Ratdog68
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Generally, the Ugly speaks of the weather during hunting season in WA State. The rain was brutal as we left, blowing sideways, and pouring down. Prayers were that it would improve after crossing the pass to the east side. We left early. Less than 20 miles from the crest of the pass, disaster struck. Truck loaded, trailer with a relatively light load, load levelers/stabilizers newly installed the day before. My buddy's rig is a '90 Silverado 1T 4x4 with a T400 auto, probably 1:4.11 geared. Stout, and capable with the 454 CID. Long story short... smoked the tranny near Mt Rainier, 100 miles from Seattle. About a month ago, we were hauling wood pellets for his home's stove (2 tons worth) when the load shifted in the trailer on a very steep hill, just three blocks from his house. He'd had to shift down into 1st to make the hill (we hadn't felt the load shift). The sudden weight change had settled the fenders onto the rear trailer wheels, acting like brakes. The damage must've been done then. No rattle from the torque converter, so we were still building fluid pressure when it smoked. But the revs climbed and the speed dropped, and a cloud of white smoke from beneath. We were able to get turned around and head 20 miles to the last "town". Cooling it off would allow us to get enough grab to limp down the mountain. The clutches are probably toast, the fluid is burned. Time to drop it and rebuild it. AAA tow back to Seattle, then a 120 mile round trip (north) to borrow another rig. It was midnight before we got to sleep Saturday night.
The Bad for this trip was that inspite of 2 in our overall party getting their spike bulls, we didn't see one single elk from our truck/walks. We saw at least 10 mule deer though... season was not open for deer. We saw other camps with hides draped over logs, and one 6x6 rack displayed. Big bulls was special permit draw only, as were cow tags. This area was spike bull only.
The Good on this trip was manifold. We got out to hunt. The rains were settling as we were setting up camp (14x20 canvas wall tent). We extended the ridge pole another 20' and had it tarped for a cooking/dining fly. To that, another 10x10 pop-up shelter to keep gear out of the rain. The tent has a wood stove inside. The tarp used to wrap the tent and floor canvas didn't stop the deluge as we travelled... plus having to leave the trailer abandoned at the little town while we got towed back to Seattle, more time soaking in the down pour.
The folks at a tavern in the town, had a great fire place, we were warming/drying as we were hanging out there.
The weather broke Sunday night, and it became clear/cold. The wood stove roaring away inside the tent... by day two, we had dry canvas under foot once again. The tent walls/roof also dried out nicely. DRY and cold is much nicer. By yesterday morning, we were waking up to 25F temps.
Unlike another area we'd hunted in previous years, we were able to DRIVE the logging roads to hunting areas, instead of having to park at the highway's locked gate, and hiking in. This area is eastern WA (drier), the other area was western WA (WET).
GEAR: Camp was great once we got dried out. I had a couple of sets of hunting clothes to choose from, all was adequate for conditions. The cots/bags/clothing... all remained dry getting there, so we were GTG there. We both brought a chainsaw, I also brought an axe and splitting maul. We'd also brought 4 big trash bags full of lumber scraps (2x4), so we were GTG for fuel for the stove.
Day 1 there... I hunted with my Win '94 .30-30, and used my shooting sticks. Not bad, would require a learning curve to master their use. The rain was diminishing, VERY wet though. We camped at 2,500', snow level was 4,000'. About 6-8" of snow fell up there.
The other 3 days, I hunted with my 6.8 AR. I was using a telescopic mono-pod walking/shooting pole. Pretty stable for holding on target. The ability to adjust the length of the stick for varied shooting spots' needs was also nice. The down side to this pole is the inherent "un-natural" sound it makes if a rock is bumped, or the tip of the barrel (two point sling, front carry). I'll definitely be building my other 6.8 barrel with a carbon fiber fore end. 25F temps and a cheese-grater quad rail is chilly on the paws, even with thin gloves, medium weight gloves, not bad. Quite handy... my Primos "Hoochie Mamma" handheld cow call is right at home banded to the sling near the handguard. A simple band, cut from a small diameter bicycle inner tube worked nicely.
Boots: A number of years ago, bought a pair of boots to use for hunting only. Worn them only in the woods while hunting, total use is about two weeks' worth. When not worn, stored clean/dry in the basement. Both soles are delaminating from the boots. My feet remained dry in them, but I can't trust them for another outing. These were "Sportsman's Guide" boots, leather/camo fabric mixed upper, water-proof. The soles are pretty soft material, comfy under foot, and nearly as quiet as sneakers too. The clue to trouble was it appeared I'd walked in a pool of pink bubble gum. The dark brown dye for the soles' edges where the meet the uppers had rubbed off, the material used is pink in color, and is delaminating from the upper.
My primary insulated/water-proof camo clothing came from Cabela's (house brand). It's a fleece outer fabric, I bought these about 25yrs. ago. They continue to perform flawlessly. The nylon lining is a little worn in places, but nothing remarkable
My back-up set of camo is lighter weight "Game Hyde". Pants/shirt, no complaints. The coat is warm, but does not have "slick/nylon" lining in the sleeves, kind of a pain donning the coat. The hood's interior fabric is the same soft/fuzzy material. Note to self, a patch of fuzzy Velcro on the adjustment band of a ball cap is needed, the scratchy side on the hat grabs the inside of the hood continually.
My Vortex Viper 2-7x32 scope performed great. Clear, and very capable in transmitting light. If you could make out detail with the naked eye, the scope provided equal illumination of the object being viewed.
A family member (decades ago) welded up a single wheeled game carrier. After he died, it was slated to go to the dump, nothing doing ! It lives in my driveway. The wheel has been upgraded to a flat-free wheel barrow wheel. It's centered below the carrier (fore/aft and side to side). It can be used with a buddy on the front end, or alone from behind. When the two elk (taken) in camp came down from hanging, and were to be loaded into the hunters' trailer... I had them lower them onto the cart (belly up) one at a time. I was able to (solo) easily manage them into the trailer (up the ramp) by myself. It was a great first test, passed with flying colors... and the help given netted me a fistful of home made deer jerky.
Aside from all the mule deer we saw, we saw a LOT of elk sign (tracks/scat), as well as a lot of bear scat. Heard a lot of thrashing in the brush one morning, learned later that afternoon two guys were following a wounded black bear (about 175 lbs. in size) yearling. Lots of gorgeous country covered. Haven't had good luck dealing with pix/Photobucket from my tablet, will see how it goes later.
We ate good, enjoyed a warm tent each evening, and made it back with an uneventful return trip.
The Bad for this trip was that inspite of 2 in our overall party getting their spike bulls, we didn't see one single elk from our truck/walks. We saw at least 10 mule deer though... season was not open for deer. We saw other camps with hides draped over logs, and one 6x6 rack displayed. Big bulls was special permit draw only, as were cow tags. This area was spike bull only.
The Good on this trip was manifold. We got out to hunt. The rains were settling as we were setting up camp (14x20 canvas wall tent). We extended the ridge pole another 20' and had it tarped for a cooking/dining fly. To that, another 10x10 pop-up shelter to keep gear out of the rain. The tent has a wood stove inside. The tarp used to wrap the tent and floor canvas didn't stop the deluge as we travelled... plus having to leave the trailer abandoned at the little town while we got towed back to Seattle, more time soaking in the down pour.
The folks at a tavern in the town, had a great fire place, we were warming/drying as we were hanging out there.
The weather broke Sunday night, and it became clear/cold. The wood stove roaring away inside the tent... by day two, we had dry canvas under foot once again. The tent walls/roof also dried out nicely. DRY and cold is much nicer. By yesterday morning, we were waking up to 25F temps.
Unlike another area we'd hunted in previous years, we were able to DRIVE the logging roads to hunting areas, instead of having to park at the highway's locked gate, and hiking in. This area is eastern WA (drier), the other area was western WA (WET).
GEAR: Camp was great once we got dried out. I had a couple of sets of hunting clothes to choose from, all was adequate for conditions. The cots/bags/clothing... all remained dry getting there, so we were GTG there. We both brought a chainsaw, I also brought an axe and splitting maul. We'd also brought 4 big trash bags full of lumber scraps (2x4), so we were GTG for fuel for the stove.
Day 1 there... I hunted with my Win '94 .30-30, and used my shooting sticks. Not bad, would require a learning curve to master their use. The rain was diminishing, VERY wet though. We camped at 2,500', snow level was 4,000'. About 6-8" of snow fell up there.
The other 3 days, I hunted with my 6.8 AR. I was using a telescopic mono-pod walking/shooting pole. Pretty stable for holding on target. The ability to adjust the length of the stick for varied shooting spots' needs was also nice. The down side to this pole is the inherent "un-natural" sound it makes if a rock is bumped, or the tip of the barrel (two point sling, front carry). I'll definitely be building my other 6.8 barrel with a carbon fiber fore end. 25F temps and a cheese-grater quad rail is chilly on the paws, even with thin gloves, medium weight gloves, not bad. Quite handy... my Primos "Hoochie Mamma" handheld cow call is right at home banded to the sling near the handguard. A simple band, cut from a small diameter bicycle inner tube worked nicely.
Boots: A number of years ago, bought a pair of boots to use for hunting only. Worn them only in the woods while hunting, total use is about two weeks' worth. When not worn, stored clean/dry in the basement. Both soles are delaminating from the boots. My feet remained dry in them, but I can't trust them for another outing. These were "Sportsman's Guide" boots, leather/camo fabric mixed upper, water-proof. The soles are pretty soft material, comfy under foot, and nearly as quiet as sneakers too. The clue to trouble was it appeared I'd walked in a pool of pink bubble gum. The dark brown dye for the soles' edges where the meet the uppers had rubbed off, the material used is pink in color, and is delaminating from the upper.
My primary insulated/water-proof camo clothing came from Cabela's (house brand). It's a fleece outer fabric, I bought these about 25yrs. ago. They continue to perform flawlessly. The nylon lining is a little worn in places, but nothing remarkable
My back-up set of camo is lighter weight "Game Hyde". Pants/shirt, no complaints. The coat is warm, but does not have "slick/nylon" lining in the sleeves, kind of a pain donning the coat. The hood's interior fabric is the same soft/fuzzy material. Note to self, a patch of fuzzy Velcro on the adjustment band of a ball cap is needed, the scratchy side on the hat grabs the inside of the hood continually.
My Vortex Viper 2-7x32 scope performed great. Clear, and very capable in transmitting light. If you could make out detail with the naked eye, the scope provided equal illumination of the object being viewed.
A family member (decades ago) welded up a single wheeled game carrier. After he died, it was slated to go to the dump, nothing doing ! It lives in my driveway. The wheel has been upgraded to a flat-free wheel barrow wheel. It's centered below the carrier (fore/aft and side to side). It can be used with a buddy on the front end, or alone from behind. When the two elk (taken) in camp came down from hanging, and were to be loaded into the hunters' trailer... I had them lower them onto the cart (belly up) one at a time. I was able to (solo) easily manage them into the trailer (up the ramp) by myself. It was a great first test, passed with flying colors... and the help given netted me a fistful of home made deer jerky.
Aside from all the mule deer we saw, we saw a LOT of elk sign (tracks/scat), as well as a lot of bear scat. Heard a lot of thrashing in the brush one morning, learned later that afternoon two guys were following a wounded black bear (about 175 lbs. in size) yearling. Lots of gorgeous country covered. Haven't had good luck dealing with pix/Photobucket from my tablet, will see how it goes later.
We ate good, enjoyed a warm tent each evening, and made it back with an uneventful return trip.
