| HUNTING IN THE YEAR 1999 We are starting to make plans for the fall moose hunt this year. Steve Meyer and his friend Loren McFadden are coming here and we plan on hunting the Smith Creek area again. We didn’t get any hunt permits this year. The state has cut back on the numbers. Our halibut-fishing trip in July was canceled, do to the increase in gravel sales. Dan and I made the Chitna dip netting trip and we did pretty well with the reds and Dan caught a nice king. Our total catch was 37 reds and 2 kings. Dan and I went in to set up a temporary camp this weekend of the 14th and 15th of August. It was a nice trip into camp. It looks like everything is as we left it. The animals did get into our stove and 5 gallon pail. We set up one tent and a couple of tarps. No bear tracks yea!!! It’s time to go moose hunting. Dan and I are going in August 28th to start setting up camp. We’ve been spending some time getting ready for this. Candy has checked our food and gear list several times and we have been in contact with Steve and Loren. We left for our moose hunt. Everybody was at the pit at 70 mile. Dan and I loaded our camping supplies in the two trailers and were wondering how our temporary camp was doing. We left with our first load and weren’t far into the trip before we ran into some large Black Bear tracks. Candy, Tiffany and the kids took a walk to the creek and saw the same track. It took us two trips to get all the camp supplies in. The wind was blowing badly and it made setting camp up a real bear. Smith Creek is low and not much rain in the area. Dan and I checked Fred’s moose kill site from last year and the grizzlies had been all over it like catnip. There was a 20-ft square area all torn up. We went back to the gravel pit to pick up the last of our camping supplies. We said our good byes and headed back into our camp. The water was at an all-time low on the creek and traveling was easy. It also meant that other hunters might try and explore our area. Our first task in setting up camps was to attach a ½ inch rope between two spruce trees and pull it tight. We stretched a 24’ by 30’ blue tarp across it and secured the edges. That would give protection for us in case it started to rain. The wind was continuing to give us trouble. After a short time we did manage to get our 12’ by 14’ wall tent up and all our supplies inside. It’s was 6:30 PM and the wind was starting to let up. We cut some firewood and fueled our lanterns then called it a day. We woke at 7:00 A.M. after a little searching through the totes Candy had packed; we found the coffeepot and got some coffee brewing. It’s now Sunday the 29th. The morning is clear and cold. We built a nice toilet and cleared a spot for the second tent. Just like the first one we put a blue tarp over it, stretched on a rope between two spruce trees. We put up our old 10’ by 15’ nylon tent. This would be Steve and Loren’s home when they came in on the 4th. We built a nice table and put in our fire pit. Gathering wood was an on going thing. I had brought in my small chainsaw and Dan and I spent a little time each day cutting wood so we wouldn’t disturb the area once the hunt started. I was nervous about leaving my “new”, used Ford truck, back at the gravel pit. We made a trip out to check on it. Everything was there just like we left it. Once back in camp it was lunchtime. Dan cooked up a quick meal. Then we headed up stream to break trail. It wasn’t far from camp that we came across fresh grizzly tracks. This caused us to cancel our hamburger night back at camp. We We moved all the food across the creek away from the tent. had lunchmeat sandwiches instead. Dan and I both shot our rifles to make sure the sights were still OK. Its 8: 00 P.M., the weather is warm and the mosquitoes are out. Its time to call it a night and sit by the fire before going to bed. Monday the 30th, There was a little noise in camp last night. It was probably a pine martin. We got up at 9:00 A.M. there was a good frost during the night. We spent the day putting up two more tents. One upstream which required cutting a tree out of the creek to get to with the 4 wheelers. These tents were for shelter when away from camp. We put up 3 tree stands then headed back to camp. Back at camp we put in the shower, then cooked hamburgers. I took a needed shower. Again we cut firewood. There is about a full cord of wood ready for the hunt. The weather is hot and dry and the bugs are bad. We could sure use some rain. Its 7:00 A.M. and we are in bed already and Dan has fallen to sleep and is snoring. We’ve been working pretty hard getting the camp ready. No sign of any moose yet. Tuesday the 31st, we got up at 6:30 A.M. We heard a 4 wheeler going up the mud hill. The mud hill is a mile long steep graded hill full of mud bogs. It is the only way to get up to the Circle trail. To travel this hill is an experience by itself. Once on top of the Circle trail it is a beautiful trip on a well traveled little trail winding up and down mountain ridges. It is a barren area with lots of blue berry bushes. The view is breath taking. This morning is cold and clear. The frost is on everything. Dan and I made stools to sit on and dug the post for the base of these into the ground. It was not easy because the ground is clay with shell rock imbedded in it. We made a gun rack with a pole tied to two trees. This is the last day to cut firewood so did so all day. It is so dry we hate to build a fire. Dan and I made a trip up into the hills and the moss was just so dry it was scary. No, fire tonight. We finished the day off with a 1 3/8-mile trip up stream to check our dome tent. We had rice and canned turkey stew and potato salad for dinner. Dan and I both woke up during the night. The temperature had dropped. We both woke up with our feet freezing. We started our propane heater. We got out the extra blankets Candy had packed and put them over the end of our cots. September 1st,this was the day we’ve been waiting for. We got up early and went to our stands. We didn’t see a thing. We did freeze our butts off though. I wanted to check the truck again and see what was going on down stream, so Dan and I headed toward the gravel pit where the truck was. We ran into a camp a little over a mile down stream. There was a military guy and his wife there. They seemed to know we have been hunting this area for awhile and stayed away from our camp. It looks like the word is out on how to find our spot. There were 4 other trucks parked at the pit. We headed back to camp and made some chili out of the can that Candy had canned for us. It has started raining and had rained all day. We hunted our tree stands and didn’t see anything. It is 9P.M, and is clear and cold again. I went to bed with my wool socks on. Thursday the 2nd, it rained all night so we slept in. When we checked the trail behind camp there were fresh moose tracks and we slept while the only moose to walk by in days passed by us. We stayed inside most of the day because of the rain. We went to our tree stands at 4:30 P.M. and stayed in them until dark. We didn’t see anything. We are in the tent and its starting to pour outside. Its soothing to hear the rain hitting the tarp above the tent after a short time of heating the tent with the radiant propane heater we called it a night. Friday the 3rd, We got up at 6:30A.M. and went out to our stands. It was a rainy morning. At 7:45 I see my first moose. It’s a big cow and headed right for my tree. |