Thursday, August 16, 2007

That is what I thought I saw....

I was driving back in from the market in Nikiski tonight, after buying a bottle of milk and enjoying a cookie out on the beach. I have Jimmy Buffet's "Wasted Away In Margaritaville" cranking on the radio, in my own little world and I see a guy cruising slowly the ATV path ahead of me. You remember the ATV paths I told you about a few weeks ago, that people usually fly like Evil Knievel down. Anyways, as I come a little closer to the rider I am singing to myself and notice he is scanning the forested area beside him. As I come up a little closer I notice a huge cross bow across the front of his rail. It occurs to me that he is hunting the proverbial 'Bullwinkle'. So I continue by and wonder to myself, how in the hell is he going to haul a huge bull moose home on that little ATV? Now mind you, they know what they are doing, I mean they probably have a system worked out and it is no big deal. They do it every season....right? Then I wonder about the fool who comes across the poor dead carcass while die-hard the hunter runs home to get his rig to gather the thing, and if anyone has ever come across an abandoned kill and taken it. Imagine the shock of the hunter to return and find his game snatched. Now Maryann has claimed sanctuary to moose here on the property, and that is fine by me. I am too busy with trying to secure the compound before winter to have too much time to even consider or think about the perspective of the hunt. Besides, what is hunting when you are just cruising down the road waiting for an unsuspecting animal to stumble into your sites. Survival I suppose, as the nearest market to buy meat is a whole 20 minutes into Kenai. What cracks me up is that this guy was dressed to the 'T' in camouflage. On the side of the road on an ATV, with cars and trucks driving by. Yeah! Ya ought to blend in with the scenery just fine there Jedediah! Besides, I don't have a deep freezer yet, and my kitchen freezer is too small. I guess for the time being I will remain amused by the cunning tactics of the great white Nikiscan hunter, and honor Maryann's open invitation to the many fleeing moose of the area, offering them sanction and some free grass and wildflowers to chew on. Speaking of wildflowers, the Fireweed here is starting to come to the end of its bloom. It is a tall beautiful chartreuse colored flower stem which starts blooming from the bottom of the stalks tip, up to the top over the course of a month or so. It is said that when the flower reaches the end of its bloom there is 3 (or 6, as there is a controversy of the right story here in the house) weeks before winter will set in. Oh, and today I saw the shiny new sand/snow plow truck in the maintenance yard out by the highway. Who knows man!
Just a footnote before I check out for the night. Scott, Phyllis.....I passed you up on the wood. That's right. You thought you had a lot of wood...you aint got nothin on me! And its still growing. Next post I will tell you about the other wood whore. He makes both of us look like the amateur hour. If I can sneak a photo of his pile without being detected and looked upon as a potential 'wood rustler', why then I will and share it with you. It's impressive! Good night.
-Greg

2 comments:

carol said...

Hi, You know I can't help but compare where you are with were we were when we lived in Railroad in the 70's, only our population was smaller, based on our experiences I would say that when you are there for a while you will find out that the locals hunt all the time. It is their meat supply. Right now everyone is out in the open and people from other areas come to hunt, but I would bet the local's keep their frezzers full all the time. They are probably taking bets on how long you will last. I know they did in Railroad when we moved there. They gave us 6 months. Found that out after we were there a few years. You just have to grin a bear it. Carol

My home is Alaska said...
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