Unforgiven
solid fixture here in the forum
Here it is, November 13, 2019... I woke up this morning to 12" of snow and 2* temperature outside here in Michigan. Opening day of deer season starts on the 15th.
After my routine of getting ready for work...I grabbed my coffee and sat out on the back patio for a few minutes before I had to head off to the office to take in the scenery. As it was still dark out, the led light on the front of my barn out back , made the snow glow. The wind was calm and the tree's were glistening with the snow piled up on the branches. As I sat there sipping my hot coffee, The scenery took me back to my favorite hunt.
It was the hunt of 2006, it was the first time that my youngest of my two boys named Garrett, was going to travel to the family hunting cabin in the Upper Pennisula with me . His best friend Steven ( who we tried to claim on taxes one year) was heading up with us. The boys were 14 years old at the time.
Steven was from in town, and really had no one to teach him about hunting ..let alone how to use a rifle.
The boys met about 5 years earlier and Steven would spend the summers at our place in the country. At an early age ... I had taught the boys the skills on how to handle a shot gun, rifle, bows, a knife, and how to trap.
I had passed on the knowledge that my grandfather and uncles had taught me along with the skills that I had developed through the years.
The week before the hunt, I had taken the boys to an elk farm about 2 hours from home. Being that their might be a chance that they may see one on the hunt, I wanted them to see one up close.
I did not want them to confuse this animal with a deer! LOL
Now for gathering up the gear, I had bought each boy a big plastic storage box and a note pad. I had purchased the hunting clothes and gadgets for them and told them the box is for keeping all your hunting gear in. And the note pad is for making a checklist that you can refer to every year to make sure you take what you will need on a hunting trip, and that the pad should always be in the box. After the hunt , all hunting gear is to be stored in the box and never used for anything else. This included the hunting boots (although their feet where still growing). That way the next year you pack for the hunt, you will have everything from the year before, waiting and ready to go in that box. Then you can always add to it each year.
So we loaded the trailer with the ATV , hunting gear, trapping supplies, coolers of food and drink to last 7 days, and the rifles and ammo . Steven's mom and dad (who are great friends of ours) stopped off and of coarse the moms just had to take pictures of the boys heading up north on their first hunt. I so glad they did.
After all the hugs and kisses, the two boy's and I jumped in the truck to meet Grandpa and his best friend Ron , up at the cabin.
Off we go!!
On the way up during the six hour trip, the boys , having heard of this giant hunting store named "JAY'S"
asked if we could stop in and look around . I said OK.
Well they were like kids in a candy store, they were in awe of the size and selection of things in the store!
After spending about an hour , and $700 later! We were back on the road.
The boy's switched seats in the 97 Dodge V-10 truck I had had at the time..They were learning about how long the middle guy could stand sitting on the harder middle section of the 60-40 split seat. LOL
During the ride, I kept teasing Steven about how Grandpa's friend Ron (who weighs in around 450lbs at 6'-2"
tall), likes to sleep with a teddy bear. Mind you, the boy's weigh around 90lbs. LOL
Garrett has known Ron for most of his life, but Steven has never met Ron before.
Well we arrived up to the cabin we had built in 1998 . It sits about 1/2 mile back in off the gravel road.
We had wired the cabin with 110 volt and 12 volt . There is no electric into the woods. We mainly run off the 12 volt system for daily use. We built a generetor shed to run the 110/220 volt when it was needed to run the well pump enough to fill the 200 gallon water holding tank in the cabin. Heat was provided with a propane wall furnace in each room. Or the central wood stove. We had plumbed Humphery lamps on the walls to provide gas lighting in the evening. These actually produce enough heat that the wall furnaces rarely come on. Grandpa had a small 19" VCR combo Tv that ran off a converter so he could watch the news.
Now my son Garrett has been to the cabin many times, but this was Steven's first time there. He was in amazement.! This was a BIG deal for him because he has never been around anything like it. We have 130 acres sitting in a national forest of 1000's of acres!! There is only one access to the property, and it is gated and locked. There is no way anyone in their right mind would even attempt to gain access to the national land (which they legally can from other locations) because of the swamps and elevation drops.
It was dark by the time we arrived so we just unloaded what we needed to take inside and left the other gear in the trailer. Grandpa and Ron had made dinner and the boys dug in! After dinner the boys insisted on doing up the dishes and cleaning up. They were like little adults wanting to pull their weight. After dinner, and listening to past hunting stories, the boy's were ready to hit the sack. The bedrooms had double bunk beds built in so as to accommodate quite a few hunters in our family.
It was then that Ron had mentioned that he had forgot his teddybear and insisted that Steven sleep in the bunk with him!! Steven instantly had a look of terror on his face! My son Garrett even tried to reassure
Steve that it would be OK, and he was so big that he threw off alot of body heat!! Well....That statement made everyone laugh and Ron assured Steven that he was just kidding around with him. The two boys had bunked together on the top bunk and the rest of us had our own bunks.
The next morning the boys were first to be up around 5:30 am. They had made the coffee for us older guys while they drank their hot chocolate. Grandpa was very impressed with how the boys were handling themselves among camp. He had asked if the boys would pose for a picture in front of the cabin logo sign he made up.
That is my son Garrett on the left and Steven on the Right.
After we had a doughnut and coffee we headed out to do some scouting. Opening day was a couple days
away. I had already known where I was going to set up the Portable blinds that we had purchased at JAY'S
for the boys. Steven did not want to be to far from the cabin so I set him up in the hardwoods about 1/4 mile from camp,and a couple hundred yards off the logging trail. It was a favorite spot though the years in the family. Garrett wanted to head back into the swamp area with me. There is about a 200' drop in elevation from camp to the creek over about a mile distance. I set him up on my favorite spot where I've seen many deer over the years. It is just inside the hardwoods with the elevation dropping off about 25"into the cedar swamp about 150 yards in front of you.
I set up a portable blind to the east of Garrett in an older clearcut area that had Aspens about 20" tall. We always referred to that 20 acres as the litter box, because the bobcat used it as a travel route. There was always cat prints in the sand along with Scatt.
After we set up the blinds, We headed back to camp for breakfast a few hours later.. Once full. I made a planned route on paper to leave with Grandpa and Ron as to where we would be on our trapping expedition.
I have trapped the land so much that I knew the land fairly well. But.... as any experianced hunter/trapper knows, things look totally different in the dark. I always leave a route of my planned travels!!!
Another lesson for the boys.
Well we got back to Tayler Creek and started to look around, Traps in hand we began to try and outfox the local animals..
Garrett had been trapping at home for a few years so he was familiar we how to make a set.
I had let the boys go ahead and lead the way and pick the locations and make all the sets. I would act as a pack mule for them. Just watching those boys was worth the whole trip to me!
The first set Garrett was teaching Steve a few things about setting traps and had Steve doing the hands on.
Though I feel that as cold as the water was... Garrett was playing Steve by making him work under that freezing water.
Not a bad looking set!
Of coarse Garrett had to check over Stevens work.
So we spent the whole day making sets for different animals and headed back to camp.. It was getting dark and we had about 45 minutes before we would arrive. Once we hiked back to the ATV we left on the trail, I radioed back to camp that we we all OK and on our way. I like to leave a two way on the ATV in case of emergency or if I'm running late. Another lesson for the boys.
back at camp...the boys were wound up like they ate a few candy bars. They were tell grandpa and Ron all about their great adventures they had. After a warm dinner and dishes were cleaned up, the boys hit the sack a little earlier that night! Grandpa and Ron and I sat up and drank a few beers and a couple shots. Ron and Grandpa (Fred) have been hunting together since high school and have never missed a season. They just turned 80 years old this year (2019). Ron had mentioned how much fun it was listening to the boys. They added an element of excitement to camp.
Well the next morning went the same... coffee was brewing and the boys were already outside planning their day. Grandpa was still in his glory of waking up to the smell of roasted coffee ... as he usally was the one to get up and make it.
We headed out now, to check the trap line the boys had made. we come up to the first one and ....success!!
their was a beaver.
Garrett was very proud of Steven, as I was.
Garrett and Steve ended up catching a few muskrats and a racoon that day.
Along the 1 1/2 mile trap line we layed out. there was a tree that stuck in the swamp that the boys talked about. I had told them that the curve on that tree pointed toward camp if they ever got turned around .
Garrett verified this with his compass and was amazed. Another lesson learned. Always use a landmark
for help in guiding your way. Always trust your compass.
This is some of the terrain we travel in.
It will make you think twice before pulling that trigger... Do you want to drag a deer out of that! And worst yet, if you shot in the evening, it would be dark trying to drag it out. Another lesson.
Well opening day came and the boys were amped up for sure.! We hunted till 9:30am then we spend most of the day checking the trapline, We would get back to the blinds around 3:30pm and hunt till dark. I would then pick the boys up on the ATV (cause I was the furthest away) as we headed back to camp to eat and tell stories. I think it was two days into the evening hunt..We all heard Steven shoot! He was using his uncles
30-06 rifle. After the shot, Steven got on the radio (I made the boys carry one at all times)....Jimmer!!! I got a big one!!! ( Somehow that year I got the name THE Jimmer, and it stuck to this day). Well Garrett was on the radio too and between those two chatterboxes you could not get in one word. So, I just drove with a smile on my face listening to the excitement of these two boys talking about the whole process right up until the shot, as most hunter explain their stories!!! Ron and Grandpa were on the same channel and were laughing their asses off at the conversation being had between those two boys!
Well the whole camp met over at Stevens blind. We listen and watched as a trembling Steven was giving the direction of the deer. So, we started over to the area and sure enough there he was!!!! ALL 50lbs of him! We were kinda dumbfounded cause we were expecting to see a 200 lbs + deer.
Ron asked if he could see the rifle Steven used, so he handed it to him. Ron said YEP That deer was HUGE!!!! He had the scope set to 9 power! And the deer was about 60 yards away! But Damn it was a well placed shot!
We all realized that this was the first hunt for Steven, and that after a little bit of ribbing him, He was congradulated and we celebrated his hunt!!
We took this pic the next day back at camp.
Well the snow finally came a day later.
During the first snowy morning hunt ... Steven sat with Garrett in his blind. Actually..those two were
inseparable the rest of the trip. It was just breaking daylight when I heard a wolf howling dead straight ahead of me about 1/2 mile. He was not moving and was howling away. After listening for a few minutes.. I realized the it was coming from where the boys had set some traps.. OH SHIT!! I'm running thru senario's on how I'm going to free a trapped wolf ....after a few more minutes the sound began to move...I was releaved
that My worst fears were not coming true.. instead I listened as the wolf was on a deer run that I knew about.
Which is when I realized that that runway went right in front of Garretts blind! I started to laugh to myself thinking those two boys were prolly shitting their pants about now. The wolf must been tracking a deer cause he followed that run as predicted. It was then I realized that that runway emptied onto the logging trail (which is where I set up my blind) directly behind me. Well the wolf passed the boys and was heading toward me and he stepped out onto the trail...I Calmly already had my Remmington 7mm mag pointed toward that opening . I just said STOP. That wolf froze and gazed for (what seemed like forever) a second, then bolted the other way in total silence. It was cool.
I figured the hunt would be over now with all the commotion so I headed over to the boys. They were as calm as could be... They heard him but never seen him.
So. We ran the trapline in the snow...Garrett had to make a few new sets cause they were sprung, and he made a couple new ones.
After my routine of getting ready for work...I grabbed my coffee and sat out on the back patio for a few minutes before I had to head off to the office to take in the scenery. As it was still dark out, the led light on the front of my barn out back , made the snow glow. The wind was calm and the tree's were glistening with the snow piled up on the branches. As I sat there sipping my hot coffee, The scenery took me back to my favorite hunt.
It was the hunt of 2006, it was the first time that my youngest of my two boys named Garrett, was going to travel to the family hunting cabin in the Upper Pennisula with me . His best friend Steven ( who we tried to claim on taxes one year) was heading up with us. The boys were 14 years old at the time.
Steven was from in town, and really had no one to teach him about hunting ..let alone how to use a rifle.
The boys met about 5 years earlier and Steven would spend the summers at our place in the country. At an early age ... I had taught the boys the skills on how to handle a shot gun, rifle, bows, a knife, and how to trap.
I had passed on the knowledge that my grandfather and uncles had taught me along with the skills that I had developed through the years.
The week before the hunt, I had taken the boys to an elk farm about 2 hours from home. Being that their might be a chance that they may see one on the hunt, I wanted them to see one up close.
I did not want them to confuse this animal with a deer! LOL
Now for gathering up the gear, I had bought each boy a big plastic storage box and a note pad. I had purchased the hunting clothes and gadgets for them and told them the box is for keeping all your hunting gear in. And the note pad is for making a checklist that you can refer to every year to make sure you take what you will need on a hunting trip, and that the pad should always be in the box. After the hunt , all hunting gear is to be stored in the box and never used for anything else. This included the hunting boots (although their feet where still growing). That way the next year you pack for the hunt, you will have everything from the year before, waiting and ready to go in that box. Then you can always add to it each year.
So we loaded the trailer with the ATV , hunting gear, trapping supplies, coolers of food and drink to last 7 days, and the rifles and ammo . Steven's mom and dad (who are great friends of ours) stopped off and of coarse the moms just had to take pictures of the boys heading up north on their first hunt. I so glad they did.
After all the hugs and kisses, the two boy's and I jumped in the truck to meet Grandpa and his best friend Ron , up at the cabin.
Off we go!!
On the way up during the six hour trip, the boys , having heard of this giant hunting store named "JAY'S"
asked if we could stop in and look around . I said OK.
Well they were like kids in a candy store, they were in awe of the size and selection of things in the store!
After spending about an hour , and $700 later! We were back on the road.
The boy's switched seats in the 97 Dodge V-10 truck I had had at the time..They were learning about how long the middle guy could stand sitting on the harder middle section of the 60-40 split seat. LOL
During the ride, I kept teasing Steven about how Grandpa's friend Ron (who weighs in around 450lbs at 6'-2"
tall), likes to sleep with a teddy bear. Mind you, the boy's weigh around 90lbs. LOL
Garrett has known Ron for most of his life, but Steven has never met Ron before.
Well we arrived up to the cabin we had built in 1998 . It sits about 1/2 mile back in off the gravel road.
We had wired the cabin with 110 volt and 12 volt . There is no electric into the woods. We mainly run off the 12 volt system for daily use. We built a generetor shed to run the 110/220 volt when it was needed to run the well pump enough to fill the 200 gallon water holding tank in the cabin. Heat was provided with a propane wall furnace in each room. Or the central wood stove. We had plumbed Humphery lamps on the walls to provide gas lighting in the evening. These actually produce enough heat that the wall furnaces rarely come on. Grandpa had a small 19" VCR combo Tv that ran off a converter so he could watch the news.
Now my son Garrett has been to the cabin many times, but this was Steven's first time there. He was in amazement.! This was a BIG deal for him because he has never been around anything like it. We have 130 acres sitting in a national forest of 1000's of acres!! There is only one access to the property, and it is gated and locked. There is no way anyone in their right mind would even attempt to gain access to the national land (which they legally can from other locations) because of the swamps and elevation drops.
It was dark by the time we arrived so we just unloaded what we needed to take inside and left the other gear in the trailer. Grandpa and Ron had made dinner and the boys dug in! After dinner the boys insisted on doing up the dishes and cleaning up. They were like little adults wanting to pull their weight. After dinner, and listening to past hunting stories, the boy's were ready to hit the sack. The bedrooms had double bunk beds built in so as to accommodate quite a few hunters in our family.
It was then that Ron had mentioned that he had forgot his teddybear and insisted that Steven sleep in the bunk with him!! Steven instantly had a look of terror on his face! My son Garrett even tried to reassure
Steve that it would be OK, and he was so big that he threw off alot of body heat!! Well....That statement made everyone laugh and Ron assured Steven that he was just kidding around with him. The two boys had bunked together on the top bunk and the rest of us had our own bunks.
The next morning the boys were first to be up around 5:30 am. They had made the coffee for us older guys while they drank their hot chocolate. Grandpa was very impressed with how the boys were handling themselves among camp. He had asked if the boys would pose for a picture in front of the cabin logo sign he made up.
That is my son Garrett on the left and Steven on the Right.
After we had a doughnut and coffee we headed out to do some scouting. Opening day was a couple days
away. I had already known where I was going to set up the Portable blinds that we had purchased at JAY'S
for the boys. Steven did not want to be to far from the cabin so I set him up in the hardwoods about 1/4 mile from camp,and a couple hundred yards off the logging trail. It was a favorite spot though the years in the family. Garrett wanted to head back into the swamp area with me. There is about a 200' drop in elevation from camp to the creek over about a mile distance. I set him up on my favorite spot where I've seen many deer over the years. It is just inside the hardwoods with the elevation dropping off about 25"into the cedar swamp about 150 yards in front of you.
I set up a portable blind to the east of Garrett in an older clearcut area that had Aspens about 20" tall. We always referred to that 20 acres as the litter box, because the bobcat used it as a travel route. There was always cat prints in the sand along with Scatt.
After we set up the blinds, We headed back to camp for breakfast a few hours later.. Once full. I made a planned route on paper to leave with Grandpa and Ron as to where we would be on our trapping expedition.
I have trapped the land so much that I knew the land fairly well. But.... as any experianced hunter/trapper knows, things look totally different in the dark. I always leave a route of my planned travels!!!
Another lesson for the boys.
Well we got back to Tayler Creek and started to look around, Traps in hand we began to try and outfox the local animals..
Garrett had been trapping at home for a few years so he was familiar we how to make a set.
I had let the boys go ahead and lead the way and pick the locations and make all the sets. I would act as a pack mule for them. Just watching those boys was worth the whole trip to me!
The first set Garrett was teaching Steve a few things about setting traps and had Steve doing the hands on.
Though I feel that as cold as the water was... Garrett was playing Steve by making him work under that freezing water.
Not a bad looking set!
Of coarse Garrett had to check over Stevens work.
So we spent the whole day making sets for different animals and headed back to camp.. It was getting dark and we had about 45 minutes before we would arrive. Once we hiked back to the ATV we left on the trail, I radioed back to camp that we we all OK and on our way. I like to leave a two way on the ATV in case of emergency or if I'm running late. Another lesson for the boys.
back at camp...the boys were wound up like they ate a few candy bars. They were tell grandpa and Ron all about their great adventures they had. After a warm dinner and dishes were cleaned up, the boys hit the sack a little earlier that night! Grandpa and Ron and I sat up and drank a few beers and a couple shots. Ron and Grandpa (Fred) have been hunting together since high school and have never missed a season. They just turned 80 years old this year (2019). Ron had mentioned how much fun it was listening to the boys. They added an element of excitement to camp.
Well the next morning went the same... coffee was brewing and the boys were already outside planning their day. Grandpa was still in his glory of waking up to the smell of roasted coffee ... as he usally was the one to get up and make it.
We headed out now, to check the trap line the boys had made. we come up to the first one and ....success!!
their was a beaver.
Garrett was very proud of Steven, as I was.
Garrett and Steve ended up catching a few muskrats and a racoon that day.
Along the 1 1/2 mile trap line we layed out. there was a tree that stuck in the swamp that the boys talked about. I had told them that the curve on that tree pointed toward camp if they ever got turned around .
Garrett verified this with his compass and was amazed. Another lesson learned. Always use a landmark
for help in guiding your way. Always trust your compass.
This is some of the terrain we travel in.
It will make you think twice before pulling that trigger... Do you want to drag a deer out of that! And worst yet, if you shot in the evening, it would be dark trying to drag it out. Another lesson.
Well opening day came and the boys were amped up for sure.! We hunted till 9:30am then we spend most of the day checking the trapline, We would get back to the blinds around 3:30pm and hunt till dark. I would then pick the boys up on the ATV (cause I was the furthest away) as we headed back to camp to eat and tell stories. I think it was two days into the evening hunt..We all heard Steven shoot! He was using his uncles
30-06 rifle. After the shot, Steven got on the radio (I made the boys carry one at all times)....Jimmer!!! I got a big one!!! ( Somehow that year I got the name THE Jimmer, and it stuck to this day). Well Garrett was on the radio too and between those two chatterboxes you could not get in one word. So, I just drove with a smile on my face listening to the excitement of these two boys talking about the whole process right up until the shot, as most hunter explain their stories!!! Ron and Grandpa were on the same channel and were laughing their asses off at the conversation being had between those two boys!
Well the whole camp met over at Stevens blind. We listen and watched as a trembling Steven was giving the direction of the deer. So, we started over to the area and sure enough there he was!!!! ALL 50lbs of him! We were kinda dumbfounded cause we were expecting to see a 200 lbs + deer.
Ron asked if he could see the rifle Steven used, so he handed it to him. Ron said YEP That deer was HUGE!!!! He had the scope set to 9 power! And the deer was about 60 yards away! But Damn it was a well placed shot!
We all realized that this was the first hunt for Steven, and that after a little bit of ribbing him, He was congradulated and we celebrated his hunt!!
We took this pic the next day back at camp.
Well the snow finally came a day later.
During the first snowy morning hunt ... Steven sat with Garrett in his blind. Actually..those two were
inseparable the rest of the trip. It was just breaking daylight when I heard a wolf howling dead straight ahead of me about 1/2 mile. He was not moving and was howling away. After listening for a few minutes.. I realized the it was coming from where the boys had set some traps.. OH SHIT!! I'm running thru senario's on how I'm going to free a trapped wolf ....after a few more minutes the sound began to move...I was releaved
that My worst fears were not coming true.. instead I listened as the wolf was on a deer run that I knew about.
Which is when I realized that that runway went right in front of Garretts blind! I started to laugh to myself thinking those two boys were prolly shitting their pants about now. The wolf must been tracking a deer cause he followed that run as predicted. It was then I realized that that runway emptied onto the logging trail (which is where I set up my blind) directly behind me. Well the wolf passed the boys and was heading toward me and he stepped out onto the trail...I Calmly already had my Remmington 7mm mag pointed toward that opening . I just said STOP. That wolf froze and gazed for (what seemed like forever) a second, then bolted the other way in total silence. It was cool.
I figured the hunt would be over now with all the commotion so I headed over to the boys. They were as calm as could be... They heard him but never seen him.
So. We ran the trapline in the snow...Garrett had to make a few new sets cause they were sprung, and he made a couple new ones.
Fred Bears son offered me $200000,00 for it as he didn't have one for that year. I said no thank you and have willed it to my youngest son who I taught to hunt with it, getting his first deer and not with his shogun.