It's a cold rainy day here in the Northwest (Rainforest).....and I'm not getting much strawberry transplanting done :-)

It's a good thing I grass seeded all the bare spots, put moss out on all the mossy stuff and mowed the yard and field yesterday

I GOT A NICE TOASTY FIRE GOIN DOWN CELLAR.........so lets take a trip down memory lane.

I used to go with a group of guys every year up to Cranberry Lake in the Adirondaks to go deer hunting ?

WELL.....in reality.....The hunting sucked up there and it was more like one O those whiskey sodden card playing male bonding things that anti-hunting women love to bitch about :-I

SO........it was usually a freeze your ass off event.....and since Arab had proven Himself a decent bow hunter........I invited him along :-)

NOW THERE WAS Mountan Man Doug Mitchel.....a die hard hunter, and a couple friends of his, COWBOY (killer Denny) who had just purchased a new Ruger bolt action in 6.5 REM (a little hotter n a .243 win) with the scope mounts built right onto the reciever.......That gun was a tack driver at 400 yards, and he had invited little Joe Welburn ( the son of our shop foreman :-O

little Joe was NOT LITTLE :-O

ANYWAY.....Cranberry Lake is a state Park, and the best hunting was across the lake........and cabins were more like 1/2 cabins, open on oneside with stonework fireplaces/GRILLS centered in the structure and the walls were all BUNKS.

To get to these cabins from the parking area was a 6 mile trip by horseback (THAT'S ANOTHER STORY).....or a 2 mile boat trip..(we had rowboats w/5hors. engines ;-)

WELL.......I had this old Military Surplus Radio tent (more like just the roof....the screen bottom had been destroyed years before).....and we would throw this old tent roof over the cabin strycture so the flap for the antenna could be used as a small window......and lash it down but leave the corners bungied so you could get outside from either corner quickly to get rid of old whiskey. (just so ya know Arab didn't drink or play cards :-I

WELL....that first night Killer Denny had some topographical maps and A PLAN......up in the mountains.........it's hard to do deer drives like down where we lived....hunting up there was more like WORK.

But Cowboy showed these us his plan which involved gettin early and driving way up top on some old logging roads and dropping a single pusher at the top of three different draws that all led into one valley.....where the rest of them would set up ambush shooting points.........IT LOOKED GOOD ON PAPER.......but the next morning.......after going down the draw I was assigned to.....on a reainey drizzly morning in whiskey sodden state....i decided WOW......on the map the terrain didn't look nearly this bad :-(

THERE WAS NOTHING FOR IT but to keep heading down......where I would meet up with Arab coming down the next draw over.......and then Mt. Man doug and one of his brothers in the final draw.....then all of us would push the big draw down to the little vally just above our cabin :-)

IT TOOK WAY LONGER THAN ANYONE HAD ANTICIPATED......BUT IT WORKED......we pushed like 7 deer down into that valley and cowboy nailed a little 6 pt. out of the group :-)

and by the time we got that scrawney deer back to camp we were all soaked and exhausted.....and come to find that a bear had raided our food locker....and ate all the bacon and hamburger and made a total mess out of everything while we were gone :-(

WELL.....there was still a bunch of canned spam left and eggs that didn't get broke....so I set up to cleaning up the bear mess and gettin some food started while the rest of em hung the deer up and skinned it or sat around drinking whiskey and watching.

Arab was helping skin the deer........IN FACT.........Arab had kinda gone all DAVY CROCKET on us this trip.......where all the rest of us had high powered scoped rifles......He'd bought along a blackpowder muzzle loader....with powder he made himself ( shoulda never showed him how)....and all dressed up in buckskins and a coonskin cap like Daniel Boone.

AFTER CHOW.......there was a little drinking and card playing but we were all so tired we all passed out before long........Arab had passed out and was snoring horribly while we were playing cards.

ANY the wind kicked up the temperature started dropping.....I put as much wood into the fireplace as would fit and was the last one into the sack.

The next thing I rembered was a LOUD BANG.........and suddenly the Tent part of the cabin was on fire :-O

AND EVEY BODY WAS SCRAMBLING TO GET IT OFF OF THE CABIN BEFORE THE WHOLE THING WENT UP :-O

What had happened was THE BEAR CAME BACK.....and was trying to get back into the food locker which was right up against the tent......And ARAB woke up.......and the Bear was Leaning right against the tent so's he could make out it's outline........and he picked up that muzzle loader charged with that home made black powder......and shot the bear right through the tent from where he was laying.......and all the sparks from the muzzle flask set the tent on fire :-(

By the time we got the tent off of the structure and stomped out.....there wasn't much left of it........AND AGAIN WE FROZE OUR ASSES OFF till daylight....when It was light enough to see Me n Arab went to find his bear......it was only about 200 yards away dead n stiff.

Cowboy n doug took a boat and went to town to buy some tarps and more burger n bacon n eggs.

After we got that bear skinned........I took Arab and the other boat and we went fishin :-)

^i^