When did you go afield last?

[Grumpy Old Man]

Well, since I asked for this I'll kick it off. After 2 years of not having a tuna season here, we had one this year. I've been out twice within 2 weeks of each other. One was a 2 day charter, the last one was a 2.5 day charter. Both were limited loads (19 anglers). The 2 day trip was somewhat of a bust; I only caught 2 yellowtail. But we (the boat) caught a 9' striped marlin. It was really a group effort so everybody got some steaks.

The last trip, a 2.5 day charter last weekend with the same limited load and most of the same guys, was great. We were catching yellowtail, with the occasional yellowfin tuna, while trolling between kelp patties. The patties were really good fishing!!!! We limited for the trip on both yellowtail and yellowfin tuna. And on the way back, we hit a couple of banks to bottom fish. I caught my first lingcod and a really nice red rock cod. All in all a very good trip, albeit pricey.

Like everyone else, i have to budget for these things, but I also fish closer to home. Most of the time I fish the local lakes like Diamond Valley, Skinner and Perris SRA for bass and panfish. I try to get up to the eastern Sierras a couple of times a year to do some fly fishing for trout.

As for hunting, I really don't like hunting here in Kommiefornicastan, so I combine my hunting trips with visiting my family in Colorado and Missouri. I fish there too. As I've gotten older elk don't hold the same attraction for me they once did, so I primarily hunt upland game and waterfowl, with the occasional whitetail. I'm going to try to Be in MO for the muzzleloader season in November which is really fun.

So when did you last exercise your hunter/gatherer skills?

[dpwill99]

Living where I do every time I walk out the door is sort of an adventure into the feild. When I walk to the bus stop to meet my daughter I generally take either the blow gun or the pellet gun in case I run across dinner for the night (A lot of spruce hens and ptarmagn around here) and I've spent a good part of the last month out chasing moose around the mountains. Of course, I didn't see a legal bull until the day AFTER the season, but I got a chance to spend a lot of time in the feild and when I wasn't hunting I worked on my fire building skills and tracking. Oh well, the bears still haven't gone to sleep and there's always next year for a moose..

[Grumpy Old Man]

Man I'd love to be up where you are for awhile! Are you close enough to a stream to do the dog salmon runs(I think that's what they are called)? Also what kind of plants are available to forage up there?

[Gunfixr]

Last winter, in December. Went hunting for a week in the westward end of the state (I'm in the eastward end). Was supposed to be a week long trip, camping in a tent. However, 2 days in the weather turned really sour. We made camp Sat morning. It started snowing about lunch, I do love snow in the wooods, and snowed most of the day. No big deal. Sunday the temps dropped about 20 degrees, and the winds picked up to about 30 or so mph., with gusts to 50. Monday got worse, with the temps going down further, and the winds going up, and forecasts to get still worse for the next day or so.
This was way out of the norm for the area and time.
By Monday lunch, the camp was halfway torn down, and worst was yet to come, so we broke camp and went home. i wasn't in good enough shape yet really, to even be there, but didn't learn that until we got there. I had lost 2-3 liters of blood about a month and a half before, and wasn't nearly recovered, as we found out once I started going up and down the hills.
We do have a new trip planned for this December, taking account for last years' failures. Actually, we were pretty well covered but for the winds.
And no pre-trip "bloodlettings".

[dpwill99]

Man I'd love to be up where you are for awhile! Are you close enough to a stream to do the dog salmon runs(I think that's what they are called)? Also what kind of plants are available to forage up there?

Yeah, I'm not far from decent salmon fishing. There is actually 5 kinds up here that you can fish for. King is the early run, starts in the may-June time period, then you have Reds, pinks, silvers and chum (dogs) As far as plants there are mostly berries, blueberries, raspberries, high and low bush cranberries, salmonberries and currents. You can also make a pretty decent syrup from birch trees (a spring project) and jelly from wild rose hips and fire weed which grow all over the place. If you ever get up this way stop on by! I love having visitors!

[bacpacker]

We did several day hikes last winter and spring until the garden got going. Each trip out I tried to work on either fire starting, compass and map reading, and a little bit of finding edible or medicinal plants. That's something I really need to work on.

Fixer, how far east did you go, as far over as Mt Rogers or further west.. I love camping and hiking up around Mt Rogers and Grayson Highlands.

Will I'm dying to get up to Alaska. We had a trip planned in 2009, but losing my job in 08 changed those plans.

Grumpy that had to be a great trip out on the boat. I am jealous.

[dragon5126]

pretty much whenever I have time, right off the back of the horse ranch is open for hunting to me, closed to non family members. Living on the shore of Lake Michigan is prime for lake trout and salmon, and within a half hour in almost all other directions is prime panfish and bass... Not to mention the river that cut across the property at the ranch... This is one of the reasons I really dont want to move away from SE Wisconsin.

[Sniper-T]

I exercise my skills on a daily basis. Each day I walk some of the trails on my property with a bow or a gun, I'll gather something that is in season (for the past week its been hazzlenuts), and shoot something for the dinner pot. 3 roughed grouse on the weekend. Couple geese last week, 2 ducks the weekend before, a bear the week before that...

It is starting to cool off nicely around here, which means that the deer will start moving more, so I'm hoping to add 2-3 to the freezer. Acorns are just starting to drop, so this week I'll try to get a couple pails of them put away.

Papanka mushrooms are just starting to make their appearance, and my morel patch is just starting a late flush, so they'll both be on this weeks list for gathering.

I love fall!!