Doc's Latest Adventure

Here's where you can join me for my latest adventure. Sometimes it will be hunting, (sometimes even when we don't get the game), sometimes shooting, sometimes travel or just plain adventuring, sometimes the discovery of a new product or principle. Anyway, it should be fun and hopefully entertaining.

Spring Turkey Hunt 2006

Here I am 7 months out from a total knee replacement, with no cane or crutch, hunting turkeys in south Texas right near the Mexican border, in costume, with a fancy Frenchified 12 gauge Fusil. This Fusil is the one UPS broke through the wrist for me. I fixed it with a steel pin epoxied long-ways through the wrist, then hid the break with a silver turtle thumb piece and brass tear drop finials behind the lock and sideplate where the original carved-in teardrops were found. I put a Colonial screw-in inter-changable choke in it, used a Super-Full for this hunt and loaded 115 grains Goex FFg under 1 7/8 oz #7 1/2 lead shot. It proved to be a sure killer with terrific patterns. I got two toms, both at 35 yards, both very suddenly dead with 4-5 head hits and several in the neck on both birds. Don't you believe the nonsense that 7 1/2 lead shot won't kill birds. It has for me for years.

Only two of the birds are mine, but six make an impressive picture.

Can't hardly see the break, can you? If you want to see the whole gun click on 'archives' to the left.

Mid-April '06

SIDE BY SIDE DOUBLE FLINTLOCK- RIFLE SHOTGUN

The NorthWest corner of my shop. Most of the guns shown here are assembled, 'in the white', ready to be finished.

I usually build a dozen or so reproduction guns at a time, doing all the barrel inletting, then lock inletting then buttplates and trigger guards, etc., on the whole dozen at a time. When I got back from the last turkey hunt, this little double combination gun caught my eye. I just could not resist working on it to near completion. Whims like that hit me once in a while. If your order is late, such things may be the reason.

Double guns are far more difficult than single barrel stuff. Not only is the inletting of locks doubled, the fuss and bother of cutting false breeches for the side by side barrels is a pain and the hand work is time consuming.

The most difficult thing is regulating the barrels. Once the gun is put together, to at least a point where it can be shot, then a load is selected and the gun is shot, usually at 25 yards, using false sights. Normally, the shots cross over. Then the gun goes back to the shop, a thin wedge is re-soldered in place between the barrel ends, and the gun is shot again. It usually takes a 1/2 dozen tries to get the barrels right. If one barrel shoots higher than the other, this has to be fixed too, each fix requiring re-soldering. It can become a real mess.

This combination gun has a .73 caliber (12 gauge) barrel on the right and a 50 caliber GRRW rifled barrel on the left. It is arranged this way so the shotgun barrel is on the shooting hand side for fast cocking and the rifle barrel side is on the left side where the trigger leverage produces a lighter trigger pull. The barrels are 20 inches long, the pull on the English style stock is 14 inches over what is destined to become a leather covered recoil pad. (That is, if I can learn how to cover recoil pads with leather like the English did.) Those are a pair of Siler locks, great sparkers, with a Nock style double hooked breech and double triggers. There is a single fore-arm key. The fore-arm has been left square for barrel regulation. A big risk with doubles is that the barrels may not fit the barrel mortice well at all once the regulation process is over. Note the false wood sights taped in place. These will be replaced by soldered rib and sights once regulation is satisfactory.

I normally try to get both barrels to group at 25 and 50 yards with bullets in the same group using the same amount of powder in each barrel. I want the powder charge to be the same for ball or bullet on the smoothbore side as well as for the rifled side. I chose 100 grains Goex 2Fg Black Powder for the load, using a 490 ball on the rifled side and a 715 ball on the smoothbore side, loading both with the same patch. Obviously, I want to use the same powder measure and patch for both barrels.

To my amazement, the gun shot into a tight group with the first shots, which is a first for me. The bullets groups within a inch and a half at 25 and 50 yards, plenty good for the close range game-taking the gun was intended for. It also guarantees that a shot charge will shoot to point of aim. This will make a great tree-stand whitetail and turkey gun.

Here's the target. The red patch is the aiming point. The first two shots at 12 yards hit slightly low and right with the 'try' sights, but note the closeness of the bullet placement. The top groups was shot at 25 and 50 yards and are still in roughly the same group. This means the bullets are almost parallel all the way out. Once the permanent sights are affixed, they will shoot centers,

The little gun now has the fore-stock contoured and the rear thimble fitted. The ribs and thimbles have been soldered on and a steel ramrod with brass tip fitted. I used a low folding rear sight and low front with a bright bead to catch the light. The walnut stock is finished with Laural Mountain sealer and varnish, but it still lacks checkering and engraving.

This was my PERSONAL gun kit #95. I put matching numbers on the stocks, barrels and small parts kit bags for each project as they accumulate. Some parts are really hard to get and barrels and stocks may sit for years before all the small parts are gathered together. This one has been waiting for at least 3 years to get finished.

Here is the final result, Right : a turkey taken in Kansas on a hunt with Randy Smith. Left: Utah Merriam.

Permanent sights are now on the gun and a Colonial brand inter-changable .670 Super Turkey choke tapped into the 12 gauge shotgun barrel. (If shooting ball, use a .730 choke) I used 1 1/2 oz. of 7 1/2 lead shot over 90 grains Black Powder separated by two WonderWads and a White PowerCup with another WonderWad over the shot. I took the shot at 30+ yards with an instant kill on the Kansas bird and near 40 yards on the Utah tom. The touch-hole insert in the shotgun barrel is stainless steel with 0.100 inch diameter holes for instant ignition. Smaller 0.060" to 0.080 touch-holes are fine for the rifle side, but you need a big 0.090 to 0.100" hole for fast ignition on flying game in the field.

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN

JUST BACK FROM THE MANUFACTURER'S MATCH AT FRIENDSHIP. GUESS WHO WON?

WHITERIFLES DID!!!

Here are the guys who really won the match. That's me on the left, then Rusty Cotrell, Lowell Crane, Merle Crane, David Jones and Steven Dick. Steven was the alternate and managed the spotting scope. All I did was cheer.

Congratulations to all for great shooting and great teamwork. An article on the rifles can be found under the WHATS NEW hyperlinc above. All the shooters used SWISS 3F black powder and the new White .367 PowerPunch bullet weighing 305 grains with loads of between 35 and 55 grains, depending on range. The team scope was the LEUPOLD Vari-X III 3.5-10 power target model with triple turret and adjustable objective.

BOOK CLIFFS MULE DEER HUNT 0CT '06

Late Tuesday afternoon, Oct 24th, I went to the Book Cliffs 75 miles SE of Roosevelt, UT over the roughest roads in the world, on a draw hunt for mule deer, I was one of 65 muzzleloading hunters out of 2002 applicants for 2006. The area measures about 40 X 40 miles with nary a fence in the whole place. I took a homebuilt 62 cal Flinter late Plains silver mounted fullstock shooting 140 gr FFg and .600 cal patched ball. I pulled my little 15 foot trailer down, am getting too old and stiff for camping on the ground. I later wished that I had left it home as the hard bounce getting there blew out the electricity. I was lucky to have a gas lantern along.

I camped over-night Tues. I was like a kid on his first hunt. I Got up at 4, just couldn't sleep any longer, It didn't get light until 6:30. At 5 am I went to SteamBoat Canyon where I had scouted 13 good bucks the Saturday before and found 4 camps right in the middle of the crossing. The bucks here this time of year are all together in batchelor herds of usually 2-6, they come up out of the steep bottoms to get to water which strangely is always near the top of the ridges, so you hunt the ridges, watching for them to cross..

I pulled down the road a ways and sat out the dark until it got light enough to see the open sights on the rifle. I was high on the BookCliffs Divide at 8400 feet and could see Price, Utah off to the south about 50 miles away and 4000 feet lower. Several guys on 4 wheelers come roaring past going down country to Tom Patterson Canyon (named after a famous old cowboy), I guess they didn't know that there are no deer down there, not 'til later when weather forces them down. Strange how the 4 wheeler riders think that they are going to see more deer if they go fast and make a lot of noise. To the contrary, before the morning was over I saw several bucks turn and bounce away from the noisy machines where they would merely watch cautiously as I approached them with my nice, quiet, well muffled Suburban.

Once it got light I went west, with the morning sun at my back, saw several bucks coming up and over the Divide, some others already headed back after watering. I was the only outfit on the road going west. Everyone else, including the deer, had the sun in their eyes. I only saw 2 other outfits, both rushing to get somewhere. I had gone about 6 miles back towards camp when two big three points crossed the road in front of me, coming from a muddy pond on my right. They were not spooked at all. Both were about 22-24' wide and taller than they were wide with fairly heavy horns. The bigger one had a huge belly on him, fatter than me. I stopped and watched them cross then turn east into the sun. They were really pretty with the morning sun just coming over the hill lighting them up like beacons.

I started away when the thought hit me, why didn't I shoot? I was enjoying the sights, more tourist than predator. I had not seen any bigger deer while scouting or hunting and the deer were hog fat. I turned the truck around and crept back down the road, trying to guess where they might be. I finally stopped after going about 100 yards, got out quietly, primed the rifle and tiptoed up a little rise. I had gone about 50 yards when I saw a sagebrush move. I knew I had them, the tips of the bigger bucks antlers moving over the top of the brush. They were about 70 yards away, walking slowly into the sun, eyes scrunched up against the glare. They had no interest in me, I doubt if they knew I was there. I waited until the big bellied buck came out of the sage into a more open place, exposing his chest, then stood up straight and assumed my best offhand stance, just as if I was on the target line, and touched off the shot, aiming at the point of the elbow. The buck went almost down to his knees, front legs buckling under him, then regained his balance and stumbled off downhill, hard hit. The other buck ran back the way he came after staring at me bug eyed and open mouthed for a second.

I found his blood trail right off, foamy blood on the brush thigh high on both sides of his tracks. I found him 100 yards down hill. Here was the challenge, getting him back up to the truck. Looked like he weighed better than 280 lbs. It was all I could do to lift his forequarters and head off the ground. He was a lot lighter after I gutted him, so much belly fat that the sticky suet plastered my hands and arms. I tied a rope around his horns and made a sling that I could get into. I found I couldn't pull him with me facing forward, had to turn around and back up, more power in the legs that way and I could use my considerable weight to advantage. Took me 3 hours of huffing and puffing to get him to the top. I would pull him 3-4 inches at a time for 8-10 feet then have to stop and rest. Just as I pulled up to the the truck, two big teenagers showed up. They had been watching from the top of the hill . They helped me load the buck into the truck. Alas, I had forgotten my camera, so had to get a photo at home.
DOC

TURKEYS, SPRING, 2007

IWent back to Texas for turkey again. This time I took a percussion over-under with back action locks, 12 gauge barrel over and GRRW 58 cal rifle under. The weather was awful with near freezing cold, high winds, rain, sleet and snow. The turkeys were on edge because of the wind, the Toms were just beginning to strut with the hens paying them absolutely no attention. I lucked into a flock with four big Toms, and managed to call three of them in close enough for a shot. I had to call the Boss Hen over to get them there, taking advantage of a big woodpile. I hid behind the woodpile, dashing from one end to the other, calling as if I was a Boss Hen and challenging the flock's Boss to a fight. The Toms came with her. I took the shot over a low place in the pile from tiptoes, at 25 yards.

My second Tom was a huge one. He came in from 6-800 yards away, gobbling only occasionally and fluffing out into a strut rarely. I got him to 50 yards with the usual low volume sexy putts and purrs then he hung up, walking back and forth , gobbling a demand that the hen come to him. In desperation, I finally did the Boss Hen thing again, and here he came. He was nervous though, ducking and dipping as he came. When he hit 30 yards, I alarm called him to get his head up, put the sights under his chin and pulled the trigger just as he ducked. I tried but could not stop the trigger pull and shot right over his back. then laughed myself silly at the sight of him charging me through the smoke. He ran on past and disappeared in the brush.

My next chance came on two Toms that came in silently, no strutting or gobbling, just curious, occasional putting. I could not get them closer than 37 yards, finally popping the bigger of the two.

The load I used was 110 grains of FFg Black Powder , two 1/8th inch Wonder Wads, then a White tapered shotcup with four 1/2 inch slits, loaded with 1 7/8th oz. of #7 1/2 chilled shot, topped by another Wonder Wad. This produced 80% patterns at 40 yards, using a Colonial Super-Full .670 choke, good enough to put 6-9 shot in each of the two Toms head and neck.

An interesting thing about the gun is that I had the wood, barrels and original back action locks lying around for nearly 30 years, the locks awaiting repair and final assembly into a functioning shotgun-rifle combo. I put the barrels together with tang and double trigger plate probably 15 years ago, inletted the wood for the tang maybe 10 years ago, finally got the locks repaired about 3 years ago and finished the thing on a whim over the winter of 2007

Here's the third bird of the '07 season, this one taken in Kansas. Randy Smith hosted me. It was cold and windy and the birds were not calling. I heard only a single gobble the whole time. I finally resorted to an ambush at a crossing place. This Rio Grande appeared 30 feet to my front. I had dozed off and awoke to find him staring at me. Fortunately,I was well enough camoflaged that he didn't see me lying under a tree like a dead log, and wandered past, giving me a chance to get the over-under up and get off a shot. I have never killed a turkey closer.

AAnd here's the fourth Tom of the season, a Utah Merriam, killed with that same 12/58 over under, same load, at 8000 feet in the high mountain junipers and pines of NorthEastern Utah. I managed to blunder into this bird, he had just come out of a tree at first light, but saw him before he saw me, called him in to 30 yards from about 100, just using soft little peeps and sparing clucks. I had acquired some Italian nickle plated #7 shot, which did him in but good. It's just amazing how good muzzleloading shotgun patterns can be.

The Kanai RIver, Alaskan Penninsula, July 2007

I lived in Alaska near Anchorage for 2 years back in '66-'68. I was drafted out of residency for the Viet Nam conflict and they sent me to Alaska. I go back from time to time and like always, it was good to be back again. That old blue boat (above, left) has been in the same place near Soldotna for the last 50 years. The photo above, right, gives you an idea of what 'Combat Fishing" looks like. The Red Salmon come up the Kenai heading for their spawning grounds, the fishermen ambush them on the way.

We lucked into a good run of King Salmon, too. I caught a 30 pounder (left above) while my two boys James (standing right behind his fish) and David (standing furthest right) in the photo above, right, caught 51 and 52 pounders respectively. Les Bennet, standing on the left, caught two, turning a smallish 18 pounder back to catch a 30 plus pounder later.

That's an active volcano across Cook Inlet, seen just at dusk. It had been puffing smoke all day. We fished for Halibut out in the Bay. Hauling those heavy critters up out of the deep is like pulling up your grandma's coal stove. Can't wait to go back.

(Photo credits to son James, who in real life is a Physician, but who does great photography)

FORT BRIDGER 2007

We enjoyed a terrific Rendezvous this year. With the high gas prices and the overlong distances many have to travel to get to the Wyoming high plains, I feared that the festivities would be curtailed, but such was not the case. There were as many participants as usual, if not more, and best of all, there were more shooters than I've ever seen, and many of them were younger folks just getting into the game. This is indeed promising as Rendezvous muzzleloading has been getting grey headed for a long time.

This is a photo of the firing line, between shoots. That's me in the pink striped shirt, caught in a casual pose.

Whitetail Deer Kansas 07

A Big, Fat Kansas Whitetail, corn and alfalfa fed, 10 points, scoring 147 gross, using a White ThunderBolt in 451 caliber, 100 gr 777 and my 45/40-350 saboted Power Star bullet fired by a 336 primer. I have never seen such a fat deer.

This hunt started at the Safari Club Show in Vegas last year. I met the Kelso brothers there, who hunt whitetail in Kansas, where they have about a million acres leased. They had some good looking deer in their booth, but the real attraction was the brothers. I have met few more ardent hunters. Randy Smith had always been enthusiastic about Kansas deer hunting as well, so I bit.

Kansas muzzleloading season is usually early, late September this year. I drove to Lyons, Kansas, then south a few miles to camp. There were another 8 hunters in camp plus a guide for every two hunters. We hunted from ground blinds, ladder stands and natural cover. As usual, the deer came out early, bedded during the day, then came out again in the evening.

We were hunting in the middle of some gorgeous farmland growing corn, sorgum and hay, a great combination for fat deer. It was cut by smallish streams and bigger rivers, which gave the deer lots of cover and strolling space.

As luck would have it, opening day was cold, with a little rain and a cold breeze. Actually, that was a lucky break, since the deer graze longer when its cold. When it's hot, they feed less, and feed just as the sun is coming up or going down. We saw good numbers of deer that first day, mostly because of the cold.

I saw three eight pointers that morning, none big enough to shoot, and saw twice that many later in the evening. This bigger deer came out just at dusk, joining a crowd of about 20 assorted bucks and does. We were hidden in a log pile about a hundred yards from a crossing point. I could see 5 points on one side with 4 on the other and a double brow tine, making 5 on that side too. What I really liked was that he was just out of the velvet and was fat as a pig, really sleek and slab sided.

I took the shot at about 90 yards. I was really glad for the fiberoptik front sight as the light was failing fast. There was a solid 'WOP' and blood misting in the air on the shot and he walked slowly off about 20 yards and went down. We gave him a few minutes then walked up on him. He tried to get up and I gave him another in the spine at about 60 yards. I had hit him further to the rear than I like, rupturing the liver and puncturing both lungs but with not enough damage for a quick death. The amazing thing was the severe damage to the liver, it was in little peices, with a bucket or two of blood extravasating from it, yet the deer managed to stay alive long enough to need a second shot .

Keaton Kelso. He says that it's as much fun to guide other hunters to deer as it is to kill one himself.

Maui, Hawaii. Oct 07

This doesn't have much to do with muzzleloading except that the Axis deer hunt that I had set up on Maui didn't happen. So that big 135 lb Yellowfin tuna was a decent substitute. Well, almost. What the jerks running the boat didn't tell me was that the fish belonged to the boat. If I did not want to pay them their $800 trophy fee then they would sell it locally for the tourists to eat. The $40 fresh tuna steak I ate that night probably came from that same fish. It turned out that I paid to be crew for a commercial fishing expedition. Wish I had a racket that good.

If you ever go to Maui, be aware that the place is craftily arranged to extract every last possible dollar out of your wallet.

The boat trolled fast, 8-10 knots. The tunafish ran off 300 yards of line on the strike. Then it was a 45 minute battle. No sport here, just hard work. When it came up to the boat, it took one look then dashed off another 200 yards of line and the fight started all over. I have worked harder taking an elk out of the mountans, but I had the elk down before the work started. Here you have to do the work first.

These guys (the crew) were delighted with the catch. They should have been, it earned them about $200 each. They spread the news all over the marine radio. There was a big crowd waiting at the dock to see the fish. There were also a couple of fish buyers waiting to bid. I got the idea that maybe the catch was a rare thing.

Dunno, maybe I shouldn't complain. I thought nothing of paying trophy fees for animals killed in Africa. Maybe I'm just spoiled. Too many years, too much success. Dunno. Of course, if you could shoot fish, I would probably fish a lot more than I do.

APRIL 2008 TEXAS TURKEY WITH A CLUB BUTT DOGLOCK 1710 FOWLER

This early fowler is Queene Anne era with English Doglock, club butt, early trigger guard with tang screw extending up from the bottom, walnut fullstock holding a Colerain tapered octagon to round 12 gauge barrel 42 inches long. It will eventually have some flowers chip carved into the butt (there is a famous fowler done this way that I copied) but didn't get it done in time for the turkey hunt. It has an interchangable choke up front so shoots terrific patterns. I used 2 oz #7 Italian nickle plated shot over 110 grains Goex ffG black powder. The lock is a particularly fine sparker (did the springs and frizzen myself). I had never fired it before the hunt. After the first test load, the next three shots produced three birds, the longest shot at 45 big long steps.

We drove down to the Continental Ranch near Sanderson, Texas. It was in the 90's there where at home it was freezing. The first bird came in with a group of toms. The strut hadn't even started and the toms were still traveling together and not responding to calls. They just happened to wander by. I took a 30 yard shot on the largest of the bunch. The second Tom came in to my sexy calls two days later, now in the strut but still cautious. He was with a dozen hens. I had to challenge the Boss Hen to get him close enough for a shot. I took him at 35 yards. The third bird came a day later, striding past a group of Jakes, not looking right or left. He was moving so fast that by the time I realized he wasn't going to hesitate, then swing ahead of him, he was 45 big , long steps away. He went down just as quick as the others.

The gun shoots terrific patterns. The birds were suddenly dead with the shot with many hits in head and neck. Hunting turkey with a flint fowler is the epitome of thrill, especially when you make it yourself. The fact that it all works and you get the bird is downright exciting.

Later in the season I joined Randy Smith for a turkey hunt in Kansas. The photo the the left shows what I wish had happened. The photo below shows what really did. I made the mistake of having the Browning closer than the Doglock, and the Doglock not loaded when two Toms suddenly showed, practically falling into our laps. We hadn't even walked into the hide yet and in fact had barely stepped out of the truck. There was no time for the Doglock, which wasn't loaded, so I killed the two toms with the modern monstrosity, two of the few that I have taken with a back-up gun and the only two not killed when the weather was just too rotten for a muzzleloader.

Once again, my adage that the only birds we kill are the idiots was proven by these two. They already had a passel of hens with them, yet they suckered for a few sexy yelps and strutted right into a faceful of shot while their hens looked on. The Boss Hen didn't even come with them. Reminds me of some of my friends, they turn into awful idiots when around the ladies.

Apr 08- The Adventure of a Wheel-lock rifle

This is the beginning of an ongoing pictorial project. I started a small caliber wheel-lock rifle shortly ago. The photos will show its progress as it comes along. We will start with the plank and end with the finished gun.

Basically, the gun is a Dutch-German wheel-lock. The original would have been made about 1650 or so in the Old Country although a surprising number of them were imported into the northeast in the first century of American colonization. They were used side by side with the simpler early flintlock variations.. The stock is a plain but nice grained piece of walnut, the barrel a 40 cal GM, swamped and 38 inches long. The lock kit came from The Rifle Shoppe. It is illustrated in their catalogue on a pistol, but is the perfect size for this small light rifle.

We start with a European walnut blank big enough for any wheelock of any style. It came from Dunlap and cost $200

The wood looks a lot better after planning it and bandsawing it to shape, 'in the square". It has better color than expected

Once the walnut is 'squared, the barrel and tang can be inletted. I use a milling machine to partially inlet the swamped barrel, then finish the inletting by hand using liberal quantities of inletting black and chisels. The next step is inletting the buttplate. This particular plate is an early iron meant for Jaeger rifles, but cut down to a more simple shape more in context with the wheelock. I got it from Trackofthewolf and it cost $20

I I I cut the sight slots in with my ancient Bridgeport milling machine. It's an easy job if you go slow and patient. I like my underlugs staked in then soldered with Brownell's Force 44, a silver bearing high tensil strength solder. I have seen this done on a few old guns and it makes the joint much stronger.

Now we get started with the lock. The lock kit came from TheRIfleShoppe and 3 years ago cost $125 for the castings. The springs have not been tempered or the wheel hardened, those jobs are left to the purchaser. At the left the lock plate has been inletted. You can see that this is my project #123. Details on the construction of the lock follow.

Here we are heat treating the wheel-lock parts, not all at once as shown in the photo, in an electric oven. The wheel is cased and hardened just like a frizzen, at 1650 F., quenched in room temperature water, then the center drawn with a tiny torch flame to 700 F.- a deep blue color, so that the torque of firing will not fracture the super-hard wheel. The internal parts and the lock plate are hardened by heating to 1500 F., then quenching, then drawing to 700 F., with hopefully a pretty blue color, which achieves maximum strength and durability plus color..

Above left are the lock parts as cast. The first job was to deburr them, file them into finished shape and get them ready for fitting. The photo in the middle shows the internal parts for the lock, now de-burred and file finished. The right hand photo shows the tumbler and bridle in place. Of course, you have to get the bridle hole to match the spur on the tumbler, no simple job. The bridle is pegged into a slot and held with a single screw. It is big and heavy to survive getting smacked by that big mainspring every time it snaps.

Now the pan cover is in place. It is attached to the plate by a lever that is designed and shaped to be knocked forward out of the way by the tumbler knob. An elongated slim spring holds the lever in place when closed or open. The flint or pyrites is pressed down on the cover by the spring loaded cock. Tripping the trigger releases the wheel shaped 'frizzen' to spin, knocks open the pan cover and the pyrites drops onto the spinning wheel, scraping off sparks that fly into the priming that surrounds the wheel were it projects into the pan.(See below) The right hand photo shows the two sears in place. The primary sear fits a into a tapered hole in the wheel, which is on the outside of the lock plate, the secondary sear locks the primary sear in the hole. That huge mainspring is huge because it needs the strength to perform all its functions. The resulting trigger pull is soft and easy (The nail holding the primary sear in place is temporary of course.

The photo above shows all the internal parts in their place. They will all be hardened and tempered for maximum strength and life. The right hand photo is of the outside of the lock, showing the squared tumbler projection in place. The lock is cocked by placing a 'spanner; over the square shank of the tumbler projection and turning it 3/4 of a turn until the secondary and primary sears click into place. Once priming is placed in the pan, the lock can be made 'safe' , or at least a little safer, by closing the pan, or pushing the spring loaded cock up and off the pan cover, or both.

The hardened wheel is now in place in the above left hand photo, fitted closely to the square shank of the tumbler. You can see how it projects up into the bottom of the pan. It will be held in place by the decorative device seen just just to its rear. (the proper screw is not yet in place) The right hand photo shows how the cock will eventually fit. It will rotate on a fitted screw, and be actuated by a spring that looks exactly like a frizzen spring on a flintlock, except that it is much heavier. The amazing thing about these locks is how fast they are. The other amazing thing is the number of parts and the effort required to get them adjusted just right. No wonder the much simpler common flintlock won the battle.

The lock is installed in the rifle, is complete and functioning but the case color did not come out. Ugly gray is not desirable, so it will get an antique blue one of these days. The final fit of the small parts of the lock was accomplished by coating everything with valve grinding compound, then rotating the lock parts, without the mainspring, until the parts slicked up and came to final fit. Of course, the parts had to fit fairly well to start that process, a little too tight preferable. I would say it takes four to five times as long to complete a wheel-lock as compared to a late date flintlock. You cannot imagine the tooth gritting as you fit and adjust that huge thick mainspring, never knowing whether you ground and tempered it right (or wrong) and waiting with bated breath for it to flex all the way or break. Cussing, throwing the pieces on the floor, stomping and shouting are legal when it does. The obly break on this one was a chain link, which had a void in the casting. I made a new piece by hand and it works fine, if not better.

While waiting for the lock parts to "cure', I shaped the stock, inletted the ferrules for the ramrod and fitted the front and rear sights. It looks, and feels, quite elegant, points really well..

ABOVE & BELOW:A look at the stock with a coat of oil on it, still needs lock work and sidelock screws. It's going to be a delightful rifle.

Now the rifle is done and ready to shoot. The lock is blued, sparks really well. Cock it with the combination spanner-powder flask, pull the pyrites down to the wheel and pull the trigger. Pyrite sparks are bright, sharp, quick and set the priming off every time as the sparks are right there in the priming when the wheel spins.

The spanner is mounted on a hexagon walnut powder flask. Fill it from the back- the large knob screws out, dump from the front- the small knob is a stopper and pulls out. There is a bit of incised carving on the spanner. Span (cock) the lock by pushing the spanner clockwise until the sears click audibly into place. Keep it safe by keeping the pyrites off the priming. Close the pan cover to keep the priming in the pan. Fine prime is not required.

The lock is actuated by a simple single trigger. The trigger is pinned from above and impinges on the primary sear. The trigger pull is soft but long, can be adjusted by filing the primary sear bearing surface back. All surfaces must be hardened, the mainspring is very strong and the many parts have to be precisely balanced for it to work correctly. The antique rust blue is very authentic, as browning was known and available but did not become popular until 150 years later in the 18th Century.

JULY 2008 ALASKA, KENAI RIVER NEAR SOLDOTNA

No, it's not muzzleloading but no apologies either. Probably the best fishing trip I've ever been on.

We go to sea, halibut fishing, with a volcano in the background. Above is me pulling in a big one, 87 lbs.

This is one days catch, wet and rainy. This is another days catch, warm and sunny

My friend Les Bennett bringing in a fair sized 41 lb. King salmon on the Kenai river. It was the best King salmon fishing I have ever experienced.

Above is the 57 lb. King that I caught while mooching from an oar powered drift boat. Our host, Dr Nels Anderson, managed the oars, he stands on the left. That's my son James on the right. The photo on the right shows the product of another days fishing on the Kenai: 3 Kings and a big Silver salmon. We would have had another bigger King, but he broke off my line right at the boat's side.

The photos are so good because James doctored them.

Sept 2008: Went to Kansas for Whitetail. Freezer still full of meat from last years whitetail. Swore I would wait for one bigger than last years 155. Not to worry. The hunting was terrible. The company was great. Very relaxing and pleasant. Nobody could find me even on the cell phone. No pictures.

Oct 2008: Went mule deer hunting in Utah near home. Private land. Great expectations. Too bad. Hot weather. Deer scarce and spooky. Disappointing hunt. No Photos. No point you looking at the tears. Then again, had a great time. Beautiful mountain country. Pines and quakies. Didn't hear the phone ring once while I was gone.

April 09- Went hunting Turkey in Texas. Ended up the 2008 year without a flint gun to hunt 2009 turkey so threw a French Type C Fusil in 20 bore together at the last moment. Never did get it completely finished, but did a little brown on the barrel, stain on the stock and blue on the lock. I put in an extra-full screw-in choke, then used 90 gr FFFg Goex under 2 felt wads (which pushed down easily_ a trimmed 20 gauge Double AA plastic shotcup, (which pushed down hard, had to put it all the way down with the small end of the ramrod), 1 1/2 oz. of #7 nickle-plated shot, topped by a card wad.

It turned out to be easy to get the felt and paper top wad in, just turn them a little to get them in the choke at the muzzle, then straighten them out with the big-ended ramrod as they are pushed down. The plastic shotcup was tougher to push down and it held only 1 oz shot, so I expected a lot of flyers. I needn't have worried, the combination put 9-12 shot into the head and neck of a paper turkey target at 30 yards and proved to be deadly on the real thing.

The best shot I made was on a foolish bird that came in to my very tenderfoot calling. I had made several stands that evening, then decided I would try 'Success Vizualization', a mental technique I use in Health Care, in which you visualize or 'see' the result you want to attain. I have used it successfully in shooting, especially shotgun games, where I could visualize the clay bird flying and breaking just before I called for the real thing. I have found that it increases my score by 50% or so. I cleared by mind, visualized a big gobbler strutting in front of me, a cloud of smoke and the Tom biting the dust. I did this 6-8 times. Just as I was relaxing from the effort, a flutter in the brush at my right shoulder caught my attention, probably a little bird. Could be a snake, too, so I turned my head to look. There, staring me in the face at about 2 feet was a big blue head, eyes bugged out and beak open. That Tom was even more surprized than I was. He turned and ran, which triggered the predator in me. Without thinking, I jumped to my feet, something I usually very clumsily do because of a knee replacement, and caught the bird running full out at 30 yards. The Fusil went bang all by itself. I couldn't tell you who pulled the trigger and the Tom went head over heels at 33 measured yards with a headful of shot. Then I noticed that I had shot left handed.

Now I am wondering, did I call that foolish bird in, or did I think him in. And whence came this skill lefthanded? Did I really send brainwaves into the ether that brought in this dumb bird, or was he just the neighborhood idiot?

Dunno

DOC

PS- I didn't kill all those Toms on the picnic table, just the four on top of it. First time I have ever taken the Texas limit of four in a single trip.

July 09 Alaska, fishing on the Kenai River. It poured rain, the river was high, fast and murky, the fishing poor.

On the left, you can see the hanging glacier that feeds Kenai Lake, in the foreground. The lake, in turn, feeds the river. The boat on the right is the Halibut fisher , a days catch hanging in the background on the right.

That's my son James on the left above, with a 30 lb King Salmon. On the right is McCord Marshall, with a 40 lb King hooked up. That's me in the middle. If I look grumpy, it's because I didn't catch a fish that day.

McCord shows off his 40 Lb. King above left. Our group stands on the right, behind a days catch of Halibut. The smaller ones weigh about 20 lbs, the bigger ones 40. I caught a few fish later on, a 31 and a 45 lb King salmon, 4 Halibut averaging about 30 lbs and a half dozen Red salmon weighing in at about 8 lbs apiece. I also caught the flu and spent a couple days not fishing. More pics later when they show up. The four of us brought home 320 lbs of frozen processed fish, 80 lbs apiece.

FORT BRIDGER RENDEVOUZ- Sept 2009 Had a great time.

Left: The first thing you see coming through the gate are the cowboy cops, there's a whole team of them with matched outfits and horses. Middle: one of the great activities of Rendevouz- talking it up with the neighbors. Right: that handsome woman and her dog belong to me, my wife Carole and Shadow.

Left: We see some strange things at Rendezvous, a pair of Revolutionary soldiers, one Continental and one Militia. Middle: That's me standing an a bridge across the Blacksmith Fork (creek). Right: Civil War Napoleons let loose. The annual cannon shoot is a big event, usually 15-20 cannon, many full size, shot on a 2000 yard range. That's Fort Bridger in the background. All the white objects, top right, are tin tipis gathered for the Rendevouz.

That's me in the black hat. I'm negociating a gun deal with the young man in the broad brimmed straw hat. He bought a Dimmick style plains rifle from me, then used it to win a match later in the week.

Turkey hunting April 2010- BACK TO TEXAS

Here are two of the birds I ended up with. The one on the left was taken in Texas, a lightweight compared to some I saw. I had passed up several bigger ones and settled for him and a buddy on the last day. The youngsters eat better anyway. There were a zillion birds to watch. Just seeing all that many was a rare priviledge. It was hard to kill one- it would have ruined the scene. The Tom on the right was taken in Utah after a long and difficult hunt, probably the biggest Rio Grande turkey I have ever seen, yet proved to be only a two year old. This Spring has been very wet and cold. How he got so big on poor feed is beyond me.

This is the Cookson birding gun that I used this year. I find it hard to hunt with the same gun, so had to build a new one for this years hunt. It is a large gun, 44 inch 12 gauge barrel, solid walnut stock, a big English doglock- a simple lock but a great sparker- most don't realize how well these large locks work. There is a lot of Dutch influence to the gun, the trigger guard is very Dutch, so is the fore-arm swell. Birds in that day were not shot on the wing, but were 'ground sluiced', as my cowboy uncles used to say. They would never have thought of shooting a single sage hen on the fly, they always sluiced a few at a time on the ground. The English of the 1700's thought the same way. Why waste an expensive load of powder and shot on a single bird when you can get the whole flock with the same load. I guess that's why it makes such a great turkey gun- it was designed for just that. Look for more photos of the gun under 'Archives' above.

Alaska 2010- My annual trip to Alaska, this time in late August, missing the July King Salmon season in favor of the later Silver Salmon fishing, plus, as always, halibut.

Here is a sight you will hardly ever see, the bay as smooth as glass, right at the turn of the tide, with me and the guide pulling up a halibut, the biggest of the day. We prefer the 25 pounders, they eat better.

McCord Marshall, waiting for a bite

My son James, all 6'7"" of him, the guide and Les Bennett, throwing back a small shark.

THE ADVENTURE OF A BALL SHOOTING SIDE BY SIDE FOWLER- summer to fall 2010

This was my project #596- a 16 bore side by side flintlock fowler that would shoot ball as well as it would shot. I had a nice piece of walnut with correct grain in the wrist and fancy figure in the butt. I cut it to classic proportions, bought a right and left pair of Egg flintlocks, milled out a double hooked breech in classic style. I bought a set of iron furniture, but opted for silver trim. The intent was to regulate it to shoot patched round ball as well as shot. This means that the gun has to be completed to the point where it could be fired for group.

The first project was to taper the barrels to fowler dimensions on the lathe and install milled hooked breeches. Second was to manufacture the standing breech to fit the double hooked breech of the barrels. Next, the barrels and breeches were soldered together at the breech and muzzle (no ribs at this point) then inletted into the squared up stock. By 'squared up' I mean sawn to rough shape with a band saw. Then the locks were inletted, being careful to get them balanced side to side just right with tapered-to-the-rear lock panels. The triggers were also inletted, as well as the trigger guard. The buttstock was roughly shaped with rasps, the butt-plate originally omitted, being inletted later as the regulating process advanced. A set of wooden fore and aft sights were taped firmly in place and the gun was ready to regulate.

The barrels fit a .662 ball with thin patch best. I used the same powder charge as with a 1 1/4 oz. charge of shot- 90 grains FFg black powder. Groups of three shots from each barrel were fired to calculate wedge thickness needed to get all shots from both barrels into a saucer at 50 yards. Wedges had to placed at the barrels mid point in order to get the groups centered. Wedges were sized after shooting for group then estimated changes needed, resoldering the wedges in place then shooting again. Horizontal grouping was done first. Once groups were centering, even though vertically dispersed, then vertical grouping was attacked, requiring unsoldering, moving muzzles up or down as appropriate, then resoldering and shooting again for group. This process took all summer and fall of 2010 and required many trips to the range, each with an un-soldering, adjusting, re-soldering episode in between.

Here you see the fowler beginning to take shape, with breeching, barrels and locks installed. The breeches for each barrel with hook and the double-hook tang to fit were custom made. The wooden try sights are taped in place to faciliatate regulation of the barrels.

The photo above shows that the Butt Plate is on, the double triggers and trigger guard are installed and the wooden try sights are in place. All that black tape holds the barrel assembly to the stock while I shoot it for group. The groups are not centered on the target at this point as the try sights are crude and just taped on. I found that 90 grains of FFg black powder and a patched .662 ball shot into a cup at 25 yards from each barrel with the two groups a few inches apart but close to the same horizontal plane.

All the fuss of soldering, shooting and soldering guarantees that the fowler will throw it's shot patterns together and might mean that a whitetail at 25-50 yards is meat on the table. Once I had the barrels regulated with ball, the top rib and bottom ferrules and fillers were soldered into place, being careful not to disturb the positioning of the previously soldered wedges. This required that the ribs and ferrules be soldered on in increments, jumping back and forth so as not to disturb previous adjustments. The barrels were then keyed into the stock permanently and the decorative key surrounded roundels inletted after shaping the forestock. Only then was the gunstock final shaped, checkered, sanded, oiled and finished while the metal was debrided of old solder, polished, engraved and blued or browned..

The photo above shows the ribs and ferrules are soldered on, the ramrod made and fitted to the stock. The Key that holds the barrels in place is itself in place with German silver surrounds as is the decorative fore-end tip to fancy it up. The stock has been sanded to 120 grit to show the figure of the walnut. The gun is ready for the barrels to be browned, the locks, tang, trigger assembly and buttplate antique blued, the wood checkered, finish sanded and oil finishd . Only then will the gun will be ready for grouse and whitetail.

The double fowler is now finished, checkered in the early wide fashion and the decorative wrist eschutcheon is in place, bolted to the rear of the trigger plate.

The locks and breeching as well as the trigger guard and buttplate are antique rust blued. The barrels are browned for contrast.

The buttplate return, tang and fore-end eschutcheon are engraved. My signature can be found on the top rib.

The flints are the originals that I used to regulate the barrels. I never had a single misfire while doing the regulation and there are still many shots left in them. This is a testimoney to the good design of the Egg locks.

It might seem odd, but a plain appearing double like this one, with barrels properly regulated, takes every bit as much time and artistic effort, if not more, to construct as a fancy carved, engraved and inlaid Penn-Kentucky Rifle or Jaeger. The design and decoration are easy. It's the regulating of the barrels that takes the time and effort. That's why they cost as much as they do.

Note that the basic design of this elegant fowler is no different than that of a modern side by side except for the ignition system and breeching. The functionally elegant design was available as early as the 1750's. This fowler mimics one made in the 1820's.

Sept 2010 Fort Bridger Rendezvous, Wyoming.

The biggest rendezvous in the world. 20,000 people this year. A real old time trading fair.

Wonder of wonders, I won a match, first one in a few years, the middle of three on Saturday morning. My score 86, the nearest two a tie at 80. 25 yards offhand with a pleasant Wyoming blow just starting up. I used 'success visualization' to do it. I had to visualize every shot to make it work. Maybe I'll write a book on it someday. Won 50 trader's bucks and bought me a new hat. I'm wearing it in the photo with the P-38 below. I'm wearing my old beaver Stetson in the photo of me above, at the Old Ephraim Rendezvous near Logan, UT., with the winning rifle. Sorry for the spills on the photo, don't know how it happened.

This is the rifle I used. I built this rifle in the early 1990's as a prototype for White Systems to consider. They wanted nothing to do with it. It is built in the workingman's Birmingham tradition with black painted stock, recoil pad (originals were leather covered but I never got around to the leather), no engraving or checkering, just a classically designed, elegantly conformed English hunting rifle that would have sold in the 1830's for the equivalent of a weeks work for the ordinary workman, about the equivalent of what a fellow might pay for a Winchester or Weatherby now. It's very accurate with its round grooved barrel and very quick, touch the front trigger and the bullet hits the target.

Sept 2010. Took a ride down the Pony Express Trail, 5 hours worth of gravel roads just in Utah. My wife's great grandfather Erastus (Ras) Egan, was a Pony Express rider, and his father, Major Howard Egan, was the manager of the Salt lake-Carson City route and rode the trail a time or two himself. We rode the trail from Camp Floyd (Fort Crittenden) to the Utah/Nevada border., a half day drive on gravel roads, with a way station about every 12-15 miles, most of them marked with a stone pillar but occasionally with a restored station.

Above: This is 'Stagecoach Inn' at Camp Floyd, just west of Lehi, Utah. It was in continuous use from 1861 until 1947. Right above: the greener Utah desert country west of Campo Floyd.

Above: the restored station house and marking piller at Simpson Springs. Once the mountains in the background are crossed, the country changes to real alkali desert, shown right, above. This area is just south of the salt flats west of Salt Lake City. The original PE trail cut far to the south to miss the marshes and soft ground bordering the Great Salt Lake. The modern freeway, I-80, cuts through the Flats 40-60 miles north of the old trail.

There are plenty of mountains on the route, the trail twisting in and out of the low crossings. Two are shown above. We saw lots of excellent locations for an Indian ambush. Average rider speed was about 7-10 MPH, with usually a change of horses at each way station. Average ride about 70-100 miles with a sleep-over station at the end of the days ride. Longest single ride was about 180 miles, ridden by my wife's great great grandfather, Howard Egan. He was in his 40's at the time where most riders were late teens-twenties. He must have a tough one. His book, 'Pioneering the West', is a classic.

Above: Here I am at the end of the horseback trail in Sacramento, California. The mail went by paddlewheel steamer from here to San Francisco. The station is now decorated in the later Wells Fargo get up,. Wells Fargo took over the trail and the stations after the Pony Express failed. Right above: me and a People's Line, Nevada, stagecoach., capable of carrying 19 people, each with 25 lbs. of baggage. Nine inside on three benches, a driver and a guard, the others hanging on by tooth and toenail on top and behind on the boot.

The last half of the trip was a fantastic airshow at Mather Field in Sacramento. It was terrific, with not only aerobatic and parabatic routines, but also demos of military goodies , including huge military transports, a B-2 Spirit bomber, a team of T-38 Talon jets from the California Air National Guard, an FA-18 Hornet, F-22 Raptor and best of all a flight of WWII P-38 fighters. I have loved the P-38m Lightning ever since I was a 6 year old kid in 1942 when flights of them would pass over our house in Green River Wyoming flying down Hiway 30 on their way from the Lockeed factory in California to the East coast.. Their engines made such a lovely sound, hearing them again was a treat, near brought tears to my eyes.

Above: My lovely wife Carole and a lovely PT-17 trainer. To the right, above: me and an even lovelier P-38 with gun compartment open. I'm wearing my newly won hat.

A lovely piece of P-38 nose art, original for this airplane.

The T-38 Talon jet above is about half the size of the P-38 and about twice as fast. This one comes from Nellis AFB where is is used as a Red Star Russian marked enemy in the war games there. Right above, 4 P-38's streaming by, 'Glacier Girl' in the lead. Their unique engine sound occurs because the props are contra-rotating to the outside. No P-factor that way and such a lovely sound from those 1100 HP Allisons.

Dec 2010- A Hunt for Christmas trees- An important annual event in my extended family is the hunt for Chistmas trees. We all get together at my place for Thanksgiving (30 people at the table this year) then do a bird hunt the next day (photos to follow), then go hunting trees on Saturday. the tree hunt is usually conducted in the Uintah Mountains just north of home. As usual, the snow was calf high and wet, but lots of trees and lots of fun for the grandkids towed behind son James' Quad on sleds and tubes.

EVEN DISASTER CAN BE AN ADVENTURE

JAN 2011

#582- I built Dutch inspired Wheelock with authentic lock kit from the Rifle Shoppe and swamped 42 inch barrel in 54 caliber from Colerain during the 2009-10 construction season. The walnut fullstock was pretty plain but had great grain structure especially through the wrist. Pull was 14". All furniture was iron with a forged trigger guard, double ferrules holding the ramrod and plain fore-end tip. There were two bolts holding the lock in place. The lock was cased a gray-blue, but it turned out ugly and I later browned it. It had front and rear sights. It was amazing how well balanced this rifle was and how well it held. I discovered that manufacturing a wheel-lock from scratch is quite a project, far more difficult than the ordinary flintlock..

The lock is armed by first pulling the pyrite armed cock up and off the wheel, then rotating the hardened wheel with a spanner until the primary sear catches and holds the wheel. The pan is then dusted with priming powder and the pan cover closed. The cock can then be lowered onto the pan cover. When the trigger is pulled, the big mainspring rotates the wheel, knocks the pan cover back to expose the wheel and priming, the spring loaded cock drops its pyrites onto the spinning wheel and sparks ignite the powder.

Disaster! I cocked the rifle for one last flash, it was working so well I wanted to see it spark one last time before I shipped it, when the top link in the chain broke. The link, which was a casting, proved to have a void , thus a weak place and there was some crystallization too, explaining the fractured steel. This released the spring, which unencumbered by the wheel, over-sprang and broke out the walnut on the lower side of the lock mortice. Don't ask if it made me cuss. I couldn't even look at it for 2-3 days for the tears in my eyes.

Luckily, the forward piece of walnut came away in one chunk and epoxied back into place so well that it is hard to see the break. (see below) God Bless Two-Tube Pine Pitch!

Search as I might over several days, I could not find the rear piece of walnut. It probably exploded into many little pieces with the blow from that powerful spring. I picked a piece of walnut that came close in grain configuration and character/color, shaped it to fit and epoxied it into place. (see below)

Above left: the new piece of walnut, matched for grain and color, epoxied in place. Above right: Finial finish work done and all parts back in place. Below: Right side view of the repaired rifle. It is flat amazing how well this rifle holds and how reliable the lock is. It took a lot of adjusting and tuning to get it that way, it's no wonder the much simpler flintlock took over. Interesting, a small piece of pyrites lasts many shots and doesn't have to be sharp. It does have to be hard and solid, not soft and crumbly like so much of it is..

SPRING 2011 TEXAS TURKEY HUNT

The first turkey hunt of the year was down Texas, near Sanderson. It was the worst Texas hunt I have ever been on, no fault of the turkeys. The Gobble was not on, nothing would respond to a call except to run the other way, the weather was awful, 102 one minute then 60 the next , with lots of cold, blustery wind and rain &sleet. Only saw a few birds where we usually see hundreds. I only took a single. Used the sane gun in Utah, had a long, tough hunt, finally took a bird on the last day of the season, just before I left for the Anasazi Rendezvous. He was truly delicious, good, nice and tender. You can guess why? He was a Jake. That's a story I will tell sometime. You will see it in Doc's Ramblings eventually.

I always take a new gun for the years hunt. This time it was this one, a Chief's grade NorthWest gun, at least a copy of the type of gun traded or given to important native figures in the early days. In reality, the so-called 'Chief's Grade' was an English style flintlock fowler, with a few French details, a shorter barrel, and some features the natives liked, like the Dragon side-plate and specific barrel marks that identified the gun as of English manufacture and sale by Hudson Bay. The barrel is 12 gauge, octagon to round, 32" long with a Colonial choke that I modified to .660 bore. That's very tight. I used 1 7/8th oz. #7 Italian nickle plated shot contained in a White brand ribbed shot cup, over 2 wonder wads and 100 grains Swiss 2F black powder. Velocity is 1100 fps, pattern is 90% at 40 yards in a 30 inch circle, with many hits in the head and neck on my practice target. It was deadly in real life too. It's for sale now, so I can make a new one for next year.

STONE CLIFF RENDEZVOUS- APRIL 2011, near Cedar City, UT.

Camping in the Junipers and a colorful tipi.

Most camps well hidden and very private There were plenty of traders

Including Jim Salmon who has been around almost as long as I have The most popular trader of all- your choice of root beer or cream soda.

Looks bright and sunshiney but the thermometer said 34 F. I have on almost all the clothes I brought with me, including waffle weave underclothes, a sweater, frilly shirt and Ohio style padded wool winter waistcoat, as well as heavy gabardine pants. The wool cap is not for show, keeps my bald head warm. The walking stick is functional, too. I stumbled in a ploughed field hunting turkeys a few days before this photo was taken and wrenched my good right knee.

ANASAZI Fremont Indian Rendezvous 2011

Held right close to the largest Fremont Culture setting in the country, beautiful place. Lots of pictographs in the cliffs behind camp, even more across the canyon in front of the camp, not shown. There was elk sign all over the place. They winter in this pasture. It's 6000 feet high, 45 at night 70 in the day in late April, windy with wild changes in the weather the general rule

Here I am, with my Sunday go-to-meeting hat. I was waiting for lunch.

OLD EPHRAIM RENDEZVOUS- CACHE VALLEY, UTAH 2011- one of the locations where the trappers of Ashley's day wintered and cached their furs- just south of Bear River, on the Utah-Idaho border

This rendezvous is named after a huge grizzley that roamed the local mountains, finally killed in the 1930's- the last known grizzley in Utah. It's usually held in Blacksmith's Fork Canyon, but got flooded out this year what with the heavy winter snowfall. This new location is at the top of Sardine Canyon, known for its lousy weather, right at 8000 feet. Temperature never got above 45, rained every day, snowed a little one night. Of course, I only took pictures when the sun was shinning.

The boys above on the left have been around, they camped high and dry, well above the mud line. The family camp on the right illustrates the youth coming into the movement. There's lots of interest in rendezvousing locally, generated by the history of Cache Valley, with Ashley, Provost, Ogden , Bridger and others common names hereabout.

Trappers turned buffler men on the left above, Eastern longhunters talking it up with a Scotch booshway, somebody from Hollywood above right, he got really exited about the situation shoot, which was shot against time in teams of four against Brits and Injuns, who shot tennis balls back at the team. It was indeed fun.

Trader's row, or at least one arm of it. It was thronged by tourists, "porkeaters' in local parlance, on Saturday and Sunday. Good. We'll see a few of them back next year with costume and rifle. There were lots of folks there in costume just enjoying the spirit of the game.

RED SALMON ON THE KENAI- ALASKA 2011

HERE IS A DAYS CATCH FOR THREE OF US, 'REDS' AS THEY ARE CALLED IN ALASKA ( SOCKEYE IN THE LOWER 48) THEY MIGRATE OUT OF THE OCEAN AND UP THE KENAI RIVER BY THE MILLIONS AND WE GET TO CATCH A FEW. THEY WERE LARGER THAN USUAL THIS YEAR, UPWARDS OF 10 LBS INSTEAD OF THE USUAL 6-8 LBS AND PUT UP QUITE A FIGHT IN THE KENAI'S SWIFT WATER, ESPECIALLY ON MY 9 FOOT FLY ROD. (SIGH) BROKE THE ROD ON ONE THIS YEAR.

Bridger 2011 Labor Day

I first came to Bridger in 1968, asked about having a Rendezvous here, got politely escorted off the property. 4 years later , in 1972, we held the first of many yearly Rendezvous. It took a lot of politicking, but finally happened. It's now the largest Rendezvous in the USA.

First thing you see driving towards Bridger is an enormous encampment of tin teepees with a tent camp in the background. Get a load of the Welcome to Bridger sign. It boasts a whole 150 population. One of the original Military Administration buildings shown upper right. It's not even inside the Fort grounds in our day, but across the Hiway to the north.

Here's Jim Bridger himself welcoming you to the Old Fort. Just across the street, and off the Fort grounds and officially not part of the Rendezvous, are sellers of all kinds of stuff from pretty good art to junk. There are always a good number of motorcyclists at Rendezvous, their trusty steeds pictured to the right above.

Lots of folks come to Rendezvous just to get a taste of the fun. Tourists dressed as tourists, Mountain Men in leathers, Indians in breech clouts, Pilgrims in Immigrant costume, probably more of the latter than any. Many of the current day participants has ancestors come through Bridger on the way to the Mormon settlements in Utah, including me.

Lots of primitive camps, hundreds of them, scattered over the Fort grounds. Teepees, miner's tents, Colonial Marquis tents, Revolutionary tents, all kinds and varieties, and all of them lived in.

The affair is more family oriented then any old time Rendezvous. Of course, the mountain men had their (usually Indian) families with them, so did the immigrants from the East who came along a little later.

One thing I really enjoy about Bridger is the mix of participants. This place allows anyone in, as did the old time rendezvous of the past. If you brought money, pelts or other trade goods, you were welcome. Same today!!

Both Indian and White camped together back in the old days, same now. I haven't shown it, but the land surrounding Bridger is the best horse and stock pasture in the world. That ample pasturage is why Bridger is here. Hundreds and even thousands of Indians with all their horses would arrive and stay for trade and merriment. The pasturage3 had to be good to keep that many close.

Here is a reproduction of the Old Fort, taken from old drawings and descriptions. It's not very large and would not stand any kind of determined assault. It wasn't meant to, really it only protected trade goods from thievery. Demonstrations are held daily in the Old Fort, in the middle above is a blacksmith, to the right trade goods litter the ground, just like in the old days. The origianal Rendezvous was nothing more than an old fashioned trade fair. The more the profit, the merrier.

Another demo to the left above, the gentleman is a real live MD from Payson, UT., with original surgical tools and a lecture on the medical care of the day. Middle and right photos above depict the Trader's Row activity, which is considerable.

More of Trader's Row. Lots of silver crosses palms in this place . Lots of paper too, but it's not worth much.

Even the kids et in on the action as well as the Indians. The one in the middle above is a college educated Shoshone from Lander Wyoming down to wow the tourists and pick up a few bucks. Shooting is a familiar activity. There were about a hundred shooters at most of the events. Considering the 10,000 people present daily, that's not a huge percentage but what started as a muzzleloading event has become a multi-faceted event with a montage across time.

All the shooting is done in costume and with traditional round ball rifles. The ladies get in on the action ,too. They have their own competition but many shoot right along with their men. Some are damn good, too. I would not want to get into their sights.

My Great grandfather, William Banks, made the trip across the plains in 1852, along with his parents and a younger brother. He walked all the way. They stopped here at Bridger, met Jim and traded horses and hides. Bridger is a family tradition. I'll keep coming back until I go under.

Diamond Mountain Rustlers Sept 2011 shoot- Cowboy all the way

Here is Colorado Honey, as lovely as they come, the chief honcho of the club. Middle and right are some desperados found wandering about the site, looking for trouble.

The range is dedicated for Cowboy shooting with storefronts and steel targets. Speed is the issue. You miss and it cost 5 seconds on your score. I figure my score by doubling the fastest score of the day. Usually that's right on.

Some of the young guys are really quick. It's hard to compete with young eyes and reflexes but it sure is fun. I didn't hear the phone ring all day.

Doc, dressed as Panchy Villa. Yes, I know that the name should be Pancho, but Paunchy fits the figure better. I shoot 1872 open top Colts with a Winchester brass framed 1866 rifle and a double hammer shotgun..