Get Outta Here Moose!

 

Elk season this year was very uneventful (and I think that goes for quite a few other people around here.)  We were still coming off a very dry spell, it was nice weather, there was a waning moon...and with my foot injury which caused me to be terribly out of elk-hunting shape.  You combine all that and it equals, crunchy woods, clear skies, the critters are up and moving all night and holed up during the day, and I couldn't come close to the areas they were hunkered in.  Needless to say, I called it quits early.  I spent the rest of my time off hunting closer in to the house in the mornings and then doing chores in the afternoon.  It was nice to get a bunch of winterizing done.

 

Southern view from Whitetail peak. 

I had been looking for deer the day before and ran into turkeys, so the next day I brought the shotgun instead!

Perfect size...from the first brood of the season

Last weekend found me in another chunk of Forest Service ground basically exploring while carrying a rifle.  As I'm walking up the road, the piles they burned a couple days prior were smoldering...the smell of which immediately took me back to fighting fire.  I could almost smell the MREs at that point!  But then I look up and see this grassy knob above me (Grouse Mountain)...so my "hunt" turned into a hike for a little bit so I could get to the top to look over at the lake.

Looking at the Clarkfork River Delta

More to the north now....a view of Hope (the town)

This is looking at Sagle / Ponderay area....the low hill to the left in the background is hiding Sandpoint

And this is looking toward Shepard Lake, towards Round Lake in the gap...with Cocolalla Lake barely visible at the far left

It was a hike to get to the top, so of course a photo was in order.  And yes, the wind was blowing

After that excursion I bumped some other deer that I never saw.  As I was cutting down the hill I had another near-heart attack.  I was stepping over this pile of brush and logs and this white tube-like form kept extruding out of it.  You know that feeling when all the blood leaves your head and you are truly frightened...yeah, I had that.  So this tube-like white thing that shot out of the brush finally stopped moving and turned into a snowshoe hare.  It was a bizarre experience, but I just wasn't expecting to see anything WHITE at my feet moving at about 40 mph!  All my mind registered was the blur I guess.

Later a big sounding deer let me get to within 25 yards of where he was sleeping the day away before bolting.  I hadn't spooked him too bad so we ended up playing tag for an hour or so.  While that was going on I heard a bear tearing apart logs looking for grubs...I'd seen his sign all over that hill.  I wanted to see him but never got the chance.  Well, the deer disappeared like deer do and I made for the truck because we had plans that night and I was close to being late.


In other news...we have a wonderful opportunity to replace boards in our new laminate floor!  Just a heads up, aluminum-sandwiched based steel pots are something to be careful with.  We have some nice Megaware pots and pans made this way and I found out Kirkland has a similar line.  There is an issue with aluminum as it has a fairly attainable melting point of 1200 degrees.  Whilst trying to steam some broccoli and talk about important issues, water wasn't added to the pot.  After a while, Sarah said, "Did I put water in that?  Oh shit!"  Whereas she grabs the pot to add the missing water...now, the layer of aluminum had melted...and the bottom plate of steel fell off and molten aluminum splashed everywhere!  We were lucky none of it got on us! 

Burned spots

Burned porcelain (the sink took the brunt of it.)  I think this old one will be used up at the shop!

I used a metal spatula to move the still-hot aluminum into a dustpan

The result

See how they used the aluminum to "sandwich" the base on?

Awesome

So, just be warned!  Also, I think I read something about if you put water on molten aluminum it can turn into hydrogen gas and keep burning.  I can't confirm but it makes a certain amount of sense...luckily we didn't do that (and we didn't even have to use the fire extinguisher) but it's good to keep in mind.  Oh, and we found out that NONE of our smoke alarms worked until we jiggled them...THOSE are getting replaced this weekend!


And final, last night I had heard a moose in the trees in front of the house making the unmistakable moose "yeeeeunk" noise.  I didn't think much of it and later let Lucca out the back where I immediately heard barking!  SHIT!  There's Lucca, off the stairs...barking at a moose (they were only about 10 feet apart.)  So I'm moving in on this and the moose starts moving toward Lucca (I honestly think the young girl was more curious than anything.)  But, yours truly doesn't think about anything but getting the dog and starts HOLLERING at the moose.  "GET OUTTA HERE MOOSE!   LUCCA COME HERE!  GET OUTTA HERE MOOSE!"  (I mention not thinking because we had a 10-foot triangle of dead space between all of us.)  Have you ever yelled and flailed your arms at a moose 10 feet from you?  I have. 

Well, Lucca finally came up the stairs, the moose went to ask her sister what the hell just happened, and I took the dog inside. 

It's kinda peculiar now because WTF was going through MY mind?  I must like that dog...

Oh, if you've ever seen "The Rundown" what I was yelling reminds me of the "Get outta here monkey" scene.  Ha hahahaha!.

The last couple of times he says it at about 1:15 is what I was thinking:
http://youtu.be/BDU8ew4ZeVQ