Having grown up around farming and ranching I knew some things weren't the way they should be if it was out of the normal , an open gate , a broken fence wire or livestock where they shouldn't be . So I also kept stuff in my truck that a lot of people wouldn't think to . Spare fence staples , some smooth fence wire , wire stretchers ect . . I have gone through a gate when the gate post would break while you were opening or closing it or see where cows or elk had broken the fence down . If I could I would fix it while I was there and if livestock was out or in pastures that they weren't supposed to be in I would call the rancher to tell them . I knew that ranchers often went to bed early or had kids in school so wouldn't call them after 8 PM or before 7 AM . When we got cell phones , bag phones first , then if I was where I had service I could call when I found things out of place or soon after finding them . I build gates different then most . I use 6 strands of barbed wire so that I can have 3 strands close together on the bottom of the gate 6" apart for sheep and calves . then on the stationary end I use 3 to 5 chain links wired to the post then put the gate wires through that so the gate open well and the wires don't break . I use a wire stay close to them to keep the wires separated then 4 along the length of the gate for the same reason . I try to keep in mind that women or kids will probably be opening the gate so don't make it too hard to open but hard enough that stock can't rub it and open it . And at the same time make my life easier . When you open and close 10 or 12 gates every day you get an appreciation for a good gate especially during a storm .
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Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
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DMP25-06
Well-Known Member
Having grown up around farming and ranching I knew some things weren't the way they should be if it was out of the normal , an open gate , a broken fence wire or livestock where they shouldn't be . So I also kept stuff in my truck that a lot of people wouldn't think to . Spare fence staples , some smooth fence wire , wire stretchers ect . . I have gone through a gate when the gate post would break while you were opening or closing it or see where cows or elk had broken the fence down . If I could I would fix it while I was there and if livestock was out or in pastures that they weren't supposed to be in I would call the rancher to tell them . I knew that ranchers often went to bed early or had kids in school so wouldn't call them after 8 PM or before 7 AM . When we got cell phones , bag phones first , then if I was where I had service I could call when I found things out of place or soon after finding them . I build gates different then most . I use 6 strands of barbed wire so that I can have 3 strands close together on the bottom of the gate 6" apart for sheep and calves . then on the stationary end I use 3 to 5 chain links wired to the post then put the gate wires through that so the gate open well and the wires don't break . I use a wire stay close to them to keep the wires separated then 4 along the length of the gate for the same reason . I try to keep in mind that women or kids will probably be opening the gate so don't make it too hard to open but hard enough that stock can't rub it and open it . And at the same time make my life easier . When you open and close 10 or 12 gates every day you get an appreciation for a good gate especially during a storm .
Dave ,
With the actions that you have described above , not only were you working the job of predator control for the ranchers , you were helping take care of their property in a manner that displayed to the land owner that you also considered it a privilege that he or she had allowed you to be on their property .
THAT Sir , says volumes about your CHARACTER and INTEGRITY .
You are to be commended !!!!!
DMP25-06
When your out calling and you want to keep the pelts you don't always want to skin them in the field so you take them back to the truck . I don't like to take fleas home with me so I don't carry them on my shoulder . I took a piece of 1/2 " pvc pipe 4 " long drilled a hole in the middle 2 ' from the end then put a 36" boot lace through the hole tied a knot so it would hold it in the pipe made a slip knot in the other end . I put the loop over the top jaw behind the canine teeth then I can drag them behind me in the direction that the fur lays and not damage the fur . I spray them when I get back to the truck with flea spray while they are on the ground . The pipe comes in handy when your dog decides it wants a bite of porcupine and ends up with a mouth full of quills . Put one end over the upper canine tooth and the other over the lower canine tooth to hold their mouth open while you pull them out .Un less your dog is real big they can't spit a 4 " long piece of pipe out .
DMP25-06
Well-Known Member
Back to hunting stories .
In mid-November , 1985 , my group of family and friends went Elk and Mule Deer hunting on the Uncomphagre Plateau in Colorado , southwest of Montrose , Co. and northwest of Ouray , Co.
There were 6 hunters total , and we stayed in a 16' x 14' wall tent that we heated with a cast iron wood-burning stove . At night the temperatures were very cold since we were camped above 9000' elevation , and a few nights below zero temps ( I always hung a thermometer on the outside of the tent every year that we hunted ).
The oldest member of our group was Ken , a good friend who had served in the US Army during the Korean War , although he had been stationed in Germany during his 2 years of service . Ken always talked about how cold his unit had been in Germany , because the men lived in tents that were heated by cast-iron stoves , although he conceded that the below zero temperatures that we were currently experiencing were colder than any that he saw in Germany .
It was a constant chore to feed wood into the stove at night and Ken told all of us that IF we had some coal , that we could burn that instead of wood , and keep the tent warm all night long , without refilling every hour with wood .
Ken and I had to drive into Montrose for supplies and while I was driving down a dirt trail toward town , Ken suddenly said STOP ! I stopped immediately , wondering how he had seen an animal before me , and before the Bronco had stopped skidding , Ken was out his door and running across the open flat . I shouted that you forgot your rifle , when he stopped , bent down , and picked up a large black rock that was about the size of a bowling ball . When he returned to the Bronco he said " Now this will keep the tent warm tonight , this is lignite coal ".
We continued into town , got our supplies , and returned to camp .
Ken was carrying this lump of coal around like a first time father and his new-born baby , showing all of the guys his find .
It was really cold that night , by 8:00 PM the temperature was zero , and it was dead-still , so I knew that we would be well below zero before dawn . Ken said no problem , that his lump of coal would keep us warm . He carefully put his coal into our stove , on top of the wood that was already burning , and said that the coal should easily light within 10 minutes . After about 30 minutes , the coal had still not ignited , so Ken , who desperately wanted to prove his point lit a 15 minute highway/railroad flare and stuck it in the stove under the coal . Another 10 minutes and we began to hear a hissing noise , and at about the15 minute mark , we heard the sound of an F4 Phantom Jet with full after-burners take off from inside that stove . I looked and could see flames jetting up the stove pipe , so I ran outside the tent and looked at the smoke-stack to see an 8' jet of flames roaring out of our 90* elbow at the top of the stack . I was worried that we were going to start a forest fire . I went back inside the tent and closed the flume on the stack , hoping to choke it down .
That coal refused to be shut down and continued to roar . Within 5 minutes the sides of the cast-iron stove began to glow orange , and the heat that it put off was unbearable . We opened the flaps on both ends of the tent in hopes of keeping the tent from burning , and we began moving our gear outside , into the snow away from the tent . Opening the tent did not seem to help , instead it seemed to stoke the fire . The stove sides by this time were just short of the melting point , and as we watched , the sides began to heave , expanding outward and then sucking inward . None of us had EVER witnessed anything like this , before or after . We all stood ready with water ( which we were afraid to throw on the molten cast-iron ) , shovels , dirt , and grubbing hoes , just in case the situation worsened .
After about 3 hours the fire began to loose its intensity , the stove sides were no longer almost molten and loosing the orange color , and we could finally re-enter the tent . I opened the stove and saw that the coal was about half of it's original size and lightly burning , so I made a successful attempt to remove the lump with a shovel , and threw the still-burning coal out into the snow , where it finally died-out .
This event made me remember an old saying :
" Indian builds a small fire , stays close and keeps warm . Crazy white men build BIG fires , can't get close , and freeze to death ."
DMP25-06
In mid-November , 1985 , my group of family and friends went Elk and Mule Deer hunting on the Uncomphagre Plateau in Colorado , southwest of Montrose , Co. and northwest of Ouray , Co.
There were 6 hunters total , and we stayed in a 16' x 14' wall tent that we heated with a cast iron wood-burning stove . At night the temperatures were very cold since we were camped above 9000' elevation , and a few nights below zero temps ( I always hung a thermometer on the outside of the tent every year that we hunted ).
The oldest member of our group was Ken , a good friend who had served in the US Army during the Korean War , although he had been stationed in Germany during his 2 years of service . Ken always talked about how cold his unit had been in Germany , because the men lived in tents that were heated by cast-iron stoves , although he conceded that the below zero temperatures that we were currently experiencing were colder than any that he saw in Germany .
It was a constant chore to feed wood into the stove at night and Ken told all of us that IF we had some coal , that we could burn that instead of wood , and keep the tent warm all night long , without refilling every hour with wood .
Ken and I had to drive into Montrose for supplies and while I was driving down a dirt trail toward town , Ken suddenly said STOP ! I stopped immediately , wondering how he had seen an animal before me , and before the Bronco had stopped skidding , Ken was out his door and running across the open flat . I shouted that you forgot your rifle , when he stopped , bent down , and picked up a large black rock that was about the size of a bowling ball . When he returned to the Bronco he said " Now this will keep the tent warm tonight , this is lignite coal ".
We continued into town , got our supplies , and returned to camp .
Ken was carrying this lump of coal around like a first time father and his new-born baby , showing all of the guys his find .
It was really cold that night , by 8:00 PM the temperature was zero , and it was dead-still , so I knew that we would be well below zero before dawn . Ken said no problem , that his lump of coal would keep us warm . He carefully put his coal into our stove , on top of the wood that was already burning , and said that the coal should easily light within 10 minutes . After about 30 minutes , the coal had still not ignited , so Ken , who desperately wanted to prove his point lit a 15 minute highway/railroad flare and stuck it in the stove under the coal . Another 10 minutes and we began to hear a hissing noise , and at about the15 minute mark , we heard the sound of an F4 Phantom Jet with full after-burners take off from inside that stove . I looked and could see flames jetting up the stove pipe , so I ran outside the tent and looked at the smoke-stack to see an 8' jet of flames roaring out of our 90* elbow at the top of the stack . I was worried that we were going to start a forest fire . I went back inside the tent and closed the flume on the stack , hoping to choke it down .
That coal refused to be shut down and continued to roar . Within 5 minutes the sides of the cast-iron stove began to glow orange , and the heat that it put off was unbearable . We opened the flaps on both ends of the tent in hopes of keeping the tent from burning , and we began moving our gear outside , into the snow away from the tent . Opening the tent did not seem to help , instead it seemed to stoke the fire . The stove sides by this time were just short of the melting point , and as we watched , the sides began to heave , expanding outward and then sucking inward . None of us had EVER witnessed anything like this , before or after . We all stood ready with water ( which we were afraid to throw on the molten cast-iron ) , shovels , dirt , and grubbing hoes , just in case the situation worsened .
After about 3 hours the fire began to loose its intensity , the stove sides were no longer almost molten and loosing the orange color , and we could finally re-enter the tent . I opened the stove and saw that the coal was about half of it's original size and lightly burning , so I made a successful attempt to remove the lump with a shovel , and threw the still-burning coal out into the snow , where it finally died-out .
This event made me remember an old saying :
" Indian builds a small fire , stays close and keeps warm . Crazy white men build BIG fires , can't get close , and freeze to death ."
DMP25-06
We used a wood and coal burning heating stove when I was a kid . They were a lot of work and you sure needed to know how to use them correctly . Made you glad when spring came and not so much when fall showed up . That's a good one DMP25-06
In normal Labor day fashion I worked lol.I hope that every body had a safe and enjoyable Labor Day Weekend
Yes it was an uneventful day which is always good and most days I do enjoy my work but then there are some days you wonder what the hxxx you were thinking taking this job lol. Last year or so there's been a LOT of those days!I hope you were safe while you worked and that you enjoy your work 74honker
It's getting to be the time of the year that the pelts will be becoming prime . As we know it's the amount of day light that triggers a change in the hormones and causes the animal to fur up . Temperature has little to do with it . The red fox is one of the early primers they will get prime in mid October . Coyote will be good by early November while Bobcats hit their prime in early December . By the last part of December the canines fur will start to show damage . The temperature and amount of snow does play a part in this fox and coyote will set on their hips in the snow and some of their fur will freeze to the snow and get broken off as they stand up . Also when there is sun shine reflecting off of the snow the tips of their fun will start to curl or look singed and that is what your fur buyer will call it . Bob Cats get docket hard on what is called milk staining on their bellies . I personally like to wash all my furs using cold water and a mild detergent a good shampoo works well to clean the dirt and blood out and make them shine then after they are dry a good fur comb helps with the sale price no burs and tangled fur that way . Take a small amount of water and shampoo and wash the bellies of your cats that have staining on them ( milk stain will wash out ) then after the pelt is cured get your toe nail clippers out wet the fur a little around the teats and clip them off close to the skin or the buyer will feel them and tell you they have mike bellies and dock you . In the past I thought I would try this out so I left a nice sized cat as trapped tagged it and took it to the buyer he offered $25.00 I politely said no I think I'll keep her . I then took her home washed her belly clipped her teats and took her back the next month he paid $ 125.00 this time for the same cat . The fur buyer will get to know you by the way you handle your fur and if it's a good job and all he needs to do is tumble it the price he pays will reflect in your check .
there is a bunch of good info on taking care of pelts and prime/times..............
Reemty , thank you I think that it's some thing that a lot of people don't think about very much and in the past when fur prices were low you needed to do what you could to make gas money with the fur check . There was one year that my budget was running low and all I had was some of O'Gormans LDC I knew that fox liked it a lot so I used it on my M-44'S and got 17 in a week . I put them up nice and they made the difference for me that year at $15.00 each for bounty and $25.00 each average for fur .
