Store. I’d forgotten rain gear so I stopped in and bought a new fall Helly Hansen jacket

An expensive day,  

In Hope I loaded up on groceries and was pleased to see the refridgerator temperature was falling,  Madigan and I are spoiled and like ice cream camping. 

It was 7 pm when I was leaving Hope. It was still raining, I was listening to the Teacher Great Course Psychology series. I really like learning on the go I spent my life listening to rounds from Psychiatry, Neurology, Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine commuting.  University of Arizona has great podcasts. Each is an hour long and my commuter was usually a half hour each way so each week I’d listen to two or three rounds.  Decades of that in addition to the conventional learning.  I stopped at Macdonalds for  another hamburger paddy for Madigan while I had the chicken sandwich. 

It was dark and rainy and I stopped a few times.  I liked pulling over to let the cars pass while I looked up in the rain at the mountains either side of the road.  Madigan and I liked our road side pee break.  I had a train of cars  behind me a couple of times in Manning Park even though they have excellent passing lanes.  The pull offs are great too. I was tired and going 60 and 80 Km most of the way.  I found my eyes struggling with the dark, rain and on coming lights. It was slippery too and I did a little sliding so was glad to go slow.  It’s quite a load.  

Passing through Princeton I’d thought to rest at the A&W but decided to head on out to here Kevin and his kids are across the valley but I realized that I’d rather go here which is high up, so cell phone coverage, and I know it well, And yes I’ve shot lots of grouse here even if it’s not the best for deer. Also lots of hunters come here now. Not like it was decades back when I was usually the only one I’d encounter.  The last few years there’s been so many hunters you could get a hockey game going with a couple of teams.

There are a couple of RV’s and a couple of big tents by the lake. I’m right in the middle. I had to move the truck to get it level enough and then I used the happy jacks to make it even more level.  I might improve on this in the morning.  But I’m here.  It was 10 pm when I arrived.  As Laura always says , “A day travelling each way,”. 

But we all love the camper especially Madigan.  I’ll be able to unload the quad and get out first thing in the morning. Maybe not the crack of dawn or pre dawn but I’m here and I’ll get in a morning hunt and and evening hunt Saturday and Sunday.  

It’s 11 pm,  Today was Friday the 13th.  Fortunately I’m still working so had the money to do the repairs and maintenance that my bad luck and poor driving cost me from the spring off grid hunt.  I am really delighted that this little home is restored. Last year I drove it down to Arizon and had a terrific time working virtual from my camper and riding my Harley about the incredible cowboy country down there,  Laura and I liked having the camper in Harrison’s .  Thanks to Kelvin’s body work I’ll be able to take this camper into the Good Sam full service resorts which I like to stay at as a break from off grid.  I’d actually thought I’d do more off grid than I do but I like the electricity for the Star Link and indoor hot tubs and pools.  After all those years in tents and roughing it I’m apprciating how dad and mom when they got older loved their bus and also cruises in the Caribbean,  My favourite place now is my couch at home but days like this with all the work and exercise sure make me appreciate home. It’s a joke but it really is true that these expeditions in the wild surely make the comforts of home and luxuries of the city so much more appealing. Laura sent me a picture of her new Roomba checking out her bedroom floor and cleaning it up.  This is Madigan’s world. He got all muddy in the rain and lay on this table so I had to clean of dirt and sand before I had a place to type. At least I don’t have to share a bed with him. He sleeps down here while I sleep on the higher bed which he can’t climb up to. At home he likes to walk accross my face in the bed.  He really is good company Cuddled beside me most of the way.

Well I’m glad to be here.  I’ve arrived safe and no damage to human dog or equipment. Thank you Jesus!!!!Thank you God,  Thank you Holy Spirit.   

Camping Gratitude

Thank you Lord for the morning Thank you for the quiet.  There is only the sound of the creek rushing by. The sound of the highway has hardly woken. I heard one truck go by. There are no sirens. I don’t even have a heat making noise.  She mumbled in her sleep a bit. The dog didn’t make a sound till I got out of bed and used the toilet. Thank you for indoor plumbing and water.

Thank you that I have water. Yesterday I backed the trailer into the water hose post catching the hose on the trailer and pulling off the top causing an unstoppable geyser requiring public works to be called.  She was sitting beside there and didn’t call to tell me I was going to hit something. I couldn’t see it in the mirrors. I’m no good at backing up and relied on her there to help. « I didn’t know what you were doing , » she said, « I couldn’t see. » 

I was blaming and upset.  Another expense I thought. I could pay but equipment costs too much to maintain.  I did damage my last trip out also backing up the trailer.  There are problems in design of the equipment. I’ve asked for help and been brushed off.  It’s the story of my life these days.  Aging.  I express concerns and they’re brushed off. I aware of death.  

Thank you for this day again. I’m glad to be alive.  

Yesterday I got lost in the back woods driving my quad. I took a left turn thinking it would lead to Jura,  It eventually lead to Eris.  But I’d started to secondary main looking logging road only to have it descend into a rock strewn steep trail that had me descending in a bit of terror using first gear and a lot of braking. Madigan was on the Honda Tracker quad behind me.  I’d long given up looking for game and was focussed totally on the descent and not pitchpoling or tipping to left or right. I was glad to cross the railway path but turned north rather than south.  Fortunately some kids on motorcycles appeared and I headed down from where they came up.

That’s when I found the Eris fire department. Across the road a delightful man was backing up his hoe. I drove the quad to him. He got out of his cab when I asked him how I’d get back to Heimbre Mountain Road.  He asked how I’d come to be there and told m I’d made a wrong turn at the sand pit.  He drew me a map. His kid come out to watch the adults. His dogs visitted my dog.  I turned around the quad and headed back out only to find myself in a private property. 

I came out of the private property and turned up a road leading up the mountain. It didn’t seem steep at first but when I hit the bend I could see the next stretch was way to steep. It was broken rocky uneven and I’d have to stand the whole way up if I hoped to make it. I tried to back down but the path was uneven and I immediately feared tipping to the side. There was only one hope, gun it. I did. Ending on a bit of flat beside the trail, heart racing and breath shallow. I didn’t even bother looking back at Madigan. He was leaning into my back his little heart thumping. I was about to be frozen so gunned it again making it to a turn on the off road moss not quite tilting over as I came around.  Then it was straight and back down the trail convinced I’d been guarded by angels and nearly escaped rolling with a quad on top of me,  I headed back to Eris and took a different trail up the mountain eventually arriving at the railway trail , back to the sand pit and onto the tunnel, the helpful guide had marked in his hand written map.  The tunnel clinched it . I was going to be okay.  I found the highway and took the Hiembre Mountain road back to my truck.

Thank you God the truck and trailer were undisturbed. Thank you God that Madigan and I were unhurt.  Thank you God for the beautiful sunny day with just a touch of rain and cloud now,  Thank you God for the Camper. It was great to see it there and great to see Laura sitting outside. I’d thought on the way I’d ask for her help backing in.  But as she was  sitting outside I thought she’d be watching, That’s when I backed the trailer into the tap and created havoc the geyser creating a puddle as I went to get the manager.

He returned and called city works. It was a municipal campground, 

They had it fixed and I was thankful.  I was tired and didb’t know what I was thinking. That they’d shut down the camp. Catastrophising as usual. They did shut the water off for a few minutes but only to that site.  

With Laura’s help I actually backed the trailer into the site without hitting anything else.  I then unhitched the trailer and backed in the truck. For future reference I won’t bring a trailer to this campground. We’ve been coming here thirty years and only twice have I brought a trailer. This is the only time on season and the park was packed and maneuverability was anxiety provoking. I’m exhausted at the end of the day of hunting too. Too much time on the couch and Netflix since Covid. I walk the dog but no athleticism sinc the crisis.  The camper has been in repair half the time too during hunting season because I keep breaking something or it’s just wear and tear. This weekend a happy jack failed and I’ve had to hand crank the jack.  When I get back I’m hoping John will fix it. The waitlist for repairs on trailers is 3 to 6 months. Now I’m in the season when I actually use the trailer.  Oh well, Thank you God I’m alive, Laura’s alive, Madigan’s alive and we’re out here in the wilderness taking a break from the city and the work demands and insaiety.  Thank you for all your blessings ,Thank you for Oxford which has been continually distracting me and filling me with doubt and concern.  Looking back is difficult these days as there seems so little forward. I’ve begun reading old books and watching old movie s and enjoying them. I simply don’t see a future. I’m just muddling along and that’s okay but the new adventure just isn’t there. I m. I’ve a list of achievements but I read Thomas Merton on obscurity and consider the need to surrender and question letting go.  I am going gentle into the night and I’m not raging. Just muddling. I dob’t like the politics and the lies and taxes and the corruption upst me.  Gratitude is the answer. God is good all the time. The Infinite holds every possibility. Phillips was right . My God is too small. I must trust and accept grace. This too will pass. The Hound of Heaven will find me. The long dark night of the soul will end, I’m do the next right thing,  Time is of an essence, Joy awaits. Thank you Jesus. 

Hunting in beautiful BC

I’ve been hunting with Madigan in beautiful BC.  BC is god’s country. The autumn foliage is yellow, orange, red and green  I’ve shot grouse with my 20 guage and have even seen bucks but so far I’ve shot no deer.

I laughed when my friend Kevin Bustard made a video of himself and friend bow hunting. They’d had no luck and quipped they call their video ‘walking in woods with bows’.  I’m enjoying riding about on my atv and thought of calling any video I made ‘driving about woods on ATV with artillery’.  I’ve my Ruger stainless steel 30:06, my 20 guage over under shot gun, and my Ruger bolt action 223.  The first is for big game, the second for grouse and the third for rabbit and target practice.  I’ve had a lot of fun driving about the back country just enjoying the peace and scenery.  I’ve seen flickers and magpies, hawks and eagles.

Each day I’ve shot a grouse and my cockapoo buddy has proudly fetched it back.  The first time this year he wouldn’t drop it but we sorted that out and each day since he’s delivered the bird to my feet.  I treat him with the heart and liver so it’s a good deal.  I’ve grouse in the freezer waiting to barbecue.  I love grouse.  First bird I shot, I believe, that or ducks.  My childhood memories are rich with prairie chicken hunting with my father and brother. There’s also duck hunting memories from the earliest days with me being woken and bundled into the truck by my mom only to be woken and trudging through the marsh to a blind with the dog and my brother and father to fall asleep waiting for ducks.  After the guns started firing I stayed awake and was excited despite the wet and cold to watch our springer swim out to fetch back the ducks my father and brother shot. Now I’m making my own memories, exploring the back country on the Honda 420 Rancher, a very excited dog sitting behind me.  

I say I’m a grouse hunter first.  If I shoot a deer, which I hope, I’ll call this an ‘enhanced grouse hunt’.

Kevin and Anna have already shot a buck and bear since rifle season opened. They have five children they hunt with with and the oldest hunt too, the two boys having shot bear already. They’re an amazing hunting family with their new dog, Vader in dog heaven.  

I’m up early as the heat went off when the propane ran out. I’d only turned on one propane tank but didn’t note that when I checked them last night before bed and thought “I’ve got more than a bottle full of propane,.”  It was chilly. Once I accepted I was cold and had to get out of bed to solve the problem I turned on the electric heater. I needed the propane for coffee though and was thankful I only needed to open the tank. I’ve taken the empty out and added it to the extra I have to have them filled when I return from this morning’s hunt. I’m having a coffee now and have my thermos coffee waiting. 

It’s quarter to 7 and still dark. We’re staying in the Princeton Municipal Campgrounds enjoying water and 4 amp service. They have a sani dump and a mobile honey pot. Laura and I are good for 3 days without rationing.  I’ve made one mobile honey pot  run, the few car length distance to the sewage hole.  It’s the showers that fill up the grey water tank so I now appreciate more why there’s an outdoor shower.  A bit chilly for that now.  7 am is when the gate here opens in the morning. That means I’ve not been able to arrive at my hunting spot and be waiting in ambush in the dark. I tend to be on the ATV by 8 am which is good considering almost all the deer I’ve shot in the morning have been around 10 am.  Grouse come out at 11 am usually and hunting for the day is done by noon. Those are generalities as I ve shot everything at different times but that’s the majority. Dusk hits here around 6 and hunting is done by 7 pm . Most of the evening game I’ve shot has been a half hour around dusk.  So for the luxury of electricity and Starlink, running water and neighbours I’m not suffering. I confess I normally wake up at 7 am for work so here getting up at 6 is no great suffering. I’d need to be up at 5 otherwise. It’s a half hour drive to where I leave the truck and unload the ATV from the trailer.  I’ve has several glorious sunny day with yesterday being the only rainy cold day.  Rainy cold days are more likely days to shoot deer whereas grouse love to come out in the sun.  I’ve done an hour of hiking each day and really ought to do more but I so like driving about in the ATV.  It’s like playing army as a kid  without anyone shooting back.  Madigan just loves the ATV and after we walk abit he dashes back and leaps up into the seat waiting for me to get on and get the ATV moving so he can be chauffeured.  I got more game sitting in ambush and walking tai chi like about the woods . The trouble is I’m older and fearful of slipping in the woods with the sleek logs and also don’t feel I’d be able to drag a deer far. The last one I shot was a killer just getting it back a hundred yards to the road because of all the longs and stumps.  I’ve accepted with not too much grace that I’m a road hunter and my days of shooting moose and deer a mile or so into the back woods and hauling them out in quarters are over.  Braking a hip or ankle would just take all the fun out of this for me.  Next year I’ll probably accept I may have to hunt with others. I’m thinking I may have to organize a 4 man moose hunt before I hang up my rifles.  I really am hopeful I’ll shoot a deer this trip as I’ve a real longing for venison. Talking to fellow in the back woods who’d shot a moose this week my mouth was watering.  We do love grouse and I’m looking forward to barbecuing a couple in the coming days.  

Thanksgiving dinner didn’t include turkey. I left the little turkey I bought in my freezer. I barbecued pork chops and Laura made mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. It was a lovely meal. I’m out of time sink and thought today was Tuesday but it’s Wednesday.  I do lose track of days.    

Time to get going. 7 am and the gates are open.  Just need to saddle up .  Madigan’s still napping .  I can see light happening.  Another glorious day.  

Opening of Rifle Season

Last week it was opening of bow hunting. Laura and I were in Cariboo.  Sept. 10 was opening of rifle season.  That meant I could shoot a deer with a rifle but more importantly grouse season opened.

Packing for a weekend hunt takes as much ‘stuff’ as packing for a ‘month’ hunt. The only difference is the amount of food but the equipment is the same.  

My camper is still in repairs but thankfully no longer at Frazerway which sold me a damaged unit and lied for a year about having it ready by this spring.  All winter the Frazerway folk gas lighted and ghosted and were evil so I was glad to retrieve the unit and transfer it’s care to another reputable RV service.  Amazingly I read a complaint on the Better Business Bureau site almost identical to the abusive experience I had.  I am so thankful to have the unit in good hands without all the sociopathic behaviour. Hopefully we’ll be back in the camper soon.

This experience tenting made me appreciate and miss the camper. I was so lucky though the weather was great. Sleeping on the ground was painful but waking in the rain would have made it all a lot worse.  

Friday it was all I could do to get packed and pick up my ATV from John’s Chilliwack RV Storage. I was only missing one key and thankful to have my bolt cutter concealed in the truck.  The whole back seat of the truck was packed so I had to unpack it to find the bolt cutter.  Challenges after challenges.  Good to see John who is always so positive and helpful.  

I had my Iridium Satellite Phone from Ralf’s Mobile Electronics but I’d not renewed my subscription. I phoned them but before they could get back to me I’d bought a Garmin InReach which uses Iridium for texts and SOS from Cabelas. I’d stopped for more 30:06 ammo but they were really low and had no 180 grain.  Fortunately I have enough and did get my little propane containers for the stove. They were sold out of mule deer tags so I was glad I had ordered one at least on line.  Cabelas is a fabulous store with great stock but the staff are often ‘surly’ and unhelpful. They come acrosss as ‘superior’ too in that old ‘Holt Renfrew’ shop girl way.  Irritating to have to deal with negative attitude when spending a lot of money on ‘recreation’.  They need to take some lessons in customer relations from Reliable or Italian Sports. I just love shopping at those places because the staff are so enthusiastic and knowledgeable and helpful.  Cabelas just has the advantage of being en route.  

Madigan and I stopped at Macdonalds on the way out of Abbotsford for the requisite burger patty for the dog.  I had the quarter pounder with cheese.  We were on our way.

At Chilliwack with the trailer we stopped at Canada Tire for the Iridium package but they didn’t know either how to get the Garmin package they mentioned on line. Thankfully Ralf’s called me and used my credit card on file to do another 6 month satelite subscription so I could be in the wilderness with emergency communication capability and stay in touch with the clinics.  I didn’t need the new Garmin Inreach but now have back up.

I loved driving my Ford F-350 pulling my trailer with Honda 420 Rancher with my happy co pilot Madigan.  There was fire at Hope and we saw the helicopter dousing it with buckets from the water. Lots of smoke.  Thankfully no road closure. As I drove I listened to a Johnstone Preacher Westrn on a “movie in your mind’ audio book.  Life was good. On the road again.  Madigan curled up against my side when he wasn’t standing up looking out his side window.  

I donated a kidney and filled up with gas for the truck and 15 gallons of containers and for the ATV. At the Princeton Grocery store I stopped for last minute supplies having phoned Laura who told me sun down was in an hour.  Not only was I going to be camping again but I was going to be setting up a tent in the dark. I did that for decades on my weekend hunts when I headed out at night so I’d be in place for a dawn hunt. This time I was just slow and old and looking forward to having a place to sleep.

I had planned on Chain Lakes and there was a ‘first come first serve’ camp space available. All the lake side were taken and if I’d not dilly dallied I might have had one but I did get a space where I could just drive in with the trailer. I’m impossibly bad at backing up trailers. Dave and Mack have been giving my pointers and I actually understood what Dave had told me about holding the underside of the wheel and that would show me the way the trailer was turning.  

I got parked. I found the 1000 Lumen battery operated lantern I actually had the new headlamp where I could find it.  Setting up the North Face 4 man tent really was easy even though it was years since I did it.  I even put in the rug and sleeping bags and was ready for bed.  The only problem was I’d not brought Madigan’s jacket and he and I were both cold in the middle of the night. I got up to pee and it was chilly.  My Mountain Equipment Cooo. Draco neg 7 degree sleeping bag was great and I circled the other Draco O degree sleeping bag around Madigan to keep him warm. The next two nights I laid out my hunting jacket for him and wore a sweater to bed myself.  The nights were except whenever I turned on the ground my back hurt and woke me. I’m not a happy camper sleeping on the ground.  I had the Coleman cot but I never used it using a too thin ‘pad’ instead. I’m planning on a trip to MEC to get a state of the art pad or inflatable. I’ve tried everything to date and frankly the best camping sleep is off the ground in an RV with a good mattress. I missed my camper sleeping.

I did enjoy making coffee on the pic nic table with the Coleman 2 burner, one dead, old camp stove. I’d lost the knob somewhere and some time. That stove was 30 years old and still working fine.  I had the little propane cans from Cabelas. I had the Italian stovetop  Expresso machine where two pots gave me enough coffee to fill the thermos and have a cup for me. I had bananas too.  Honey and canned milk.  

I didn’t feel like hunting.

I’d woken at 7 am and could head out on the ATV but decided I’d try to hook up with the Bustards who were hunting that weekend with all their kids nearby.  The idea of a hide and seek adventure driving about in the truck seemed a better plan.  I packed up my tent and got back in the truck enjoying the comfort.  I found Hembrie turnoff,  I didn’ realize this was the FSR I’d just used a couple of years ago when I took Laura to stay at the Princeton Castles resort.  A lovely hunting area. I enjoyed drinking coffee and driving back roads.  I never found where the Bustards were and had a bitch of a time turning around with the trailer behind me.  I managed it and then decided I’d get an A&W burger and try finding it from the Loon Lake side.  Another long drive in the truck listening to an audio western enjoying myself sight seeing.

I saw a little bear on the road side grabbing my rifle from the back seat but realizing how young it was when i walked over to it and literally had to shoo it away. I had the camera and the rifle and took pictures instead.  Curious fellow.  Shit fur by the nose.  More like a big dog.  In a few years he might be food but not now. 

I later did see a big bear bolt across the road going to fast for me to do anything but look where it disappeared to.

I wasn’t happy coming down Dillard logging road into a steep ravine. The road had become a trail and there simply was not where to turn around with just a truck let alone with a trailer. Then the road was washed out causing me to pray as I drove at an angle half on the wall to get past the bad part. I stopped and walked forward and thankfully it got better. I’d decided looking down into death and crash that I was not having fun so I’d head out to the area where I knew the trails. This exploring had gone far enough.  I was a bit shook up though it was not nearly as scarey as the roads I’d taken on in the Broncho II and Ranger 25 years ago.  I was crazier then.  I have an ATV for these stunts not this truck I need for towing RV and for my Camper.  Silly.

I headed back through Princeton I’d come across Alene and Methusala and another M named lake.  Back west of Princeton I was in my old stomping ground and glad to set up my pup tent, the MSG one ..   I was planning a trip to Yuma and this weekend had brought both tents and other gear to see what would work best.  I liked the little MSG tent I’d used motorcycling but the North Face test though less cozy was much easier to set up.  

I loved our camp ground and used the back gate on the truck for my kitchen, I’d shot a couple of grouse looking for the bustards and would shoot more here.  I only saw doe.  I missed a rabbit with the 30;06 at a hundred yards. I was aiming for his head and glad to miss because if I hit a rabbit body with the 30:06 it would simply explode like it had been hit with a mortar.  I was shooting the grouse with 20 Guage 6 or 7 1/2 shot

The best part of the weekend was watching the little guy run ahead of me to the fallen grouse. He picked it up and came running back to me with it in his mouse , the bird bigger than his head and him staggering forward dragging wings and dropping feathers. I wish I’d had a video of it. He was such a trooper. My Madigan , the bird dog.  Shinto had obviously done this and more and Gilbert had brought the birds out to the road and gone looking for more but none as adorably as Madigan who staggered along back to me. Time and again he did this. What a ‘retriever’, my little cockapoo hunting dog.  

I really was enjoying the Rancher 420 and driving about the back woods.

When I saw a grouse up ahead on the side of the road I’d stop and brake the quad, then lift and load the 20 guage over under shot gun.I’d take my shot hit the bird with 6 to 8 shot, whatever I had stuffed in my pockets. The bird would flop about dying.  I’d Unhook Madigan who was wearing a harness leashed for the ATV frame behind me. He’d jump down having watched everything and run as fast as his body could pounce on the wounded dying bird and kill big bird shaking it or tearing out the belly of the live squeaky toy. What filled me with pride was his picking up this bird the size of his head and more and running with it back to drop at my feet. He did this over and over retrieving five birds. I’d shoot eight over the few days. Other than throwing squeaky toys to fetch and retrieve I’d done no serious training and he just instinctively began retrieving and helping out the old guy. I’d rip off the feathered skin with my bare hands gutting the bird and tearing out the head and neck to free the meaty breasts. I gave him the heat and liver to eat raw while putting the breast with identifying winds in a zip lock bag.

I love cooking up the cubed breasts later with marmalade and spices and serving on rice. I love the Royal taste of grouse the highland delicacy. Having a companion hunting dog is such comfort and joy.

Back at my camp I cooked a dinner of pork chops zucchini and boiled potatoes with butter and sour cream on the tail gate of the truck. I enjoyed eating off the plate on my lap sitting on the cammo hunting chair with a fire of wood and waste paper products. Before going to bed in the tent I doused the embers with pot loads of water. Fire hazard warning was high.

I only saw a few deer but none of the legal horny vegans. I was thankful for the grouse a few more of which I shot on the last morning hunt. I’d actually risen at 6 am in the half light of dawn making coffee and filling my thermos. At least I was up as early as Bill Mewhort my old hunting buddy demanded. It would be dark when we’d set up in ambush. I was a lot more successful big game hunter younger shooting 30:or more dear over the years  I don’t sit or stalk enough but so enjoy driving about grouse hunting, road hunting being the best grouse hunting strategy often. I saw a few rabbits too as they come out at dusk or dawn and nibble the road side grass.

I was glad to pack up the truck and load the Honda onto the trailer. Madigan was sad for the weekend to be ending. He sat on the loaded ATV wanting us to go out once more. I convinced him to join me in the cab and head home

We were in time for the mandatory A&W sausage egger., mamma burger and a beef patty ‘on the side for my dog’ A large coffee double double’.I love eating and driving listening to country music on the way home. We passed a large semi on its side at a turn on a mountain bridge, police directing traffic, the driver fortunately not hurt. At hope the fire we’d seen on the way up was just smoking.However a new fire still flaming was being water bombed by a couple of helicopters with buckets and on ground firefighters. Traffic was blocked on that lane but ours was clear into town.

I dropped off the trailer at Chilliwack storage doing a better job of backing up the trailer with Dave’s tips. ‘I taught all my kids to back up the boat this way and they all learned it this way’. It works but I’m still lousy at backing up trailers. Looks easy for some but requires patience and precision Im not gifted with tired at the end of trips.

Back in Vancouver I was thankful my home was still there in good shape, unpacking all the gear was the last ordeal and a reminder why I missed the camper where I stored most of the stuff I had now to haul home. 

I was so thankful to climb into a hot shower with shampoo and conditioner. With clean clothes on I cleaned the 8 grouse putting them 2 together in new freezer bags in the freezer for future feasts.

I was so thankful to be home lying on my couch with the dog lying on my belly clean and in comfort with amenities and a new found appreciation for civilizations. Later I’d walk Madison and encounter Peter with his Havanese and regale him of Madigan, the cockatoo’s great retrieving. I’d sing the little guys praise again when I’d see Dave with his little shitzu bud. Madigan was strutting. It was good to be home . I could have just as easily been at the bottom of the adillard ravine or flipped on my side at that treacherous mountain bridge turn. Thanks to the grace of God we thrived and we didn’t have equipment challenge shad the weather was magnificent. I’d even stop by the side of a lake and had a swim. So I wasn’t even all that dirty despite the constant dust. I certainly would enjoy sleeping in my own bed and mattress. What a great grouse hunt indeed. Thank you Jesus!

Opening of Rifle Season

Last week it was opening of bow hunting. Laura and I were in Cariboo.  Sept. 10 was opening of rifle season.  That meant I could shoot a deer with a rifle but more importantly grouse season opened.

Packing for a weekend hunt takes as much ‘stuff’ as packing for a ‘month’ hunt. The only difference is the amount of food but the equipment is the same.  

My camper is still in repairs but thankfully no longer at Frazerway which sold me a damaged unit and lied for a year about having it ready by this spring.  All winter the Frazerway folk gas lighted and ghosted and were evil so I was glad to retrieve the unit and transfer it’s care to another reputable RV service.  Amazingly I read a complaint on the Better Business Bureau site almost identical to the abusive experience I had.  I am so thankful to have the unit in good hands without all the sociopathic behaviour. Hopefully we’ll be back in the camper soon.

This experience tenting made me appreciate and miss the camper. I was so lucky though the weather was great. Sleeping on the ground was painful but waking in the rain would have made it all a lot worse.  

Friday it was all I could do to get packed and pick up my ATV from John’s Chilliwack RV Storage. I was only missing one key and thankful to have my bolt cutter concealed in the truck.  The whole back seat of the truck was packed so I had to unpack it to find the bolt cutter.  Challenges after challenges.  Good to see John who is always so positive and helpful.  

I had my Iridium Satellite Phone from Ralf’s Mobile Electronics but I’d not renewed my subscription. I phoned them but before they could get back to me I’d bought a Garmin InReach which uses Iridium for texts and SOS from Cabelas. I’d stopped for more 30:06 ammo but they were really low and had no 180 grain.  Fortunately I have enough and did get my little propane containers for the stove. They were sold out of mule deer tags so I was glad I had ordered one at least on line.  Cabelas is a fabulous store with great stock but the staff are often ‘surly’ and unhelpful. They come acrosss as ‘superior’ too in that old ‘Holt Renfrew’ shop girl way.  Irritating to have to deal with negative attitude when spending a lot of money on ‘recreation’.  They need to take some lessons in customer relations from Reliable or Italian Sports. I just love shopping at those places because the staff are so enthusiastic and knowledgeable and helpful.  Cabelas just has the advantage of being en route.  

Madigan and I stopped at Macdonalds on the way out of Abbotsford for the requisite burger patty for the dog.  I had the quarter pounder with cheese.  We were on our way.

At Chilliwack with the trailer we stopped at Canada Tire for the Iridium package but they didn’t know either how to get the Garmin package they mentioned on line. Thankfully Ralf’s called me and used my credit card on file to do another 6 month satelite subscription so I could be in the wilderness with emergency communication capability and stay in touch with the clinics.  I didn’t need the new Garmin Inreach but now have back up.

I loved driving my Ford F-350 pulling my trailer with Honda 420 Rancher with my happy co pilot Madigan.  There was fire at Hope and we saw the helicopter dousing it with buckets from the water. Lots of smoke.  Thankfully no road closure. As I drove I listened to a Johnstone Preacher Westrn on a “movie in your mind’ audio book.  Life was good. On the road again.  Madigan curled up against my side when he wasn’t standing up looking out his side window.  

I donated a kidney and filled up with gas for the truck and 15 gallons of containers and for the ATV. At the Princeton Grocery store I stopped for last minute supplies having phoned Laura who told me sun down was in an hour.  Not only was I going to be camping again but I was going to be setting up a tent in the dark. I did that for decades on my weekend hunts when I headed out at night so I’d be in place for a dawn hunt. This time I was just slow and old and looking forward to having a place to sleep.

I had planned on Chain Lakes and there was a ‘first come first serve’ camp space available. All the lake side were taken and if I’d not dilly dallied I might have had one but I did get a space where I could just drive in with the trailer. I’m impossibly bad at backing up trailers. Dave and Mack have been giving my pointers and I actually understood what Dave had told me about holding the underside of the wheel and that would show me the way the trailer was turning.  

I got parked. I found the 1000 Lumen battery operated lantern I actually had the new headlamp where I could find it.  Setting up the North Face 4 man tent really was easy even though it was years since I did it.  I even put in the rug and sleeping bags and was ready for bed.  The only problem was I’d not brought Madigan’s jacket and he and I were both cold in the middle of the night. I got up to pee and it was chilly.  My Mountain Equipment Cooo. Draco neg 7 degree sleeping bag was great and I circled the other Draco O degree sleeping bag around Madigan to keep him warm. The next two nights I laid out my hunting jacket for him and wore a sweater to bed myself.  The nights were except whenever I turned on the ground my back hurt and woke me. I’m not a happy camper sleeping on the ground.  I had the Coleman cot but I never used it using a too thin ‘pad’ instead. I’m planning on a trip to MEC to get a state of the art pad or inflatable. I’ve tried everything to date and frankly the best camping sleep is off the ground in an RV with a good mattress. I missed my camper sleeping.

I did enjoy making coffee on the pic nic table with the Coleman 2 burner, one dead, old camp stove. I’d lost the knob somewhere and some time. That stove was 30 years old and still working fine.  I had the little propane cans from Cabelas. I had the Italian stovetop  Expresso machine where two pots gave me enough coffee to fill the thermos and have a cup for me. I had bananas too.  Honey and canned milk.  

I didn’t feel like hunting.

I’d woken at 7 am and could head out on the ATV but decided I’d try to hook up with the Bustards who were hunting that weekend with all their kids nearby.  The idea of a hide and seek adventure driving about in the truck seemed a better plan.  I packed up my tent and got back in the truck enjoying the comfort.  I found Hembrie turnoff,  I didn’ realize this was the FSR I’d just used a couple of years ago when I took Laura to stay at the Princeton Castles resort.  A lovely hunting area. I enjoyed drinking coffee and driving back roads.  I never found where the Bustards were and had a bitch of a time turning around with the trailer behind me.  I managed it and then decided I’d get an A&W burger and try finding it from the Loon Lake side.  Another long drive in the truck listening to an audio western enjoying myself sight seeing.

I saw a little bear on the road side grabbing my rifle from the back seat but realizing how young it was when i walked over to it and literally had to shoo it away. I had the camera and the rifle and took pictures instead.  Curious fellow.  Shit fur by the nose.  More like a big dog.  In a few years he might be food but not now. 

I later did see a big bear bolt across the road going to fast for me to do anything but look where it disappeared to.

I wasn’t happy coming down Dillard logging road into a steep ravine. The road had become a trail and there simply was not where to turn around with just a truck let alone with a trailer. Then the road was washed out causing me to pray as I drove at an angle half on the wall to get past the bad part. I stopped and walked forward and thankfully it got better. I’d decided looking down into death and crash that I was not having fun so I’d head out to the area where I knew the trails. This exploring had gone far enough.  I was a bit shook up though it was not nearly as scarey as the roads I’d taken on in the Broncho II and Ranger 25 years ago.  I was crazier then.  I have an ATV for these stunts not this truck I need for towing RV and for my Camper.  Silly.

I headed back through Princeton I’d come across Alene and Methusala and another M named lake.  Back west of Princeton I was in my old stomping ground and glad to set up my pup tent, the MSG one ..   I was planning a trip to Yuma and this weekend had brought both tents and other gear to see what would work best.  I liked the little MSG tent I’d used motorcycling but the North Face test though less cozy was much easier to set up.  

I loved our camp ground and used the back gate on the truck for my kitchen, I’d shot a couple of grouse looking for the bustards and would shoot more here.  I only saw doe.  I missed a rabbit with the 30;06 at a hundred yards. I was aiming for his head and glad to miss because if I hit a rabbit body with the 30:06 it would simply explode like it had been hit with a mortar.  I was shooting the grouse with 20 Guage 6 or 7 1/2 shot

The best part of the weekend was watching the little guy run ahead of me to the fallen grouse. He picked it up and came running back to me with it in his mouse , the bird bigger than his head and him staggering forward dragging wings and dropping feathers. I wish I’d had a video of it. He was such a trooper. My Madigan , the bird dog.  Shinto had obviously done this and more and Gilbert had brought the birds out to the road and gone looking for more but none as adorably as Madigan who staggered along back to me. Time and again he did this. What a ‘retriever’, my little cockapoo hunting dog.  

I really was enjoying the Rancher 420 and driving about the back woods.

When I saw a grouse up ahead on the side of the road I’d stop and brake the quad, then lift and load the 20 guage over under shot gun.I’d take my shot hit the bird with 6 to 8 shot, whatever I had stuffed in my pockets. The bird would flop about dying.  I’d Unhook Madigan who was wearing a harness leashed for the ATV frame behind me. He’d jump down having watched everything and run as fast as his body could pounce on the wounded dying bird and kill big bird shaking it or tearing out the belly of the live squeaky toy. What filled me with pride was his picking up this bird the size of his head and more and running with it back to drop at my feet. He did this over and over retrieving five birds. I’d shoot eight over the few days. Other than throwing squeaky toys to fetch and retrieve I’d done no serious training and he just instinctively began retrieving and helping out the old guy. I’d rip off the feathered skin with my bare hands gutting the bird and tearing out the head and neck to free the meaty breasts. I gave him the heat and liver to eat raw while putting the breast with identifying winds in a zip lock bag.

I love cooking up the cubed breasts later with marmalade and spices and serving on rice. I love the Royal taste of grouse the highland delicacy. Having a companion hunting dog is such comfort and joy.

Back at my camp I cooked a dinner of pork chops zucchini and boiled potatoes with butter and sour cream on the tail gate of the truck. I enjoyed eating off the plate on my lap sitting on the cammo hunting chair with a fire of wood and waste paper products. Before going to bed in the tent I doused the embers with pot loads of water. Fire hazard warning was high.

I only saw a few deer but none of the legal horny vegans. I was thankful for the grouse a few more of which I shot on the last morning hunt. I’d actually risen at 6 am in the half light of dawn making coffee and filling my thermos. At least I was up as early as Bill Mewhort my old hunting buddy demanded. It would be dark when we’d set up in ambush. I was a lot more successful big game hunter younger shooting 30:or more dear over the years  I don’t sit or stalk enough but so enjoy driving about grouse hunting, road hunting being the best grouse hunting strategy often. I saw a few rabbits too as they come out at dusk or dawn and nibble the road side grass.

I was glad to pack up the truck and load the Honda onto the trailer. Madigan was sad for the weekend to be ending. He sat on the loaded ATV wanting us to go out once more. I convinced him to join me in the cab and head home

We were in time for the mandatory A&W sausage egger., mamma burger and a beef patty ‘on the side for my dog’ A large coffee double double’.I love eating and driving listening to country music on the way home. We passed a large semi on its side at a turn on a mountain bridge, police directing traffic, the driver fortunately not hurt. At hope the fire we’d seen on the way up was just smoking.However a new fire still flaming was being water bombed by a couple of helicopters with buckets and on ground firefighters. Traffic was blocked on that lane but ours was clear into town.

I dropped off the trailer at Chilliwack storage doing a better job of backing up the trailer with Dave’s tips. ‘I taught all my kids to back up the boat this way and they all learned it this way’. It works but I’m still lousy at backing up trailers. Looks easy for some but requires patience and precision Im not gifted with tired at the end of trips.

Back in Vancouver I was thankful my home was still there in good shape, unpacking all the gear was the last ordeal and a reminder why I missed the camper where I stored most of the stuff I had now to haul home. 

I was so thankful to climb into a hot shower with shampoo and conditioner. With clean clothes on I cleaned the 8 grouse putting them 2 together in new freezer bags in the freezer for future feasts.

I was so thankful to be home lying on my couch with the dog lying on my belly clean and in comfort with amenities and a new found appreciation for civilizations. Later I’d walk Madison and encounter Peter with his Havanese and regale him of Madigan, the cockatoo’s great retrieving. I’d sing the little guys praise again when I’d see Dave with his little shitzu bud. Madigan was strutting. It was good to be home . I could have just as easily been at the bottom of the adillard ravine or flipped on my side at that treacherous mountain bridge turn. Thanks to the grace of God we thrived and we didn’t have equipment challenge shad the weather was magnificent. I’d even stop by the side of a lake and had a swim. So I wasn’t even all that dirty despite the constant dust. I certainly would enjoy sleeping in my own bed and mattress. What a great grouse hunt indeed. Thank you Jesus!