Honey-Do List

Ahh, the exciting and exotic life of a TV personality! This weekend saw the Honey-Do List come up on the schedule. Top of the list was installing Sandi`s Christmas present a custom metal sign for the ranch. Saturday Sandi ran the skid steer while I gave directions and we installed and cemented in place the 6x6 posts. Sunday with the concrete set I removed the bracing and bolted the sign to the posts. Sandi`s big smile tells the whole story and I`m glad she loves the present.

After that there was a little yard maintenance, some trees had died over the winter and threatened the power line. I used the old Stihl chainsaw to knock down the four trees and then I pressed my new asset the WMD (weapon of mass destruction) into service and made short work of hauling the trees to the wood pile where I bucked them up.

I won`t bore you with the rest of the list as it wasn`t nearly as exciting.

Next month's AO article

Man do I hate setting up a new computer! Of course that means a new operating system so half the programs and peripheral hardware doesn't work and needs patches or updates. I thought I had it all whipped and then today I go to drop this month's column on the AO ftp site and zoinks! The site won't work with Windows 7. Off on another patch hunt and finally got the story and photo's shipped.
The column is the second in the Poor Man's Custom series and it gets into the work Corlane did to the rifle and the changes made. Watch for it in a couple of weeks.

New Goodies

I am a self confessed gear junkie and new hunting trips are the perfect excuse to buy new gear. This year I'm booked on a Dall sheep hunt with Gana River Outfitters in the NWT and it seemed the perfect excuse to pick up a few new things. Well, my new MSR Carbon Reflex 2 tent arrived yesterday and I was like a six year old setting it up in the backyard. Vanessa wouldn't let me sleep in that night but I'm thrilled with the three pound tent. Now, I'm just waiting for that new .270WSM that Corlane's in Dawson Creek is building for me......:D A 5.5 pound rifle is going to be a dream on the 10-day backpack trip.

Awesome new mount!

OK, so it has taken me 3 weeks to do it but in my defence I've been sick. I got my stag up on the wall with a little help from Sandi.
The stag is from a 2006 hunt with Kanuka Wilderness in New Zealand. Curtis from Silverwillow Taxidermy is to be congratulated on an excellent job. He absolutely nailed the 1000 yard stare these stag have and the mount looks truly remarkable. Curtis has done 4 other heads for us and has been very meticulous and fast every time. Sandi and I are very happy to have the mount up and look forward to the other work we have out with Curtis.

Great Day in Mountains

With a Dall sheep hunt in late July, I've been working hard to get in shape and the early spring has allowed for some trips into the mountains already. Yesterday we tried to make it into a hidden basin in K-Country that I've heard rumours about but deep snow prevented us from making it all the way in. Still, we had a great day and we nearly crossed paths with a grizzly sow and cub. Her tracks were all over the top of ours on the trail and Jet was sure that he smelled her nearby.