Dan & Mike's Excellent Adventure

[ny griz]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Just great,this made my day.Thank you. :hatsoff: Griz

 

[will5a1]

Thanks, that sounded and looked like a great weekend - nice way to beat the late winter doldrums.

 

[Rick Richard]

Awesome story. Thanks for taking me along the adventure.

 

[rushlake1]

Lon.... another possible sighting along the south shore of Lake Superior during the big ice year.
Think he was hanging out in the ice caves. :haha:

 

[rushlake1]

Ever hear a squirrel laugh?
In my mind....I'm fighting a dry ball with a hot load on top.. T handle in the crotch of a small tree..pulling and pulling..blue clouds of smoke billowing up out of my head like thought clouds...
While Mike in deep angst..searching..looking..doing 360's on snowshoes around the tree that squirrel was in....trying to locate his awesome "christmas gifted" touch hole pick....Could have swore the squirrel had a bag of popcorn and was enjoying watching our routine...
So glad when we found the pick back along the snowshoe trail....
Ended up pulling my breech plug at home..a first.
even after trying 2 different ball pullers and a co discharger..it was stuck-stuck

Going to keep it as a memento of the hunt..and chuckle till next season...

God made squirrels so muzzleloader nuts could chase them..Life is good!

My trophy!

 

[Skychief]

Mike, it sure looks like a fantastic trip to me. One which both of you will recall for some time.

I want to thank you for putting this thread together as I'm sure it took some effort on your part to "take us along". Thank you.

As far as squirrels being mocking, sinister little beasts at times.......Yep, 'tis so! :haha:

Thanks again, Skychief

 

[Britsmoothy]

That has to be the best report here :hatsoff:

What a great looking place too :hatsoff:

B.

 

[BillinOregon]

Brits, agree, one of the best reports ever posted here.
There is something magical about the hardwood forests of the upper Midwest. I'd love to have a piece of woods in Sauk County, WI, where my ancestors sleep.

 

[Vaino]

Thanks for posting a pictorial experience that brought back a lot of memories. Snow on the ground always heightens the feeling of "loneliness" even though a partner is close by.

Shooting game for meals just increases the need to hunt and you guys certainly are good at it. Who does the cooking?

Did a lot of hunting on snowshoes in northern Wisconsin and sometimes "measured" the snow depth w/ a branch to see if they were necessary.....3 feet deep warrants snowshoes.

Thanks again for a wonderful "trip" back in time......Fred

 

[rushlake1]

Fred..Mike and I both cook...
I brought Pheasant chowder(mushrooms-onions-bacon-celery-carrots-pheasant)Bread and wine for Friday's dinner..and my wife Deb's cream cheese frosted carrot cake.
Make weaved his magic on the Venison-squirrel dish..imagine how good it smelled after a day of fresh air..
In the last picture I made the large white crock pot of squirrel-rabbit-pheasant stew..It was awesome..

I have hunted my whole life..wild game requires delicate cooking...it's a learning curve..well worth the effort.

There was 6-12" of fresh snow on top of a crust and another 6-12" underneath...I "double dog dare you" to march 8-10 hours on that without snowshoes...
Around noon one day I sat down to enjoy the view..took off the snowshoes and started to hunt without them..That lasted 10 minutes and they were back on...elected to hunt with the lighter weight shoe and glad i did... especially the last 2 hours back to the farm house.

I spent 1.5 hours at first light friday morning shoveling a parking area just big enough to get our mechanical horses off the gravel township road...
Mike arrived bearing hot coffee as I scooped the last shovel full....It was grand!
Mike's comment"Dan you do good work"
So I was very aware of the current snow cover...

Were fortunate to have 50% crust cover from the road to the farm house..Due to the wind in the open fields...The cross country ski poles were a big plus.
I used a wide cotton waist belt to pull the sled in
and a upper body-shoulder harness pulling out...
Was able to lean into the shoulder harness to get the sled moving...just more efficient.
No way in God's green earth would I attempted to sled in without snowshoes.
Can't wait till next year!

 

[Spikebuck]

my wife Deb's cream cheese frosted carrot cake.

That cake alone added 10 pounds to Dan's sled weight! :wink:

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :applause: :applause:

I don't know how many calories are in each piece or how much it clogged up my arteries, but in any case, that cake was so good it was every bit worth whatever long-term life span reduction it caused! :grin:

 

[BillinOregon]

After that workout, I'll bet you boys actually lost weight on the trip.

:wink:

 

[azmntman]

Awesome, thank you for sharing!

 

[GreyWhiskers]

I have hunted my whole life..wild game requires delicate cooking...it's a learning curve..well worth the effort

I've receive a couple of game recipes from Dan. Let's just say " the man knows how to eat!" :thumbsup:

GW

 

[larry wv]

Thanks for the story and pictures. Best of luck to your trip next year. :thumbsup: to both of you.

Larry

 

[Okie Hog]

Best report i ever read. Thanks for sharing your winter hunting experience.

 

[rushlake1]

My trophy!

[/quote]
Due to double dry-ball I pulled the breech at home..
found the face of the breech plug needed polishing...
and due to high snow sun barrel glare(cost me an easy shot)I took the existing in the white barrel and rust blued it..Wanted a gray-blue metal finish..So no more "good" excuses for my MMMMMAAAA...Misses..
That "laughing fat fox squirrel" will be my go to target area next year.

 

[BrownBear]

....due to high snow sun barrel glare(cost me an easy shot)I took the existing in the white barrel and rust blued it..Wanted a gray-blue metal finish....

That's a huge factor overlooked by folks who never get out in winter.

 

[rushlake1]

BB.. It was never an issue till that day.
Most of my late winter hunt days are overcast in darker pine oak woodlots...
Agreed...Snow sun barrel glare is a real pain.

 

[BrownBear]

I have the same problem with brass or silver sights in bright sunlight. The glare will make you toss your shots away from the bright side. I'm prepared to black bright sights any time I move out into the sun.