14.   Hunting season 2011 was shaping up to be another great one, Maffer had a set of Moose tags for the Southern Shore Area, and we were all looking forward to some small game hunting throughout the fall.

On the opening day for Ducks, French and I were successful in getting a couple in the Witless Bay Line area. One involved a lengthy hike and me falling in a gully (gun and all) to retrieve the bird. Throughout the season we tried on many occasions for Grouse, but this must be a down cycle year for them, as they were much more scarce then last year. The few that I seen were easily spooked (which is weird for the dumbest bird in the woods), often resulting in no shot.

13.   In October we made a trip to Maffer's cabin in Tors Cove to do some small game hunting and scouting on the bikes. This was trip was early in the season it was very warm so we didn't try too hard to find a moose to knock down as we prefer to wait until its cooler for hanging the meat.

12.   It was still a great weekend at the cabin, French was away on his Saskatchewan Goose Hunting trip, but Maffer, Janes, Justin and I had a great time.

11.   We did some running around on the bikes, I had my Foreman and Justin has is Honda 400at, we doubled up so that we could all explore different hunting areas, Justin nearly tipped his over a couple times but came out relatively unscathed!

10.

9.

8.

7.   Of course, no cabin trip is complete without a bon fire!

6.

5.   Our next trip wasn't until the following month in mid November and, the weather was perfect for hunting. Maffer, French, Janes and I headed back to Tors Cove and while Maffer & French went looking for a Moose on bikes, Janes and I went small game hunting in his Ranger.

4.   We cruised in Cape Pond Road and came across this old abandoned van in the woods. Its an awesome piece of automotive history!

3.

2.

1.   My bike broke down while Maffer was riding it in one of the pole lines, the rear axle stripped out, luckily he managed to drive it out in 4wd using the front wheels for traction. Janes and I got a Grouse, but Moose continued to elude French and Maffer, and so went the rest of the hunting season. Between bad weather, other commitments for some of the crew on different weekends, and other crap that came up, Maffer never did get his Moose, and our success at small game was not much better. I guess there's always next year!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith