doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fall of 2023 LOTW

Jimmy: A classic old guy's refrain but...maybe even 10 years ago it was still quite wonderful, but it's all the time anymore and it's been particularly bad since COVID. Weekends are always busy and the MEA (Minnesota Education Association) weekend can be miserable. Its a big area thankfully and after 23-plus years I can usually avoid the worst of it but....I certainly do remember better times up here. I seldom go out on weekends now.

Reminton 40x: Having the better-half here dramatically improves the dining options. Last night when we got home from an afternoon in the woods, dinner was waiting. It consisted of roasted poblano peppers stuffed with shrimp and Manchego cheese, fresh squash from a local garden, and Spanish rice, all washed down with a nice chardonnay. Desert was a fresh-made apple crumble paired with Costco's super-rich vanilla ice cream. I waddled off to bed shortly thereafter. While we we out yesterday, she had also made spaghetti sauce (from scratch) from that local garden's big & luscious tomatoes as well as large & fluffy elk meatballs (for use at a later time). I'm not sure I can walk enough grouse trails to fully compensate...



But of course, I'll keep trying.

This ancient Lang (a converted-pinfire) is working out allright as a grouse gun. However... hunting "cocked" (essentially a gun with no safety) is a bit of a mental challenge, and accordingly I've stayed on only the well-groomed trails. I did chase a bird off the trail yesterday and somehow managed to avoid disaster but...it still does seem a little strange. That's probably a good thing.

This is a view of the train station in downtown Denver, right across from my office. I took this on my last day there before starting out on my long drive up to here.



The view from my alternative universe here in No-where, Minnesota (taken during last week's heat-wave). Talk about two very different worlds...more like two different centuries. Starting to plan on the closing-down of things here, pulling the boat, sealing the windows, clearing out the refrigerators and freezers, putting that "pink" anti-freeze in the sinks and toilets, and powering it all down for the long-sleep. I've got a little time up here yet (and have two more guests arriving over the next ten days or so), but after that it's all done for another year. After a good year it is easier to go back to "reality" (but only just), and at-least this was a very good year. But...I'm also sensing a fragility in so-many of the "things" up here (this old house, the old Ford truck, the old Lund boat, & even... myself) that I've never had to deal with before. My back really bothers me now after a long day afield and my blasted eyesight is now becoming something of a challenge (cloudy residue in my shooting eye from my recent PVD episodes according to my opthamologist, and even the beginnings of cataracts in both eyes). Getting older really sucks... until you consider the alternatives. Oh well.

hopefully, one makes you appreciate the other and vice versa...

Who keeps those roads/trails bush-hogged, Lloyd? The State?
JR

This was explained, in detail, earlier in the post.

Best,
Ted

Lloyd, I totally understood the reason you posted the pictures of where you are right now, and the one of a scene from downtown Denver. After I have been on a hunting trip in the woods for even a couple days, I always feel a little "dirty" when I come back to what we call civilization.

I also enjoyed going to the hunting camp in the middle of the week as opposed to weekend trips, because there was seldom any noise from dirt bikes, chain saws, or 4-wheelers, and you had the woods to yourself. That's also a big reason I enjoy flintlock deer hunting most of all. Many days, I can hunt all day without even crossing another hunters' boot print in the snow. The mere thought of having a TV at camp makes me want to vomit. I still recall going hunting shortly after the 9-11 Terrorist attack, when the domestic airlines were shut down. It was different and memorable to look up into blue skies that had no jets or contrails.

Mr. Roberts, the State provides that service. Evidently, all the big northern forrests in Minnesota now do that (in one form or another).

Remembering details isn't my strong suit, Ted.
JR

The hits just keep coming here...





My dolphins are smiling!