I dropped lodgepole across a skid road and it split some on the bank.As I was blocking it up I noticed this slug, it was about 30 feet up in the tree .Maybe somebody shot from across the draw ?Or had a bear treed ? Looks like cast 45 cal. I am to dig it out later and measure it. I got nine more cords to go and my body is saying "you wuss "

Nice find.

Years ago my Dad shot a nice muley buck a few hundred yards away with his .300 win mag. When he went up to recover it he saw something interesting in the distance behind it. There was an aspen that had some fresh splintering in it. So he went down for a look and had a saw along that he cut a section out of the tree. Low and behold he found the slug and once home he couldn't even clean it up good enough to be at the original weight, it was still several grains too heavy.

That's cool !! Many years ago I cut down a spruce about 24" DBH. Same as you..............while bucking it up I found a ROUND lead ball. This was in an area that is basically still uninhabited.

In 1981 I was involved in an archaeological dig on Chugachik Island on Kachemak Bay. It was a 2000 year old Aleut hunting site. Prior to me getting there they found a bear femur that was broken, with a lead round ball within the break. The ball looked to be around a .62 caliber. The ball and break were covered with bone scar material so the bear had lived for quite a while with the ball in there. I was able to get some pictures of Bill Workman from UA-Fairbanks holding the femur, but the slides are buried in a closet here somewhere.

Moosetrot

The above stories are full of mystery and some adventure !Sure would be interesting to know the guy that squeezed the trigger and the whole story .Talley Ho

Moosetrot, interesting story, I hadn't heard about that find, would that bone be at the museum at UAF? I have lived on K-Bay for 62 years, and am sitting here looking out my living room window at Chugachik Island, so your story is especially interesting for me.

I would suppose it would be. It was a pretty unique find. That was a long time ago and I am not sure if it was found on Chugachik or a dig they were doing on either Mallard Cove or Halibut Cove. Bill Workman and his wife were prominent archaeologists from UAF.

Chugachik sure is an interesting place. We found a lot of the little stones with a groove pecked around them on the beaches there. The archaeologists assumed they were some kind of net weight. In the bottom of one of my "pits" I started finding some of the stones with kelp fiber still wrapped around them. Stuff was beautifully preserved in those conditions. At the very bottom I found a hearth of stones with sharpened sticks laying into the hearth that were assumed to have been used to cook seal meat. Right next to the hearth I found a bundle of kelp fibers with the stones still attached.

Was always wondering what the stones were actually for. Many years later my wife bought me a book on the Aleut from the Smithsonian. While paging through I found an old picture of "Aleut Duck Hunters". The caption said they would wear bolos made of kelp fiber and small pecked stones on their heads, and while walking along the sea cliffs they would through the bolos at sea birds flying below trying the snare them. Wearing them on top of their heads made for quick and easy access to them. I guess my mystery was solved and I was pleased to hear that as I am a very avid duck hunter myself.

I will never forget my time on Chugachik. I would kayak out into the shallow tide flats and catch Dungeness Crabs and boil them up fresh as could be over a fire using sea water. Great eating and a great time.

Found a lot of neat stuff there for sure. If I ever dig out that slide I will do my best to post it on here.

I fished a lot on Humpy Creek. Took my son up there in 2003 for his High School Grad trip and we fished the mouth of Humpy Creek for Dollie Varden. He and I would lay around the fire grilling fresh Dollies, eating so much we could hardly move!

Getting back to Kachemak, Chugachik, and Humpy Creek once more is on my bucket list for sure! Hope I make it sometime!

Moosetrot

Thanks

I haven't been Dollie fishing at Humpy Creek for several years now, use to go there quite often. I have one of the stones you mention, found it on the beach near Cottonwood creek. Cottonwood was another archealogical site besides the ones you mentioned. I always assumed it was a weight for a fish net, but maybe it was a bolo stone? The one I have has a groove all the way around the circumference one way and another half way around the other way which joins the first groove on both sides. I'll try to post a picture of it when I have time.

Considering your story I'm betting you have heard of an early archaeologist to this area by the name of Fredrica De Laguna?

There was a deep hole just below a cabin on Humpy Creek that used to fill up with fish. I had to try to get my lures down past the "pesky salmon" (mostly pinks and dogs) down to the Dolly's below. We mostly fished Dolly's at the mouth of the creek, though. I don't know if the cabin is still there or not. Back in those days it had a note on it that gave permission to stay in it if you replenished the wood supply and cleaned up. I used their hospitality one night after about 3 days of being soaking wet and tired of being in a tent only for a couple months.

By the way you describe it, it sounds like one of the bolo stones. They could very well have had a lot of different uses, but all of them I saw and found were pretty small, no more than about 1". I think they may have been light for net weights but the Aleut were an adaptable people and who knows what uses they may have come up with.

Yes, I have heard of Laguna. Many years ago when the magic of Chugachik was still very fresh in my brain, I did some research on the area and he popped up all over the place. Last night I was digging around in the computer for reference to Bill Workman and the bear femur and did not get very far, but again, Laguna kept popping up.

One day in 2003, when my son and I were on Humpy Creek, there was a lot of helicopter activity up toward Grewingck Glacier. We could see a copter hovering up there and were wondering what was going on. When we got back to Homer we found out that some foreign hikers had gotten lost up there and had gotten picked up by the copter, leaving all their gear behind. I told my son, "Dang, I know the way back there and we could have picked up some good stuff!"

While I am afraid I may have hijacked gsmith's post about the bullet in the log, it sure is fun to rekindle the memories of that area. I have already informed my son that when this old bird finally goes, that some of my ashes need to be spread on Humpy Creek. So in one shape or form, I'll be back.

Moosetrot

Only thing I find lodged in trees seems to be nails. Of course, find them with a new chain on the saw.

Good stuff Moosetrot.Careful AV those chains no likum nails !

is that the clam shell place you brought me to Spek?