Finally out in the woods tail end of December
Jan 13, 2015 9:44:55 GMT -7
Post by Leifer on Jan 13, 2015 9:44:55 GMT -7
I finally got a chance to have my feet on the ground during the tail end of December. It though I wasn't able to get any rabbits or squirrels, it was still just great to be outside. How's has the winter gone so far for everyone else? Anyone been out in the woods? I'd like to hear any stories you'd like to share about winter so far for you.
The following is transcribed from my field journal. There are typos, misspellings and editings as there would be for transcriptions of other period journals. This entry is from FUMLA Bunny Hunt in December of 2014
2014 FUMLA Bunny Hunt, Dore, ND
Sunday, December 28, 2014
I was unsure if I was going to be able to attend the bunny shoot today. Just in case I put my 1790s contract rifle, bag and horn in the truck. By the conclusion of church it looked like things were going to work out. Out the door and down the road I went. I unfortunately didn’t have my usual period garb with me. I was instead dressed in my usual well oiled work boots, jeans, undershirt, long sleeve buttoned shirt, light jacket, hooded black EMS jacket with reflective letters on top of that and a black wool winter cap. It wasn’t the way I wanted it to be, however, the important thing, the main thing, was being in the woods for even just a few hours.
It was the first time I have been able to make this shoot. I had foolproof directions, that I managed to somehow still foul up. The muzzleloader area was at my right and there was a pickup parked there. That should have been my clue…instead I ended up following the edge of a sugar beet field, taking my two wheel drive pickup through drifts that I had no business going through. I managed to make the loop around the field, back onto the gravel county road and then back to where I suspected I should have stopped. By the time I got there I found several more trucks parked there. It was the guys.
Tod Fossetta had arrived several hours before and had gotten a fire started where the party had assembled last year. He was in the woods right now. That truck I had first seen was his.
I hopped out of my truck and greeted Dave Finders, Dave Evansen and Rod Lassey. Dave F. had brought a gray sled that had been made by former muzzleloader and scoutmaster Ron Tewalt (now on the other side.) On it he had loaded a wooden box of supplies to help keep the spirits up. After we crossed into the wooded area Rod took charge of the sled and led the way to the area where we would all meet up. As we got closer I could start to smell the smoke from Tod’s fire.
The weather was starting to get cooler and the skies were starting to get cloudy. The warm fire was a nice welcome. Dave F opened up the box and pulled out a coffee pot and got some coffee going on the boil. Tod shared some parched corn he’d made. I thought he’d done a decent job at it.
We heard a shot a little ways off followed by a second shot. We were apparently not alone. I kept scanning the area where the shots had come from and after awhile I saw someone making their way through the woods toward us. As the figure got closer to us we were able to recognize the person. It was Kelly Buxbaum. I haven’t seen him since Rendezvous at Fort Union this summer. Keely had with him a double barreled blackpowder shotgun. He explained that he’d taken a few shots to make sure everything was working properly. Kelly greeted the party with some wild game sausage. With the coffee, parched corn and sausage we were all feeling pretty good.
After enjoying some of the coffee a grub we headed out deeper into the woods, our eyes peeled for sign of rabbit and squirrel.
I paired off with Tod. To grew up hunting rabbits and squirrel in the woods. He’s eaten a lot of both. We found some sign of rabbit, but not much, and not all that recent. We stopped a few times as we came across juniper with some dead branches and collect some for tinder for later fires. At this point I was wishing I had an additional bag to put the tinder into. Instead I stuff it into the front of my jacket and zipped it back up.
We began to hear the bark of a squirrel every so often. Then we came upon the edge of a dug canal. We followed the edge and then saw something come toward us. It took me a second to realize it was Rod, who was in brain tanned buck skin and a wolf eared cap.
The three of us continued through the woods and Rod showed us a beaver dam that had been dynamited. It was a decent size dam for the area. Tod collected some cattails that were nearby. We also got to see the lodge itself. There were at least a dozen points of entry. We found sign that it was still in use, however, not by beaver. Tod told me I should just reach my hand in and grab whatever cat was in there. I declined, being of the persuasion that it was not your average size farm cat that had was now using the lodge.
We continued to move toward the sound of the squirrel that was barking occasionally and we ended up back at the camp site. Tod lent me the use of his small lidded kettle to use as a cup for some coffee. It was then that Rod spotted the squirrel in a large cottonwood 30 some odd yards away. A second one was spotted. We quickly grabbed our flint locks and headed toward the tree, spreading out and surrounding it. The large tree had some hollow branches and into a hole the squirrel went. We waited for awhile and then went back to the fire. The rest of the party arrived as well and we enjoyed some more coffee, parched corn and sausage.
The squirrel appeared again and back to the tree I went. I waited and waited until it showed itself again. I fired. I shot above the squirrel who was high up in the tree. Back into his hiding place he went. I loaded my rifle again, this time with #4 shot. I waited until it was almost dark and headed back to the party. Oh well. I’ll get you next time Messr. Squirrel.
After awhile we doused the fired, loaded the sled and hiked back to the vehicles. We started our trucks to let them warm up. It had been lightly snowing for a few hours now and had gotten significantly colder.
We huddled and talked for a bit and loaded up Dave F. wooden box into the back of the
truck he came in. When I went to load the sled in the back Dave F said, “Leif, I won’t be pulling this sled anymore. As you knew Ron Tewalt when you were in Scouts, I think it’s fitting that his sled goes to you.” What an honor! Ron was one of the assistant scoutmasters for my troop when I was in high school. Each winter he would spend a lot of time working with us scouts on winter skills. I will see that the sled gets put to good use.
After the trucks were sufficiently warmed we said our goodbyes and headed home. I’m glad it worked out to be able to be on this short afternoon hunt. It was good to be in the woods again with a great group of guys.
-- Leifer
The following is transcribed from my field journal. There are typos, misspellings and editings as there would be for transcriptions of other period journals. This entry is from FUMLA Bunny Hunt in December of 2014
2014 FUMLA Bunny Hunt, Dore, ND
Sunday, December 28, 2014
I was unsure if I was going to be able to attend the bunny shoot today. Just in case I put my 1790s contract rifle, bag and horn in the truck. By the conclusion of church it looked like things were going to work out. Out the door and down the road I went. I unfortunately didn’t have my usual period garb with me. I was instead dressed in my usual well oiled work boots, jeans, undershirt, long sleeve buttoned shirt, light jacket, hooded black EMS jacket with reflective letters on top of that and a black wool winter cap. It wasn’t the way I wanted it to be, however, the important thing, the main thing, was being in the woods for even just a few hours.
It was the first time I have been able to make this shoot. I had foolproof directions, that I managed to somehow still foul up. The muzzleloader area was at my right and there was a pickup parked there. That should have been my clue…instead I ended up following the edge of a sugar beet field, taking my two wheel drive pickup through drifts that I had no business going through. I managed to make the loop around the field, back onto the gravel county road and then back to where I suspected I should have stopped. By the time I got there I found several more trucks parked there. It was the guys.
Tod Fossetta had arrived several hours before and had gotten a fire started where the party had assembled last year. He was in the woods right now. That truck I had first seen was his.
I hopped out of my truck and greeted Dave Finders, Dave Evansen and Rod Lassey. Dave F. had brought a gray sled that had been made by former muzzleloader and scoutmaster Ron Tewalt (now on the other side.) On it he had loaded a wooden box of supplies to help keep the spirits up. After we crossed into the wooded area Rod took charge of the sled and led the way to the area where we would all meet up. As we got closer I could start to smell the smoke from Tod’s fire.
The weather was starting to get cooler and the skies were starting to get cloudy. The warm fire was a nice welcome. Dave F opened up the box and pulled out a coffee pot and got some coffee going on the boil. Tod shared some parched corn he’d made. I thought he’d done a decent job at it.
We heard a shot a little ways off followed by a second shot. We were apparently not alone. I kept scanning the area where the shots had come from and after awhile I saw someone making their way through the woods toward us. As the figure got closer to us we were able to recognize the person. It was Kelly Buxbaum. I haven’t seen him since Rendezvous at Fort Union this summer. Keely had with him a double barreled blackpowder shotgun. He explained that he’d taken a few shots to make sure everything was working properly. Kelly greeted the party with some wild game sausage. With the coffee, parched corn and sausage we were all feeling pretty good.
After enjoying some of the coffee a grub we headed out deeper into the woods, our eyes peeled for sign of rabbit and squirrel.
I paired off with Tod. To grew up hunting rabbits and squirrel in the woods. He’s eaten a lot of both. We found some sign of rabbit, but not much, and not all that recent. We stopped a few times as we came across juniper with some dead branches and collect some for tinder for later fires. At this point I was wishing I had an additional bag to put the tinder into. Instead I stuff it into the front of my jacket and zipped it back up.
We began to hear the bark of a squirrel every so often. Then we came upon the edge of a dug canal. We followed the edge and then saw something come toward us. It took me a second to realize it was Rod, who was in brain tanned buck skin and a wolf eared cap.
The three of us continued through the woods and Rod showed us a beaver dam that had been dynamited. It was a decent size dam for the area. Tod collected some cattails that were nearby. We also got to see the lodge itself. There were at least a dozen points of entry. We found sign that it was still in use, however, not by beaver. Tod told me I should just reach my hand in and grab whatever cat was in there. I declined, being of the persuasion that it was not your average size farm cat that had was now using the lodge.
We continued to move toward the sound of the squirrel that was barking occasionally and we ended up back at the camp site. Tod lent me the use of his small lidded kettle to use as a cup for some coffee. It was then that Rod spotted the squirrel in a large cottonwood 30 some odd yards away. A second one was spotted. We quickly grabbed our flint locks and headed toward the tree, spreading out and surrounding it. The large tree had some hollow branches and into a hole the squirrel went. We waited for awhile and then went back to the fire. The rest of the party arrived as well and we enjoyed some more coffee, parched corn and sausage.
The squirrel appeared again and back to the tree I went. I waited and waited until it showed itself again. I fired. I shot above the squirrel who was high up in the tree. Back into his hiding place he went. I loaded my rifle again, this time with #4 shot. I waited until it was almost dark and headed back to the party. Oh well. I’ll get you next time Messr. Squirrel.
After awhile we doused the fired, loaded the sled and hiked back to the vehicles. We started our trucks to let them warm up. It had been lightly snowing for a few hours now and had gotten significantly colder.
We huddled and talked for a bit and loaded up Dave F. wooden box into the back of the
truck he came in. When I went to load the sled in the back Dave F said, “Leif, I won’t be pulling this sled anymore. As you knew Ron Tewalt when you were in Scouts, I think it’s fitting that his sled goes to you.” What an honor! Ron was one of the assistant scoutmasters for my troop when I was in high school. Each winter he would spend a lot of time working with us scouts on winter skills. I will see that the sled gets put to good use.
After the trucks were sufficiently warmed we said our goodbyes and headed home. I’m glad it worked out to be able to be on this short afternoon hunt. It was good to be in the woods again with a great group of guys.
-- Leifer
