I apologize for being remiss in my ramblings, however August 8th brought sadness to our family as we lost Cody, our oldest lab. Mountain Kait and I both remember bringing him home from the airport in Rhode Island in March of 2000. You see, Cody was born at Tiger Mountain Kennels in Ellensburg, Washington. Tiger Mountain kennels specializes in pointing Labrador retrievers. I have had several hunting companions over the years, but Cody was by far the best I have ever had the pleasure of hunting with. Cody was all heart, for example, when we found Daisy our youngest lab, Cody wouldn't eat his dinner until Daisy was served, he was a gentleman in many ways. He had a nose like no other dog I have ever seen and that got him in trouble more times than I can count. He would put his nose in the air and off he went, he could be gone for hours at a time, and in fact, the day he died he went on his last romp, just before expiring.
I remember one rainy night when he was quite young, I found him under a bush trying to stay dry at 2 AM. When I got him in the house I could smell skunk, "Cody", I said, "be quiet and lay on your bed in the bedroom and maybe mom won't wake up." Well, he didn't get pass the doorway and Lynn suggested I get in the shower with him and the skunk recipe and give him a shampoo.
Or the day I was taking him out for his morning walk and he went on point at a bush next to the front door. He wouldn't break so I gave him the command to flush, with that a big cock pheasant flew out from under the bush and directly into the side of the house next door, breaking his neck. Well, later that morning when my neighbor Don was up and moving around, I brought the bird over to him and said good hunting Don, here is your supper, you and Cody had a good morning. Did he laugh when he heard the story and they both enjoyed pheasant that evening.
We have too many fond memories with Cody to express here, we got him the year we were married so he was our son and he went everywhere with us. He will be terribly missed, however we have Daisy to fill the void, and now she has become the Queen of Moose Look Lodge.
On a brighter note, I have been preparing for our moose hunt at the end of the month. We are hunting out of Oxbow Lodge, www.oxbowlodge.com. They are on face book as well with recent bear harvest pictures. Chad has assured me their are some monster bulls in the area and we should have a great hunt. Mountain Matt, my son is traveling from Montana to participate in the hunt, so his absence leaves me with all the preparation logistics. The equipment list is endless, chainsaw with gas and oil, block and tackle, rope, lots and lots of rope, waders, trailer with winch and the list goes on and on. We are hunting on our own, but I have been pre-scouting and agree with Chad. I have two friends that want to come along for the ride and we welcome their help in getting our moose out of the woods.
The area we are hunting is in the Maine North Woods that is a group of private land owners. They do not allow any form of retrieval equipment to be used to get the moose out of the woods, so if you can't get your truck in near the moose, you have to quarter the animal and pack it out. The only other alternative is if they are logging in the area and there is a skidder operator willing to take the time to help you out.
All reports on bear hunting have been positive, bears are large and plentiful throughout the state. Reports of sows with two and three cubs on trail cams are common.
I hope to blog again soon to give you an update on our moose preparations.
Jeff
