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Topic Archives => Memorable Hunts => Topic started by: Ray Hammond on June 17, 2008, 09:53:00 PM
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They aren't actually my children, but I couldn't love them any more if they were.
One is Josh- 14, he's the son of my brother in law. Since a very young man, whenever he is around, we are inseparable. He's "my huntin' buddy". He's a real get-after- it type of young man- he's a fast learner. I got him a starter longbow and then a recurve (like his uncle Ray) and he was off to the races. I think he won or placed second in about 90% of the 3D shoots we went to together.
He's a young man who works hard at school, loves his Mom and Dad, and is just plain wonderful to be around with an enthusiasm for life and the outdoors that is unmatched in anyone else I know.
This story, however, is about my other "son". His dad says I am his son's "other father" so I don't feel bad about claiming him! His name is Stiles. I've known him since he was a little fella, and he's one of a kind. A tall athletic good looking fellow that everyone takes to like ducks to water.
He's exceptionally well mannered, kind to everyone, and has his father's ability to make EVERYONE know that when he is talking with you, you are genuinely the most important person on earth to him at that moment. A bright student and exceptional athlete, but mostly just one fine human being any parent would be proud of.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/StilesGrayling2008.jpg)
Stiles was asked by his dad what he wanted for a high school graduation present...he could have anything within reason.
He wanted to go on a bowhunting adventure with his dad, and Mr. Ray. So we were off to the races. He got a new recurve, and arrows, and practice started in earnest. We explored all kinds of hunting opportunities and decided a spring bear hunt would give us the chance to spend a lot of time together, and still have a real hunt, without the early morning pressure associated with fall hunting of anything.
We looked at a lot of camps and decided something remote, away from phones and cars and tv and all that sort of normal everyday world stuff would be the best choice- so we picked a fella named Rob...in northern Saskatchewan. He has a reputation for producing real boomer bears that don't know anything about people and houses and cars...real wilderness bears.
We made arrangements, and spent the next year getting ready.
Last week, our adventure began.
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And then?????
I like where this is headed. Can't wait for the rest of the story. Skippy
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A guy named Rob...who just happens to run one of the more famous bear hunting concessions in the free world? :campfire:
Get me a cold one while you are up.
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I hope there's lots of pics. :)
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Comon man...youre killin me.
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On Saturday, June 7th, Stiles, his father, uncle and I arrived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and checked into our hotel.
As you can imagine, the anticipation was at a fever pitch. We had a nice dinner and got some sleep. The next day we were flying into the town of Stony Rapids, to catch a float plane to our destination lake out in the bush.
The only problem was that when we arrived at the airport we were told the plane had already left- without us on it!!! The schedule had been changed. Crestfallen, we contacted Rob, and together we decided we would figure out who to blame later- right now we needed to get on standby for the next morning's flight, which we did. Back to the hotel, and then another nice dinner and we turned in, as the flight out would be very early if we were lucky enough to get on it.
We did, and to our surprise, as we were making our approach to land, the earth below looked like a war zone. Smoke, haze, and scorched earth were everywhere. The previous Friday afternoon a small rainstorm zapped the ground with a lightning bolt and a fire started. Water bombers were called, and preparations made to put the fire out on Saturday morning.
Only Mother Nature had other plans- gail force winds drove the fire into a huge blaze spreading it out and making it impossible for the few water bombers to make a dent in it. All this was enhanced by the fact that since last fall, nearly no rain has fallen in northern Saskatchewan...making everything tinder dry.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/firesmokeStonyRapids08.jpg)
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Rob's wife Rose was waiting for us with her big helper- a four year old blonde cutie pie with rosey cheeks and a shy smile...so we piled in and went to the general store to get our tags and hunting and fishing licenses.
Then Rose took us to her home for a cold cut lunch and some conversation while we waited for our float plane.
a 20 minute float plane ride later we were on "our" lake for the week. We met the camp boss, Adam, and his staff that included his wife Julie (who can make anything taste like cordon bleu) Nathan, a fishing and hunting guide and all around tough as nails fella to have around...Kentrock- a whitetail guide from Carrot River up to help out with Rob's operation, as well as little Naomi, Adam and Julie's 9 year old daughter- the camp mascot/cheerleader and all-round fun maker!
Adam, left and Nathan, right...making 7 up walleye bites! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/makinwalleyebites.jpg)
Also in camp was Chris, a nice young man from the Hudson Valley of NY state, there for his first bear hunt.
We got situated in our tents, checked out the camp which had a nice hot portable shower,targets to practice on, a generator, a freezer for our perishables, boats for running around the lake putting up baits and for fishing, a cook tent for eating and getting away from the bugs, and all our tents had cots with big oversized pads for sleeping.
We then strung up bows and started flinging arrows in preparation for our first afternoon hunt.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/stonyrapidssmoke.jpg)
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I'm on my way!!
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Great story Ray! Can not wait to read more.
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The beginning of a classic......
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Ok Ray, my good friend, do not keep us in suspense too long,LOL. Good to see you back and hope you had a great trip.
Danny
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I guess if you can survive until the next day waiting for another plane, I (we) can wait for you to continue the story....... still waiting.
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This is gonna be a good one! Great story so far Ray! Looking forward to the rest! ;) :thumbsup:
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I got a full cup of coffee and ready for the 'rest of the story'!
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Great story! Can't wait till I read the rest :clapper: :coffee:
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After a late lunch we packed up and headed out- Stiles going to a stand by himself, and Andrew and I sitting in a ground blind together.
Other than a beaver slapping its tail and some ducks loons and geese, our spot was quiet. Chris, our NY friend, had plenty of action though!
He had a hot sow on his bait and took advantage of it....claiming a beautiful 380 lb blonde bear with his other kind of bow, if you know what I mean. I could show you pictures but restrictions won't allow that.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/Chrisblondebearskull.jpg)
The next morning dawned with a red sky due to thick smoke in the air.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/stonybigsmoke.jpg)
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We got some target practice in after breakfast, then decided to go out walleye and pike fishing.
Yours truly was the master of the "proper tongue" technique so necessary to catching fish, and I smoked the others in the boat with my flawless fishing skill - catching pike after pike on the yellow and red "five of diamonds" spoon. :bigsmyl: :thumbsup: :biglaugh:
As the day warmed up, we could also notice the fire building in intensity over the hill at the far edge of the lake, rising higher and getting darker, reaching well up to big thundercloud height in the noonday sky.
The wind also heightened, and before long the far shore was smothered in dark thick smoke.
We beat it back to camp just in time to hear that we needed to evacuate, but because of the thick smoke they couldnt allow a float plane to come in so we had to do it over land!
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This adventure is getting quite heated. Can't wait for the "rest of the story"! Pat
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Wait!! they can't do this,I was there, no wait, that was you Ray, telling a great story. I hope this has a good ending for you.
Kurt
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Great stuff so far. Looking forward to the rest of the story.
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I gotta go get more popcorn...hold on...
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Very cool Ray!!! Anxiously waiting for the next instalment!!! :thumbsup:
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I LOVE this site! Come on Ray, you're killing us! :campfire:
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We did the 'sweeping arm' technique(you heard of that Kung Fu move before?) and got all our assorted junk in our bags and hauled them to the assembly area to strap onto 3 four wheelers and two wagons. We jumbled people(10 folks in camp) and bags and equipment- as much as we could- into the wagons and back seats and hauled buggy-21 miles through bug-infested muskeg trails, with the fire on our heels, to get to The Sand Road..a 190 KM long highway from hell made of rocks with a dusting of sand on top...just enough to make every vehicle traveling up and down look like a destroyer laying down a smoke screen!
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There we were met by Rob and a couple of old-time smoke jumpers Tom Nelson from Michigan and Ray Kania from Washington, who were thinking they had to come up the 21 miles we had just traveled to get us out....it was a back-slapping big-breath-taking meeting, I can tell you..with a lot of relief on everyones' part.
But I bet we were a sight- everyone was covered from head to toe in black muck thrown up by four wheelers running full bore to get through the boggy spots!
Tom and Ray- smoke jumpers/bear baiters extraordinaire
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/acouplesmokejumpers.jpg)
Rob relocated us to a fishing camp on Black Lake..a big cold monster of a lake that held five species of fish - walleye, pike, lake trout, grayling, and whitefish. Lots of them, and big ones too!
Fishing would be our plan for the next day since all our active baits were back at the burning lake.
Rob, Tom and Ray K began putting out new baits along the Sand Road, trying to get some bears to budge, since we could not hunt the established baits they had been working for two weeks.
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Holy cow Ray. You don't do anything the boring way! I'm anxious to hear the rest.
Norb
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This is a good one :D :thumbsup:
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The following day, after an absolutely awesome northwoods breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, flapjacks, juice toast and jam, it was off for a few hours of grayling fishing in the rapids about 30 seconds from camp.
Stiles, Chris and I caught and released at least 15, two of mine were around 20 inches in length +.
Somehow the pics didnt work on the bigger ones though...do have a couple though.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/RayGrayling2008-1.jpg)
Just so you know I'm not fibbing, I'll throw in a couple of other shots of me in piscatorial pursuit, showing that I have this fishin' thing knocked, you know what I'm sayin'?
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/Rayfish.jpg)
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/ray20with20lake20trout2011-1.jpg)
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While we were fishing Tom Rob and Ray went to check the new baits and determined there were three baits active- so out we went- Andrew and Stiles to the first bait, where they said they had run off a small sow when they went in, me in the second spot, with a big track but no sighting for me, and Ray K and Tom at #3. Out at 1pm, to sit till 11 pm or so.
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This is what my stand looked like the first night- you'll notice no typical barrel with pastries falling out of it etc. Thats a 5 gallon pail..with popcorn and honey.
Then there's super duper stinky baits hanging in trees..drawing them like the pied piper!
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/raysstandsandroad.jpg)
This is a place where freight doubles the price of everything..and there's no dunkin donuts or wasted food of any kind for that matter.
A box of chicken nuggets that costs 5.95 at Kroger or Publix here costs 20.00 in Stony Rapids because of shipping. So Rob has a different technique- bait with very little material.
The big bears learn to hang close then, to insure no small bears get in there and grab what little gets put out before they can arrive.
I like it a lot better this way, actually.
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Ray, I'm heading out at 6a.m. for Compton's tomorrow morning. Will i know "The rest of the story" by then? :campfire:
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I hope so. Let me get after it here.
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WOW, Congrats to all on a great time!!!! :bigsmyl: :notworthy:
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So my rear end went to sleep about 4 hours later..my only entertainment was a great big fisher that came in and snatched some bait and skedaddled out of there in a hurry!
I read the label on my seat cushion for the fifty-fifth time, listened to the buzzing of blackflies and mosquitoes hovering just beyond the range of my thermacell...cleaned my fingernails, rubbed my eyes due to three days of smoke, and yawned myself into total obliviousness until it was time to go.
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Rob must have sensed my rear end wouldnt be able to stand it till 11...cause he showed up at 10 and I bailed out to the road, reporting no activity. He just shrugged....both of us knowing that can change in two seconds and you just have to put your time in.
We traveled back toward camp approx. 5 miles to get to where Andrew and Stiles were. They were already standing in the road.
As we pulled up, I jumped out to ask how things went..concerned that they had been bored to tears and didnt want to go back out tomorrow.
Stiles broke out in a big grin, and that was all I needed to see to know something great had happened.
He told me that five minutes after we dropped them off, the same small sow came in and stayed camped out at the bait all day. At one point he got down and sat on the ground with the sow, who approached him and checked him out at close range..which I am sure made Andrew nervous, but he eventually got back in his stand a short while later.
Around 8 pm, things started to happen. A small boar came in, checking things out..Stiles had no interest in him, because he wasn't too awful bigger than the sow. He said he had not come this far to shoot 'any' bear...and besides, he had 3 nights left after this.
But soon the atmosphere surrounding these two bears changed dramatically- the smaller boar moving away, and looking behind them toward the road.
No sooner had this happened when Mr. Big shows up in all his glory- and he isnt going to put up with little Mr. Wimpy hanging around here!
He ran him off in quick order..and came back to proclaim his dominance over the bait...moving all around the area.
Stiles related that he had taken his bow off the hook while he ran off the other bear because he knew this was one he wanted.
The bear moved in and presented a broadside shot, moving his nearside leg forward to take a step, Stiles drew and released...and made a perfect shot! 3 or 4 seconds later and at about 35 yards the bruin was down for the count!
There was a lot of hugging, backslapping, congratulating, and all around happiness at that truck let me tell you! The grasshopper had become the master...taking what he had learned from me and building on it...making it look easy, and a big game bowhunter was born that day!!!!
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(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/StilesBear20081.jpg)
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/StilesBear20083-1.jpg)
Stiles' P&Y class trophy. He had a perfect hide, a 6 3/8 inch wide paw..Dad and "dad" were so tickled, and proud of this young man for his toughness under pressure, and strength to wait for the perfect opportunity.
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(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/StilesBearwholegang2008-1.jpg)
This is our whole crew...we couldn't have found a nicer, more accomodating, more genuine bunch of folks to face a fire with...we all felt a real twinge on Sunday when we had to leave and I think built a permanent bond within the group and not just because of our close call.
And that is what these trips are about- the relationships, the friendships, that last a lifetime that come from these forays into the wild that make it special...drawing you back time after time.
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more installments later...
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man, that's great....
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I'm putting a five man group plus myself together to return next year- same time, same place.
If any of you are interested, give me an email at [email protected] or call me at 678-300-2883 and we can chat about the details.
It isn't an inexpensive hunt...but the price includes four plane rides, all your meals, bear skinning, fleshing, salting, prepping, etc. and all the fishing you want to do, shore lunches if you wish, and hopefully you don't HAVE to do a four wheeler ride trying to outrun a fire! The remote wilderness its in is what drives the cost- everything comes in by air...you are really in the sticks here...most of the year you see the Aurora Borealis...that's how far north you are.
Caribou do their wintering in this area because the woods are full of lichen and it draws them down from up North.
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Originally posted by Ray Hammond:
more installments later...
Ray,
That's a great story and pics. We will need to see some more pictures and details when you get a chance.
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Ray, fantastic pictures, fantastic hunt, fantastic story..Can't wait to see the rest of the pictures & hear the rest of the details.
Randy
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I've got video of a close encounter of the bruin kind that happened to me, on its way.
As soon as it arrives, I'll get Tom to help me post it.
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Great story Ray. Somehow though I don't think the story is quite over yet is it?
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Great time and great story Ray, I mean "Dad"! I'd like to be adopted! I'm only 64. Is that too old? LOL
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Great story and pics...and my popcorn is gone.
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awesome story and pics, beautiful bear also. Im really enjoying this
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Great stuff, Ray! An excellent story and great trophy!
Congrats and well done to Stiles! ;) :thumbsup:
Thanks for taking the time to share with us!
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Enjoying this one Ray! :thumbsup:
Well done Stiles! :clapper:
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Awesome hunt Ray! Thanks for sharing with us.
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Thanks, ladies and gents. As soon as I get the video I will get it on here.
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Now thats a hunting story :thumbsup: :campfire: . That young man will remember that for ever, just waite until he in his 60's -70's telling that one. Nobody's gonna believe it.
Thanks for sharing the story with us up to this point. Look forward to seeing the video.
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Unbelievable! Maybe someday I will get that kind of chance with my girls.....
-Charlie
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Wow, that is a beautiful bear. Congrats to Stiles and the gang. Ray, I can hear the joy in your "voice".
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Congratulations to Stiles and a shot-at to Andrew.
Great story, Ray
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Heck of a good way to spend some time!
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Congrats Stiles!! What a beautiful bear! Congrats to you as well Ray, it helps to have a great mentor to help you along the way. And you sir are one of the finest! Thanks for the story.
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That was some good readin!!! Beautiful bear Thanks for sharing. Joe
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Ray, what an exciting trip it must have been! I really enjoyed hearing about it. Maybe one day........ Lin
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Great story and pics. :notworthy: I'm hoping to go bear hunting for the first time in a year or so. Dad has been several times but I haven't.
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I'll be looking for YOUR picture on here with your big bruin, Skyler. It's a certainty!
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Great story Ray!
What's this "next year" nonsense?! We want you back for "Quebec Quest III!" So at least plan on TWO bear trips next year! :thumbsup: :D
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I may be able to do that but it all depends on the economy and how this new position I just landed goes! I'd love to be there.
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Pine Nut,
YOU NEED TO BE ON THIS TRIP NEXT YEAR!!!!!
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All around excellent hunt and story! Way to go Skyler!
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Outstanding pictures and story! Congrats to all.
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Thanks, Bentpole. Video should be here Monday. Will get her up as soon as I can.
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Thanks for the pics and story mate, well done on a good hunt.
AK.
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That is awesome for you all. Congrats on some time well spent with each other. Thanks for taking us along.
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Good story Ray.Looks like a good adventure forest fire and all.Camara man sure took a good picture of you holding that lake trout :D I'll be looking for that video.
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Way to go guys!!!
Thanks for sharing Ray....as always my friend.
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You sure did, Hillie!!!!!!!!! The Lackabou Caribou Hunt/turned fishing trip was pretty cool.
I'll get it back up to the top when I get the video on, Terry...you will be interested in the film, I can tell you.
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ttt for matt
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Great story and pics Ray. What part of June are you going?
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7-14th of 2009
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Ray, Great story and hunt. Congrats to Stiles!!! BUT I sure missed my Film Director for my Selfbow & Tippit Terminator...Doc
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wish I could have made it, Doc. The good news is that I did finally find a position, so I am working again and can probably do a couple hunts in future years!!!!!!!
When you coming south again?
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Comin' to Aiken in 3 weeks to see about putting up some living quarters...Doc
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Ray,
Glad you had a great hunt.Looks & Sounds like an awesome place.
Congrads on landing your new job.
T P
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Thanks, Tom.
It was good knowing a bunch of people were praying for me! From the looks of the thread it appears that this year was another great one for Quebec...wish I could have been there.
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Well you were in Quebec in Spirit and Bowdoc was in true form and he had some new material for around camp this year !!!
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I'll just BET he did!!!!!!!!! :bigsmyl: :thumbsup: :campfire:
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ttt for Joe Coots.
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That's awesome!!!
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Wow Ray congrats on the new job thats great...I sure missed you in La Tuque as well...maybe next year...bowdoc
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missed your mug too, Doctari!
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Awesome Ray, just awesome. Great story and pics. So proud for Stiles as I know Andrew was..."Stiles miles of smile" says it all. That is one he-bear fo sho, and the fishin don't look like 2nd fiddle none either! So glad ya'll had such a fine trip, well deserved by all.
Ladies and Gents, if you ever have the opportunity to meet either of these Harper men you will remember it for the rest of your life. Truly special people I am honored to know and love.
You know I love you too brudda Ray, no matter what cussin and spittin went on at QQII last week... :rolleyes: