Success Has Its Own
Color
So this
year, Chris drew a tag for deer in the beautiful John Day area—and I go along
not for the hunt but for, among other things, the beautiful scenery. Shoppie comes along because we bring her, but
she does appear to enjoy the kitty television out the trailer window; other
than that, her world is pretty much unchanged—eat, sleep, use the box.
I like to
kid that Chris is looking for Bambi and I’m along to warn Bambi (and then Chris
corrects me by saying, “No, it’s not Bambi, it’s Bambi’s father,” which
helps…NOT). But actually, as I’ve
accompanied him on several of these now, I have to say I’m kind of in awe and
proud of the way he goes about it. I do
eat meat, and I don’t judge the process…just can’t be there for the harsh part. I’m the same weenie at the doctor’s
office—can’t look when they give me a shot.
Hunting
trips really test a person’s concept of success. Chris compares it to baseball and batting
averages, explaining that the very best players miss (or are out) MOST of the
time. You have to own your “success” in
other ways…and enjoy other parts of the process, which Chris most definitely
does.
That’s
probably the neatest part of hunting…to me!
9/22/14—Monday—Getting
There
We were so
organized this time that we were complimenting ourselves on our efficiency—we
have so many things figured out now, blah , blah, blah. Had a great drive and audio book, and it felt
good to get away, get a change in scenery.
The Clyde
Holliday Park campground that we had pretty much to ourselves last year was
mostly full this time, which was surprising.
Thomas Wolfe’s “You can’t go home
again” theory works for vacations too as we’ve discovered. Don’t go back to the same spots expecting the
same results or you’ll be disappointed.
Still…it’s okay to whine!! We
went about the biz of setting up trailer camp which included getting out the
satellite dish (gotta watch the Ducks’ football game, ya know!) and going
through that setup…and that’s when we discovered a missing part (cable connector). Off to the town of John Day we went and the
True Value store had what we needed. The
rain began then, complete with thunder and lightning…Shoppie stayed under the
covers while we got the satellite setup completed, repaired a cupboard door
that came off its hinges and finally relaxed.
Whew!! And that’s on an ORGANIZED
day!
9/23/14
(Tues) through 9/25/14 (Thurs)—Scouting Together
I love the
scouting parts of these trips—hiking, walking, driving, anticipating what might
be, and then spotting something completely different! The weather was perfect—not too hot, not too
cold—couldn’t ask for anything more. The
only unfortunate part this time was the fact that I couldn’t do my usual amount
of keeping up because my big toe fracture was still healing and didn’t allow me
more than a few miles of walking. But I
enjoyed the beautiful meadows and other areas we got to, and especially enjoyed
the fact that this time of year is pretty much bug-free! And I always had one of my books in tow to
enjoy while Chris took extra scouting trips, which worked.
One of our
goals every day was to look for a possible campsite for when we move closer to
where Chris scouted/hunted. His Veterans
status allows us to stay 5 consecutive nights at a campground for free. In order to have 5 more free nights (you can
get up to 10 per month), you have to go somewhere else for at least one night
before returning to the same campground.
Since the hunt didn’t start until October 4th, we had planned
to use the 10 days in September while scouting in order to stay at Clyde
Holliday most of those 2 weeks and reap the benefits of full hookups (water,
electricity). Our frugal relatives are
probably nodding and agreeing with this plan—“That’s right, you betcha!”—while
everyone else eye-rolls and asks, “Why not just pay after those first 5 days?”
Highlights:
- Otters SNORT!
Did you know this? We had never
heard this noise before. I kid you
not—actually snorting—it was hilarious!
Two otters had taken up residence at a lodge built by some industrious
beavers and they had quite the setup (beautiful spot!). They snorted, we laughed, and had fun filming
them, for sure.
- Okay, there were no mosquitoes or biting
insects, but there were lots of flies, so I could make some use of my
bug-snapper racket which was oh-so-satisfying!!
If you haven’t heard of these miraculous gizmos, it’s worth plunking
down the $10 at Walmart to purchase it—shaped just like a badminton racket, the
“mesh” is actually made up of little tubes that become electrified; you push a
little button on the handle and then swipe through the air to see the
magic. It electrifies flying pesky ones and
makes a snapping sound as it knocks them out.
Shoppie didn’t think much of it at first (went diving under the covers
to hide from the snap), but then realized it was good for catching the flies
that she couldn’t land. One day she
actually got down off her perch and looked at a fly on the window buzzing
around and then at me, as if to say, “Go ahead—make my day!”
- Fires, fires, everywhere! It was a little unnerving to realize that forest
fires were being fought in the area, but we were comforted by the clear blue
skies wherever we went—a good sign!
Still, we saw remnants of fires that had been, and it was kind of
eerie! The place Chris definitely had
planned to go after last year was completely closed off, so we were Thomas
Wolfe-ing it once again.
- We’re seeing deer, but does and fawns only—still fun to spot wildlife, nonetheless!
9/26/14 (Fri) through 9/28/14 (Sun)—Slothing It A Bit
We made a
decision to go ahead and pay for our remaining time at Clyde Holliday instead
of going through the hassle of packing/moving out, then packing/moving back
in. We left it flexible enough and opted
day-by-day to stay to the next (just in case we ran into something better). Once that decision was made, the next 3 days
began with us sleeping in (in the Preuitt household this means 6:00 or 6:30),
then watching one of our movies with coffee---ahhhhh!! Shoppie enjoyed our lounging mightily—purring
loudly on top of us like she could keep us from ever getting up—ha! Our other activities included:
1.
Driving to and hiking an elk spot that Chris’
niece’s husband Jered knew about.
2.
Driving to the town of Unity and back, listening
to audio books.
3.
Going into town to do up some laundry and shop.
4.
Scouting/driving to check out camp spots for our
dry-camping portion.
9/29/14
(Mon) through 10/1/14 (Wed)—Different Schedules
The
following 3 days involved Chris off to do serious scouting (full days that
started at 4:00 a.m.) for the elusive bucks.
Shoppie and I did our jobs of sleeping in. My days involved:
1.
Walking and filming (kingfishers, herons,
chipmunks, deer) along the John Day river next to our campground.
2.
Cleaning up (myself, the trailer as needed).
3.
Reading (my favorite part!)—usually outside in
perfect fall weather.
4.
Playing cribbage outside with Chris when he got
back from scouting.
Vacation is
relaxing for me and I love my own routine.
I do miss the early morning wildlife surprises out there that I got to
experience last year when scouting/hiking with Chris. But I certainly don’t mind sleeping in
(ha-ha!) and I do get to “play house” with trailer life; my world is boiled down to the essentials and
comforts; it’s so much
simpler/easier…nicer to have the mind noise lessen and the mad connected world
a distant calling at times.
Since Chris
is typically the cook at home (because he likes it more than I do and he’s
better at it), I also get to “play chef”—or at least dinner-planner, which is
fun for me for some reason when it’s vacation.
Ha! Weird how that works.
10/2/14
(Thur)—Time To Dry Camp!
We had a
technical learning curve last night and today which started with both of our
cell phones losing service. We couldn’t
text or make calls from the campground or the town of John Day, which we could
before, which was a bummer because we wanted to at least update family on our
decision to go out to parts wild (no cell service). It was mysterious to us and we were concerned
that something had gone terribly wrong.
We tried to do some verifying at the library computers but
(WARNING—GEEZER MOMENT AHEAD) we couldn’t get into our accounts because we
couldn’t remember any of the complicated passwords we had just changed everything
to in response to some of the latest identity theft activity in our area at
home—SMART! So we were actually up and
packed for dry camping by early-o’clock so that we could stop in John Day on
our way out (Radio Shack and Prime Video) to see if towers had gone down. What we discovered is that our Tracphones
will pick up the roaming charges to a POINT, before turning service off. People who have full services end up paying
for roaming charges themselves and I had always wondered how that worked for
our pay-as-you-go phones. Evidently, we
had never pushed the limit before. Now
we know.
With the
peace of mind that we weren’t getting scammed or thieved, we journeyed forth to
see if the spot we had picked out for dry camping was available—and it
WAS! We got everything set up, Shoppie situated.
Dry camping
has its extra work involved (gotta watch water usage, electric needs a
generator, etc.) but it sure beats out the cushy campgrounds for privacy! Our spot in the woods feels really good—and
even Shoppie likes it (didn’t dive under the covers rights away—woo-hoo!).
Extra, Extra!!
We took a
scout walk along a road Chris had discovered and it was absolutely
beautiful—and we got an extra bonus which if I had known about it ahead of
time, I would have had it on my Bucket List, right next to the Aurora
Borealis. Out of nowhere, it seemed, we
began to hear this most amazing sound…after hiking and looking up, from where
the sound was coming, we finally spotted the amazing sight. Hundreds of Sandhill cranes filled the blue
sky above us, making the most incredible sound and spectacular vision as their
bodies reflected the sunlight in various directions they were headed. Wow, is all I can say—the rest of me is still
speechless about the experience.
A different
kind of “Wow” was experienced later as we watched the Oregon Ducks lose. Hardly worth the satellite setup. At least the plate of nachos we had made
tasted good. We should have stayed out on the “Crane Show
Road”!
10/3/14
(Fri)—Last Scouting Day
Chris is
still searching for “that” spot. It was
pretty darned cold this morning, so Shoppie and I stayed bundled in the bed for
a while. I always enjoy the luxury of
reading on these trips, and I’ve got a great James Patterson book to escape
with, so all’s well. Chris got back to
Shoppie and me still in bed at 8:45 and eye-rolled/laughed. Tough life.
Got up and we had breakfast then took a walk. Chris wanted to explore up a hill which my
toe wouldn’t like, so I kept on the road and made some interesting “scouting”
discoveries (tracks to an animal trail that looked intriguing).
When we met
back up, we shared our ventures—he ran into some deer (no bucks that he could
tell). He was interested in my report so
we drove around and looked at both ends of the trail I had found—while driving
the meadow side, WHAM! Saw a buck
leading 3 other does/fawns—pretty exciting!
So exciting that Chris decided to walk back and I brought the truck back
to camp.
The
afternoon was a beautiful one for sitting out in our “backyard” reading,
watching wildlife (pine siskins, woodpeckers, Canada jays, pine squirrels,
chipmunks).
That
evening, we decided to take our chairs to where we could watch the animal trail
in the evening light/fading hours.
Nothing. A bust. Chris reminded me of the baseball hitting
average analogy: “Sometimes you try and
mostly you’ll bust, but then you’ll get it/connect, which is the thrill of it
all.” Got it.
We happened
into some Blue Bloods episodes (one of our favorites) and that took us into
slumber-land.
10/4/14
(Saturday)—Opening Day!
Chris was up
at before daylight to hunt and Shoppie and I went back to sleep. We all have our part to play! She has this thing that she does where she
paws me until I lift the covers, then she curls up next to me under the covers
with her head tucked in under my chin.
Nice. Heard gunshots—one at 7:00
and one at 7:30—and wondered if Chris was one of those. Got up and accomplished some morning routines
and worked up the courage to take my morning walk. Wore orange around my neck and stuck to the
roads. At times, I’ve peppered Chris
with all sorts of questions about how-does-this-work (how do hunters keep from
accidentally hitting people, etc.), so I feel pretty confident that others will
act accordingly. When you think about
it, it’s pretty much the same chance we take out on the highway—that everyone’s
going to stay on their side of the road, etc.
Okay…can’t let that stop me!
Chris did recommend that I not wear my white cap while walking
though: “It looks like a deer
butt!” Nuff said! I looked ridiculous but was
well-colored! Saw Chris on the way back
which was fun (he made noises that caught my attention, then I knew to just
keep going back to camp—he was busy!).
The trailer
rugs were getting pretty ugly, so I hauled them outside and swept/beat them
which felt rather Pioneerish of me.
Looking forward to a shower and them some more reading time—yes!
Shoppie’s
“Cable TV” is excellent out here in the woods.
And Chris sweetened the pot by feeding the chipmunks nuts and
crackers. Her head was plastered up
against the screen watching them feed—pretty funny.
Chris got
his shower and we lunched, then put in an audio book to drift away with into a
delicious nap.
Waking up
refreshed, Chris was ready to go back at it and decided to go on the road he
and I walked the other evening (Sandhill Crane Road). I wished him luck and went back to the
business of camp reading—wee-hawww!!
All was fine
except Chris was later than anticipated—turns out I was supposed to pick him UP
at 7:00 (I thought “back by 7:00” meant he’d walk the 1.2 miles back to camp
like he did the previous evening)—NOT a happy camper when he got back,
understandably, and I felt bad.
It was a
pretty quiet dinner/evening.
10/5/14
(Sun)
Chris got
off to an early start with a plan—a GREAT plan as it turned out, only somebody
beat him to the sweet spot by about 3 minutes and “buck down”. Dang!
We drove
around looking for his next plan which would involve me dropping him off AND
picking him up—glad to get a second chance to prove myself worthy of the task!
Had a
relaxing afternoon of lunch and movie-watching until time to take him to the
latest drop-off site. Armed with his
spotting scope, chair, backpack and rifle, he’s feeling like he’s got a good
Plan B. I returned to camp and my book,
with my EYE ON MY WATCH, believe me.
Plan B proved fruitful (saw deer and they were near him not seeing him)
but not “successful” (no bucks)—successful in quotes because he’s having a ball
seeing all of the wildlife, etc. In
fact, he’s going to give Plan B another try tomorrow morning. Nice dinner (venison from last year) and fell
asleep watching Forensic Files.
10/6/14
(Mon) through 10/9/14 (Thurs)—Typical Days Dry Camping
Chris was
out the door right before daylight (or we left earlier if he wanted to be
dropped off somewhere) trying various plans which involved lots of
hiking/walking and wildlife surprises that he enjoyed immensely (one time some females/does
totally didn’t see him and were right next to him, carrying on…he huffed a little
and they all looked at him frozen in time while they decided what the heck to
do with THAT—fun). He has the right
attitude and always cops the “Harder I work, the luckier I get” philosophy.
My routine
with dry-camping trailer life (after sleeping in with Shoppie to daylight):
1. Throw on clothes2. Make up bed3. Drink water/vitamins and make cup of tea4. Brush teeth5. Update journal6. Clean up trailer as needed7. Get Shoppie’s stuff taken care of (clean box, food, water, treats)8. Empty trash (into back of truck)9. Take walk/film10. Read!
When Chris
returned, we mostly ate/napped and he went back out with some variations on
that theme:
1.
Ran into town to gas up, dump garbage, listen to
audio book and drive-about scout with an added bonus on the way. We ran into a road block and asked the
officer on the way back what was up.
Evidently a shooter on the loose in Seneca (10 miles from our camp) had
people a little nervous and searching for the guy. So Chris says, “Okay, so we’ll keep our eyes
peeled for a crazy guy with a gun in the woods.” They looked at each other with the unspoken
sentiment, “This time of year there are about 500 crazy guys with guns running
around here in the woods…” And I’m
sitting there thinking, “Okay, my walk is going to have the added excitement of
regular hunters with guns out there AND this crazy shooter on the loose…nice.”
2.
No luck for Chris seeing bucks but I saw one on
the WAY to pick him up all excited to show him…this is where I’m conflicted—I
can’t watch the kill/dying part, yet I want Chris to be successful and am
excited when I spot one for him—I know, weird, huh? I guess if it had happened with me there I
would have dived under the dashboard and plugged my ears. Hmmmm…
Our evenings
consisted of making dinner/eating (too well), finding our place in our audio
book where we fell asleep the previous night and listening to that. Work, work, work!
On Wednesday
the 8th, Chris had decided to take the truck and go to a place he
and I had been to the previous year.
When I woke back up, I realized that I didn’t know exactly where he
was—I had been the one to find the place last year which he called “Darcie
Creek” but we had scouted so many other places that when I opened the map to
try and find it that morning, I was swimming in possibilities.
Every
special trip has its risks—heck, staying HOME has its risks. But I have to admit to feeling fairly sobered
by the possibility that something could happen to Chris out there and I was
there at camp without a truck, and without cell service…and I was instructed
not to worry if he was late (after dark) because that usually was a good
sign. Sooooo…I would have had to wait
until the next morning (and I guarantee you, NOT sleeping), and then walk
around until I got some help from a passing hunter or motorist (it’s about
1-1/2 miles from our campsite to the main road—not greatly traveled, but I
might have better luck catching a passing motorist there) to help me find first
the truck, and then Chris. Maybe it’s
the thrilling novels I’m reading that have me thinking like this but still…am
going to be VERY glad to see him and VERY inspired to talk to him about what I
should do if this happens. When he has
gone off before on hunting trips by himself from our home in Salem, I expressed
worry about that kind of thing and he always said, “Just remember that if
something does happen to me that I died happy doing what I wanted…” C’est La Vie, C’est Le Hunt. And, really?
HE could end up fine, and I’m the one in the earthquake at safe ol’
home—so nothing is for certain, as they say…
For now,
there’s nothing to do but read, enjoy this woodsy quiet, great weather, and my
pioneer-like playing house that I do…or pretend I do… There’s a lot that I’m enjoying (like the
freedom to read to my heart’s content, the great weather—slight breezes with
aspens and pines shimmering, the chipmunks and squirrels entertaining me and
Shoppie, the amazing peace and quiet, and last but not least—no mosquitoes and
biting bugs—yay!! Just flies I get to
zap with my new not-a-toy-yeah-right racket.
Time to focus on all of that.
While Chris
was gone one day, I heard a shot go off near our camp and then later on my walk
saw a truck leaving with a big (3-point or better) buck in the back. Didn’t relish telling him about it, but he’s
not so disheartened that he doesn’t go ahead with Plan D, or is it E. I see firsthand how hard he works (not like
most of the hunters we see car-hunting—driving around until they run into
something they can shoot)—he walks and walks and walks and sits and waits and
spends lots of time trying to have a natural experience with it.
Our last
night (the 9th), Chris decided to just drive/scout about to see if
we could see anything. We actually did
spot a buck right towards the end of our drive (just as the light started to
fade). He had his rifle in the truck so
he was able to take aim but the buck spooked and ran off. After that happened, Chris felt it was the
perfect way to close and was ready to go home.
He said, “I had a chance and I missed it—a successful hunt! We certainly don’t need any more meat in our
freezer and I’m almost glad he got away.”
Success is
all in the way you define it. It’s been
a great trip and he’s happy. He
definitely enjoys the journey of hunting trips more than the destination.
We
celebrated our success with special popcorn (added nuts and Chex mix to it) and
watched another Blue Bloods.
10/10/14
(Fri)
Going home
today—Chris went for a closure walk this morning to say so long to an
experience he has thoroughly enjoyed.
Got to get up close and personal with all kinds of wildlife including
coyotes, badgers, and yes, deer.
Time to
batten down the hatches and get on the road home.
Fired up the
generator and got caught up on news—back to the real world. Looking forward to being back in touch with
family, but otherwise not feeling deprived like we HAVE to have something at
home. Neat to be able to simplify AND be
happy.
A truly
successful trip.
