eelgrass
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 31,722
This hunt took place many years ago, maybe 1985 or 86. Time has a way of slipping by.....
I met Jeff while out duck hunting one year, and we got to be pretty good friends. He never took himself or the hunt too seriously, and was always good for a laugh.
Jeff had never killed a big game animal in his life, so I was pretty surprised when he called me one day and announced that he had drawn a Pronghorn tag for Likely Tables, a unit in Kali. To this day I'm not sure if he realizes how lucky he was, as it was the first time he had ever put in for the drawing.
He asked me if I would be his "guide" since I had hunted the unit in 1982. I told him, "Sure Jeff, but you have to take this hunt seriously. You have a very unique opportunity to experience a great hunt and kill a big buck. You can't waste the tag!" He assured me he would take it serious.
Jeff doesn't own a rifle. A shotgun but no rifle. He borrowed a pre '64 Winchester 30-06 from his brother and practiced enough to shoot fairly well. It is a sweeeeet gun.
Well the day finally arrived. We left on Thursday afternoon with Jeff announcing that he had made reservations at a motel in Alturas since we wouldn't get over there until late. We pulled into Alturas about midnight and found our motel. We rang the night bell and the lady came out. She said she waited until 10:00 pm and since we hadn't showed up, rented our room to someone else. The motel was full. Great!
We drove around looking for another motel but they all had "NO VACANCY" signs. Out of desperation, we found a wide spot outside town on Hwy 395 just as the rain started. We piled all our camping gear on the ground, covered it with a tarp, and crawled into the bed of his Toyota truck with a canopy.
Two guys sleeping in the bed of a Toyota is a little cramped, if you get my drift! About an hour later I hear a car pull up. It's the local deputy sheriff. He walks over with his flashlight. Jeff says "It's OK officer, it's not what you think!" We explain the situation and we all laugh. Well, everyone except the deputy who just shakes his head, tells us to leave first thing in the morning, and drives away. I told Jeff to let me do the talking from now on. Jeff can't quit laughing and I told him "Shut up and get serious, we need to get some sleep!"
to be continued...
I met Jeff while out duck hunting one year, and we got to be pretty good friends. He never took himself or the hunt too seriously, and was always good for a laugh.
Jeff had never killed a big game animal in his life, so I was pretty surprised when he called me one day and announced that he had drawn a Pronghorn tag for Likely Tables, a unit in Kali. To this day I'm not sure if he realizes how lucky he was, as it was the first time he had ever put in for the drawing.
He asked me if I would be his "guide" since I had hunted the unit in 1982. I told him, "Sure Jeff, but you have to take this hunt seriously. You have a very unique opportunity to experience a great hunt and kill a big buck. You can't waste the tag!" He assured me he would take it serious.
Jeff doesn't own a rifle. A shotgun but no rifle. He borrowed a pre '64 Winchester 30-06 from his brother and practiced enough to shoot fairly well. It is a sweeeeet gun.
Well the day finally arrived. We left on Thursday afternoon with Jeff announcing that he had made reservations at a motel in Alturas since we wouldn't get over there until late. We pulled into Alturas about midnight and found our motel. We rang the night bell and the lady came out. She said she waited until 10:00 pm and since we hadn't showed up, rented our room to someone else. The motel was full. Great!
We drove around looking for another motel but they all had "NO VACANCY" signs. Out of desperation, we found a wide spot outside town on Hwy 395 just as the rain started. We piled all our camping gear on the ground, covered it with a tarp, and crawled into the bed of his Toyota truck with a canopy.
Two guys sleeping in the bed of a Toyota is a little cramped, if you get my drift! About an hour later I hear a car pull up. It's the local deputy sheriff. He walks over with his flashlight. Jeff says "It's OK officer, it's not what you think!" We explain the situation and we all laugh. Well, everyone except the deputy who just shakes his head, tells us to leave first thing in the morning, and drives away. I told Jeff to let me do the talking from now on. Jeff can't quit laughing and I told him "Shut up and get serious, we need to get some sleep!"
to be continued...
