First Deer

First Deer

Just picked up my fishing and hunting licences. Make me remember my first deer all those many years ago. It was a tough year for getting out. My Mother-in-Law was visiting from New Zealand, so I had only spent one afternoon up near Howard Lake.

Now it was the last day of the season and I was checking out the Bald Range between Summerland and Princeton. Six inches of fresh moist snow covered the ground, so it was easy to see where the deer had been active. However, I was hoping to find where they were now.

Since first light I'd be driving from old road to old road and carefully checking them out. Now I was heading down the last one I could check and light was fading fast, only about a half hour of shooting light left as I parked at the log landing at the end of the road. Discouraged, I still slipped out of the subaru and began walking around the clearing a few yards into the trees.

Suddenly two deer bounded out into the centre of the clearing and one was a nice buck. A quick shot from my 30-30 dropped it in its tracks and the doe took off. Just as I got up to the buck it raised its head. Having read about people being severely injured by a wounded animal. I put the rifle to its throat and shot into its brain.

Rapidly I cleaned it as well as I could from all that I remembered that Dad had told me. Then dragged it about 300 yards down to the car and tried to load it into the back. All I could manage though was to get the back end in and it would slip out as I tried to lift the rest. Remembering I had passed a couple of men cutting wood a half mile back, I tied the antlers to the trailer hitch and drove back down the road, hoping they would still be there.

Luck was with me and the three of us managed to lift it up onto the roof rack. I got their name and address so I could repay with a venison steak. Now in the gathering dark I drove back home. One hand held the sagging roof and the other on the wheel. This first deer is still the largest deer I have ever taken and we ended up with 165 pounds of venison in the freezer and enjoyed roasts again for the first time in years.

A friend who was an avid hunter, came and helped me finish dressing it out and hanging it before we later skinned it out and took it to the butcher shop. To his surprise he could not find a hole in the body. If you enlarge the picture and look carefully you just might see where I hit the buck.

Yellow Lake

                                                          

            Yellow Lake lies along highway 3A between Kaleden and Olalla, just beyond the Twin Lakes golf course. This was basically a barren lake until the late “60’s” when an enterprising young fisheries biologist suggested an aeration system. This has been a tremendous success that it is a wonder more of our little mountain gems have not been converted to this system.

            The lake is liberally stocked annually, much to the delight of both ice fishermen and the summer anglers. Half the shoreline is easily fished by the land locked angler, and a boat launch at the Keremeos end provides an easy access for smaller boats, belly boats and kayaks. There is ample parking at either end with bathrooms facilities. Again the Olalla/Keremeos end has the best facility with running water and heat.

            I finally had a few hours the other day so zipped out to wet the first line on the season. It was a cloudy and cool day, but still reasonably pleasant and in a half hour I had hooked on to a couple of small fish.

            The message seems to be slowly getting through, but I was still disappointed with the amount of litter along shore shores and edges of the water. Have a good summer on the lakes and keep packing out what you pack in.

Oregon Grape

            Not all edible plants are all that palatable to all palates raw. Oregon grape is on of those which would definitely be an acquired taste raw. It does however make a superb jelly.

            This low to fairly tall bush, has prickly evergreen leaves resembling a holly tree. In the spring it has clusters of yellow flowers which produce clusters of deep bluish berries. Very rich in pectin, it does not require pectin in order to jell.

            It is wide spread in British Columbia, from valley bottoms to around 1,300 meters. Depending on weather and elevations berries can begin ripening in July and carry right on until the fall frosts. The riper the berries the more pectin.

We found that about half an ice-cream pail was sufficient for a batch of jelly. In a large sauce pan mush the berries and add a cup of water and heat until the juice is running freely. Strain the liquid out and add 1-1/2 cups of sugar for each cup of juice and all a ½ cup of lemon juice. Boil until it begins to set, skim, and then pour into sterile jars and seal immediately.

At first I seemed to have a bit of a reaction to the jelly, but it tastes so well I persevered and can now eat it with no problem.