Author Topic: I want snow!  (Read 4044 times)

Offline PJ Hardtack

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I want snow!
« on: October 11, 2015, 04:30:39 PM »
It's a beautiful October and the leaves are all but gone, but ..... I want snow! I want to see tracks so I know what's moving out there.

The weather is unseasonably warm and the game is still at the beach, or wherever it goes when it's not around here. The lady meese are still showing up regularly across the lake, but the bulls are not making their presence known. Elsewhere the rut is under way.

Oh well, it's still a joy to be out there under sunny skies, my 50-70 Sharps carbine in hand. Won't be long I'll be cursing the snow and the winds that cut you to the bone and freeze exposed  skin on contact.
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to others and I require the same from them."  John Wayne

Offline nagantino

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2015, 03:58:32 AM »
Yeah, we need the seasons. When the cold hits you want the warm. When I did hunt game, I had a stretch of rough land behind the Black Mountain. I would walk it muttering that no game was on it anywhere. One Saturday when the snow was on the ground, it was covered in tracks of birds, fox and hare.

Offline PJ Hardtack

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2015, 11:26:03 AM »
I've seen a lot of tracks and sign in snow I might have otherwise missed.

Most amazing was finding the carcass and drop tine rack of a large Mule Deer. The ground around it showed a feeding frenzy had taken place over the carcass. EVERY type of track was there, including those of eagles, ravens, coyotes, wolves, etc.

I was on x-country skis and had a downhill 10 km slope to my truck or I would have put the rack on my back and skied out. But I was worried about those tines if I crashed on the icy surface. Now I wish I had stashed it off road and come back for it later ....
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to others and I require the same from them."  John Wayne

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #3 on: Today at 06:53:00 AM »

Offline Johnny McCrae

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2015, 04:22:07 AM »
I used to want snow for a different reason. For the past forty years I would downhill ski the winter away here in Wisconsin until Mr. Arthritis snuck into my hip.

Quote
I was on x-country skis and had a downhill 10 km slope to my truck or I would have put the rack on my back and skied out. But I was worried about those tines if I crashed on the icy surface.
I have never x-country skied but I think it was a good idea not to carry the rack. Sounds like you had a great experience in some beautiful wide open country.

You need to learn to like all the little everday things like a sip of good whiskey, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk,  and a feisty old gentleman like myself

Offline PJ Hardtack

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2015, 10:36:37 AM »
X-country skiing is great as an aerobic exercise. I used to live where we had 50 kms of groomed trails of various degrees of challenge.
Here I step out the door, put on my skis/snowshoes and get on the lake or the snowmobile trails and take off! No lift fees, no expensive gear and no crowds.

A few years back I did the final 25 mile leg of a sled dog race and beat two dog teams! I figured that where a 6 dog team could go, so could I. It was a slow steady climb all the way with a couple of really tough hills. Took me 5-1/2 hours. Survived a blizzard at the top. Had no more clothes to put on, only chocolate and water (which was freezing) and no means of starting a fire if I had gone down.

The organizers had no idea I was out there until my wife asked them to check on me. They sent out a couple of snowmobiles, found me and took off! I guess they figured I was doing OK.

Poor planning on my part and my wife was not pleased.
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to others and I require the same from them."  John Wayne

Offline Johnny McCrae

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2015, 09:15:49 AM »
That 25 mile trip was quite an adventure. You have to be in pretty good shape to a trip like that.

I may not be able to downhill ski again because of my hip but you have planted the seed for me to try x-country skiing. I think I might be able do that as long as I don't get take too steep of a downhill run. I used to ski some moguls out west and was clocked at 54.3 mph on a run last year. Those days are over with for me now.
You need to learn to like all the little everday things like a sip of good whiskey, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk,  and a feisty old gentleman like myself

Offline PJ Hardtack

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2015, 10:06:15 AM »
I've worked at it all my life. Had a hard physical job for most of my working life.

I'll be 73 late November. I do a daily exercise routine that would hospitalize most people I know that includes hand stand push up, chin ups, etc. The I go to work on our wood lot with a chain saw and walk the dogs.

I'm 5 years in remission and was told by my oncologist that my high level of fitness and diet were factors in my recovery. That's motivation enough for me! I see what happens to people who have had the opposite attitude towards diet and exercise.

EVERY day is a good day, not to die, but to live.
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to others and I require the same from them."  John Wayne

Offline Johnny McCrae

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2015, 12:03:51 PM »
Quote
EVERY day is a good day, not to die, but to live.
Well said! Your story is an inspiration.
You need to learn to like all the little everday things like a sip of good whiskey, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk,  and a feisty old gentleman like myself

Offline PJ Hardtack

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Re: I want snow!
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2015, 06:06:54 PM »
Well, I'm just paying it forward. I got my inspiration from the bald headed kids I saw when I was undergoing treatment. Them and the beautiful ladies wearing hats and wigs who were undergoing chemo.

A couple of years back, one of our lady CAS shooters was at the SASS Champs shooting with a shunt in her arm for her chemo. She was the hands down choice for the "Spirit of the Game" award. Now it appears that she isn't going to make it. It will be a sad day for us when she leaves us and I'm pretty sure there will be one hell of a memorial for her and an event or award in her memory.
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to others and I require the same from them."  John Wayne

 

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