Summer/Fall Activities

After breakup and after the water went down some we headed to the river to begin fishing. We started off just having fun catching pike.



As time progressed we became more serious.



Our net regulations make it difficult to catch many kings, but we managed to get a few small ones here and there.



Along with more pike and a lot of dog salmon.



Then we went after some sheefish.



We made dry fish, half dry fish, bagged some up fresh, and jarred some as well. We have more fish than any year previous, but our kids are not eating any less so we'll probably need it.



Of course we filled the freezers with berries as well! The blueberries, highbush, and low bush berries were incredible this year. It helped make up for our garden getting nailed by an early frost we were unprepared for in mid-August.



In September we all headed out and did some camping up river. My wife had a draw permit and so we were looking for her to shoot first.



On the second camping trip out I was back off the river moose calling while the family had lunch on a birch ridge. On my way back while crossing a grass lake I spotted a wolf paralleling me. I ran to cut it off, but soon realized that the wolf was now running towards me. It could obviously he could see me, but he was running with the wind. By this time I was only about 30ft from my wife and kids who were chatting away and could easily be heard by me and by the wolf too I expect. The family didn't know I was back from my walk as I kneeled on the other side of some willows and birch from them and the wolf picked up the pace still coming right at us. Finally, the wolf paused looking over his shoulder. At about 75 yards I squeezed off a round and knocked the wolf over backwards and didn't even twitch. The girls and wife were surprised to hear the shot so close and wondered what I was doing. There is a lot of wolf sign in that area. I can't help but wonder what would have happened when the wolf would have closed the distance between him and me or him and my family. My guess is that he finally would have figured out that we were not what he thought we were and spooked but then again. . .



After two times camping out and seeing bulls really far away or only hearing them, we took off one more time before my wife's draw permit expired. We didn't make it very far before one of the girls said, "There's a moose." Sure enough a little bull had made his way out of the willows for some water. I cut the boat motor and we started drifting. My wife, nearly 30 weeks along with our fourth, made her way to the front of the boat with her 30.06. Our waves passed us rocking us up and down. Forever later the waves subsided and the bull was still drinking. She took aim and dropped him with the first shot. We made it home that evening with our winter supply of red meat.



With the moose put away, I shifted focus to black bear and was able to connect on my first!



With my wife getting her first moose and me getting my first bear, it was now the kids' turn. I took the older two girls out and the second oldest got her first spruce chicken (the older one got one last year)! She was pumped and ready to do it again!



Hope your summer and fall harvest was successful!

Looks like a pretty productive year for filling the freezer Congrats on the moose and bear! Some good looking pike!

Looks great !! Love that one of the littlest with the berry !!

Looks like you all had a very productive year. Congrats on the harvest! Agree with white that pic of your little one is priceless. Talk about some fat pike!

Awesome,thx for sharing!!!! Good eats!

Thank you for sharing a glimpse of your fall, your kids look like they're great helpers especially the little one as Ken mention what a wonderful picture of her and a berry ha ha ! Bird hunting is fun too !
Allan

Great job. love the pictures

you are living the dream.good luck and god bless to you and your family!

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Looks like fun. Little one with her spruce chicken my favorite.

Thanks all!

The youngest's berry picking habits remind us of Blueberries for Sal, but she really enjoys the idea of fishing. I hooked a sheefish and let her help me real it in. She thought it was the greatest thing and now whenever we eat fish she asks, "Is this my sheefish? I caught sheefish!"

The pike were really big on average. For a while we didn't get anything less than 36" but I like my pike 2-4 lbs coming out of the cool water of late October or early November for eating. Debone, batter, and fry!

The kids are getting to the age where they are bird hunting now and of all the guns I own, I don't have a .22 rifle. I have a .22 mag and pistol, but no .22 lr. I think I will have to invest in one for the kids before next fall.

Do you catch sheefish somewhere different than the pike? Where?
Good times for the kids and for mom and dad. Is there an FFL in that town?

The place to catch both is where a slough or smaller river enters the main river. The sheefish kinda seem to have runs like salmon. More likely to catch pike along the edges or near debris and the sheefish in the main eddy where the two waters meet, but you can catch both at either location. I can catch pike whenever there is open water but sheefish mostly in late June to late July. When the sheefish are biting we keep less pike.

What is FFL?

Never seen fish put up like that. Can you explain please.

Great family time
Great pictures
Congratulations

FFL.......federal firearms license. You are considering buying a 22. I know it's problematic to travel out and back to the vill, due to covid, so I'm assuming you'll order on line. You need an FFL holder to receive the firearm. Maybe the store?
Better let decoy know about the fish :-)

martentrapper- Oh Ok. There is none that I know of, but my wife has medical reasons (pregnant) that make traveling allowed or maybe even encouraged. I don't know if I could buy a gun without holding it first.

decoy- It is in the process of becoming dry fish. The fish is chum salmon and sheefish (maybe a couple whitefish too) that has been filleted, but the two side have been left attached to one another by the tail. Each fillet is then thinned removing a large portion of the meat and bones. We jar the removed piece and later make chowder, patties, or sandwich filling. What is left on the skin we cut at an angle and stretch the skin slightly. It is then put briefly into a salt brine and hung in the smokehouse. We usually use cottonwood. Once dry we eat it usually with crackers. If you cut it thicker and/or don't let it dry all the way you can always call it half dry and finish it off by either baking or grilling. That's just the way we do it. There are many variations even among individuals here and more variations in other villages. Tasty snack and made for some good eats while camping out looking for moose.

Well done bfisch great post and pics.

Cleaned some wolf skulls. The one from above and two others I had in the freezer from last winter. One for the collection and then sell the other two.




Wife's moose head is almost finished. Then she has to decide where she's gonna put it.

Wonderful wuff skulls !

The beauty of bone....like carved ivory.

I bet one would look amazing with a light placed inside , and set in the perfect spot for a night light.

Wow! I gotta say those are beautiful wolf skulls.

2 whitened skulls should get almost enough for a 22. Did you brine and smoke the sheefish? How is that? I’m thinking a light smoke and then canning would be good.

Great pics! Keep'em coming!

Thanks!



I like the line of thought, but have to sell them first. When I caught dry fish or half dry I cut off the top of the fillet containing most of the bones. We jar that portion for patties or chowder (unsmoked). By cutting it off I remove bones from the dried portion and they dissolve while in the canner. It also dries faster as there is less to dry. We use a slat brine for the fish we hang and smoke. Haven't tried jarring in after smoking, but it does sound good. I would either have to scale it first or remove the meat from the skin after smoking. We do brine, smoke, and jar kings and some of the better chums.

Well done , nice job on skulls

And the wife's first moose!

That is sharp!

How did you get it clean?

Boil, power washer, and then 50% water 50% hydrogen perioxide volume 40. I have done some older bulls and was quite surprised how much more delicate the bone structure on this younger one is.

How is the village handling voting? Masks? Social distancing? I imagine an election person has to mail or air freight the ballots?

Well that turned out pretty dang awesome! The wife wants to get beetles and give them a try on critters.

That can get pretty stinky !

I thought about beetles briefly, but only briefly. I don't clean enough skulls to justify it and I don't have place to keep them warm. I think beetles would be more stable than boiling. I lose some of the small and very delicate bones when boiling and power washing. I also remove some nasal and ear bones to aid in the cleaning process. That shouldn't be an issue with beetles. I say if your wife is for it, go for it!



I believe the ballots and ballot box is freighted. At the primaries they had masks and hand sanitizer available, but none of the volunteers were wearing masks. Not sure how it worked for those in quarantine. . .

Thanks and Blessings to you and yours especially for those nice pictures ! You and your Missus have every right to be very proud of your family .smith