Kurt finally got me in gear to go hunting.  I put off going till now.  Too many leaves still on the bushes and too warm.  Last night was our first freeze I think, and as we drove to the Douglas ramp I saw ice on car windshields.  After blowing near a gale over night, the winds calmed down just as the weatherman predicted.  Blowing at Pt Bishop about 20 kts at 6 am.  Then kts 10 at 7 am.  So looked like we could go south of town. It was almost flat running down the channel and over to Admiralty.  Friends at work had got several deer in the flats near the beach in the past few weeks, so I picked a spot Matt and I went to last year.  It was so good to get out.   Sometime inertia seems to grab hold and I find every excuse not to go.  As soon as I leave the dock, I wonder how I could have any excuse for not going. We anchored the boat off, ran the line from the anchor up the beach to a tree, shouldered our packs, and headed into the woods.  The blueberry leaves were yellow.  Most were still holding on but it won’t be long now.  Another freeze and some wind and they’ll be gone. The place went to hunt rises fairly gradually up to a steep hill that’s essentially a cliff. It’s not far from the beach to the hill – maybe half a mile.  There are a few muskegs at the base of the hill.  We worked our way up, called at the first spot where we could see a little, and nothing.  In the next little clearing, on my second series of calls, I swore I heard a little mewing but since I didn’t hear or see any movement, it never registered.  Then here comes a doe charging in.  She was no further than 20 yards – maybe 10 – when I raised the gun.  Already had a shell in the chamber, so clicked off the safety, put the neck in the scope, and fired.   Clean miss.  Doe looked like she was kinda mad that a fawn could make such a noise, then realized maybe it’s not a fawn, and turned and sauntered away as I shot and cleanly missed again.  Kurt, who was right next to me not 10 yards away could not see the doe because there was a bush between him and the deer.  I had all the time in the world to be calm, get a rest, put the crosshairs in the right place and squeeze the trigger, but as it seems the first deer every year, I rushed the shot and missed cleanly. At the next spot where we called, Kurt saw one but it seems it was moving away from us, not coming to the call.  I never saw it.   We worked our way up to the muskegs at the base of the hill and never saw another deer.  Not much sign, either, of deer or bear.  We had lunch in a big muskeg in the sun and dry air.  When we swung down to the beach, we were a good half mile or so down the beach from the boat and so a long, steady, slow walk back on the beach rocks at mid-tide.    Luckily, once we got down to the beach we had just enough beach to get through a few spots without having to climb up into the woods, which were pretty brushy.  Kurt forgot to bring the Ranier so I told him all the way back how good one would have tasted right then.   A great first day of deer hunting. 

Jeff, Kurt, Ron and Andrew helped Lance and fillet, portion and vac pack about 30 cohos donated to the food bank via the Salvation Army from DIPAC.  Took less than 2 hours, including clean up, and good to get a group of people together who each pick a job and just go.  We put the vac-packed fish on trays in the freezer and I’ll go out tomorrow and get the portions and get them to the food bank freezers.  The fish looked great. –

I took Samuel Conteh fishing yesterday and we got 3 of the brightest fish we’ve caught at Sheep Creek.  We got a single which we didn’t even know was on there. Then got another, for which I grabbed the rod, and when I asked Samuel if he wanted to land it, we got a second on the other rod.  So I got that Rod into Samuel’s hands while I played my fish and alternated playing my fish and coaching Samuel.  I landed mine then we landed his.  A nice evening. Today, Samuel and I went out for a couple hours and it was the first time this year at Sheep Creek, I think, that we got skunked so that may be it for salmon fishing.  Samuel’s father said their freezer is plugged with all the fish we’ve caught, and we are good on fish for the year, too, so on to deer hunting it is. –

I took the Conteh family fishing this morning.  We caught a hog coho as soon as we put the gear in, then another big one in about the same spot an hour and a half later.  DIPAC tried a release from net pens at Sheep Creek last year and the return has been big fish and people are taking home fish by the wheelbarrow load both from boats and from the beach.  Jeff, Kurt, Ben and Chris got 8 at least twice, and got 5 after we left today.  The Conteh’s came home with me and we butchered and vac packed the fish in short order and all three of them had their hands full of coho salmon to put in the freezer. I pulled the fish out of the smoker that I caught a couple days ago.  It is fabulous.  I added an electric frying pan I got at Salvation Army to add to the hot plate with the pan of wood chips on top to finish the fish after they’ve dried and smoked.  2 cups salt, 2 cups sugar and 2 quarts of salmon berry juice brine two coho nicely in 50 minutes.   5 new ebola cases in Sierra Leone after getting to 0 for a short time.   Hopefully they can contain it and get some of the vaccine over there that apparently has worked in testing. –

I just got coho out of the smoker last night from this recipe and it is really good.   Brine is 2 cups salt, 2 cups sugar and 32 oz of salmon berry juice.   (I can’t remember if I added water or not – if you don’t have enough liquid, add more juice would be my suggestion!)   Mix brine and then put about 1/2 thick strips of coho salmon in for 50 minutes.  I didn’t rinse the strips after taking out of the brine.   Smoke fish   

Took the last smoker-load of salmon from the refrigerator smoker this morning.  Fish looked great.  About half of it was the frames – the backbone and meat left on it after filleting – from our sockeye dipnet trip.  The rest were coho.  I used the hotplate with a pan on top to smoke.  For the last part of the process when you want to finish the cook I put in an electric fry pan from the Salvation Army and that seemed to be just the trick, and I didn’t have to finish the batch in the oven like I did the first time. –