Northstate Outdoors Blog

Best Hunting Locations in the Northstate

2011-12-05T09:01:00.000-08:00

There are some great hunting opportunities in the Northstate, California region. Game can include bear, quail, pig, deer and turkey just to name a few and it's a great trip for all skill levels and ages.

Here are the top places to hunt and what accommodations are available for visitors:

Rawhide West http://www.rawhidewest.com/

This location offers guided hunts and the game include deer (black-tail), turkey, quail and pig. Rawhide west is about 120 miles from Oregon and is known for its ample wildlife and fish. Accommodations are available at the hunting ranch or in town, and hunters are guaranteed an amazing hunting experience.

Acorn Ridge Outfitters http://www.acornridgeoutfitters.com/

Acorn Ridge Outfitters deluxe guided hunting packages offer a memorable experience with turkey, wild pig, deer and varmint game hunting. They offer everything from motel accommodations and dining reservations to a shuttle service to and from the airport. Special packages and discounts are available for US veterans, father/son and father/daughter hunting excursions.

Tight Lines Guide Service www.fishtightlines.com/site/Home.html

At Tight Lines Guide Service, visitors can hunt and fish on the same vacation with the "Cast & Blast" package. The guided tours include morning rainbow trout fishing, lunch and then an afternoon filled with duck hunting. The package includes all tackle and equipment. There are no overnight accommodations provided.

Oasis Springs Fly Fishing & Game Lodge http://www.oasisflyfishing.com/

This game lodge provides visitors with quail, chukar and pheasant game hunting. Located on a 3,000 acre private game preserve, hunters will delight in watching the dogs "point and flush" out the game. They offer a superb "No Bag Limit or Per Bird Prices " mixed bag wing shooting and a Wild Mountain and Valley Quail hunt. Accommodations are available at the lodge.

Whifflemaster Taxidermy and Guide Service http://whifflemaster.com/

Whifflemaster offers hunters guided wild pig, duck and goose hunts and waterfowl and bird taxidermy. There are no accommodations available on site, but visitors can stay in an adjoining county.

RATLDM Ranch http://www.huntingtop10.com/outfitters/ca/caof11/index.html

Located in Susanville, CA, RATLDM Ranch offers guided black bear, antelope, deer (both mule and black tail) and elk hunts. They do not charge a trophy fee and provide overnight accommodations in their historic, yet modern, Wells Fargo State Stop.

Blake's Guide Service http://www.blakesguideservice.com/

Blake’s guide service offers goose hunting at its finest, with guided hunts for the 750,000 Ross, Snows and Speck geese that migrate here yearly from the Arctic Ocean. A short ride from the Sacramento airport, visitors can stay in their four star accommodations and experience an amazing and professional hunting experience.

G&J Outdoors http://www.gandjoutdoors.com/

Visitors to G&J Outdoors can choose from an array of guided hunting trips that include turkey, deer, elk and antelope game hunting. In addition, hunters can go on a predator, coyote or mountain lion hunt and head upland for some bird hunting (turkey and wild chukar). Although there a no accommodations on the grounds, visitors can stay in town at a number of hotels and motels.

All hunting locations abide by California hunting laws are and required to take a safety guidelines hunter safety course for California.

Subject: Philosophy 101 – with Beer

2011-09-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

The following is one of my favorites - I don't know who wrote it but they have it right in my opinion. Hope you like it -- Get out there!

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about 2'' in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous –Yes!

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

''Now,'' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, ''I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff.''

''If you put the sand into the jar first,'' he continued, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. ''Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.''

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. ''I'm glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers.''

Strategies for Moving Water

2011-08-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

The following is courtesy of Andrew Harris - Fly Fishing Guide/Author. Please contact Andrew at www.confluenceoutfitters.com or www.andrewharrisflyfishing.com

As we fly fishers accumulate knowledge and experience on the water, we pass through alternating stages of rapid growth and stagnation. We’ll learn a new skill that allows us to explore new kinds of water, then struggle for several trips or maybe several seasons until we make the next breakthrough in technique or understanding. One of the most frustrating challenges occurs when an angler is first confronted with a type of stream that is significantly different from the water with which he or she is familiar. For me, the frustration began when I made the leap from fishing small freestone streams to fishing spring creeks and tailwaters. The yellow humpies and Montana stone nymphs that easily fooled trout on the tributaries to the Middle Fork Feather River would rarely tempt a fish on Hat Creek or the Lower Sac.

What I didn’t understand was that there were fundamental differences between these new waters and the freestone streams I was used to fishing. The words “spring creek”, “tailwater”, and “freestone” were familiar to me from fly fishing literature but didn’t mean anything to me at the time. I didn’t know how to identify which type of stream I was fishing, let alone how to adjust my strategy. I was sorely in need of some simple guidelines to help me approach different types of rivers effectively.

I’ve seen countless beginners struggle with the same principles while I’ve been guiding for Clearwater House on Hat Creek. Over the past six seasons I’ve taught a course called Mastering the Art of Fly Fishing at least twenty times. It’s a five-day course for beginning fly fishers. One of the skills I try to emphasize when teaching this course is how to identify different stream types and make an informed decision about which flies and techniques to use. In this article I’d like to expand upon this simple methodology. It won’t hold true every time, but more often than not it will steer you in the right direction when confronted with a new piece of water!

Imagine that you’ve just driven up to a river that you’ve never fished before. For a moment, forget about spring creeks, freestones, and tailwaters. We’ll come back to those terms later. Instead, let’s keep it simple. The first question we want to answer is whether the fish are predominantly eating aquatic insects or terrestrials. Why does this matter? Let’s compare aquatic insects (mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, midges) with terrestrial insects (grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, ants, beetles, bees, flying termites, cicadas, jassids, ladybugs). First of all, most aquatic insects have a one-year life cycle, the vast majority of which is spent underwater. On the other end of the spectrum, terrestrial insects enter the trout’s world from the surface. Some of them sink quickly, but most of them stay on the surface for quite a while. Accordingly, trout used to eating terrestrials are more likely to be looking for food on the surface even when there is no hatch.

Terrestrial insects also have a lot more action on or in the water. Remember, aquatic insects live 99% of their lives in the water. They fly out briefly to mate, and then come back to the water to lay their eggs. Aquatic insects are not afraid of the water. Other than bouncing on the water to lay their eggs, they don’t struggle very much on the surface. The water is their home. Terrestrial insects, on the other hand, have no intention of going swimming. They only end up in the water due to a tragic accident like a gust of wind or a faulty foothold on a branch. When they end up in the water, they try to walk, hop, or fly out. Trout that eat a lot of terrestrials recognize these struggling insects, and are quite likely to mistake your poorly presented, skating Yellow Humpy for one of them. To the trout that primarily eats aquatic insects, your skating Yellow Humpy will either not be recognized as food or will look quite frightening.

Terrestrial insects also come in a much wider variety of sizes, shapes and colors than aquatic insects. Most aquatic insects are quite small. If you get out your seine and sample the bugs in a productive stream, you’ll notice that most of the nymphs are less than half an inch long and are black, brown or olive. Conversely, terrestrial insects come in many different forms. In other words, terrestrial-eating trout are used to looking for buggy-looking food items of all sizes, whereas aquatic insect-eating trout are used to looking for relatively small food items that come in a limited number of shapes and sizes.

In short, we now know that fish that eat mainly aquatic insects will want to eat smaller flies that resemble insects that are currently hatching (or otherwise in abundance). Fish that mainly eat terrestrials will be more likely to eat larger flies and to eat dry flies even in the absence of a hatch. The key to determining the make-up of the trout’s diet is the presence of aquatic vegetation (the fully-submerged kind, as opposed to emergent vegetation like tules). Aquatic vegetation is common in spring creeks and tailwaters. Let’s explore the characteristics of these two stream types. Spring creeks are primarily fed by springs. Water levels, temperature, and clarity are nearly constant throughout the year, so fish can feed heavily year-round. The weedbeds form the base of an immense aquatic food chain. Aquatic insects are the majority of the trout’s diet. Terrestrials play an important role only when present in large numbers or when there aren’t big hatches of aquatic insects. Since there is a lot of food available, spring creek trout are typically very selective. When there is a hatch you’ll have to match it. The fish will become very selective to whatever is available in the greatest abundance. The good news for the angler is that there will be many large fish. The bad news: leave your Royal Wulffs in your fly box – they probably won’t work here!

A tailwater stream is one that comes out the bottom of a large dam. They are similar to spring creeks in many ways. Water temperatures tend to be cold and relatively constant, flows may fluctuate but are generally conducive to feeding year-round, and water clarity is fairly constant, if not necessarily very clear. Tailwaters are very rich in nutrients because all the nutrients in the reservoir upstream get concentrated into the river below. These nutrients jump-start the food chain below the dam. Tailwaters usually have aquatic weeds and huge numbers of bugs and fish.

Significant aquatic vegetation is uncommon in freestone rivers. Freestone streams are mainly fed by runoff from snow and rain. The volume of water fluctuates drastically throughout the year, typically very high in spring and very low in summer and fall. The temperature and clarity also fluctuate with the runoff. Spring runoff tends to be cold and off-color. In the summer the water is very warm and clear. Terrestrial insects play a large if not dominant role in the fish’s food supply. West-slope Sierra Nevada rivers such as the Feather, Yuba, American, Merced, and Tuolumne are prime examples of freestone streams.

In a freestone stream, there just aren’t as many aquatic insects for the trout to eat. Accordingly, freestone trout are generally more opportunistic and more willing to eat simply because they can’t afford to let food items pass them by. They will also move farther out of their way to eat a fly than a spring creek or tailwater fish. And since terrestrial insects are likely to play a larger role in the diet of the freestone trout, you might as well fish a relatively large fly (size 12 or larger) that will get their attention.

What we’ve learned so far can be summarized as follows: If your stream has no weeds, you might as well start prospecting with a large attractor dry because the fish are probably opportunistic. Good choices would include a stimulator, yellow humpy, or royal wulff in sizes 10-14. If that doesn’t work, try nymphing the deeper water with a large attractor nymph such as a beadhead prince, birds nest, hare’s ear, copper john, or pheasant tail size 10-14. If your stream does have significant aquatic vegetation, don’t bother fishing dries unless you see fish rising, and in that case you’ll have to match your fly to the natural the fish are eating. If no fish are rising, you should try nymphing with a small mayfly nymph like a pheasant tail or Mercer’s micromayfly size 14-18.

Sound simple? Enter complicating factor #1: the gradient of the stream. To put it simply, are the fish rushed to make a feeding decision due to the velocity of the water? A fish on the flatwater of Hat Creek, Fall River, or the Owens has all the time in the world to investigate your fly and decide whether to eat it. These streams fit the definition of a “classic spring creek”: a meadow stream with a very low gradient and very clear water. However, many spring creeks have very high gradients. The same is true for tailwater streams. A fish on the McCloud River, which is by definition a spring creek and a tailwater, has a limited amount of time to make that same decision due to the velocity of the water. The McCloud is a rough river with a very steep gradient. Despite the fact that there are abundant aquatic insects and that the fish are well-fed, the fast-flowing water doesn’t afford the fish a lot of time to examine your fly. A well-presented attractor dry can bring fish to the surface. Larger nymphs also work well because of another manifestation of high gradient: stoneflies! Large stoneflies such as salmonflies and golden stoneflies prefer the highly-oxygenated areas found in high-gradient streams. The salmonflies have a three-year life-cycle, so large nymphs up to two inches in length can be found in high-gradient streams year-round.

To revise, when confronted with a high-gradient section of river, chances are good that a large attractor dry fly will work. However, if the river displays spring creek or tailwater characteristics, such as aquatic weedbeds (or large concrete dams), you might switch over to nymphs fairly quickly barring any dry-fly success. Instead of the larger nymphs (size 10-14), you might try some smaller nymphs (size 12-18) that are more likely to imitate the smaller spring creek bugs. It’s all about seeing what you can get away with. If I think I can bring up a fish on a dry, I’ll try it. I think a fair number of anglers err on the side of caution when approaching new water. They automatically start with a nymph rig even on water where fish will rise opportunistically to dry flies. I’ve also noticed a lack of dry fly skills in the general angling populace, and my theory goes something like this: indicator nymphing works so well that a lot of anglers become proficient with it and catch so many trout that they stop fishing other methods. Why mess with success? My answer: I like to see the fish eat the fly.

Whether you want to see the fish eat the fly or just see the indicator go under, you should read on, because there are two more factors to take into consideration when approaching a new piece of water and trying to figure out what to do. The next most important consideration is the depth of the water. If you have two trout and one is holding in shallower water, the shallow fish is more likely to come up and eat the dry simply because it isn’t as far out of its way. Let’s say you’ve found a small, shallow spring creek with a lot of aquatic vegetation. Nothing is hatching and no fish are rising. A dry is still worth a shot just because the fish don’t have to move very far out of their way to eat it. If that doesn’t work, try a dry and dropper rig.

A final consideration: do the fish get hammered or have you just found the ultimate secret spot? If you’ve found that secret spot (believe me – there are plenty of lightly-fished streams in California), fish will probably eat whatever you throw at them, so it might as well be something that floats well and is easy to see!

Fly Fishing the Lower Sacramento, Spring 2010

2010-07-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

I do not know these folks but it is a great display of the Sac River and the fishing that we have here

Lassen Peak Trail Rehabilitation Project Kickoff Event

2010-07-12T11:05:00.001-07:00

July 9, 2010

For Immediate Release

Darlene M. Koontz

(530) 595-4444, ext. 5101

Lassen Volcanic National Park and the Lassen Park Foundation will host the

Lassen Peak Trail Rehabilitation Project at the ‘Reach the Peak’ kickoff

event on July 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lassen Peak parking lot.

“The park trail crew is hard at work stabilizing and mitigating safety

hazards as snow continues to melt from Lassen Peak” stated Superintendent

Darlene M. Koontz. “We anticipate opening the full trail to the summit

July16, just in time for the celebration” added Koontz.

Special interpretive programs will be offered at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

A presentation by Superintendent Darlene M. Koontz and Lassen Park

Foundation Chairman John Koeberer will begin at noon followed by cake and

refreshments.

Reach the Peak project partners, Lassen Park Foundation, Lassen

Association, California Guest Services, and California Conservation Corps,

will host informational booths during the event.

The Reach the Peak Trail Rehabilitation Project will be a five-year project

to widen sections of the peak trail to accommodate visitor traffic,

construct a new loop route around the crater providing opportunities to

interpret geology and scenery while reducing resource damage to sensitive

vegetation, and install a new evaporator toilet. The final step will

construct a trail linking the Manzanita Creek Trail to the peak parking lot

and improve the Manzanita Creek trailhead parking.

During trail work, closures of the Lassen Peak Trail are possible at any

time without notice. Most of the work on the trail will take place Monday

through Thursday. On these days, the trail will be closed at the

“Grandview” area, approximately 1.3 miles from the peak parking area.

Once the trail opens for the season, it will be open to the summit Friday

through Sunday, except while the California Conservation Corps assists with

the restoration July 28 to August 4, August 11 to 18 and August 25 to

September 1.

Trail accessibility information is available on the park website at

http://www.nps.gov/lavo/parkmgmt/current-lassen-peak-trail-status.htm .

For more information about the Reach the Peak kickoff event, please contact

Kara Roll at (530) 595-4444 x5101. For additional park information, visit

the park website at www.nps.gov/lavo or call (530) 595-4480.

-NPS-

Mendocino Blues

2010-06-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

This article submitted to Northstate Outdoors by Meade Fischer who can be reached at tripper@ebold.com

Something's lost when something's gained. For example, I finally

have some disposable income as opposed to being ill disposed to

having income. As a result, I can afford a state park or private

camp ground, not that I'm acclimated to actually paying for one.

Case in point is my almost annual trip to the Mendocino coast.

I can afford, assuming they are not full, to stay at one of the

three state parks in the area. In prior years, that would have

upset my travel budget for the summer. So, state parks are nice,

clean, have restrooms and showers and noisy neighbors. They also

cost plenty. Bottom line is convenient but kind of mundane.

I've been camping in the Mendocino Coast area for quite a few

years, and I know all the free places. In fact, I am to free

camping what Warren Buffet is to investing.

One of my favorite spots, a place I may not camp at again, is

Blue's. There is no sign, no gate, no delineated spaces, no

restrooms, no amenities. This is one of the few access places to

the coast along the rugged and almost empty stretch of coast from

Fort Bragg to Leggitt. It is about fifteen miles north of Fort

Bragg, and a short drive from the wonderful Pacific Crest Winery.

You got to know this place, a dirt road leading off of Highway One

for a short ways to a small dirt parking area at the edge of the

beach. This is a great surfing area, if you don't mind the great

white sharks, and the surf is the reason I first checked it out.

Since it isn't a regular camp ground, there are no fees, and the

restroom is the dunes. There is room for six to eight vehicles to

park and/or spend the night. It's used by hippies who have a bias

against establishment camping, people with pets that are not

allowed in some camp grounds, and people like me, coast bums who

search for cheap adventures rather than getting a real job.

The first time I camped there, I ran into a hippy couple who were

delightful, and we shared stories. The next time, there was a

wonderful octogenarian who traveled all over in a camper with his

dog, and thus couldn't use some of the developed camp grounds. We

sat in his camper, looking out the window and the crashing waves

and drinking wine until the wee hours.

My last trip there, a group of local blue collar workers were

getting drunk off Miller beer and making no end of noise. Another

camper, in an actual camper (I was in the back of my van), got out

and shouted at them to quiet down, it being after 10. They

responded by getting louder, so I pulled further up near the

highway, out of range.

A few minutes later, these guys, in three cars, drove past me as

if the devil were after them, so I drove back to my original spot,

speculating on what the camper did to get them to flee so rapidly.

Perhaps he pulled a gun. It doesn't matter. I had a peaceful

sleep, lulled by the breaking waves and the ocean breeze.

You don't have these moments at a state park.

THE BASICS OF SUCCESSFUL GOLD MINING

2010-05-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

This article submitted to Northstate Outdoors by Dave McCracken who can be reached at new49ers@goldgold.com or http://www.goldgold.com/

During the Group Mining Projects and workshops we conduct each season, I always like to start by discussing the most important and fundamental ingredient in successful gold mining. That basic ingredient is you, yourself!

You are the one who makes decisions for yourself. You decided to get into mining in the first place. You also make the decisions on how you are going to approach gold mining, and how you are going to deal with all of the problems and the barriers to your success. Regardless of suggestions or input you receive from others, you make the final decisions on what you are going to do-no matter what they are.

The main problem in gold mining is in overcoming unknowns. Until you find them, you do not usually know where the good gold deposits are located. If it were really easy, all the gold would already be gone. The fact that so much gold is being recovered by small-scale miners today proves it was not easy to find in the first place. Otherwise, the old-timers would have found it all!

True, it is much easier for us now than it was for them. We have low-cost modern equipment they never even dreamed of! Accessibility to gold-bearing areas is excellent. We have new technology as well as the benefit of the technology developed by the old-timers. We also have historical information that directs us to the proven gold-bearing locations. The old-timers had it much more difficult than we do. But, it is still not that easy. When you get out into the field, you are still faced with not knowing where the gold is! And, this is where it comes down to you and your ability to deal with problems and the unknown.

Gold mining procedure is very simple. And there is an enormous amount of gold still accessible to the small-scale miner. The problem you face is not knowing exactly where it is. It can be six inches beneath where you're standing or where you're digging, and you will have no idea it is there for sure until you find it!

You live by every decision you make. If you decide in your own mind there is no gold in an area or on a claim, you're probably not going to prospect that area, unless you change your mind. It is important to avoid making decisions that are not based upon solid observation. A miner on any scale must be an investigator, a hound dog on a tricky trail. Good investigators never rule out possibilities before their time.

Successful gold mining is generally done in two steps: First is sampling or prospecting, and then, production.

While some gold-bearing creeks and rivers tend to have gold values dispersed throughout their entire streambeds, there is generally not enough gold to make a small-scale mining operation payoff very well. Because we are limited as to how much gravel we can process as small-scale miners, we need to find higher-grade deposits. This means we need to look for them, and this is where sampling comes in.

When my partners and I first started gold dredging, we made the mistake of putting our dredge into a likely spot and dredging in that same location for about 30 days, even though we were not getting very much gold. We had in our minds that we had to keep going because we just might uncover a bonanza at any time. While that may have been possible, for the most part gold deposits do not form in this way.

Because gold is so heavy -- about six times heavier than other average materials found in a streambed, such as rock, sand and silt --it tends to follow a certain path when being moved in a river. This path generally runs from inside bend to inside bend (when the waterway is running at flood stage), and in a straight line between the bends. Gold deposits are sometimes found elsewhere, but the statistics of history show that most recovered deposits were located generally along these paths.

This is a very important bit of information, because in knowing it you have a good idea of where to start your sampling. You can rule out about 90% of the riverbed at the start, and concentrate your sampling efforts along the path where you are most likely to locate an acceptable gold deposit.

Let's define a few basics: "Bedrock" is the solid hard rock of the earth's crust--like a cliff or like the solid rock you see in highway road-cuts through the mountains. "Streambed" consists of all of the rocks, sand, silt, gold, and other sediments that end up in the bottom of a creek or river. Streambed always lies on top of bedrock. A "lode" gold deposit is gold that is still locked up in solid rock, often contained in quartz veins. "Placer" gold deposits are created after erosion has broken the gold away from the lode and deposited it elsewhere. There are different kinds of placer deposits. The difference primarily has to do with how far away from the original lode the gold has traveled.

Hidden irregularities on the bedrock channel of a river can change where the gold path runs. So, until you locate the gold path, you are never certain where it is going to be. But inside bend to inside bend (during flood stage), and a straight line between inside bends, is a good place to start your sampling. I have seen some gold paths located off this line, so you have to be flexible. But this is what sampling is all about. Sampling is done by digging or dredging test holes in different locations, comparing one against the next, until you locate an acceptable deposit.

Most gold-bearing rivers have a certain amount of low-grade gold values dispersed throughout the gravel. The general gold path tends to have more gold along it than the average gravel throughout the rest of the river. You also generally find more iron and other heavy elements along the gold path.

When making test holes, keep track of the amount of iron, iron objects, and gold that you recover from each hole. After you have completed a number of holes, you will start to get an idea of the average gold values and other heavy materials in the riverbed. Then, when you turn up more than the average amount in a test hole, it is a sign that you have located the gold path. Sometimes, there is little visible increase in gold, but there is a visible increase in the amount of iron rocks, pieces of lead, and old rusty objects.

There is a certain amount of microscopic-sized gold moving downstream in some rivers at all times. However, gold that is large enough for us to recover with our small-scale mining equipment generally does not move in a riverbed to a large extent, except during major flood storms. Storms of this magnitude are able to generate enough water force and turbulence to get all or most of the streambed material flowing down the riverbed along with the water.

Because gold is so heavy, when being washed downstream, it quickly works its way to the bottom of the other materials being washed along with it. The gold also moves more slowly. Cracks, crevices, holes and barriers in the bedrock can trap the gold out of the flow of water and material. And of course, this happens much more along the general gold path than off of it.

Gold deposits along the general gold path can be small or large, depending upon the size of the gold trap. The most important type of gold trap in river mining is called the "pay-streak". Pay-streaks always form along the gold path where the river's flow slows down on a large scale during a major flood storm. One example is the tail end of an inside bend in a river. Centrifugal force places most of the water pressure to the outside of the bend, leaving a low-pressure (low-velocity) area at the tail end of the inside bend. This is a very common location in gold-bearing rivers to find pay-streaks.

Another example is where the river slows down after a long stretch of faster water. Anywhere the river slows down on a large scale during a major flood storm is a likely spot to find pay-streaks.

Pay-streaks are important because they are large deposits as opposed to smaller, single-type deposits--like what you might find in a bedrock crevice along the general gold path. The size and richness of a pay-streak depends on the size of the low-pressure (low-velocity) area created in the river, and on how much gold traveled through that section of the river during the flood storms which formed the deposit.

Most pay-streaks have definite left and right outside boundaries, meaning the gold tends to run out quickly once you get outside the pay-streak. Sometimes upstream and downstream boundaries are not so easy to distinguish. Varying water flow turbulence during major storms can sometimes make a pay-streak somewhat inconsistent. It may appear to be good for a while, bad for a while, and then good again, but the outside left and right boundaries tend to hold true most of the time.

Because pay-streaks have some size to them, they are much easier to find than single-type deposits while sampling. Most successful river miners use the following technique to locate and recover pay-streaks: First, locate a proven gold producing section of the river. By digging or dredging sample holes, locate the main gold path. More sample holes are continued along the path until a pay-streak is located.

This method is generally used whether the operation uses gold dredges in the river, sluices, or even heavy equipment up on the bank. Since the bank consists of older streambeds left high and dry, you are just as likely to find pay-streaks on the bank or in the ancient streambeds further away as you are in the river itself. If you are able to find acceptable amounts of gold in a riverbed and you want to find more, look upstream and downstream along the same line of flow in the riverbed. Keep in mind the direction water and material would be moving in a major storm. Gold generally will have moved in the same direction as the water flow.

The point about locating a proven gold producing section of river is really important! You can save yourself a lot of time and energy by finding out where other miners are already doing well. If somebody has located a pay-streak, there will almost always be more pay-streaks in that general area of the river.

Investigation to locate proven areas and communication with local successful miners to find out where deposits have been located can save a great deal of sampling time. All of the really successful small-scale miners I know make it their business to stay updated on who is finding deposits and where.

The overall process of successful mining is quite simple. We have it down to a science, having taken most of the chance out of it. Gold travels and deposits along special lines. A knowledgeable, energetic, persistent sampling effort is assured of always finding the next pay-streak.
Sound simple? It isn't that easy! You never know where the next deposit is or how long it is going to take to find it. And, this is why it always comes back down to that important, fundamental ingredient ...you!

You are the one who decides where to put your sample holes, how large to make them, and how long to continue them. You are also the one who evaluates the test results and has to decide what to do next. You have to decide, based upon your sampling results and the other information you have collected, whether a certain section of river deserves further sampling activity or if you should move on to another location.

It is important to realize that how much gold you get from your mining activity depends entirely on you and what you decide to do. A good miner is an investigator who tracks down where the gold is coming from, and diligently works his or her way right into it. How good you are doesn't depend upon how much time you've spent at it in the past. It depends upon how much you really want to succeed and how willing you are to hustle yourself into a deposit.

I know of quite a few people who have discovered rich gold deposits in their first season. I also know a lot of guys who have been at it for years, and still cannot seem to find acceptable deposits for themselves. Why is this? They are not sticking to the right procedure. They are making the wrong decisions, and, a lot of the time, they are giving up too easily.

Again, the main problem is not knowing. So, based on the information you do have, you are constantly being put to the test, having to decide if the gold is likely to be in a certain area or if it is more likely not to be.
People who have the most trouble in gold mining are the ones who give up too easily. You need to give your sample holes a little more time and effort than they deserve, but without overdoing it. It's a matter of judgment which gets a little easier with experience. It's always going to be a challenge, though, because you don't know if the gold is going to be there right up until the point when you find it!

Once you find a good deposit, it's easy to see why it is located there, and you will also see how easy it was to find. But when it runs out, you are right back to not knowing where the next one is going to be. Gold mining is always an emotional challenge.

The problem most people have with mining and sampling has little to do with judgment in sampling. It has to do with other basic decisions they've made concerning their own personal success. It is very difficult to help someone become a successful miner when that person has already decided he or she is not going to do very well at it. Some people work at it just a little bit, and then give up on their sample holes long before they are completed. You cannot find gold deposits this way unless you are awfully lucky. This is good food for thought for everyone.

Some people get into gold mining as a get-rich-quick solution to other problems they have created in their lives. Any person who is giving up or quitting in their personal life hasn't much chance of succeeding at gold mining!

If you are not finding enough gold, you cannot blame the claim, the river, the club you belong to, or anything else. Blaming an outside source might make your ego feel better, but it will not help you locate more gold. You are either getting it, or you're not. Blaming anyone or anything else is going in the wrong direction. The answer is to become effective, communicate with other miners to find out where the gold is coming from, and then get busy with your sampling. If you want to do well in gold mining, you have to make it happen!

And, if you're not sure if you have given a sample hole everything it deserves, be honest with yourself about it and give it a little more. It takes personal discipline to be a good sampler!

This is not to say that gold mining can't be fun. It is a great outdoor activity no matter how much gold you find while you are prospecting for high-grade deposits. Once you get involved though, you will find it is more fun if you are finding more gold! If you're looking for challenge in your life, if you want to put yourself to the real test, then gold mining is just the thing for you!

When you are producing sample holes and not finding acceptable amounts of gold, when you are not sure where the gold might be, and you're not sure exactly how to deal with it, that's when you are put to the real personal test. This is when you have the opportunity to see who you really are and where your personal improvement lies. There is not a successful miner alive who does not have to deal with this all the time! This is why it always comes back to you. If you are strong enough to pull yourself through it, you will learn to mine, enjoy new thrills, and attain personal achievement and growth not to mention the gold you will find.

There is much, much more to know about the business of sampling, which we will continue to cover in future articles. But we have covered the most important and fundamental ingredient here. If you can get yourself squared away with the right attitude, and approach mining with a stiff upper lip and the eye of a tiger, you will have no trouble figuring out the rest! Don't quit!

My Favorite Campground

2010-05-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

This article submitted to Northstate Outdoors by Meade Fischer who can be reached at tripper@ebold.com

I've camped all over northern California, preferring the quiet, out of the way places to the crowded RV and boom box camp cities. While I've had many nights alone, near a stream in some scenic spot, one place stands out, for several reasons, as my favorite.

The first time I visited was on impulse. Taking a very leisurely trip up the coast, I decided to explore the Mattole River, turning off the 101 near Garberville, on the road to Shelter Cove. Then, turning off on a side road, I drove through Ettersburg, a very small community. Just outside of town, in the mid afternoon warmth, I opted for a swim in the Mattole, a wonderful little river in an almost unspoiled part of Northern California.

I continued on to Honeydew, a store and a wide spot in the road, and then on to Petrolia.

It was there that my map and curiosity led me, as a side road runs five miles down to the beach, a section of the coast rarely visited. At the end of the road, paved part of the way, dirt the rest, I found a lovely BLM campground, twenty sites, right on the beach. Only two other sites were taken, so I took my pick.

The first thing that impressed me and actually brought tears to my eyes was the sign, indicating that this beach was adopted by the second and third graders at Petrolia school. There were wonderful paintings of beach and sea creatures and a caption: We love our beach; please take care of it." I wiped away the tears and took a photo before exploring.

There is another parking lot, just south of the campground, the jumping off point for the 25 mile backpack along the lost coast to Shelter Cove. So, within a few yards walk, I'd left civilization behind, along with the normal trash one expects to find on the beach. I walked a couple of miles in total solitude, accompanied only by the sound of breaking waves and the cries of sea birds.

The mouth of the Mattole is a mile to the north, and just south of the campground is Punta Gorda, slightly east of Cape Mendocino, the westernmost place in the lower 48, just a dozen miles north.

After spending one of the most quiet nights I can remember, I drove back to Petrolia and started north, along the private lands along Cape Mendocino, which I wish was open to the public. And the road twisted steeply up and away from the beach. After miles of narrow road winding through the hills, I came back once again to civilization at Ferndale, the little Victorian town south of Eureka.

Yes, this campground is an hour and a half off the main road, so if you are in a hurry to get somewhere, it's not for you. But, if you want peace and quiet and an unspoiled beach to wander, and you don't mind slow, winding roads, you will be rewarded.

Testament of a Fisherman

2010-04-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

With trout season opening, I thought this was appropriate. It has been a long time favorite for me.

Testament of a Fisherman

I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun.

-John Voelker (Robert Traver )

It's the simple things in life

2010-04-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

Another weekend passes its back to the regular rhythm. I was just looking at some pictures and thinking about all that happened this weekend. I couldn't help but smile. I kind of feel like George Bailey, in that I too, have a wonderful life. It is not made up of extravagance, but rather simple everyday pleasures. I want to take you through my weekend but first let me give you a brief rundown of the players in this game.

I am married to Cheryl and we have four kids between us -yours, mine, and ours. The oldest are Paige and Shelby and they are both seniors in high school. We then have John who is 11 and the youngest of the crew, Danielle, who is five or “thive” as she puts it. Like most "Modern Families," we have a lot of things up in the air and going on. If we aren't picking someone up from somewhere, we are racing to get somewhere and do something else. If you have kids, there need be no further explanation.

With that brief review, let’s get to the weekend. Friday night is a barbeque with the family and shooting airsoft guns with John - and of course at John! He just discovered them about a month ago so now we have an arsenal. The older girls are out and about with their friends and Danielle or "Pipsi" (short for Pipsqueak) is doing what she does best - being 5! The night ends and early to bed because Saturday is going to be a big day.

4:30 am - the alarm rings and I am up. It is still Turkey season, and I am still chasing them. For the fifth time this spring I see the sunrise while nestled next to a tree along the Sacramento River. For the fifth time, I hear a lot of gobbles and see a lot of deer, ducks and geese. For the fifth time, I get to experience the thrill of the hunt and the simple joy of being outdoors. And for the fifth time, I come home empty handed! (If you are curious I watched 3 gobblers strut like crazy wanting to come to me - but they were on other side of the river!)

I arrive home by 9:00 am (per my wife’s instructions) to get ready for the Rodeo Parade. Pipsi is excited to see her big sister, the current Miss Tehama County, ride in the parade and wave at everyone. She says, “Sissy is a princess when she wears her tiara.” As you can imagine we are very proud of her and as her float (which is really a wagon) rolls by, it hits home that this is one thing that is definitely good about small town life – parades with flags, scouts, tractors, horses,

And of course, princesses!

Saturday afternoon is spent at home doing as little as possible. We had talked about going to the rodeo, but it just never got off the ground. Late in the afternoon, Cheryl and I get ready to go to a friend’s house for food and drinks. Our friends live in the country along the river (yes, the same Sacramento River) and this time I get to see the sun set, which was awesome. I also traded my 12 gauge and camouflage, for wine and my wife.

It’s Sunday morning and the house is alive. Today is family picture day and given that I live with 4 females, you can imagine the hair spray, curling irons, and complaining about clothes I have to endure. I found John at the breakfast table with a blanket wrapped around him and hunched over a bowl of cereal. The look on his face was telling. John cherishes his mornings to sleep in and this one was lost to family pictures. I guess when your 11, family pictures don't even exist on your list of reasons to get up. To ease the pain I promised him we would do something fun in the afternoon and that seemed to buy points with him.

The pictures were taken at the same park we had used twice before. In the first set, the girls were 9 or 10 and now they are 18. Hard to believe that much time has passed and that I am really that old. The photographer had Paige and Shelby sit together for some "Sister" shots and I had a flash back of a rafting trip I took them on when they graduated from eighth grade. We went down the Klamath River for two days on kayaks and rafts. Didn't seem like much at the time. Now, with the idea of them being gone in a few months, it feels good to have that memory locked away. That was a wonderful trip and I hope to repeat it with John and Danielle.

Pictures are done and we go home, change, eat and then the flock scatters. The girls each go their way, Mom and Pipsi go to the park and John and I head out with my friend and his son to shoot some sporting clays. He has a jeep so we decide to take that. We had the boys in the back, the doors off, and we are going down the road under warm blue skies. It certainly makes me want a jeep of my own. A bit later we arrive at the ranch and set up for some shooting. John wants to be the trapper so I set him up to throw for us. He gladly does this because he in not really big enough to support the recoil from his gun – but won’t admit it. Being the trapper is a great cover for this. I am just happy he is there. I can't tell you how much fun it is to be out doing something as simple as shooting clays with John and these friends. A little "boy’s time," is good for my soul I have decided.

After a quick paddle on the lake we call it a day and head back home where the flock had reassembled for dinner. The day is done and with that we prepare for the week ahead.

So there you have it - that was my weekend. Was it extraordinary? Maybe not, but I did see a sunrise and a sunset. I had one daughter in the parade and had another dream of doing the same. I took family pictures, and drank some home brewed beer. I had a date with my wife. I went for a jeep ride and helped some boys spend time outdoors away from video games. I listened to, "Ferdinand the Bull," be read last night at bedtime. I was surrounded by family and friends the whole time. I think Kenny Chesney says it best ... It's the simple things in life.......

Go ahead and trespass - You're not hurting anything!

2010-04-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

I got into a conversation the other day. The topic was a worn out favorite. It has been discussed and written about countless times and my input will probably not change things. I am willing to bet if you have spent any time outdoors, you have covered this ground. What am I talking about?

The topic is access on private land and trespassing. For many of us, activities in the outdoors are heavily influenced by our ability to have a place to go that is not public ground such as BLM or Forest Service. (Don’t get me wrong, I think these areas are great but they have drawbacks) I can’t tell you how many people I have met that tell me they used to be sportsman or would like to be but they do not have/or lost permission to access private land. With this, we lose another voice for the outdoor pursuits. On the other hand, we have the normally sane people that for some reason get angry over the idea of land ownership and decide that it is easier to trespass. I guess they think it is easier to get forgiveness than it is permission. Trespassing isn’t murder after all. While this may have an element of truth, it is what “Kills” the outdoor experience for the rest of us. It has become so prevalent that many landowners have become irate and aggressive in relation to it. I don’t blame them as it is a crime to trespass not to mention rude. The fact of the matter is we live in a country that has land ownership rules.

For me, the idea of respect for other people’s property is something that I grew up with. I was raised on a 500 plus acre farm in the Midwest. My Dad would let people camp, hunt, fish, or find mushrooms on our land and he really only had one simple rule – Ask!!! He just wanted to know who was out there and what they were doing. (As a side note, let’s add that it was assumed you were not a complete moron. You will close gates, pick up trash, stay on the drive paths, and only shoot what you came for. Unfortunately, I feel that today we may have to add this additional set of rules.) This system albeit very simple, worked. This also yielded the occasional bottle of booze, a pheasant or bag full of mushrooms being returned as a thank you. (My Mom cooked a mean morel mushroom so it was a pretty good deal!) In fairness, Dad insisted we did the same for the neighbors if we were going to be on their land. You ask every time with no exceptions! To this day I still do this. I have been fortunate enough to be granted access on a few places here in the Northstate and I call each time I am going. The owners tell me I don’t have to, but it has become a habit and it keeps the relationship intact.

When people trespass they break a fragile relationship that exists between landowners and sportsman. I have heard that it takes seven positive interactions with someone or something to overcome one negative interaction. If that is true, we are in a serious deficit. So what is an outdoors person to do? Well that brings me to the point of this article. I want to share a recent experience I personally had around this issue. I live on the outskirts of Red Bluff California. There is a large tract of land across the street from me that has tremendous amounts of turkey and deer roaming around and I see them quite often. In fact, as I write this, I can see a Tom in full strut out my window! I have asked some of my neighbors if they know who owns this land and if they will allow access. The general response has been that they know who owns it, they are difficult, and absolutely no access is given. One guy even suggested I just go do what I want because they will never know. I asked him if that would make me part of the problem or part of the solution? He didn’t have an answer.

Anyway, this year the site of those turkeys pushed me over the edge. I went to the county offices and researched who the landowner was and obtained a mailing address. With that in hand I then went to Google Earth and printed an aerial photograph of the land in relation to where my house was. I also copied my hunting license and printed a hunting liability release form I found on the internet. To complete the package, I wrote a letter to introduce myself and explain my request. All of this was sent to the address I had obtained earlier. In short, this was a total and complete shot in the dark and I wanted to be very thorough in my approach.

A week or so later I had not heard anything, so I thought I’d reached a dead end. That was until my office called and said a woman had stopped by to see me about it. Let’s call her “Sue”. Sue indicated that she wanted to see me in person to thank me for asking in the way I did. No one had ever done it this way and she respected that. Sue told me her family had owned this land a very long time - as in Great Grandpa had purchased the land when Mt. Shasta was still just a hill! She told me how they used to graze sheep where my house now was. She told me about how they loved the land and her childhood held many memories connected to it. We talked and shared stories about many other things except the one thing that I wanted – the answer to my question about having permission to hunt. It was coming but she wanted to explain herself first. You see over the many years gone by, they had let people that asked, (please note asked) have access to enjoy the land that they owned, worked hard to maintain, and loved so much. That led to others thinking they had an open door hunting policy so they trespassed – A LOT! They are at a point now that they have to patrol on an ongoing basis to fight this issue and they find violators continuously. With that explanation, I got my answer and it was a very polite no. So now I knew hunting was out, so asked if I could simply go for a walk outside of hunting season armed with nothing more than a camera. When Sue responded she said that she would love to say yes except for an event that had happened that morning. Apparently a family member was out on the land and noticed someone with a gun pointed in their general direction. After a few tense moments contact was made and it was on old man that ironically lives near me. He indicated that he was out shooting his 22 caliber rifle for fun and had done this for years. He had no idea who owned the land and apparently did not care. This event made Sue decide that for my own safety she was going to say no. I understood and, by the way, I want to extend a big thank you to the old man.

In Sue’s defense, I want to impress upon you that throughout these interactions she was not at all a mean, difficult, or a nasty person like the rumors suggested. Sue was in fact, a very kind, warm person that even invited me to visit her at her home. This woman simply had been abused over and over again and was sick of it. I don’t blame her for her decision.

At this point, you may be thinking that the effort I undertook was a failure. Maybe you thought I was going to reveal the magic formula to always get permission. To be fair, I did not achieve my goal, but let’s look at what I did achieve. First, I sleep well at night knowing I did the right thing. I also have a new friend in Sue and know much more about where I live. Most importantly, Sue knows that not all sportsmen are delinquents and maybe a positive chip was deposited with her. It is hard for me to call that a failure.

In the big picture, I don’t care if you are a fisherman, hunter, hiker, photographer or simple nature lover that wants an opportunity to go for a walk, we need good relationships with landowners to make these things possible. If you know someone that shortcuts the process and trespasses – call them on it and help them gain permission the correct way or stay out! Obviously, asking does not always work but you can have success if you try. If you get a “Yes,” respect it! Get to know the landowner and thank them in your own way. Many people think this means money. Gift cards and such are fine, but not always the only answer. As I mentioned, my family was thrilled with a few mushrooms. My parents still hang framed pictures of a couple of does a deer hunter took from a tree stand. They are certainly nothing special but my Dad loves them because the pictures were taken on his land! One ranch I hunt on, the landowner simply loves to hear about how it went, did I get anything, and what did I see? In his younger years he was doing all of these things himself and misses it. The thank you is to relive it with him and that is all he wants. I do that for him and how much money does it cost?

In closing, I deeply believe that we have the ability to change landowner relationships one contact at a time. I mentioned earlier it takes many positives to overcome one negative. It is going to take a massive effort from all of us but it is worth it. Thank you to all of you who make the effort. As for the trespassers, I have a question. If you owned land, who would you want for your neighbor, me or you?

Turkey Hunt This Morning

2010-04-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

I went out again this morning. I am going to detail what happened on the outside chance that someone may read this and give me some input. I am hunting private ground along the Sacramento River. This place has many turkeys and gets very little hunting pressure.

This morning the weather was cool, very overcast, and windy. I knew going in it was going to be tough. At first light I called but no gooblers. I sat for about an hour and the wind steadily increased. I suspected this was a lost cause so I moved to a bank top along a creek that I could see a few hundred yards in 180 degrees. I had my binoculars with me so I just started glassing to see if I could find any movement. It didn't take long to find a couple groups of deer and then a few minutes later I glassed 4 hens along the creek bed feeding on a rock bar. They were about 125 yards away and had no idea I was there. I was in hopes there may be a Tom near so I just watched for 20 or 30 minutes. Seeing no Tom I thought I would see how far my call would carry and I gave some yelps. No response so I hit it harder and louder. This time one looked up and to my direction but believe me I was hammering the call to get it there. To me this confirmed the wind theory in that I would have to be right on top of a goobler to get a response. I watched a few more minutes and could see 3 coyotes moving in from the west. Thinking I was really going to see some action I sat tight. The lead dog did finally see the birds and made a half hearted chase which they easily avoided. Still no sign of a beard so I packed up and walked around a bit calling occationally and hoping I would spot something having the wind cover my sound as I moved. This produced no results so the day ended.

My question now is what is the best game plan on a day like this? I have been reading on the net and there are many articles saying that days like this can still be good. For me it seems like the woods simply shut down. If there was a Tom around I would have suspected he would have been henned up with the birds I was watching? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Loss in the Northstate

2010-03-31T10:09:00.000-07:00

I got home last night and saw two pieces of news that kind of shook me up especially given the fact that I had just put the effort into trying to write a turkey hunting story to capture the excitement that I felt. The news I am referring to is the death of the turkey hunter in the Paynes Creek Area and the hiker that is presumed lost on Mt. Shasta.
I followed each story with interest as these are activities I enjoy. I have to admit I have never climbed Shasta but it is on my to do list. Anyway it just hit me that fun can turn on you in an instant and we all need to realize that outdoor adventures contain risk. As I heard each story I looked for a "why." I didn't have to look very far unfortunately. In each case there were giant mistakes made. The hikers apparently completely ignored weather warnings and the hunter broke the number one commandment - know your target! Knowing the "why" doesn't bring these folks back but it does serve as a lesson for the rest of us.

I always tell my wife when I leave to go outdoors that if something were to happen to me out there, she would absolutely know that up until what ever went wrong - went wrong - that I was at complete peace and happiness. I hope the same for these people.

http://www.redding.com/news/2010/mar/31/storm-winds-prevent-attempts-to-reach-mt-shasta/

http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/ci_14785138?source=most_viewed

My First Turkey Hunt

2010-03-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

So let me set the stage and background for you. I have been turkey hunting a few times before and have actually been fortunate enough to harvest two birds. What I haven't done is go by myself. Each time I have had someone with substantial experience be my guide and call. I have been wanting to learn and go more but time and access to ground have been barriers. This year some of that changed - I met some people that have land that is just about perfect for turkey hunting. Now all I needed was time - which given the land access, I made time! Finally, I needed experience to go with that time. It is that education and experience hurdle that hung me up but I was not going to be deterred. I have spent the last few weeks reading turkey hunting books and articles, going to seminars, getting advice from friends and lets not forget driving the family crazy calling yelps on the box call! My five year old will actually gooble and come find me now! Anyway I think you get the picture - I am overboard!
I have the gear, I have the place, I have scouted and talked to the landowner, I have practiced my calls,  I have even counted the steps to the tree I am going to sit by come 5 am on my first trip. I counted the steps to find it in the dark of course!

March 28, 2010 4 AM The alarm goes off and I am rolling. I throw my clothes on and make a short 25 min drive to the land I am hunting. Down the long lane I go until reasonbly close to my parking spot. I stop and make sure I have everything ready. Vest is on, calls, gloves, shells, flashlight, gun are all ready. From here I traveled the rest of the way with the lights off - didn't want to alert anything! I parked and quickly exited the truck to minimize the vehicle lights. (yes I thought that through before hand too) Through a gate and there I was all alone in the woods in the dark at 4:45 am. Now I don't know about you, but I guess I am old enough now to admit that it is going to take some time for me to get used to the feeling that comes with being alone in the woods at O'Dark Thirty in the morning.   The critters scury in the bush and the thorn bushes reach out to grab you. Lets not forget the occational deer that busts out from what seems like five feet away. For a split second you're convinced it's bigfoot! It is quite an experience and will test your manhood.

A deep breath calms the nerves and down the trail I go. Several yards in I figured it was time to hear what was out there. I pulled the crow call out, pointed it to sky, took a breath and blasted it 3 times. It all came down to this moment. Would the gooblers thunder all around me? I am prepared and ready. The moment came.............. and went without a sound. Nothing! Not even from a mile away! Now I am bummed! It all was a waste!

After a moment, I collected my thoughts and decided that this day was not going to end this way. I figured I would go through the motions of setting up in the dark and learning the flow of things for next time. I approached my tree and dropped my gear. Took the decoys out of my pouch and paced off 20 long strides. Now we set the decoys. I am to the west of the best roosting area, hens in front off to my left with jake behind pointing away from where I was sitting but also in a fashion that a good shot would be present if the goobler approached face to face like he should. This all according to the book I read.  I did all the things I had read about over the previous weeks - as exact as I could. Back to my tree and settled in now on my butt pad from the vest. My gun is loaded and I quietly take out the calls and my phone so I would have the time. It is now 5:30 am it is surprising how comfortable leaning against a tree can be - my eyes are heavy and before long I am out.

GOOBLE - GOOBLE - GOOBLE - GOOBLE !!! I am definetely awake now but in sort of a sleepy stuper thinking what the hell? The Tom blasts again and this time I get some bearings on location - he is right where he should be - to the east in the roosting area but I am not sure how far. Now the fun begins. You didn't want to answer my crow call huh? Well lets dance now partner! You are coming home with me! OK what to do next? I know I need to call but what? A Tree Yelp - no Kee Kee Run -- no that is something different -- it is the cluck --- dammit why didn't read that better -- I am going to blow this. What about the purr? Ok calm down - what do they do on the outdoor channel? Talk to me Will Primos! After a moment of indecision, I went with three yelps on a box call. I would just let him know I was a lonely pretty girl waiting right over here. Like clock work he thundered back at me. Man that is cool! Game on! Check the clock now -the book said biggest rookie mistake is calling too much so I will mark the time and make sure I wait 10 minutes. He thunders off a couple more times but I resist the urge to call back. The book said no! Twilight is coming and I am really excited. The birds are singing, I hear coyotes in the distance, WHOO, WHOO, WHOO! Ok that was a little too close for comfort! My heart is thumping. C'mon sun - rise! If you want to know how long ten minutes is put yourself in my position. It is an eternity but it finally came. There is more light now and time to call. Yelp! Yelp! Yelp! and sure enough the goobler responds -- but wait a minute, what is that black blob up there?  Gooble! - Gooble! - Gooble! Holy .... that's him! I can see him!  He is about 100 yards away! I knew I should have brought the video camera! I could have taped the flydown to my setup and me putting the smack-down on him! C'mon baby it is light enough - fly down! I knew I didn't have the skill to do the wing pound and imitate fly down so this just became a waiting game. The book assured me that just after day light the flydown will happen -- the book was wrong! As dawn broke alot of things came alive. More birds were out including several pair of ducks. I sat perfectly still as a group of honkers flew just over the top of the tree I was under. The honking was so loud it hurt your ears and I was so close I could see their beaks moving and hear the swish of wind pass over their wings. They are in perfect formation as if jets - I feel like a kid again and I wonder what it is like to be a goose? I'll bet that would be incredible to fly like that. Ohh activity! My lunch is prancing and dancing on the limb. We are getting close. How lucky am I to have this perfect break in the tree limbs to watch all of this. If I was 20 feet either way I would not have been able to see him. I just wish he would cooperate and fly down rather than dancing on the limb. You've done this hundreds of times before what are you nervous about tommy boy? Nervous.......He looks nervous and acts like something is wrong. What could it be -- I know I did everything right -- just like the book said. Oh no .. noooo! That little page about turkey anatomy said their eyesight is about 10 times better than mine. If I can see him that means.........I can't even write it. From that perch he is looking down on to me from above and I was only worried about what was ground level in front of me. If I was only 20 feet either way ...... not such a good deal now. Well at 7:58 am my adversary left his roost and flew to the west...just like the book said.  I think he landed in a field not terribly far away because yet another surpise awaited me. About 10 seconds after he would have landed about 25 or 30 blacktail deer boiled out of the tree line to my left which spooked me ... and in turn I spooked them! A brief pause to check me out and then accross the open they ran to disappear once again into the trees. My hope was dwindling but not gone. I stayed and called on 10 minute intervals for the next hour and at one point thought I heard a gooble - maybe my mind just wanted to hear one. Finally it was time to admit defeat. I packed up and walked out. Once in the truck I did a ritual I had done many times before whether it was hunting or fishing any other outdoor adventure I was on. I called my wife to check in. She always asks the same question. "How was it and did you get anything?" I said, "No, but it was awesome!" .... "Thats good honey," comes the reply. "See you soon.. love you.. bye." In days gone by there would have been more to the conversation. There would have been a follow up question. "How was it awesome if you didn't get anything?" was always the question AND the answer was, " Well if you could have seen what I saw today, experienced what I experienced today, and felt how I felt today you would never ask that question. It was awesome!" At some point I guess we decided to skip that part, yet I am still not completely confident she understands.

So that was my first solo turkey hunt in the spring of 2010. I doubt I will ever forget it. Was it a success? Well if you could have seen what I saw .................

Paynes Creek

2010-03-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

A Hillside

Water

From the Top

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wildlife/watchable/wf_lister/payncrk.html

Went for very long walk last weekend at Paynes Creek. This is just outside of Red Bluff, CA near the small community of Bend. Based on the trail maps I covered about 9 miles round trip. This area has a little for everyone. Hunting is allowed and during duck season you can have a decent shoot - if you get there early in the morning to stake your spot. I mean midnight or just after. Other than that there is a bass pond and miles of trails that skirt the Sacramento River. If you are into horses this is widely used for trail rides. The rest of the details can be found on their website which is attached.

Modoc Waterfowl Outfitters

2010-03-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

We went out with Brent Dolby from Modoc Outfitters and in short the pictures tell the story. We all limited out and had a great time. Three separate flights of geese came over us and on the first two I must have had some bad shells in the gun because I didn't do anything but punch a hole in the sky. The third flight came in a little later in the morning and they were committed to the decoys. We waited until they were basically on top of us and then the words you wait for came -" Let's take'em Boys" - and we did. It was awesome. FYI we stayed at the Rim Rock Motel and ate at the Brass Rail and the Wagon Wheel. I have no trouble suggesting you do the same. Great people - beautiful countryside - great hunt. Thanks Brent!!

http://www.modocwaterfowloutfitters.com/

November 9, 2009

Northstate Outdoors Blog

2010-01-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

Northstate Outdoors is proud to start a new extension of our great services. We will now be giving our users in-depth views of specific northern California guide services, businesses and locations listed on our site.

These regular articles will boast lots of great pictures, video, and other fun media to give all our north CA outdoors enthusiasts a better understanding of how fun and helpful a guide service can really be.

You can find these blogs here at northstateoutdoors.blogspot.com, and right on the northstateoutdoors.com website.

Look for the first one coming next week, and stay out there!