Notes From the Fishing Grounds – Page 5 – Alaska Wild Salmon Company

I Was Trained For This

Today, my slope training really paid off. I wanted to change the starting battery for the tug. I wrote down the specs from the battery there, and went to Costco to get a new one. There they were at Costco. The monster 8D battery. Same as I had on the Dutch Master.

I had to lift the 100+ pound battery into the car, then from the car to the collapsible pull cart, which I towed to the boat. The battery came out with ease, except I let the terminals touch after they were off the battery, which I didn’t realize would short things out since the wiring also goes to links with the house batteries. The FM radio went out briefly during the sparks, but came back on. Hopefully, no damage done.

I got the old battery with the case it was in up from the engine room to the helm floor so I could swap the old for the new. I looked at my new 8 D battery, and thought- that looks a tad bigger than the one I’m taking out. Sure enough, it was. So it wouldn’t fit in the specially made battery box.

I took measurements of the footprint available where the battery box was. I called Napa, who had a box, and determined from their measurements that a new box for the new 8D battery should still fit in foot print.

I got to Napa, and saw the box they had waiting for me. I did not think it was gonna work, because the top was wide to accommodate the battery wires, and it would not fit in the footprint because the engine hoses were there.

I asked the clerk if he had any other 8D batteries I could look at, and he took me back to the battery room. Just as he pointed to the 8D battery choices, I looked on the floor and saw the battery that was the same size as the one I was taking out of the boat. He said “Oh, you mean the 4D batteries?”. 4D battery? Never heard of it. But that’s what I had and what I needed! They are a tad narrower and (I think) shorter in length that the 8D.

So, now I needed to buy this 4D battery that weighed close to 100 lbs, take it back to the boat, install it. Then return the 4D used battery to Napa for the core charge. Then return the 8D battery to Costco, who luckily said they would take it back. Lots of moving around 100 lbs of deadweight. My back was feeling it by the end of the day.

The new battery was installed in about 15 minutes. I started the engine, and the alternator looked to be working so hopefully I didn’t fry it when the terminals crossed earlier.

So, I took an hour job and made it last all day. Just like we did on slope. I was trained for this…

Be prepared

Sunday, Nov 12

I got up before first light, and it looked dry but with a breeze out there. I put coffee on, and decided to spray foam around the windows. I could feel the wind coming through during the storms, and now that the humidity had lowered outside, I thought it was a good time to do it.

Headed to the spot I have taken the most deer about 9 am. It was a dry morning for a change, with a little wind from the southeast.

I arrived at the anchorage about 10 am. I saw another boat across the bay I thought might be anchored and hunting the area, but as I approached, the boat took off. I think they were beach hunting. Then I saw a deer! On the beach, right where I was heading. From the way it was nosing the ground and size, I thought surely it’s a buck. When I got the binoculars on it, I could see no horns. Not sure I could have got to the beach to take a shot if it was, anyway, but already – I’d seen a deer.

This was the spot I’d tided the boat with Marc, so wanted to be sure to be well offshore on a solid anchorage. I put the boat in the kelp, put the anchor over into the kelp, backed down on the anchor, and called it good. I was much too far to run my anchor line to the beach, so I just had to cross my fingers the boat would stay where it was.

I launched the punt. Then put my hunting pack, ditch bag, gun in waterproof case, milk crate seat, boat cushion to go on the milk crate, and kayak paddle into the punt. I put my phone in my front pocket of my overalls in the zipper pocket, then put on my life jacket. It was maybe 50 yards to the beach. Kind of far, but the water was calm and I felt okay paddling that far.

Just before I got to the beach, I saw there was a swell pushing up the beach. I took a left stroke on the paddle, which moved the bow to the right. And then the swell hit the bow, turned me sideways, and the next swell tipped me and everything in the boat into the drink.

I was only in a couple feet of water, but the swell grabbed the gear and instead of floating it further up the beach as you might expect, it instead grabbed it and took it off the beach. I focused on keeping the overturned boat in hand so as not to lose that. I was able to grab my gun floating in it’s case, and the dry bag. I put the gun and bag above the beach, and tied off the punt. I looked for my pack, and saw it floating offshore about 10 yards….next to the paddle! I had to have the paddle, I thought. Later I realized I could have used the gun in the case for a paddle maybe, if I had to.

I was already soaked head to toe, and waded out with my life jacket still on. I was able to grab the pack, but the paddle was a bit further off the beach. I went to zero gravity mode, in deeper water with my head above water and my toes touching the bottom only every so often. I got the paddle and headed back to the pack, then back to the beach. Whew! The milk crate was further off shore. I let that go.

I actually wasn’t that cold. The sun was shining and it was probably 40 degrees or so. I kicked off my boots, and turned them over to drain against the log I was sitting on. Then I stripped down and put my wet clothes over branches on a spruce tree overhanging the beach. Then I opened the dry ditch bag. I had just packed it the day before, and purposefully packed the clothes in the order I would put them on. Underwear on top. Then long sleeve poly pro shirt. Then wool overalls. Then socks and hat.

I decided to put my wet fleece socks back on, since my boots were already wet. I wrung the socks, and put them back on. I put my damp boots on and now felt good. I thought at that moment about how much working with the scout troop and as a hunter ed instructor had helped me be prepared by practicing what we taught. I had worn my life jacket. I had a ditch bag with dry clothes. I was okay.

When I first overturned, all I could think about was getting back to the boat and going home. Now I thought- It’s a great day. I’ve already seen a deer on the beach. I’ll go up and hunt at least the first calling spot, about a 10 minute climb across a creek and up the hill. Before I left, I took out my compass and got my return bearing – west by north west.

I saw a small deer near the creek on the way up the hill. It took off and I wouldn’t have harvested it if it hadn’t. When I got up to the little draw, I ever so slowly worked my way through the salal, a few steps at a time, down to a spot to call. That’s when I saw it – I locked eyes with a deer across the little valley. Like the deer on the beach, it looked big and maybe a buck. But it was a doe. Eventually, she put her head down and walked away. She didn’t seem concerned.

I got settled in. I called for about an hour. The doe didn’t come back, nor did any other deer. When I looked at my phone, it was off. Likely dead. I thought – well, at least I have the sat phone. It was dead, too. I’d taken it out of the water proof case Bob keeps it in and put it in a zip lock bag to save on space and weight. Now I wish I hadn’t. I think only one of the zip lock bags in my hunting pack had not let water in. Most of them looked like the zipper wasn’t pulled all the way across. Another lesson to pass on.

But again, my training of others paid off. I’d taken my compass bearing at the beach. I pulled out the compass, got my bearing, and headed for the beach. I went straighter to the beach than I do when I use the gps on my phone. However, what I didn’t like was the fact that I didn’t want to hunt further up the hill without my phone gps. I have become dependent on the gps, whether I want to admit it or not. I also didn’t know what time it was, since I use the clock on my phone, too.

When I got back to the punt, the boat was riding high in the kelp patch. The tide had started to go out and the swell wasn’t as bad on the beach as when I arrived. I pushed the boat out into the swell and got in. When the swell went out, I was on the bottom. When it came in under me again, I pushed out a bit, then on the bottom again. Next swell, I broke free and paddled out to the boat.

There were some small waves out by the boat that caused me a little trouble getting out of the punt and into the boat, but I just took my time. I transferred all the gear from the punt to the boat. Turned over onto my knees in the punt, then stood up holding onto the boat, with the bow line of the punt in my hand, and got one leg over the boat gunwale, and then the other. I was in.

The ride home was into the wind and a little lumpy, but the air seats on the boat make the ride a lot more comfortable. Near town I saw a couple in a lund that looked like they were paddling and their outboard was out, but when I got near them then said they were all fine.

When I got to the launch. the wind was ripping across the dock. It took me a couple tries to motor the boat up to the dock, put the engine in neutral, get out of the boat cabin, and get a line around a cleat before I got blown off the dock again.

I got the boat loaded, and headed for Klawock for fuel. The boat took a little over $300 and the truck a little over $100. Plus I’m out a cell phone and sat phone. As Bob Bue used to say, hunting is all about the free meat.

When I got home, I parked the boat like I wouldn’t be going out again. I thought maybe I’ve had enough deer hunting for awhile. I put the saltwater soaked clothes and pack in the washing machine. I got out my saltwater rust stained gun, put some oil on it, and scrubbed off the rust with some steel wool, then coated it with oil again inside and out.

The container seems warmer already with the windows sealed.

Alls well that ends well.

Deer camp Week 3

Day 1

Went to Thorne bay to get another washer as the one I got here wasn’t working right. It would start but then randomly quit for some reason. The kid there was moving to another place and needed to get rid of this one. He said it worked. $50. Real nice guy. Brian knew him of course. Then when I got there he helped me load it and wouldn’t take any money!

The guy was in his 30s I’d guess. He was the water treatment plant operator for the city. Said he’d grown up there, moved outside as a Marine, and when he saw what other parts of the country had to offer, realized his town was where he wanted to be, so he got his water treatment certifications and has a good job at home.

He’d got a deer a few days earlier, but had hiked 8 miles the day before yesterday and not seen anything. About same as me on that day. So made me feel like it’s not just me not seeing any deer.

On the hour drive home, I saw a truck with a four wheeler in the bed and a fork horn on the back of the four wheeler. Good for them.

When I got home, this washer did same thing as the first one! So now I think it’s the GFI outlet it’s plugged into. So I swapped outlets. And I think that IS it. I think low voltage or something since the shed is just powered by the extension cord. It worked after that, I think. I am going to unplug the freezer when running laundry, too. I think I’m narrowing the washer problem down, anyway. And eventually they do finish washing and it’s so worth it.

The clothes dry overnight hung in front of the heat pump and makes the place smell good as a bonus. Running the dehumidifier full time helps them dry, and has stopped dripping from the windows, too.

Day 2

Did some tidying up in shed. Ordered some high quality ear plugs to use instead of the ear muffs.

Day 3

Hunted a new island with Brian and Steve. Set a halibut skate on the way out. Pouring rain and not much wind.

They dropped me off and Steve gave me a rundown of what to expect. I hiked a mile up the hill to a beautiful muskeg on the ridge. Called for about 45 minutes and saw nothing. No rubs, either.

Headed back down the hill and got to the beach at 1 pm pick up time. I took my phone off so not disturb and see the boys changed pickup to 130.

I was soaked from outside in and inside out. I changed out to dry clothes from the ditch bag left on the beach. Ahhhhh. That’s better. I sat there warm and dry in the wilderness considering how lucky I am, deer or no deer.

Tonight was siblings zoom hour. I haven’t participated in a month or two, and had enough signal to jump on. I was only on for about a minute when Brian and Steve came around the point to get me. But the boat kept going. I thought then maybe it was my friend Mike who has a similar boat. Nope. They both just forgot where they dropped me. I was waving my orange dry bag the whole time and finally Steve saw it, as Brian is color blind. I signed off the zoom meeting and moved down to the waters edge for pickup.

We ran some beaches on the way back to the skate and didn’t see any deer. But oh, the whales. Humpback whales everywhere. And I was wrong about them. They aren’t on their way to Hawaii but most stay here according to the boys, who would know better than I.

We got one dogfish on the skate and that was it. We got back to the harbor and mercifully there was no rain. We dropped Steve at his house, then the skies let loose, with heavy rain and some hail mixed in, all the way to my house.

I took my wet clothes and learned another lesson about washers. The drain hose has to be elevated above the machine, or it just drains out as fast as it fills! It was not a power issue, but simply that! As as soon as I elevated the drain hose, the washer ran like it should – filling up, and then to the wash cycle. More tuition paid. And now I have two working washers.

My sister in law just called me to come over for dinner. Also said she saw a spike in my driveway today while I was out seeing nothing. That’s funny.

Smoked salmon chowder for dinner was fantastic. I’ll sleep well tonight.

Day 4

Drove across the island to a muskeg at the top of a hill. Only I never could find it. But good to get out of the container for awhile as the storm approaches.

Day 5

Storm is here. Supposed to blow 45 and gusts to 60 this evening. I took some little ladles to the thrift store, and saw our good friend Vic there. Then stopped to talk to Chet about an outboard, then to the grocery store and hardware store.

I dismantled my hunting pack to remove the internal flat bars, then ran it through the washer. I bought quick connects at the hardware store so I can easily change the garden hose from one washer to the other. The front loader will work better for big items like to the pack, and the top loader for regular clothes. The pack looked like brand new when I took it from the washer.

I did a load of regular laundry after switching the water. Later, I put a piece of left over electric conduit out the building, then put the drain hoses from both washers in the other end, at height. When I leave for Juneau, I can just pull the drains out and lower them and that should drain the washers so they don’t freeze.

Storm is cranking up. Likely a few days before I can hunt again.

Day 6

Blow came for real. Surely seemed like 60 kt winds and might have been higher. Power went out just before 8 pm. At 5 am, I got another heavy blanket as the container was getting cold. 630 am I put some water on to boil on the propane stove, and dressed in long underwear and heavy Carhartts and fleece socks. 7 am the power returned.

I walked around to survey any damage. Joyfully, not a drip around the windows. The welded frames seem watertight.

Outside, the ladder leaning against the shed luckily fell harmlessly to the right, and not the left where it would have landed on the hood or windshield of the truck.

The cell antenna had spun around to the opposite direction.

The punt blew out of the skiff, but luckily I had the bow of it tied off to the gunnel rail in the skiff so it lay beside the skiff and there was no damage to the punt.

The back canvas wall of the skiff had pulled away from the wheel house frame in a few places and the zipper pulled out a bit.

Got tools, screws, and wire ties together and started in on the repairs one by one. Took less than an hour to take care of everything, except did not tackle sewing the zipper.

Brother in law called to go deer hunting, and off we went on a side by side atv. We stopped at a muskeg on the way to where my nephew in law and his buddy got deer last year.

Brian called several times on his call. Then I blasted a call from mine. And here comes a doe. She hung around while we waited but no bucks with her.

We continued to where we thought the nephew’s spot was. When we thought we found it, there was a big problem. The muskegs were down some steep terrain. Maybe a spot two 30 somethings would want to pack out a deer. But not two 60 somethings, each with a bad hip.

We got off the ATV and walked aways to see if we could find some country to hunt. Too steep uphill one side of the road, and too steep downhill on the other.

On the walk back, I had trouble negotiating a small creek, and went down right on my elbow and forearm. Like falling in ice. Lots of pain. And gun slammed down next to me. It’s going to need to be sighted in again.

I got up in a lot of pain, and sort of shock. I tried it out. I could bend the elbow. I could rotate my forearm. Looks like just a bruise. It hurt like hell for the next 30 minutes or so, but finally the pain eased.

We rode back in pouring rain. I got home to a warm room and so grateful for a hot shower. Then ice on the forearm, with a cup of coffee and banana bread.
Went to Jen and Bill’s for dinner. Brian, their boys, and I peeled shrimp for half an hour. Then Brian got to deep frying them. I brought jarred smoked salmon, kelp relish, pickled peppers and onions, and crackers I put out for horsderves. The youngest son had worked up the Berners River sampling coho salmon, a trip of a lifetime I was lucky enough to do twice during my career. The wives and girlfriend showed up and the food was all ready to eat. Lots of leftover shrimp, and I got a bag. Tomorrow’s storm starting tonight.

Craig Deer Camp week 2

Day 8

Marc was in town on business and stayed an extra day to go deer hunting.

I saved my honey hole for him, and didn’t hunt there til today. On the turn to the spot there were about a dozen humpback whales.

It was another beautiful day. We offloaded our gear and since the wind was calm and the tide near low, I just put the anchor on the bow, pushed the boat out, and pulled off the anchor.

We hiked all day and hunted some of the nicest country I’ve ever hunted, and didn’t call up a single deer until we got full circle back to the first muskeg we started in, and Marc called up a doe.

I staggered well behind Marc back to the beach. When I could see the beach, I could see the boat was beached. A breeze came up, and although we got back in time for the boat to be floating in it’s original anchored position, the fine gravel bottom didn’t hold the anchor. We got back about an hour too late.

I immediately texted my neighbor the situation so he would not come looking for us. We were gonna be here awhile. I should have anchored the boat well offshore in the large kelp patch to be sure we’d have a floating boat upon our return.

I changed out from my wet clothes to the dry ones in the ditch bag. Then took an inventory of food. A jar of smoked salmon, two granola bars, and almost 3 quarts of water, along with the coffee left in the thermos from the ride out today.

Low tide wasn’t for another 3 hours. Marc took a beach walk with his gun, as we had another hour til sunset.

He returned at sundown, and the temperature quickly dropped to about freezing. We put on more clothes as we needed them. The famous boat heater is out of commission til I get a new controller switch from Amazon.

We talked and listened to some podcasts from Marc’s phone. At low tide, I took the anchor all the way out to the waters edge and buried it, then tied the anchor rode tight to the bow eye shackle. I wanted maximum holding power so when the tide came back in, it would not push the boat further up the beach, and in theory we could pull ourselves out to the anchor once the tide refloated us.

Seven hours later, we floated and pulled ourselves out to the anchor. We went the long way home as I was worried about running into the whales at the entrance to the channel in the dark. The big moonlight on the water allowed us to see quite well looking out for logs and kelp.

We arrived at the boat ramp a little after midnight.

Day 9

Got Marc on the 7am plane. Did laundry and listened to ballgames.

Day 10

Did chores. Removed the plastic fingerholds on the scope that I ruined with needlenose pliers, then put the screws back in about half way. Now I could grab them with dikes pliers. I adjusted them based on my last group at the range, and drove out to a roadside area people use to sight in. I remembered my buddy Ron saying to just shoot once and check it, since the first shot is the most important when you’re out hunting. I nicked the center bullseye from about 50 yards, and was happy to now be confident the rifle should be right on

I restocked water, tea and smoked fish on the boat. Also bought some cup of noodles. Put the clothes back in the ditch bag, and added an extra heavy jacket.

Day 11

Brian dropped me off hunting on the beach of the winter fishing hole, and he fished for king salmon.

Saw deer, wolf and mink tracks on the beach. I hiked this new country, and it looked great for deer hunting, but I didn’t see a one. I did find the remains of a small building. There was a floor made with two logs across the bottom about 6 feet apart with about 14 inch wide by ¾ inch probably hand or chainsaw made planks across the logs to make a floor. There was a ridgepole with one end still in a notched support post. Saw remains of another floor nearby. Maybe a trapping cabin? Not sure what else it would be located a quarter mile up from the beach. Cool find.

Brian caught a bunch of small ling cod and halibut. We ran beaches on the way home and didn’t see any deer.

Day 12

Wind came up and some white caps in front of house. Not hunting today anyway but maybe the wind, clouds and some sprinkles will get the deer moving.

I got out all my bags of strawberries from the freezer to make jam. I leave the berries on the stem, and freezing seems to let them come off the stem easier and with less chaff than when they are raw.

I looked up a jam recipe for the instant pot, and sure enough there was one for strawberry jam.

So, I used the food processor to puree the 13 cups of berries, added sugar to taste – 2.5 cups – and a tablespoon of lime powder my sister in law gave me in lieu of lemon juice.

I put the jam in the instant pot for a 2 minute pressure cook. Then loaded 13 half pint jars and canned the jars in a boiling bath for 10 minutes.

The sun was shining down through a sucker hole in the clouds out by Sumez Island, and I could just make out the blows of several whales under the sun.

Day 13

Took the day off after yet another clear overnight. Ellen texted that my part was here for the boat heater. Rode the bike over to grab it. I plugged it in half expecting it wouldn’t work, but Shazam, it did. I ordered another for a spare as soon as I got the new one installed.

Then I did my stretching and strength exercises for my hip.

Afterward, I repaired the zipper on the boat canvas and patched a section of punctured soft plexiglass with some rubber tape. The hip felt a lot better. Looking forward to hunting tomorrow.

Saw a garage sale in town on Facebook and grabbed a few things there. Young couple was moving to Georgia. Then to the store for a few items, including potato salad and baked beans to go with elk burgers at Ellen’s tonight.

Day 14

Hunted one of my furthest spots from town today. A new spot to me. Kind of a gnarly walk in, but I got to the first muskeg hunting into the wind. Called there about half an hour and no deer. I crossed a little ridge to the next muskeg to stay into the wind. I saw a doe leaving silently. She must have seen or heard me or both. I called in this muskeg about an hour, and no deer.

The wind here up the hill seemed to be gusty, and I was worried the skiff might drag anchor. I’d put plenty of scope out and was sure the anchor was set, but I didn’t have enough line to reach the shore for the anchor. And the wind direction would blow the boat off shore.

I also was pretty sure I didn’t want to pack a deer down any further from the beach than where I was right then, so I headed to the beach.

I needn’t have worried, as when I got down to beach, it was calm and the boat was where I left it.

I saw many whales in the distance near the Heceta Island shore as I sat on the beach and savored my peanut butter and salal jam sandwich.

Another great day in the woods. Will be nice to get a deer.

Another Misadventure

Scout dad Marc was in town from Juneau on business and stayed an extra day to go deer hunting.

I saved my honey hole for him, and didn’t hunt there til today. On the turn to the spot, there were about a dozen humpback whales.

It was another beautiful day. We offloaded our gear. Since the wind was calm and the tide near low, I just put the anchor on the bow, pushed the boat out, and pulled off the anchor.

We hiked all day – 4+ miles – and hunted some of the nicest country I’ve ever hunted, and didn’t call up a single deer until we got full circle back to the first muskeg we started in, and Marc called up a doe.

I staggered well behind Marc back to the beach. When I could see the beach, I could see the boat was beached. An onshore breeze came up, and although we got back in time for the boat to be floating in it’s original anchored position, the fine gravel bottom didn’t hold the anchor. We got back about an hour too late.

I immediately texted my neighbor the situation so he would not come looking for us. We were gonna be here awhile. I should have anchored the boat well offshore in the large kelp patch to be sure we’d have a floating boat upon our return. Pilot error.

I changed out from my wet clothes to the dry ones in the ditch bag. Then took an inventory of food. A jar of smoked salmon, two granola bars, tea bags and coffee, and almost 3 quarts of water, along with the coffee left in the thermos from the ride out today.

Low tide wasn’t for another 3 hours. Marc took a beach walk with his gun, as we had another hour til sunset.

He returned at sundown, and the temperature quickly dropped to about freezing. We put on more clothes as we needed them. The famous boat heater is out of commission til I get a new controller switch from Amazon. Of course it is.

We talked and listened to some podcasts from Marc’s phone. At low tide, I took the anchor all the way out to the waters edge and buried it, then tied the anchor rode tight to the bow eye shackle. I wanted maximum holding power so when the tide came back in, it would not push the boat further up the beach. In theory, we could pull ourselves out to the anchor once the tide refloated us.

Seven hours later, we floated and pulled ourselves out to the anchor. We went the long way home as I was worried about running into the whales at the entrance to the channel. The big moonlight on the water allowed us to see quite well looking out for logs and kelp. Like running somewhere at dawn.

We arrived at the boat ramp a little after midnight. Another misadventure for the memory book.

Deer Camp Week 1 2023

Day 1 – October 20

Seems like I need to spend about 300 dollars before I settle in here each trip. Today I bought a $50 washing machine on Facebook, then about $80 for 100 feet of garden hose and fittings. Groceries and a box of wine were about $100.

Neighbor got back from deer hunting in the afternoon with a 3 point, and talked to him for an hour. Then had elk for dinner at inlaws and heard about the Afognak elk hunt earlier in the month.

Day 2

Hunted alone today. Saw a doe and yearling. Salal berries are prime now and I picked about a gallon. Beautiful day. Boat ran great. Set a 2 hook skate but didn’t put enough line out and my buoys went under. Hope I can find them at a lower low tide.

My college friend Tom Emmer was nominated for Speaker of the House IIIin the US House of Representatives today. Wow.

Day 3

Really sore today. Been walking a lot with Sara on our trip and with Kurt in Juneau, but seemed like I was wearing cement shoes in my cork boots and backpack yesterday. I drank tons of coffee looking out on the sea. When the ibuprofen kicked in, I did my rehab and yoga exercises and felt a lot better. Then rode my bike about 3 miles to make a donation of a small Cuisinart to the thrift store, then stopped by to see one of our nieces’ best friends growing up who has been working in Spain for about the last decade. She came home to run the library and great to see her.

Listened to the MLB playoffs, then Monday night football while I did the dishes and got my cork boots from the boat and put them on the boot dryer and untangling some crab line to make a new halibut skate.

Day 4

Tom Emmer was nominated for Speaker of the House but couldn’t get enough votes. I went to the range to sight in John’s gun with Mike Bobo, then went to Mike’s house for lunch. CNN was on, and they were asking – is Tom too sane to be elected by the Republicans? That made me feel good.

I went to the regional music concert in the evening. I knew three kids from Juneau. Great to see kids for which you could tell – music is their thing. Every color of humanity all making beautiful music singing and in a band. Made me see how important music is to kids and that it’s an international language.

Day 5

Hunted a new spot on San Fernando. Perfect weather. Sunny and almost calm.

Hunted for a couple hours before I saw deer, then saw several, but no bucks. Hiked about 3 miles.

Day 6

Tried another new spot today. Hiked about a mile mostly uphill to a muskeg I could see on OnX. I called in the woods about half way up and called in a doe.

At the muskeg, I called several times and was in no hurry. About a half hour in, here comes a deer behind me. And it’s a buck coming through the thick brush. It breaks out into the muskeg about 25 yards behind me, and his head was behind a tree. When I lift the gun to find him in the scope, I see him turn and trot back through the thick brush. He’d come through the brush to get down wind of me, got my scent at the same time I was going to shoot, and away he went. He hardly made a sound. He could have come in and left without me ever knowing if I hadn’t been looking in his direction. I tried calling to bring him back, but he was gone.

I hunted some more muskegs but didn’t see any more deer.

I headed directly down to the beach from where I ended hunting instead of back tracking the way I came in. I picked a half gallon of salal berries on the way down. Near the bottom, I ran into a train wreck of blow down trees, and was thankful I didn’t have a deer in my pack. That’s what almost 60 with a bursitis hip will do to a guy

When I hit the beach, I could see the boat floating happily about an eighth of a mile away. As I slowly made my way over the rocky beach, I could see a whale blowing across the channel by St Johns Island.

I got back to the punt on the beach. And the line tied to a tree, the other end of which was tied to the anchor.

I pulled the punt to the waters edge, then hauled in the anchor. I pulled in the boat, and loaded my hunting gear and the punt aboard.

As I headed out in the channel, I thought I saw smoke and wondered what could be on fire out here? Someone’s boat? Then I saw what it was. A dozen or more whales! Lucky me.

Day 7

A rest day today as tomorrow Marc and I are hunting. Did several loads of laundry and the washer doesn’t want to work right. Turns on and maybe adds water then quits. Finally found I need to unplug it and plug back in between loads. Hopefully that’s it. The washer spins most of the water out wonderfully and the clothes dried quickly hung in front of the heat pump.

Also figured out the cell booster. I thought I needed to point the outside antenna in a different direction, and so mounted it on a scrap piece of aluminum and tried to match the direction of my neighbor’s antenna. Then looked up my model online and found my problem was also the inside and outside antennas were too close together, so separated further and that fixed it.

Took the boat in to Chet for the 100 hour maintenance first thing in the morning and he had it done by noon. He and his wife are so kind to me. He said he hadn’t heard of many deer being taken yet so that was encouraging it wasn’t just me.

Had breakfast at the Dockside Cafe after dropping off the boat. Easy to hear the goings on of the Island in the cozy diner, plus the food and coffee and service are good.

Still having flashbacks today of the buck coming in behind me yesterday and then turning back. Like losing a big fish, it’s the ones you don’t get that are the ones you remember.

Got a bed ready for Marc on the other futon. Put down two camel hair blankets on the floor in front of each futon as the floor is cold when it’s cold outside. The afternoon sun was scalding in the container, though, even with a window open. Sure appreciate the extra window I put in in June that gives us a panoramic view of the Pacific.