Well I bit the bullet and picked up a four stroke last month. Looking forward to putting in some serious mileage this winter. More than the 4-500 miles a week I was doing this past season. Had it narrowed down to the expedition 550 ( last year for those), bearcat xt, Scandik wt with the 900 ace and the expedition le which of course is the one I went with. Got a full length skid plate added and a wrap around bumper. Would love to go hunt caribou this weekend but I have been battling the flu and I am starting to feel better so no use to push it yet besides its still early in the year and September caribou is the best imo. The flu I have been fighting is not the little 1-2 day type either, it's the real deal that used to kill people back in the day. Lost 13 pounds this week alone. Hope everyone is looking forward to another season of hunting and trapping because I sure am.

I got the SKandic 600 ACE last year. I love that machine. What a great ride. You will enjoy your new machine. I was going to go with the Expedition but we get a lot of real deep snow here and got talked out of it for a wider track. I think I am happy with my choice. I think a 16 inch track would be fine most of the time but I am glad with what I got. Good luck on your new machine. You will like it a lot

I also bought my dad an 870 wingmaster, Something he's always wanted but since he has a hard time spending money on himself I took the opportunity to start attempting to repay him for the years he payed my way through life. I told him he can retire his '82 sportsman 12 gauge to the cabin wall at goose camp or use it for a paddle. Maybe when he's retired I'll get him an 850 etec in the expedition extreme. Can't go wrong with 165 (published)horse power (actually 173 on the dyno, or so I'm told)

Nice rig Ryan! I think my next rig will be a wide track for sure.
No replacement for displacement!

A couple nights ago I was busy around the yard and as I picked up my wolf stretcher to move it I was surprised to see that one side was covered with mold. I had it covered with a tarp but all the rain we've had found it's way in somehow. My first reaction was "F@#% sakes" but then I figured "hey this stretcher that I made for myself has lasted long enough and served it's purpose" So yesterday after work I picked up enough 1 x 4 to make TWO new wolf stretchers. They just need to be sanded now. Instead of measuring the stretchers tapered end I just took the clean side of my old stretcher and traced it on. I'm also up to 39 120 boxes and 1 330 box built this past week. Some are made from scrap plywood and some are made from a couple sheets that I bought new, some are even made from a desk and shelf that I got tired of looking at in my warehouse. My old stretcher has stretched 90% or so of the wolves that I have harvested in my life, 1 at a time, now I can stretch 2 at a time! Anybody paint or seal their stretchers? I'm thinking it might not be a good idea.

My new 900 should be ready to ship by next week and I plan on making my first hunting trip soon. After that first trip I will be officially started another August to June harvesting season. I think this year I'll just continue on with this journal, something I should have done since joining like Bushman and his Mountain Journal. Start getting your gear ready fellas 'cause trapping will be back before you know it. Wish you all good luck in the upcoming hunting and trapping season. Shoot straight, set properly, and most importantly be safe. Hmmm....better put my 550 back together too I suppose, and clean out my freezers, and mount my Dad's new scope for him, and find some parts for the old 380, make some snares, get my net ready for egg fish, find a pup for the kids, etc and etc. Feels great to be getting some energy back! Oh and I found the weight I lost when I was sick...It was in the fridge.

awesome ride, I got the 600 ace renegade, almost got the expedition, but it was a couple thousand more. Them four strokes are nice rides.

Took a ride up the Dempster highway last weekend looking for some caribou but the only ones around were way back and only a couple guys harvested caribou with the help of a quad. Seen 4 bears including one monster grizzly and a really nice old black bear. The other two were smaller, 1 griz and 1 black. So now I've taken some time off next week to do some real hunting back in my hometown of Aklavik. Looking forward to seeing some old haunts for sure.

Good evening Ryan, I sand down my stretchers and give them a lite coat of turtle wax paste letting it dry wiping off any excess. I think it helps with put up and removal of the furs.
I'm sure your kids have grown a great deal this summer my grandsons have.
That's one nice looking sled !
Allan

Just got back from down below 2 Bulls and an ugaruk. Also saw a Sow with three Cubs. Picked half a pale of ukpiks.

Fall hunting has been awesome so far this year. First me and My Hunting Partner and Daughter Morgan harvested 4 fat bull caribou and then I did a solo sheep hunt in the high country. No pictures but I do have a bunch of video that I will be uploading to youtube when I get back to my own computer in Inuvik. I've had many chances to harvest sheep in my life but until 2 days ago I've never followed through on my urge to hunt a big ram. I ended up putting the sneak on a bachelor group of roughly 20 rams and I harvested a 41'' x 41" 8 year old beauty. He did the classic roll down the wrong side of the mountain deal but luckily it was a reasonable few hundred feet pack back to the top. I'd rank that day as one of my top 5 days spent on the land in my whole life and one of the most rewarding as well. Was pretty tough finding my way across the willow flats and back to the boat in the dark but I made it home at 3am tired, wet and hungry but also very happy!

Wow Ryan sounds like an awesome time. Those tough are always the mostly lasting memories. Excited to see the video. Shame on you for no camera. ;0) Click a few stills from the video to give a a sneak peak.

I tried uploading a 17 second clip and also a couple pics from an iPhone but no luck. I'm using a mac and it is still unfamiliar for me. Once my Aunt gets back from the airport I can use her adapter and try to post a still picture sneak peek.

Original iphone photos, at least, are too large to use the uploader. I find the best way to get a photo on Tman from a mac is to export to the desktop, or my preference, a junk folder on the desktop. During this process select medium for both quality and size. This will give you the perfect photo for the web. Uploads very easy and is sized right. Will be less than a hundred Kilobytes vs 4-50000 k.
For using going straight from your phone I can give you another option that works. If you need any help don't hesitate to ask. I can give you a lot of insight to using a mac.

Is that Spanish? I don't hablo.........Lots of pics I could share, but even photobucket wont work, for me anymore.

I'm home now so I can take a pic with my camera and upload easily. No field pictures, so in my house will have to do. Give me about ten minutes or so...

Here's my first ram. I couldn't ask for any better and I think the bar is set high for any future rams. The next one I want is an old heavy broomed one.

Me and my caribou hunting partner.

Very nice ram Ryan I totally agree with you the bar is set very high !
Allan

That is a game changer Ryan. WOW :-)

Monster ram!