Sitka Gear Turkey Tool Belt

There's alot of money out there

I honestly cant believe people this happen. It just winds up they get what they deserve. Keep on plat bringing!!!
 
Lilhowie83 said:
@JLS Is right. I went through Smoke's class 2 years ago and he shared the piano story, with the exact same numbers that are in the book. He also stressed the point that as good rule of thumb you don't load horses or mules more than 20٪ of course there are exceptions to the rule, but why push your limits? And Smoke's book is no "coffee table book" it should be the Bible for anyone doing any packing. He'll, he gives a signed copy to everyone that goes through his class. Where is yours? Maybe you burnt it with your bag of shit because you thought you know more than Smoke.
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Check the publishing date. Smoke didn't write a book till long after my time with him. Some coffee table books are great and I can't imagine that guy doing anything that isn't great. However Joe Back's book is a tough act to follow. His artwork I find much more appealing and technical than photography. Both are still "coffee table" variety. Read the artillery manual. Definitely a textbook that is based on a ton of experience and it is anything but anecdotal. They look at every scenario from every perspective. It's not a "how to" book, not from the parts I read anyway, but the limitations and expectations of various kinds of animals and equipment in different situations is interesting. For example, note that the weight limit for a typical pack saddle (sawbuck) is almost twenty pounds less than same animal and a saddle equipped with apadaro. This makes sense. The packboard built into the apadaro keeps the load evenly distributed and protects the animal from being gouged if it bumps the load against something. Drawback, of course, is the animal can overheat underneath them.

I often packed two hundred pounds on my horses and they were not big animals. Used an old double rigged sawbuck that fit my packmare well. I used quality pads (bought through Smoke), and I knew what I was doing (thanks to Smoke) ... and so did my horses. As far as I know, I never sored any of them (although my preferred pack animal was a paint so hard to tell).

My last riding horse would also bind up when it got dark. She would follow fine but nothing doing if I was in the saddle. When I was late on the trail there was nothing for it but stop and switch saddles/loads. Eventually it was clear she was going blind. Great smooth ride as opposed to the packhorse with confirmation that would cripple me after a day in the saddle. In spite of their shortcomings they were great animals that got me out of some awful pinches so I stuck with them to the end.
 
OntarioHunter said:
Check the publishing date. Smoke didn't write a book till long after my time with him. Some coffee table books are great and I can't imagine that guy doing anything that isn't great. However Joe Back's book is a tough act to follow. His artwork I find much more appealing and technical than photography. Both are still "coffee table" variety. Read the artillery manual. Definitely a textbook that is based on a ton of experience and it is anything but anecdotal. They look at every scenario from every perspective. It's not a "how to" book, not from the parts I read anyway, but the limitations and expectations of various kinds of animals and equipment in different situations is interesting. For example, note that the weight limit for a typical pack saddle (sawbuck) is almost twenty pounds less than same animal and a saddle equipped with apadaro. This makes sense. The packboard built into the apadaro keeps the load evenly distributed and protects the animal from being gouged if it bumps the load against something. Drawback, of course, is the animal can overheat underneath them.

I often packed two hundred pounds on my horses and they were not big animals. Used an old double rigged sawbuck that fit my packmare well. I used quality pads (bought through Smoke), and I knew what I was doing (thanks to Smoke) ... and so did my horses. As far as I know, I never sored any of them (although my preferred pack animal was a paint so hard to tell).

My last riding horse would also bind up when it got dark. She would follow fine but nothing doing if I was in the saddle. When I was late on the trail there was nothing for it but stop and switch saddles/loads. Eventually it was clear she was going blind. Great smooth ride as opposed to the packhorse with confirmation that would cripple me after a day in the saddle. In spite of their shortcomings they were great animals that got me out of some awful pinches so I stuck with them to the end.
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What do you think a $46,000 mule tastes like? Pretty good, I bet.
 
So how did that mule deer auction work? Were they bidding on a specific animal on a specific piece of property? I saw a video of one of those auctioned "hunts" for a designated wall hanger a while back. Utah maybe? Very cheesey. Surely these rich guys aren't bidding that much on a public land pig in a poke?
 
JLS said:
A couple of slap happy fools, my best friend in the photo. The black horse was one of the best mountain horses I’ve ever been on, and I would have even traded him for a Jake Clark mule.

View attachment 212389View attachment 212390
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My kinda guy! Not a pannier to be found. Looks like boxes under the mantas? And he wraps the meat. Smart. I preferred boxes but the weight is a consideration. My boxes open from the top which is a bit of a pain to get stuff out of but can also double for something to sit on or table if put together. Where does he find good canvas these days? Gone are the times when one could buy dam canvas from the roll at hardware stores. Poly tarps will work ... sort of. But they're slippery and noisy. Not the same. Also getting hard to find real Manila hemp rope. Nothing knots like it.

A whipsaw? Were you guys building a cabin up there? Or are the elk just that big?
 
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OntarioHunter said:
My kinda guy! Not a pannier to be found. Looks like boxes under the mantas? And he wraps the meat. Smart. I preferred boxes but the weight is a consideration. My boxes open from the top which is a bit of a pain to get stuff out of but can also double for something to sit on or table if put together. Where does he find good canvas these days? Gone are the times when one could buy dam canvas from the roll at hardware stores. Poly tarps will work ... sort of. But they're slippery and noisy. Not the same. Also getting hard to find real Manila hemp rope. Nothing knots like it.
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203A3233-93AD-426F-956B-20AAF49279F4.jpeg
The paint horse has soft panniers. Pretty sure we had one in there with hard boxes as well. In really nasty country, we would go lighter on the loads and use a basket hitch with a crows foot.

I bought my canva tarps from a lady outside of Choteau. You couldn’t pay me to use poly tarps. Outfitters Supply in Columbia Falls used to sell Manila hemp. I actually preferred a synthetic rope I bought in Idaho Falls.

We picked the cross cut up for next to nothing at a garage sale. We could lay up a week‘s worth of firewood in about an hour with it, and it was far easier to clear trail after a big wind event in the burns then it was to screw around with an Oregon saw or an ax when dealing with 12-20” trees.
 
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OntarioHunter said:
My kinda guy! Not a pannier to be found. Looks like boxes under the mantas? And he wraps the meat. Smart. I preferred boxes but the weight is a consideration. My boxes open from the top which is a bit of a pain to get stuff out of but can also double for something to sit on or table if put together. Where does he find good canvas these days? Gone are the times when one could buy dam canvas from the roll at hardware stores. Poly tarps will work ... sort of. But they're slippery and noisy. Not the same. Also getting hard to find real Manila hemp rope. Nothing knots like it.

A whipsaw? Were you guys building a cabin up there? Or are the elk just that big?
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Outfitters supply and outfitters pack station are the 2 best places to get canvas manties, you can get them I'm 7x7 or 7x8. As far as rope, most outfits now use New England Multi Line II. 3/8" for your mantie ropes and lash ropes, and 1/2"for your sling ropes.
 
BigHornRam said:
Stop hijacking our mule thread to talk about goats. Thanks!
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My best friend had two mules, named Bill and Hillary. We had no idea how old they were when he got them, he picked up both and pack saddles for somewheres around a grand as I recall. Bill and Hillary had the unfortunate experience of being in the pack string that went off the wrong side of a switchback on the Stoddard Creek Trail. Hillary came out of it with a steak knife stuck in her shoulder, and Bill had a shiner that looked like he went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.
 
JLS said:
My best friend had two mules, named Bill and Hillary. We had no idea how old they were when he got them, he picked up both and pack saddles for somewheres around a grand as I recall. Bill and Hillary had the unfortunate experience of being in the pack string that went off the wrong side of a switchback on the Stoddard Creek Trail. Hillary came out of it with a steak knife stuck in her shoulder, and Bill had a shiner that looked like he went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.
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… and now that’s called the Lewinsky corner.

​

 
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