The Bucks Were Not Cooperative

The trip was a fine one. My Bronco ran great and had little difficulty with the old jeep trail. I drove in the day before season started to set up camp. It was quite breezy so setting up the 12'x18' tent by myself very interesting. It wasn't too bad until it was time for the rainfly. It was amusing and a little frustrating but I have learned to expect such challenges. We make up some one-pot meals to freeze before the trip that make dinner real easy. The first night was some fine leftover beef & noodles. The tent was a little noisy through the night as the wind never really let up.
Part of the camp is a folding stand with a regular toilet seat on it that I made up out of some leftover aluminum angle and stainless steel chain. A spot is picked a little way from camp providing some privacy distance. It is really nice to have a spot to sit. As you get older you will appreciate not trying to squat and balance.
I went out opening day and it was windy. I saw 5 deer with one of them being a very little spike. I passed on the little guy. There was also a dead kit fox that someone had blasted with a high power round. The tail looked nice so I cut it off to take home.






I also saw two Coatimundi and got to watch them working a hillside for things to eat. I thought about shooting the larger one and getting it mounted but that opportunity did not present itself. I did not want to shoot it with a 50 cal muzzle loader so it needed to be close enough for pistol.



I saw more bear scat in this area than I have seen in the last 20 years. There has always been sign but not this much.

That night, I had some freeze dried Italian Beef Pasta. We normally try out freeze dried foods at home first to see if it is fittin' to eat. You really want to stick to the common types of food. Chicken Stew, Beef Stew, Chicken & Rice, you get the idea. Time to divert to another time and place. We were backpacking along the Georgian Bay in Canada and one evening we had freeze dried food called Turkey Tetrazzini. There six of us and no one would eat it. We dubbed it Turkey Tetrachloride. this is when we started tested things prior to being out in the boonies. Now back to the current time line. Italian Beef Pasta sounds pretty normal doesn't it? Tasted good! I have never had gas like this aside from being ill! You did not know if you should go ahead and let one go because the pressure was great enough that you could easily drop a load in your shorts. I went over to that little seat about 6 times before bed. Nothing but gas. Heck, I could have won one of the crepitating contests! I figured I should move the seat closer to the tent as this had no indications of letting up and was getting cold out. Finally, everything seemed comfortable enough to crawl in the sleeping bag. I woke up about 2 in the morning and thought I was going to explode. Can I make outside to the seat? Unzip the bag, get your shoes on (no small feet, no pun intended), and stand up to a thunderous roar that would make any mountain man proud. No mess, no fuss. This baby should have been witnessed. We usually try to rank farts by three qualities. Ranked 1 to 10 for each category of loudness, duration and olfactory quality. An easy 26 but not a 30 as it was lacking in some of the necessary olfactory components for a perfect score. That seemed to be it for the evening. No other distress except for copious amounts of gas. I don't think I will buy that one again.

Saturday afternoon, my hunting partner rolled in. There was a little rain earlier. I was only rained on just long enough to make me go back to camp to get a poncho. It naturally stopped raining when I got back to camp. I had seen more deer that day but nothing I could grow antlers on.

Sunday was gorgeous as the wind was down and it was warming a touch. You could take a nap in the afternoon leaning against a tree with no problem. Monday was much the same except that evening we saw a lion about 146 yards (yes, I carry a range finder) from camp. He had disappeared by the time the rifle was gotten off the hood of the truck. We watched until it was dark but no more lion. Darn, I always carry a lion tag just in case.

We both broke camp on Tuesday. I hunted Wednesday as a day-hunt off the observatory road with no better luck.

How long is your wife supposed to chew on the fox tail to make sure that the hide is good and soft?