Wyman Meinzer-days of the past-added today's episode! And another.

[butchlambert]

49 years ago tonight, as I sat by a glowing blaze in the fireplace in this half dugout on the Pitchfork ranch, a winter storm marched relentlessly across the rolling plains bringing with it wind and a blanketing snowfall.
Before the curtain of darkness fell upon John Bell and Bar JG canyons to the west, I cut a supply of firewood with a double bit ax and drew water from the cistern for washing dishes and a cup of tea before bedtime.
Stepping outside at daybreak on December 23rd, 1975 the canyon lands presented itself as a winter wonderland with heavy snow continuing to ride a moderate wind from the north.
It was a time in my youth I will never forget…the energy of a young man and the unbridled freedom of living on a big land and loving my profession as a fur trapper!
Tonight Sylinda and I sit by the fireplace in our home, a much more comfortable existence than where I lived almost half a century ago, but the memories created from that time will always be priceless and one’s that I have never regretted. It was an experience of a lifetime for a young college graduate, and too, it was a learning endeavor that has served me well to this day.
I wish more of our younger generation today would step out of their comfort zone and explore the uncertain. I would like to believe their lives would be as blessed as mine has been.
And again Sylinda and I wish all the happiness and love all deserve this Christmas of 2024!
God Bless America!!!

 

[357Mag]

ButchL -

Howdy !

“ Can you skin GRIZZ’, pilgrim ? “


Merry Christmas to you & yours !

With regards,
357Mag

 

[Doug Casner]

As fast as you can get em. Merry Christmas everybody. Doug

 

[OMW57]

Always enjoy these posts!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

 

[K22]

Outstandingly excellent!

Brings back memories of my younger and happier days in Potter County, PA spending one of the best weeks of my life in a cabin in the mountains. No TV, no radio, no computers, no cell phones, no newspapers, no schedules, no stinking outside world, just the world of firewood, a pot belly stove, my rifle, coffee, biscuits, beans and bacon watching the snow slowly fall creating an outdoor paradise.

If you never experienced the total and complete serenity of such an experience, you need to put on your bucket list. Warning - if you do you may find it difficult to return the "techno-world".

 

[LeoHuhta]

Butch
Thank you for sharing this.
Much appreciated!

Merry Christmas to everyone
Leo

 

[butchlambert]

Another note from Wyman.

Went with Rick this morning to check his traps. He caught two bobcats. He didn’t have a grudge against them so we agreed to let them go. Well, releasing a bobcat from a steel trap is about like someone pitching you a skill saw running at full power without a safety hood on it!
We finally let the first one loose but the second one was a real problem! We tried everything we knew and finally decided for Rick to rope the big 25 lb cat and choke it down long enough for me to get the trap off of its foot. Good thing I had and that is had a good set of leather gloves. The old male tore them up!
Time to sip a Pendleton.
You and Charlotte have a great evening.
Wyman

 

[butchlambert]

Him and his brother are getting a skunk a day on the trap line. He said that though he considered me a friend, he would not skin it and stretch it for me. Wyman and Sylinda plan on coming to our house on New Years Day. We are looking forward to it.

 

[snert]

Him and his brother are getting a skunk a day on the trap line. He said that though he considered me a friend, he would not skin it and stretch it for me. Wyman and Sylinda plan on coming to our house on New Years Day. We are looking forward to it.

Let's hope he hasn't been "downwind" of PePe LaPue befoe the visit!!

 

[mmcu]

Him and his brother are getting a skunk a day on the trap line. He said that though he considered me a friend, he would not skin it and stretch it for me. Wyman and Sylinda plan on coming to our house on New Years Day. We are looking forward to it.

Trapping coons and coyotes last year, I caught an absolutely beautiful skunk with a 4" wide bright white solid stripe down his back.

I did my best to kill him instantly with a brain shot. Shot placement was spot-on and he simply went limp, for about 2 minutes, then he starting oozing / squirting scent all over everything (including me).

That would have been an incredible skin......

 

[6.5 forever]

Him and his brother are getting a skunk a day on the trap line. He said that though he considered me a friend, he would not skin it and stretch it for me. Wyman and Sylinda plan on coming to our house on New Years Day. We are looking forward to it.

Enjoy every minute of your time together!

 

[Geronimo Jim]

What a great post! Thank you.

 

[butchlambert]

What a great post! Thank you.

Wyman is a hoot! We just love his visits. He will try to take my almost 16yr old Great Granddaughter coyote calling while he is here.

 

[NCVarhtr]

What a great post----Thanks so much for sharing. Happy New Year everyone....
Be safe and stay well...
George

 

[butchlambert]

Trapping coons and coyotes last year, I caught an absolutely beautiful skunk with a 4" wide bright white solid stripe down his back.

I did my best to kill him instantly with a brain shot. Shot placement was spot-on and he simply went limp, for about 2 minutes, then he starting oozing / squirting scent all over everything (including me).

That would have been an incredible skin......

I sent Wyman your post.
His comment:

LOL!!! Yessir! The worst place to shoot a skunk is in the brain. The best shot is to put a bullet directly in the top of its back, shooting down so as to hit the spine, then a couple of bullets on up the back tracking the spine. Even then they are apt to dribble.
But again, a brain shot is the last place to hit them, Butch. The only time I ever shot a skunk and he didn’t piss was with a .222 and I hit him right in the butthole and it exited between his ears!

Wyman

 

[Kracken McGraw]

The best thing for skunks is those tube traps.
Baptized in holy water.

 

[mmcu]

I sent Wyman your post.
His comment:

LOL!!! Yessir! The worst place to shoot a skunk is in the brain. The best shot is to put a bullet directly in the top of its back, shooting down so as to hit the spine, then a couple of bullets on up the back tracking the spine. Even then they are apt to dribble.
But again, a brain shot is the last place to hit them, Butch. The only time I ever shot a skunk and he didn’t piss was with a .222 and I hit him right in the butthole and it exited between his ears!

Wyman

Well, heck. I'm smarter now than I was just a few minutes ago. Tell Wyman, I said "thank you" for the information!

It didn't take too long to get the stink off of me. It's amazing how fast an old fart can drop their skinning knife, kick off their boots and skin-out of their clothes when they get sprayed.

Thank God I'm in a place where I can walk back to my house wearing nothing but my skivvies without any neighbors seeing me.

I still wish that I had that pelt...

 

[butchlambert]

Another story:

Was with my brother this cool winter morning as we slowly made our way along the Brazos river in his Can Am.
As we crossed over this bridge we constructed on Rattle Snake Creek a few years back, I was reminded of the summer heat we endured during the building phase such as hand digging the holes for the telephone poles used in supporting the old cotton trailer bed we placed to span the 12 feet deep creek channel. After securing the trailer to the support poles we pulled the wooden bridge timbers, each weighing several hundred pounds, onto the foundation with chains and Skid Steer. After several miserably hot days, mostly in the 100 degrees plus, the job was completed.
I try not to ponder too heavily on why we decided to do the things we have, but the feeling of accomplishment is worth the effort.
By the way, I’m damn sure not going to build another one!!

Wishing everyone a productive and safe week ahead!

 

[Will Henry]

Another note from Wyman.

Went with Rick this morning to check his traps. He caught two bobcats. He didn’t have a grudge against them so we agreed to let them go. Well, releasing a bobcat from a steel trap is about like someone pitching you a skill saw running at full power without a safety hood on it!
We finally let the first one loose but the second one was a real problem! We tried everything we knew and finally decided for Rick to rope the big 25 lb cat and choke it down long enough for me to get the trap off of its foot. Good thing I had and that is had a good set of leather gloves. The old male tore them up!
Time to sip a Pendleton.
You and Charlotte have a great evening.
Wyman

Butch,
This story reminds me a bit of an old trapper/cowboy I knew up in the North Thompson valley , in B.C.'s central interior. When I met him, Lude was in his seventies and had a ranch up behind where we were living at the time (This was in the early'70's). They were wonderful neighbors, and we spent a lot of time with them. He was beginning to have a little trouble running the trapline, so I would occasionally act in the role of pack mule. I was compensated for my efforts with hours of stories and tall tales. On such story was about the time he had, on a bet, put a rope on a grizzly bear. Of course, it turned out that putting the rope on a bear was a lot easier than getting it off. Lude's delivery made it all the more comical and it was a great tale, but I put it down as well-crafted fiction.
It was several years after this, when I was gunsmithing for a shop in town, that an old cowboy came in for the free coffee and BS we offered, along with guns and gear. When he learned that I lived up the valley, he asked, "Do ye, by any chance, know an old guy, about my age, name of Lude Proulx?"
I said I knew him quite well.
"We rode together for quite a while, back in the late '20's", he said. "I'll never forget the time he roped a goddam grizzly bear! He wasn't about to lose that rope, so he worked like hell to get it off the bear. Got it too!"
Sometimes, I think the best thing about my gunsmithing career was the opportunity I had to listen to some of the old boys who came in, just to BS. I can, on occasion, tell some decent stories, but to add zest, I have to lie a little! Bill

 

[butchlambert]

Butch,
This story reminds me a bit of an old trapper/cowboy I knew up in the North Thompson valley , in B.C.'s central interior. When I met him, Lude was in his seventies and had a ranch up behind where we were living at the time (This was in the early'70's). They were wonderful neighbors, and we spent a lot of time with them. He was beginning to have a little trouble running the trapline, so I would occasionally act in the role of pack mule. I was compensated for my efforts with hours of stories and tall tales. On such story was about the time he had, on a bet, put a rope on a grizzly bear. Of course, it turned out that putting the rope on a bear was a lot easier than getting it off. Lude's delivery made it all the more comical and it was a great tale, but I put it down as well-crafted fiction.
It was several years after this, when I was gunsmithing for a shop in town, that an old cowboy came in for the free coffee and BS we offered, along with guns and gear. When he learned that I lived up the valley, he asked, "Do ye, by any chance, know an old guy, about my age, name of Lude Proulx?"
I said I knew him quite well.
"We rode together for quite a while, back in the late '20's", he said. "I'll never forget the time he roped a goddam grizzly bear! He wasn't about to lose that rope, so he worked like hell to get it off the bear. Got it too!"
Sometimes, I think the best thing about my gunsmithing career was the opportunity I had to listen to some of the old boys who came in, just to BS. I can, on occasion, tell some decent stories, but to add zest, I have to lie a little! Bill

A good story Bill. I will send it to Wyman. Sylinda and Wyman will be here tomorrow for 2 or 3 days and we are really looking forward to the visit. I should have a recorder to record his stories. We hope to get to the club to shoot a little and if my Great Granddaughter can work it in her busy schedule, they will go coyote calling.