Last winter...

[Kye 77]

The Reservation (Rez) is a great place. Its only three hours drive from mine, and it has a HUGE varity of game, and small game animals. You never know what you may see. Elk, mule deer, coyote, turkeys, javalina...alsorts!

It wasnt to bad when we arrived, so we headed up higher into the mountains, bordering the Grand Canyon. Snow had been predicted, but thas was supposed to be a week away, and we where only ment to be there for five days.

So, myself, Ernest (or "Big Injun" as Stabs called him..lol.) and our mate Paul chose a nice area in a load of tall pine...Hopefully the pines would stop some of the prevailing wind. So whats the most important thing when your out a couple of hundred miles from the nearest house, 10.000 feet up on the side of the Grand Canyon, with Mt Lion, coyote and Bobcat walking around like they own the place? Thats right, youve guessed it! So i put the kettle on for a nice cup of tea, and got the dog unloaded. At the time Blister (my male staghound) was only about 7-8 months old. But i take him every where i go, to get him used to gun shots and stock and ragging the feck out of dead animals and the like..lol.

Just as we got unloaded, the snow started. Great! Im not bothered buy the cold, but when theres 1 1/2 foot in less than an hour with a wind coming in off the grand canyon, you get colder than a witches tit! So i had to strip off, and put all new cloths on. You would think that the most majestic sight on that reservation would be a trophy bull elk, with a fine head. But let me tell you, there is something mighty fine about seeing a shivering red haired englishman, with his arse cheeks as white as the snow falling around him, trying to put thermals on in more than a foot of snow.

Once i had gotten dressed, we had a quick brew, and loaded up the truck. It was a full moon, and there was plenty of snow, so even at 12 midnight, you could see hundreds of yards in front of you. It was beautiful! Ive never seen so many stars in my life. We could see the herds of Elk or Wapiti as the Injuns call them, running of nervously as we approached. There seemed to be loads of Bobcat tracks in the fresh snow. I can remember thinking "I would do anything for some hounds right now!"

It was getting late, so we took the truck back to camp. It had stopped snowing now and the wind had almost dropped to nothing. It was like Mother Nature was giving us a break, but it turned out to be the calm before the storm so to speak!...worse was to come!

We got back into camp, and changed our cloths for the looser more comfortable camp gear, so as to not make your hunting cloths to smoky.

All the rifles where unloaded, and locked in the trucks, and we changed them for the pump action shot guns, loaded with 04 Buck shot. We always keep these in the tent at night. You never know who or what could pay you a visit.

For some reason, both Ernest and Paul, seem to snore extra loud on pupose when i hunt with them. I swear, next time, i will take my own tent. I had an added advantage of having Blister to keep me warm in my sleeping bag. It was so cold. You have to sleep fully clothed, with hat and gloves on. It was a hard first night, and i slpet fit fully, wakeing every 15 or 20 minutes. Every now and then, Blister would jump out from the sleeping bag, and stand at the door of the tent, with his hackles slightly raised. That always makes me nervous, because he is such a good mannered dog. Its the only time i have seen him do it, and he still does it when we hunt there.

We had gotten into camp at about 2;30 and we where up at 5;30. When we awoke, there was ice on the inside of the tent, and Blister for some reason, had decided to sleep on top of the sleeping bags that night, resulting in a very bewildered Staghound pup running around camp, wondering why he had a frozen sleeping bag attached to himself! He has never felt the cold, and has even curled up out side asleep in the snow before! He wakes up, with frost and icycles hanging from his shaggy coat. Then he just streches, yawns, has a piss, and is as good as new!...I get up, moan about the cold, moan about eating cold breakfast because all the woods wet (we take a gas cooker now!) and try to find my pennis so that i can take a piss!..lol.

After the usual of having breakfast, swapping the shot guns for the rifles, and feeding the dog a little grub to keep him warm, we look about camp for 'sign'.

I found plenty of Yote tracks, just fifty yards from the camp (looked like just one, so that would be why we didnt hear them chatting to one anothet in the night) while Ernest found some good sign of Elk and mule deer. I even managed to get a squirrel, which i gutted and left in the game bag at camp for some more food for us when we returned....

 

 

 

Too be continued tommorow if i have time!

 

 

 

Kye...

[Nipper 0]

Very interesting. How did you come to live in the States?

[Kane 2]

Sounds like your living the life,I reckon you have left the bit out about cuddling big injuns to keep warm lol

[Jordan 1]

That sounds the life kye

[MikeTheDog 153]

Very interesting. How did you come to live in the States?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's a longer story than kye's posts :11: :11: :11: :11:

 

Good on ya kye, you got satelite link up to your laptop pc there