Obama’s Frozen Moose Carcass [Reader Post]

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632-big_mooseThe everyday decisions we make can have monumental consequences if we make a mistake in judgment. A politician will make decisions affecting millions. Throughout history, poor judgment has allowed politicians to create the instruments of their own demise and it often happens before he realizes it is happening. Once the wheels of fate are allowed to gain momentum, there is often no option but to devise an escape.

I put myself in mortal danger once as a young man, an experience I reflect upon on a regular basis. It was early December, I had helped several hunters get elk and moose and a couple of grizzly, but the seasons except for moose were over and I needed a moose for my family’s meat supply for the year.

The snow was about a foot deep and the daytime temperature was thirty below. I was riding a horse to cover more ground in the snow. The snow helped disguise the noisy movements a horse makes and with an old wool military trench coat slit high in the back so that it covered my legs and the horse’s ribs providing a lot of heat from the horse.

It was snowing and I was headed back to the ranch house when I saw a three year old bull about a hundred yards away. I slid from the horse and started to get my cold stiff body loosened up and ready to fire. It was a fairly easy shot, my old 8 mm Mauser with a receiver chambered for an ’06 brass barked and I saw the bullet strike home through both lungs missing the heart by several inches. The young bull staggered and began blowing red bubbles through his nostrils, he was slowly bleeding to death. I let him bleed out for a few minutes before risking a killing head shot. The moose head is huge and the brain is small, a misplaced shot could cause the animal to run for miles before giving up the ghost, making recovery much more difficult.

Once the bull showed signs of weakening, I finished him with the head shot.

At this point, the real work of the hunt begins: the internal organs must be evacuated, the blood drained from the body cavity, and the hide must be skinned before it freezes to the body. This animal was probably 6’ 6” at the withers and weighed close to 1500 pounds. I built a fire next to the carcass so that I could warm my hands and cook moose nose and liver for dinner along with some onions I had in my saddlebags. A billy can sat next to the fire to boil water for tea, in a few minutes, I would have a feast suitable for a bush ape and that would be me. Actually the warm food and tea would give my body the strength needed to survive the intense cold that was settling in.

The moose nose was hung over the fire with a forked stick. I was always amazed at how God designed the little things like designing the nose to be impaled through the anatomical features of the nose with a forked stick to facilitate cooking over an open fire. A one pound chunk of liver, a small portion of the massive liver would be roasted directly on the coals and I would cut the onions in half and lay them cut side down directly on the liver for the last two minutes. The tea would be boiling continuously and I would stop to warm myself with the tea now and then.

I had to wash my hands in the snow before eating and they were becoming numb. When the black hide covering the nose split and peeled my gourmet meal was ready. The wind was increasing and I was becoming worried because with the darkness the temperature was dropping much quicker than normal. I dug through the snow and cut some dry grass and vetch, and crushed some small poplar branches for my horse, it wasn’t as good as my meal , but he would have feed in his belly for the ride home.

One of the problems with field butchering is that you must work without gloves so my hands were beginning to suffer from the extreme cold. My knife handle was slippery from the blood and fat from the moose and just before I was finished, the knife slid back in my hand and I cut my index and my middle fingers fairly deep. I washed the hand in clean snow as well as possible and poured tea over the wounds for antiseptic. I then wrapped the fingers in a clean sock and put a leather mitten over the hand and finished the moose using my left hand.

Injuring the hand weakened me, now I was tired, cold, and in pain; in the meantime the temperature was still dropping. That is when the shooting started. It’s not really shooting, it is the trapped sap in the spruce and pine trees splitting the wood in the trunks from the expansion. It sounded like there was a bunch of 30-06 rifles going off all around me, it means that the temperature had dropped to 55 below or colder, my situation had become dire.

There wasn’t enough snow on the ground to make a snow cave and expect insulation from the extreme cold. I didn’t know if the horse and I could survive the ride back to one of the line cabins and that’s when I decided to try something desperate. I placed a two foot stick under the top hind leg to open up the carcass and crawled inside, yes, it was tight but there was enough room for me to get inside. I placed my blanket roll from my saddle over my horse to help protect him through the night. I lined the body cavity of the moose with the moose hide so that the hair side would be against my body. I crawled inside and felt an immediate warmth course through my body. It actually began to warm up in my temporary moose carcass motel. I soon drifted off into a peaceful slumber for several hours.

I awoke in the morning and immediately sensed that something was dreadfully wrong. During the night, I had probably pushed against the hind legs with my feet and the stick that was holding the upper leg up in the air had fallen away so that the hind quarter had fallen down and now had my legs were locked beneath the frozen meat of the hind quarters and I was now entombed in a frozen moose carcass.

I tried to not to panic while I surveyed my situation; I was on my back wrapped in a frozen raw moose hide about three eighths of an inch thick with four to eight inches of thick coarse hair that dulls a knife in minutes, my hands had some movement, my feet were trapped beneath a frozen hind quarter that weighed at least 150 pounds, my shoulders are wide for my 6’ 2” 230 pound frame, so there was no chance of rolling over, my face had 3 or 4 inches of breathing space, my Buck knife, dull from field dressing the moose was on my hip beneath my old Marine issue great coat.

I had two options: I could work methodically to escape or I could wait for hypothermia and die. I decided to try for life.

My immediate goal was to retrieve my knife in its case on my belt. With my right hand that was now very sore from last nights’ accident, I worked my way into the pocket of my great coat, I then began to wear a hole in the pocket with my thumb nail. I was cursing at how the Corps could make some articles so well. When I had a hole large enough to insert my thumb I pulled down hard and ripped the pocket and felt for my knife, alas I found the scabbard and pulled the knife out.

My exertions and heavy breathing while doing these normally simple procedures caused the moose cavity to steam up making it even more uncomfortable; but it would help in a few minutes.

When I tried to pull the knife out of my pocket, the pocket would follow my hand so that I was caught in the South East Asian monkey trap as well. I had to open the knife with one hand and cut my way free of the pocket. Most bush apes open a Buck knife routinely with one hand, but not in a pocket. It worked and I set about destroying my beloved coat from the USMC.

Once my knife hand was free from the pocket, I made a length wise cut to my right, through the moose hide, of course the thick hair was falling everywhere, making it harder to breathe. My moisture laden breath helped thaw the hide enough that I was able to push it towards my feet.

I now could work on the rib cage, I sliced between each rib as far toward the sternum as possible. It was a welcome relief to get fresh air in my cocoon; but there was a heavy snow above me, so ventilation was limited, it was daylight because light was showing through the snow.

After making the slits between each rib, I began cutting through the ribs a few inches from the spine. This was before the saw blade knives and the process was painfully slow. A moose rib is twice the size of the beef ribs you see at the barbeque joints, but it still isn’t large enough for my hand to push the rib through and break it at the sternum, so the first ribs were pushed out two at a time. Now the snow fell in on top of me and it was necessary to keep pushing it out and away since here was several feet of snow above me. The process of cutting through each rib and pushing it up and away was a long and laborious process, but perseverance pays off.

Eventually, I sat up with a great feeling of freedom, even though my feet were still trapped. I reached forward and grabbed the lower leg of the top quarter that had me trapped and leaned back with all my weight and I was free, free at last!

My daylight was disappearing quickly, my saddle horse seemed glad to see me, probably figured I would make sure to get him some good feed. I saddled him and we rode home to the ranch. I would get a good night’s sleep before taking three pack horses to load up the moose the next morning.

Although it was a desperate struggle to get out of that coffin, in the back of my mind I was thinking about the odd grizzly that wakes up and goes for a walk looking for something to eat. The moose and I would have looked like a warm burrito to a hungry grizzly.

Obama is creating his own frozen moose sarcophagus with carefully scripted moves. While he revels in his success and temporary adulation he forgets that he owns these dubious bills. He will no longer be able to blame Bush, he is the one that has created the astronomical and ever increasing debt.

The English have not adopted the trillion dollar term, they are content with the one thousand billion term. Unfortunately, American taxpayers when asked are much more secure with the trillion dollar designation rather than the one thousand billion designation. The naiveté and stupidity of the voting public is facilitating our destruction.

Its true that the average voter doesn’t understand the significance of signing over our sovereignty through treaty negotiations relating to the cap and tax bill, designed so that the United Nations can tax us into oblivion and reward the Marxist dictators and war lords of third world countries with untold hundreds of millions; but eventually they will realize the difference, as their standard of living and ability to buy food slowly erodes away.

We sit around and watch the price of gold reaching record heights without realizing that gold isn’t that high, our dollar is just that low. Hyper inflation is beginning to set in and America is about to find out what the Weimar Republic, Peron’s Argentina, and Zimbabwe have gone through. In Zimbabwe, money is being printed in ten trillion dollar notes.

Even wealthy Liberal Marxists will feel the pinch when their fortunes are reduced to less than 1% of their former value within a few days. Yes Obama the dilettante is creating his own frozen moose cocoon, yet he wouldn’t last 24 hours in the bush, he is destroying himself and the country we love while he crawls into the frozen carcass. Whether it is his intention to destroy this country or some idealistic ghetto concept of Marxism, the result will be the same, destruction of our economy and of our way of life.

There will be no carving an escape from this frozen carcass, this time we will be waiting for the hungry grizzly and mankind’s descent into barbarism for hundreds of years.

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Damn. I was getting hungry till you started in with the Obama analogy. 🙂

PV, it took a long time to for me to realize you could actually make a decent meal without the basic staples of the Peace River, beans, bacon, moose onions and turnips. Most of my cooking has been over a wood stove or campfire; but when relatives gather they usually ask me to prepare the big meals. I am now quite comfortable in a modern kitchen and find cooking with gas to be almost too easy. Actually, when work is going smoothly and a customer asks how things are going, I always say, “Oh, were cooking with gas!” They just smile and walk away, without a clue as to what I mean.

I am counting the days until I can return to my old way of life. I have two to three years to go; I will disappear into the mountains and you wont be able to find me with a search warrant. I have a new nickel steel barrel and fiberglass stock on the same rifle I’ve had all my life, (1942 8×57 National Socialist Mauser converted to an 8×06, the poor man’s magnum, reload your own because you can’t buy that ammo) with a good ax, knife, and three good mountain horses; I can live better than most people who make a fortune every year.

Great analogy. Great read too. Obama’s voters have never known where their food comes from, so I doubt they will understand, though.

Sorry but I can’t get too excited about the idea of eating Moose nose.

Dang Skooks, I wanna join ya. My McMillan Tac.308 is a bit more modern than your tool, but I have a feeling your old girl might give my Canadian jewel a run for her money. Especially in your hands. The mountains are my “church”, and I long to worship at the alter more than I’ve been able to.

But I still have a couple of kids to finish training in the fine art of Americana, and that is my present calling…but damn i wanna get out of this race. Stream-side onions go good with pig-back.

PV, the only 308 I ever fired was the M14, I thought that was the most beautiful rifle I had ever seen. Man what a rifle, at least for someone like me. They make a m14 1A for civilian use with a slightly shorter barrel and without a selector switch, I thought about buying one, but it almost seems like cheating on your wife. I have a couple more years to think about it, before I need to make a decision.

Reloading is one of the most important and fun components; but if you aren’t meticulous it is dangerous. Factory loads are always underpowered and you are usually restricted to only a few bullet weights. For the 8mm I would load from 150 grain up to a 200 grain bullet and I always went just under the maximum loads with powder as a precaution. Designing long distance rounds and brush cutting grizzly rounds is fun, but half the time everything happens fast and in a confused state and you find out that a well placed round is a well placed round.

The bush is a country of extremes, the most unbelievable weather happens on a regular basis, if you panic or forget to do some serious thinking you die. I’m sure you know what I am talking about. Without going to Siberia, it is as close to the natural or primitive state that is available. Of course the fishing is outrageous, one fish can feed three or four men, so you usually fish till you kill one, using the catch and release program.

I will buy a ranch eventually and that will be my base. Of course you would be welcome to come up and see the adventure up close and personal. Horseback, boat, or snow machine I will show you the wild country.

MA, moose nose has a different texture and for some reason people are reluctant to eat nose. The meal is right there when you start to field dress the moose and is a different taste sensation. Many people don’t appreciate gourmet mountain meals. However the moose doesn’t suffer from the vast amounts of nasal discharge that domestic cattle are afflicted with, I think they have a better lifestyle, with a minimum of dust. Once you begin to eat moose, you will look at beef as an exotic meal. Th first time I brought my kids down for the winter, they refused to eat the beef because they thought it was spoiled. The next winter, I brought several hundred pounds of moose roast and steak down on dry ice so that my kids would eat. They are all grown, live in the big city and having kids of their own; but they tell me they miss the old days of moose roast with brown gravy and buttered turnips.

You have to realize, our dear reader does not care. He thinks killing off American’s freedoms are reward enough. He simply does not care what anyone thinks of him.

You are making a mistake if you think otherwise.

I’m not sure if your comment is directed towards me bill-tb, but I am probably the one here who is almost always walking on thin ice to keep my opinions of the one under wraps so as to be civilized enough to appear in this family edition. I agree with you and hope my writing doesn’t reflect from my true purpose and belief. I personally don’t think he has the slightest interest in the country’s welfare or longevity as it is, he would love to remake it into a Bill Ayers Socialist Dystopia and then become the great benefactor of American Socialism. The only reason he cares about the opinions of the American people is to make his agenda more palatable as he rams it down our throats. I will try and be more direct next time; but please remember, I am trying to adopt a fairly wild analogy to make a point, entertain, and teach at the same time.

Long live the Republic. Skook

Here’s my baby:

http://www.mcmfamily.com/mcmillan-rifles-tactical-tac-308.php

I usually use Federal’s Premium High Energy 180 grain for boar and large game, and when I do my own re-loads I use 180grn boat tail spitzer with 45 grains of Varget IMR 3031 powder (or 160grn/42) finished with Federal 210M primers. 2700fps is estimated with these weighs. I upgraded the scope with a ZeissVaripoint 2.5-10X50T, and I’ve hit pigs at over 1200 yards (bipod) with this setup. Yeah it all cost too much, but it never drifts, even in sub-zero conditions, or the occasional drops. I wanna let my kid bring it back to the Rockpile, but they won’t let him. 😉

The Nato7.62 has always been my favorite all-around size for serious stuff, but my 40 year-old Marlin .22 has kept me fed with easy-to-prep small game, and you can fit 100 hounds in a pocket. Best of all, the wabbit isn’t blowed-up. 🙂

That is quite a rifle, I have never even checked out such a rifle. Impressive. The 308 round is an excellent round, but years ago I compared it to the 8×57 and found them to have similar ballistics. I was tired of hunters being so proud of the 300 magnums that they flinched from, so I decided to make my own wildcat magnum, thus the 8×06 came into being. (It had been done before) The Swastika and eagle stamps are still embedded in the receiver, along with many other stampings. I like your rifle and now I have something else to occupy my mind during the long hours of work. Thanks. Such things require many hours of consideration for me. 1200 yard pigs, hmmm, I like that.

Good Lord. Why have I not ever heard of this writer’s talent!

Well, for me, I am just hoping that this crazy creationist, me, is raptured out of here before too much of the big mess hits. Maybe that will be before the tribulation, but exactly how far is this country going to slide into unrestrained evil before the tribulation clock starts ticking?

Yep, I am just a right wing fundamentalist, and would have it no other way.

Love the article.

“Good Lord. Why have I not ever heard of this writer’s talent”

Because he’s not very good. But congratulations anyway.

@Reader:

If you didn’t like the moose nose story, maybe he’ll write a bit about a horse’s ass – something you can relate to.

@Skookum:

“…moose roast with brown gravy and buttered turnips.”

I have some Arby’s coupons for “Reader”[12].

@tfhr:

LOL!

Skookum, You had me spellbound! I was actually wondering if there were any bear around, expecting that would be coming next, glad you didn’t have to deal with them, you got lucky!

After reading what you went through I felt rather foolish, I’m afraid to go outside at our Missouri farm after dark because of the cougars and bob cats. Friends have suggested that I take some lessons and carry a pistol. Truth be told, I already know how to shoot, but, the only contact I’ve had with guns in over 25 years is to move them when I dust. My dad taught me how to shoot his 22 and my four brothers everything else he had when we were kids.

When we lived at Ft. Bragg, one of my ex-husband’s captains murdered his wife and two little girls, at the time it was believed that it was a band of hippies that killed them. My ex was out in the field when it happened, when he got home he went out and bought a Walther PBK. He just handed it to me and told me if any hippies show up, shoot them. It was still in the box when he went back out two days later and I promptly buried it under blankets in the closet.

After we got out of the Army, he took me target practicing in a gravel pit near my parents home and finally taught me how to use it, I hit the target the first time, shocked him, that’s the last time I fired a weapon.

Last summer my son-in-law made me learn how to load the rifle hubby keeps in the corner down there and he told me how to fire it, he worries about me being alone in such a rural area(safest place to be IMO) but we didn’t fire it. Will probably still lock up at dusk and he will scold next summer when they visit.

@jlfintx:

Welcome! Agree with everything you said, but, I think we will be here to witness much of the evil slide. My husband left this morning worrying about what our grandchildren will be facing, that’s how he started his day.

“You have to realize, our dear reader does not care.”

I think Bill-TB meant to say “Leader”.

Imiss hunting. It has been so long since I have been able to afford to go hunting I would be more of a hazard in the wild than effective. I keep my skills up with target practice but that is even rare with ammo going thru the roof. What I used to be able to buy for $100 I can’t touch now for less than $350. Bills keep me from enjoying what my dad and uncles used to teach me on the weekends in fields and farm land her in KY.

Keep the spirit Skookum, the rest of us will look thru the window and wish….

No I think ” dear reader” , that’s all he does…..except golf, basketball and bowing.

Skookum,

Like Patvann, I want to come along. My armaments will tend a bit more plebian, but I’ll bring my own horses and bird-dog.

You are an excellent story-teller, sir, and I mean that most respectfully. And, I think of you as a kindred spirit. I would like to believe that we will be afforded a couple years to prepare for going to the mountain, but it looks like we may be forced to it much, much sooner. Daily, I find myself looking at the “things” that surround me and bring some comfort…and mentally whittling away the necessary from the unnecessary.

Jeff

Missy, if there had been a grizzly on a winter walkabout, it wouldn’t have been a question of me dealing with the grizzly, I would have had the biscuit, as in the biscuit of the last supper. Black bears usually sleep all winter, but the grizzly gets hungry and angry and needs to look around for something dead or for an easy kill. I have never heard of an altercation between Bob cats and humans, they are fairly small and elusive around humans. The mountain lion, cougar, painter, or puma can be quite large and dangerous. Their numbers tend to fluctuate with the number of deer and joggers. I have only encountered three and two of them ran and the other one has given me a story for the future.

The cougar has a passion for horse flesh, I’ve tried to work with several horses that had survived a cougar attack, but it was a forlorn hope, fear had overcome them and they were of no use to them selves or humans.

As a benevolent cousin, I suggest you go out over several afternoons with a competent relative or friend and learn to shoot and become comfortable with a weapon. You will experience an increase in confidence and security. Do not let yourself be overcome with fear, like the poor horses.

Enjoy life, be safe, and confident. G-d speed my friend.

Jeff, more Plebian? I paid $50.00 fr my rifle when I was a teenager. Eventually, I shot out the barrel and the walnut stock was cracking, that’s the story of my rifle. Way cheaper to put in a new barrel and a fiberglass stock that will last until I am long gone over the divide.

I can see you are wondering about the possibility of a complete melt down, the same as me. What do I take and what do I leave? These are questions that are in the back of my mind. Like you, I have three horses that can help me disappear from the turmoil and may G-d have mercy on any one who tries to stop me.

A man with three horses and a bird dog is well armed indeed. Stay prepared Jeff, hopefully we can gather somewhere when this night mare is over and have a great hunting trip and a little Irish Whiskey. The grouse and ptarmigan hunting in BC is fantastic and they are great eating, they are about three times as big as a quail.

Keep your head up Jeff, you are not alone in your convictions. G-d speed my friend.

Aleric, I have a suggestion, learn the bow or black powder. The bow is one of the most primitive weapons, and a hunter who can use a bow will have great pride in his sport. The black powder rifles are now delivering almost the same accuracy at 70 yards as a sporting rifle, that’s about as good as you can get. When the holes touch each other, you are there, my friend.

I have worked in Ky over the years, I love the country and the people. There is one thing I can tell you for sure, rarely will you get a shot over 70 yards, the country is just too lush, discounting cultivated fields of course. This is country for the bow or black powder. Makes me want to head over there next season. Both weapons require an initial investment of approximately $300 to $400 to get started, but after that it is cheap.

I hunted with a bow as a boy and loved every minute, I still have my bow, but 50 year old bows are not supposed to be restrung so in the future I will need to buy another one. The pulley bow is the most powerful and practical, but I think I will get a simple recurve, I like the simplicity.

The black powder rifles are unbelievable, you can cast your own bullets and every load is a hand load.

Go hunting Aleric, enjoy life. G-d speed my friend.

Interesting analogy. However, I must point out that it kind of plays right into the hands of Democrats, who might argue that it’s better to (metaphorically speaking)
1) envelope our country in a corpse and
2) gamble on our ability (or the ability of the next generation) to dig ourselves out
before freezing, suffocating, or being eaten by a bear

than to

1) freeze to death outright.

I’m not saying I agree in any way, shape, or form with the policies Obama enacted – however, the story they’re trying to sell is that we were facing Great Depression 2, these policies were the only way to avoid it, and that yes, we’ll have a horrendous mess of things to deal with over the next 20 years to recover.

Aside from that – thanks for the good read, and very glad to hear it didn’t turn out like Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”.

jlfintx, thank you for the kind words. I am from the Mennonite Church and have fallen to worldliness in many ways; although, I don’t worry over the end times, I am concerned with my life and my relationship with G-d. I have just started rereading the Book and putting my personal life in order. Please drop in occasionally, I have some back country stories that can relate to the Book and modern life in the works. I think you will enjoy them.

G-d speed my friend.

Skookum

The great thing about the one True God is his mercy and forgiveness. Since the debt has already been paid, all you need to do is have your feet washed as it were. John 13

It seems like most of the people that have been really plugged in for the duration (of which I am not one) are seeing this as the end of the age, if not the end of this country. I mean, I have heard certain religious leaders spend time on end-times issues before, but never have I seen so many that are not about playing that fear game now ready to concede that this may indeed be what we really have been looking for.

We may be seeing the end of the times of the gentiles. Only God knows, but I certainly am not fearful. I guess my biggest decision would be what exactly do I do for myself and my family. Certainly self-defense is needed, but it depends on what the threat is I guess.

I know I am probably not sounding like I am making any sense; I have trouble with words as I am not a wordsmith. Numbers are more my forte.

Oh, and It is so funny about what Kevin said about Jack London’s book. I was telling my wife last night about that story that we had to do a report in high school about and I could not think of the name of the book. I just remember this old teacher always calling him a greenhorn!

Kevin, I am glad the article reminded you of London. I immediately walked to the bookshelf and pulled down his book of stories and I opened to it to “To Build A Fire” on page 686 out of 1200, what a coincidence!

The mind plays tricks with you when you are fighting hypothermia, sometimes it is hard to keep your priorities in order.

I have family up there with three goldmines in the Henderson Creek area. They are living large with Gold over a thousand.

Of course the cold that is up there is considerably colder than anything I have ever witnessed; but anything colder than 40 below (Celsius or Fahrenheit, makes no difference for they are the same at 40 below) is serious cold and should not be taken lightly. I once saw the thermometer hit 68 F below before the glass let in air and ruined the thermometer.

You obviously have a creative mind, may I remind you that it is not easy, at least for me, to make analogies from the mountains to the current political situation. I commend you on your analogies and observations, I think we could expect some pretty wild stuff from you, especially if you apply yourself and submit a manuscript.

G-d speed my friend.

tfhr, I think Reader makes a habit of poor food, that might account for the lack of manners. There is a great difference between criticism and insult. I can live with criticism, it can help you with self-improvement; I almost never worry with insults, being an imposing figure who can easily handle horses that strike mortal terror into other people, surrounds you with a layer of mysticism that no one else challenges or even considers insulting. After all a 250 pound man compared to a 1200 pound horse that can move quicker than you can see, is no comparison. But cowards can hide in the anonymous voice of cyber confrontation. For some, this is the only place they have the courage to voice their feelings, at work they are nothing, at home they are nothing, on the freeway they can be a heroic poor man’s Parnelli Jones, at least until the law catches up with them. This is the same personality that strikes and runs, like a fear biting dog.

@Skookum:

Well said.

There was also one sentence that caused me to wonder if there was something written between the lines: “I think Reader makes a habit of poor food, that might account for the lack of manners.”

Are you politely implying that “Reader” needs to add more fiber to his diet?

The thing that puzzles me about “commentary” from dullards like “Reader” is the utter lack of imagination. I accept that they are cowardly but as long as they’ve sunk so low, why not embelish?! What irks me further is the uninvited interruption of a good thread.

I’ve enjoyed reading all of the comments inspired by your post and the thoughts of living in or even near such a place as you’ve described was heavy on my mind today as I was encased in glacial paced Beltway traffic. Parnelli, my foot! When the traffic does break and there is some room available to pick up the pace the people you refer to are drifting, weaving and dodging as they text, tail gate, and find new ways to avoid a successful merge or lane change.

Enjoy your horses and I’ll enjoy hearing about them.

Skook,

I’m scheming over a plan to take an elk with my bow (Bowtech compound), trophy trout on the dry-fly, and wing-shooting over the Magdog…all in the same neighborhood. Two questions: Is my Rem710 (plebian), chambered in .270 & Uncle Clem’s ballistic-tip 130gr reloads, enough muscle for BC moose? And, once you’ve found a spot for your base, do you want some company for a working vacation to build a cabin, clear pasture, run a fence, etc?

Lemme know. And God speed to you too, my friend.

tfhr, I assume you refer to the Beltway around DC. I have many not so fond memories of trying to avoid the Beltway rush hours before 9/11 in the days that I worked the East Coast and Europe. I was not impressed with the Beltway driver; although the Orange County, CA driver seems to have earned the prize for driving the most expensive cars in the most dangerous and foolhardy ways. That stretch of the 405 that runs through Huntington Beach must be one of the most dangerous highways in the world.

After 9/11, security pulled me into offices for interrogation before nearly every flight. I fit the profile of fanatic Middle Easterner 6′ 2” light brown hair (back then) green eyes and horse equipment, every terrorist travels with suspicious looking horse equipment. Thus we made our country safe, but I gave up a lot of business overseas, because I was tired of being harassed at every airport. Now, I could use some of that overseas business and I bet the airlines wish they had some high mileage guys like me still flying. Just blowing off steam.

I try to put myself in a Zen mode while driving, stupidity and rudeness regarding something as trivial as driving shouldn’t intrude into our lives. Hope that helps.

Yes, Reader would benefit from a fiber injection into the brain pan.

Hope you have a good day. G-d speed my friend

Jeff, a kindred spirit who can pull his own weight is always welcome at my place.

Many of the rivers I fished in Northern BC drained into the arctic, consequently the fish were old. A big one was usually twenty years old. So it was with a sense of reverence that I killed one for dinner.

The Bow River that runs through Calgary is the best trout fishing in the world and the stocks are continually replenished, so there is no worry over killing a fish.

I knew several guys who hunted with a 270, they seemed to do as well as the rest of us. The major topic of discussion was deflection of bullets in the brush. Usually if you can see the animal, there isn’t that much brush, besides a one inch branch will deflect any bullet. If you are comfortable with the rifle and shoot well, you will have no trouble. All too often, guys rely on magnums to make up for accuracy and proficiency, and then flinch anticipating the recoil. It takes work and concentration to improve your marksmanship and that is the bottom line.

I admired the guys who hunted exclusively with a bow or black powder, they had to employ superior hunting skills to make their kills; although most of them didn’t have a bunch of bush bunnies to feed. Within two years, I will be financially secure or broke, in either case I will be headed for the mountains: somewhere between Whitehorse Yukon, Territories and Williams Lake BC, a lot will depend on my financial situation. I count the days like a prisoner serving his term, my deals were supposed to come through two years ago, so I sit with time added onto my sentence, for a crime I didn’t commit.

Look up ranches and farms for sale in BC and you can see what the country is like. Life is too grand to spend it locked up in a city.

G-d speed my friend and good hunting!

the best blog i ever found the best comments and Skookum i want to read about thoses couguars storys too you are my hero,thank you.

jlfintx, actually Jesus said we shouldn’t concern ourselves over when the end of time will come, that was good enough for me. I have no intention of arguing with the big guy or contradicting him. I am a sinner, but not a fool.

London only spent one winter in the Yukon and headed for California with the Scurvy and a wealth of stories. More money was spent on supplies and transportation getting to the Yukon than came out. Although some hit it big, most went home as defeated, broken men and many died there. A few stayed and their descendants are there still.

The romanticism fades as the thermometer drops below the 40 below mark, weeks of those cold temperatures drives some men insane. I have seen that several times, it is ugly.

Yes you are a Cheechako until you spend your first winter in the North. It’s a good humored term of derision for greenhorns. I assume that it is a Native word, many are integrated into the local language up there. Many of the early French trappers took native wives and had a habit of naming their children after French heroes, consequently many natives think names like Napoleon and Bonaparte are traditional native names. Isn’t life a big party!

G-d speed my friend.

ilovebees, thank you for the kind words. English is a complicated language, it is easy for those of us who speak English as a first language to write something, without realizing that it is perceived as an insult by someone else. I saw one of your comments a while back and said, hmmm a little out of character; and bingo it was seized upon by a zealous patriot. Don’t sweat it, it happens to all of us occasionally. If you can purchase Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, by Lynne Truss it may help you with some of the finer points of English and give you a few laughs in the process. It takes a talented writer to make you laugh at English grammar and syntax. I also use Usage and Abusage for the fine frog hair that is purely debatable and on those long evenings, when I want to argue with myself.

My personal cougar stories are not that exciting, except for the sequence of events that happened one evening after a lovesick female cougar found me irresistible and start tracking me down a river of ice. I will try to put that story into a decent format that applies to our pathetic administration in the next few days.

For this story I offer a trailer or teaser as the say: from my hero William Shakespeare’s Sonnet #129

On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so,….
A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.

All this the world well knows, yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this Hell

Now bees if you can find the literal translation to that Sonnet, no not the one they use in school, but the early 17 th Century translation that the patrons in the Globe laughed heartily over rather than watching decapitations and torture, bear baiting and dog fighting and gong to the whore House named the Rose behind the theater, you will be well on our way to appreciating the utter madness of the English language. Don’t publish your results in the commentary, we strive to maintain a certain level of decorum, just let me know if you accomplish your mission. Life is a blast if we just break free of these chains that bind us in provincial thought.

G-d Speed my friend.

“Aleric, I have a suggestion, learn the bow or black powder. The bow is one of the most primitive weapons, and a hunter who can use a bow will have great pride in his sport. The black powder rifles are now delivering almost the same accuracy at 70 yards as a sporting rifle, that’s about as good as you can get. When the holes touch each other, you are there, my friend.”

Skookum thank you for the advice, I am actually a very good shot with a long bow, having been given one by my father when I was 7 years old. It was a Green Bear Long Bow and I used to be able to hit a balloon blowing in the wind along the ground at 50 yards. Never cared much for the compound bows my friends used to tout as being the best, since being half Chiracau Apache it didn’t seem right to try and improve on something that was already perfect. Never cared much for hunting deer since it seemed too easy to hit them no matter what I used. I used to hunt doves but most of the places now a days are closed off or baited which I never approved of. Perhaps I will try and get a wild boar next year.

Skookum

jlfintx, actually Jesus said we shouldn’t concern ourselves over when the end of time will come, that was good enough for me.

While that is true He also said to be ready and watch. Remember the story about the 10 virgins and the servants that He left in charge. He said he was coming like a thief in the night.

Now I just realize that I am talking about apples and oranges, because based on a book I am currently reading, those verses apply to the second coming and not a rapture. However, I do believe He did say that certain things would be happening (birth pangs) and that we could keep watch. Of course, not obsessing because we still have to live our lives.

And you are talking to a expert at sinning, I say to my own shame.

By the way, I in no way shape or form, want to go on anyone’s blog (or to their guests) and start preaching. I do believe that there will be a time for that soon enough, but those who will not believe will not believe. I am astounded at Revelation where the people are experiencing events unimaginable and still will not repent. I think I saw a glimmer of that before, maybe in LA after a famous trial, or in another place after a hurricane.

@Skookum:

That would be the same Beltway and my presence on it was an unusual thing for that time of day. I’ve learned many strategies for dealing with the traffic if avoidance is not an option but in the end, I will have to move from this area.

I learned to drive here when I was a kid so I’m as acclimated to it as anyone can be and I have to say that I found transitioning into third world road nets to be simple as a result.

Until I retired I was working shift which meant I hit the road NLT 0430 for a day shift or ran against the traffic at 1500 when I was working the night shift. Despite working shift I still saw a steady increase in traffic volume and added traffic lights which turned my 35 minute trip to a 45 – 50 minute trip over just the last two years. I mention those numbers because leaving at 0600 turns the trip into an hour long ordeal if there are no accidents adding to the congestion. That might not sound so bad until you learn that my home and place of work were just about twelve miles apart as the crow flies.

tfhr, twelve miles mmm mmm, that’s a bitter pill to swallow. You could make better time on a bicycle, ok I wont rub it in. I used t worl in the Unionvlle PA area and then in Northeastern Maryland around Calora and Rising Sun, then I would frop down to Burtonvile Marland and Falls Church VA and finally down to Charlottesville and Southern Pines. It was all great horse areas and fairly nice people.

Drive Safe, God Speed Skook

jlfintx, history has been so hard on people at times, I think many people in the past have felt they were surely in the end times with war, disease, famine, and natural disasters. It s only unt the last few decades that we have been aware of world wide disasters. To us they seem catastrophic, however in the past we missed much of these horrible events and now world events seem so much more tragic simply because we know of them, too tired to continue catch you on the flip side.

Aleric, I felt pride reading your notes. One of my best friends in the Marines was an Apache. He introduced me to the South West and to hot food, he was one o the best men I have ever known.

The English were great long bow men. Their arrows could pierce the armor of the knights and made knights obsolete. Their weapons were so accurate and powerful that many people thought that war was so terrible because of the long bow that no one could go to war because it was so deadly. Every Englishman or Yoeman was required to shoot his bow so many hours a week and to make a certain amount of arrows every week. During England’s Hundred year War with France, the French were capturing English bowmen and cutting off the middle finger of the right hand so that they couldn’t pull the long bow. The English finally surrounded the French army at Aggincourt at day break and in the first few minutes of daylight they raised their right hands and showed the middle finger of their right hand to taunt and terrorize the French before they decimated them with their arrows. Thus the one finger salute that is so popular today was started.

My bow is a Bear Grizzly, 45 pound pull recurve, I always liked the recurve and it is a little easier to string. Boar with a bow sounds like a great hunt. Is there a season or is it just open? I’ve heard those can be great eating and they can get huge. I am going to get a new bow soon and start practicing. Thanks for the inspiration Aleric, I like a purist hunter. The true reason they call it hunting and not killing.

Keep me informed my friend, G-d speed.

Skookum I will have to introduce you to my Texan Grandmothers white chili. They say if you leave it in the bowl too long it eats the enamel off.

Boar in KY or Wild Pigs as they also call them here are a year round game, and Eastern KY is probably the best place to take one in the hollows. Will let you know if I get gored or eaten in the future…lol.

@Skookum:

Unfortunately that 12 miles includes both banks of the Potomac, hence the crow reference. And don’t kid yourself into thinking I haven’t thought about using a jet ski – anything larger and I’d just head down river and not return.

You mentioned C-ville. It is a likely future destination for the next phase of my professional life. Got one of my Labs from some folks near Orange, VA – it’s beautiful country there and many of the people are actually Southerners – so I’d say it’s a good place to live too.

tfhr, there is strong military tradition on the banks of the Potomac and Cville, I suppose you are aware of that.

I had a female Lab in the early eighties, one of th best dogs in the world. I had a long driveway and there was the remote possibility of bear attack or a deranged moose or elk, but she walked down with my little ones and waited until they boarded the bus and then walked back to the ranch house. She had an uncanny ability to know when the bus was coming to drop the kids off and she would walk down to the end of the driveway and wait until the kids got off the bus, simply amazing.

I had a black bear that would prowl the ranch whenever I would leave, m ex and I were afraid of an attack, but the bear knew not to show up while I was there, so U showed M ex how to shoot the rifle and told her to shoot the bear or never tell me about it again. I came home from work and she had shot the bear and he ran off. Oh boy! I took my Lab and followed the profuse blood trail into some dark muskeg. I was thinking it was too dark to shoot at a charging wounded bear when the hair on my dog’s back stood up and she started sneaking forward like she meant to do serious business. I followed her, and I should have stayed back and waited for the fight to sart; but I was worried about my brave dog’s life. About thirty yards into the dark swamp, she found the bear dead as hell, thank goodness. I’ve been lucky and had many wonderful dogs, but I was sure proud of her that night. I cooked her a nice moose steak and she ate it like a lion.

G-d speed my friend and good hunting.