Dan,
I did get out for bear a few days. After being down with shingles for two months I was not in the best of shape, but I did get a little mileage on my pacs. Most of the country I hunt is steep so movement over snow and ice has a risk element, so I just took it slow. I ended up on my butt a couple of times. I also had a flash that I should have packed my crampons for the trip. That way I could have gotten into real trouble.
The trip is what my soul needed. Being around long time hunting buddies was the medicine I needed. No bear taken and only came across the track of a yearling. The bear was in country where the slope ran about 75% and he did a little disappearing act on us. I marked the location on my gps, but feel he went back downhill into a drainage. I knew in my condition I would not make it back out if I continued to follow. I had fought fire on the same slope almost 40 years ago and it was tough then. Mixing old logging slash with a steep slope, ice and snow is a recipe for a broken leg.
I had a good time and it was the refreshing pill I need to get the mind and soul on the right track for the New Year.
Illegal baiting might have taken one or more bear out of the primary area we were targeting. Normally there are a lot of tracks and sightings in the area but suddenly the bear disappeared. Bait piles had been found. It is illegal to bait in California.
Switching computers can blind side a user. In the past I have backed up on CD’s. But I now have a 1TB external hard drive that I back data on. The problem is that I am not as organized as I should be.
I used the Rino 530HCx daily on the trip for tracking our location and creating waypoints. I have become gps dependant, and did not pull my old Ranger Compass out of my daypack. I used the radio side of the Rino to update us on the weather because a number of storm cycles moved in and out of the area.
Wife’s were not totally happen with us old guys being out in the woods but we gave them a daily trip plan, and called on cellphones with a location when we had service .
I believe the bear take was down this year because of early storms with heavy snow. During the mild years I believe many of the bears do not go into hibernation. But this year was/is strange the highest peaks got up to 200 inches of snow but elevation and temperature was a controlling factor with the cutoff point being around 4500 feet. There was snow lower but not heavy, it was more rain. Most of our storms came directly off the Pacific and not down from Alaska. When the forecast calls for a storm moving out of Alaska I add a few more loads of wood to the back deck.
I can see where hitting the wrong buttons on a gps in cold weather can happen. I have not been out on a snowmobile in a long time, but I normally wore Nomex flight gloves under heavy gloves when on a snowmobile. That way I had some trigger control when needed and I could operate a radio or gps. Admittedly the coldest conditions I worked in did not come close to those faced by Alaskans, and Canadians.
http://www.uscav.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=5466&tabid=548&catid=2059(Read the reviews.) Dave from WV is an old birdman who likes the nomex gloves.
Of course the Nomex gloves alone are not great in real cold weather. At one time, before Sears, K-Mart carried a green and leather shooting glove in the Sporting Goods department. They were a little warmer and I have worn a few pair out. A guy could work his gps and shoot wearing them. I have purchased some gloves designed for craftsmen at Home Depot and they a second best replacement for nomex gloves. It is hard to beat the fit of nomex gloves, but they well not keep the hands warm for long in real cold.
At times I wear gloves when hunting in warm weather because the vegetation and sharp rocks tear up the hands. At times I hunt deer and quail in whitethorn country, whitethorn is also known as “Deer Ice Cream.” The long thorns are sharp.
Bottom Picture.
http://www.calflora.net/bloomingplants/chaparralwhitethorn.htmlLloyd how does the DeLorme hold up in real cold?
