tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88252733921459484572009-07-16T17:56:32.837+01:00From Fat Boy to Elk Hunter; a suburban dad’s journey.The Suburban Bushwackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09372690405902840131suburbanbushwacker@gmail.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825273392145948457.post-11022697539203420562009-07-10T08:21:00.001+01:002009-07-10T08:21:00.627+01:00

The First morning dawned clear and bright, two minutes was all it took to gather these Cherries from a tree outside the door and life was sweet. Literally La Dolce Vita, the sweet life.The mists over the hills cleared and the temperature rapidly rose to 24C, hot enough when every step forwards is also a step up. Looking out over the narrow valley i could see that ours wasn't the only super steep

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In a recent email exchange with LSP (the lone star parson) he mentioned he was feeling a little 'under knifed'.Never being one to shy away from lecturing my friends I promised him a post with some of my ideas about what really makes for that most elusive of purchases - 'The one knife to rule them all.'First up, it's only fair that I give you a bit of background to these opinions. I've owned and

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It pains me to report this but, Albert has uncovered wholesale re publishing of peoples' s blog posts.Obviously the original writings on this blog are my copyright. I try to take a live and let live approach to what's on my blog, I'd be flattered if you gave me a mention, when i quote others or reproduce pictures i say who the original poster was. Let's call it a spirit of fair usage.However, the

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Here's the terrace outside the kitchen door which is the largest terrace on the farm. Not very big!I found myself thinking of Pablo, as I tried my hand at a little wildlife photography. Not as easy as he makes it look.More of the tale in the next few days.Your PalThe Bushwacker.addthis_url=''; addthis_title=''; addthis_pub='suburbanbushwacker';

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Finally, the kind of finally you only feel after thirty four hours in the car, we make it to the farm. I want to tell you how steep the hillsides are, but steep just aint gonna do it, the hillside is at 45 degrees! That's right, for every meter you go forward, you go up a meter. Brutal.As the glassiers crawled eastwards their surfaces were split again and again as water rose by capillary action,

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Well I've made it back in one piece, although sadly i must report that's more by luck than judgement.A week ago I met up with CHJ in the south London suburbs and we drove to the coast, just in time to miss the boarding of the ferry, so after a delightful two hour nap on the quayside we go on board. Fortunately CMJ is a frequent traveler on this crossing and marched us strait to the only bit of

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How bushcraft is this!The site is well worth having a look at, lots of cool ideas.Your palThe bushwackeraddthis_url=''; addthis_title=''; addthis_pub='suburbanbushwacker';addthis_url=''; addthis_title=''; addthis_pub='suburbanbushwacker';

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As the about me section for this blog says I'm going to turn myself into a bow weilding elk hunter I can't blame any of you who are tapping your fingers and demanding "enough of the kit collecting and distractions, get with the hunting already". So in the interests of getting on with it I thought a review of the european options for the hunting toxophile would be in order. As you can see from

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This time it's a boat! And what a boat. The Alpacka Raft is a fantastic idea, a boat that you can backpack with.The boats weigh only 3.1 to 5.5 lbs. (1.5 to 2.5 kg) each, plus paddles and bits and pieces. I was rather taken with their 'Moose boat' the Fjord Explorer not the smallest of their output but big enough to take a friend, or transport that moose you've invited to dinner!Beats taking the

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But muuumm he followed us home, Can we keep him?SBWaddthis_url=''; addthis_title=''; addthis_pub='suburbanbushwacker';

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We've looked at the stupid things some people do with shot guns before. Those of you with strong stomachs can look at this reminderBig shout to Bashing Bambi who found this. Shudder.Be careful, walking isn't compulsory, being stupid is optional.SBWaddthis_url=''; addthis_title=''; addthis_pub='suburbanbushwacker';

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"A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't."  Tom WaitsNow here's a thing: a renaissance bubba living in Oklahoma, winging along at an altitude somewhere between the bluebird of happiness and the chicken of depression. The Mallard of Discontent seeks refuge in random esoterica, finds sustenance  in the joys of fishing; hunting, books, music, literature, travel, guns,

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As you either already know, or may have guessed, I enjoy a wide and diverse group of friends many of who are now scattered to the far corners of the galaxy. Back in the day, when I was young, thin, and good looking [I said it was a longtime ago]. I was the manager of an awesome punk band, the punk band weren't like anything heard before or since, their music had some seriously diverse influences,

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OK OK I give in!This Kydex malarkey isn't as easy as it first appeared, when I had the fit I wanted between to two edges the hold was so tight I needed two hands to unsheathe the knife. So rivets it is. The flaring tool I've got isn't a very good fit for the sexy black rivets the Kydex store sells so I've used a pair in soft aluminum that I found in the shed. Now if I could only find the big

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As Black Rabbit says my Bushwacker Bushtool is nearing completion my thoughts have turned to a sheath for it.I like the 'matched pair' look for my knives - Natural handle (wood, bone, horn, antler) = leather sheath, but when it's a man made handle (micarta,G10 ext) it's gotta be Kydex or its cousin Concealex. They have a few advantages over leather being stain proof, waterproof, and a little

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Happy blog day to me!First of all sorry to anyone who expected to see an acutal Elk being hunted, the only person more disapointed than you is me.Second: a MASSIVE thanks to all of you who bothered to comment over the last two years, it's been great, please keep 'em coming.Third: slowly I'm starting to see the fruits of my trip to trade school - I promise to spend whatever it takes to get back on

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I'd seen the Zebralight H50 reviewed a few times and when MFS (Mick From Stoneliegh - you'll meet him again later) said he was looking for a new head light I suggested that if he liked the look of them we could take advantage on the 'free shipping if you buy two' deal. Very glad I did.A head light beats a regular torch for everything except signaling, but they've always been bulky. BoB has been

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I've told this one before but for those of you who have only recently started reading this saga i thought i'd post it again.It's partially the tale of my first hunt, a meditation on why I occasionally hunt and partly a eulogy to my good friend Stuart who killed himself a few christmas' ago.It was both the worst of times and the best of times, literally a trip to hell. I saw the hell Stuart made

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Our hero has trailed these lost skills across half a world, befriended the locals, and followed their fittest hunter on an epic eight hour hunt under the blazing african sun. Perusing the the chance to capture a dying art on film. The BBC, home to the fittest camera crews on earth!If this doesn't amaze you, make your own film, I'm dying to see it!SBWaddthis_url=''; addthis_title=''; addthis_pub=

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As promised, more  lust. In fact a double helpingHaving spent the evening with  CHJ yesterday I'm keener than ever to take that trip to his personal paradise in Italy.Where we'll go in search of some wild boars; what sound like very big deer that have never seen hunting pressure and take a few casts at the trout that swim in his stream.Prompted by Tom's comments on the recent post featuring that

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When I'd had that first had the opportunity to hunt a whitetail  I knew it was something I'd want to do again. So on my return to Blighty I started the slow process of learning about Deer Stalking (as deer hunting is called here). Not coming from a shooting family all my limited shooting experience had been with pellet guns in back yards, so it's not been the quickest of process's.When started

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Click here for a full scale picture to get the full effect - awesome workBeen a while since we've had a spot of knife pr0n* on the blog, but while I was researching some Scottish folklore for another project I stumbled upon this handsome little fella. The Sgian Dubh (say it Skein Du) means 'knife dark' in the celtic tongue and is traditionally worn poking from the top of a long woollen sock. 

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A while back i declared my undying fascination  for all things arctic exploration, those stories are so incredible.From folks who tried to take a microcosm of the their world with them, right down to button polishing boards (mustn't get polish on the uniform old chap - you never know who might drop by to inspect us). To the wisdom of abandoning all preconceptions and doing as the locals do,

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FolksI'm absolutely delighted that so many of you have started commenting regularly, and my blog wouldn't be an extension of my home if some radically different viewpoints weren't sharing table space. I've tried sifting through various discussion forums on the prickly subject of suitable hunting caliber's and to be honest with you, apart from getting the idea that one hunters 'perfect' is 

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Black Rabbit has sent me this picture of the work in progress. I'm lovin' the Hunter blade shape and as you can see he's really got it. We toyed with keeping the rasps of the file but while they look way cool they're a bit of a rust trap, and if the blade were ever to be used for its intended use on an Elk hunt they'd me an excellent breeding ground for bacteria. So this time function will

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