Author: bradschauf

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Tank gets bitten

Early Saturday morning October 27th, Linda let Tank and Bella out into the backyard as normal for their morning duties. There was no fuss or noise but Linda noticed that Tank had two blood spots on his nose when he came back into the house. She went outside and heard the snake and came and got me. Here we go again!

We actually have taken preventative measures and this is the first time a snake has gotten into the inner sanctum of our back yard. We have a mesh on the lower parts of the fence and deploy Snake Away pellets yearly. This has worked well, until now.

It was about 5:45am. I tend to lean towards a shotgun but Linda reminded me it WAS a bit early for that amount of noise and asked did I REALLY want to make that loud of a bang. She is smart. Shovel it is.

Here is the result:

Tank was a trooper, he didn’t make a fuss or really act differently but we still rushed him to the Emergency Vet Hospital so they could treat him. If you look at his nose you can see the rattler bit him at a 90 degree angle. You can also see the swelling starting in these pictures. Poor dude!

The question is always “was it a wet or a dry bite?”. Snakes usually won’t use their venom for a wet bite unless they can eat the pray. Obviously this snake was not going to eat Tank, but the blood work showed damaged red blood cells so there was some venom used.

They gave him antivenin (yes, thats spelled correctly, don’t ask me why but it is) and he stayed overnight for monitoring. We picked him up the next day. Bella was not the same without him around (she kept looking for him).

We learned later that Tank was the first of TEN snake bites that day. We believe its because its getting colder and the rattlers are looking for places to bed down for the winter.

I am sure there are those of you who are angry that I killed the snake. I bet I know who you are. Tough. There are plenty of them and they are not protected, its our land, our dog, our choice.

We decided to keep the skin and display it some way. Here is a look at how to skin a snake (there is more than one way).

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Elk Hunt Recap

It’s great to be home! It was my first large animal hunting trip and I knew I would learn a lot. It’s the amazing experiences and company that I will remember! I now also have a lot of things to do…

Mike and Tim were great. I appreciate you guys not treating me like the Elk Noob that I was!

Mike
Tim

Even though we did not return with an Elk, we saw many bulls. I have GPS coordinates on a few! My iPhone did fail me however in unlocking fast enough. The three of us had spread out and were walking up a hill with the wind in our face, it was blowing pretty good. As I topped the hill there was a large juniper tree that provided some shade and I paused for a moment to listen. As I quietly went around the juniper and looked forward 15 yards in front of me I saw a giant bull elk looking to the side. It was a 6 or 7. He was sitting under a juniper tree that he had cleared out. It looked like he was sitting on a throne.

The picture, had I been able to take it, would have won some awards! I slowly and deliberately reached down for my iPhone X and tried to get it to unlock. As I did this the bull turned and we locked eyes for what seemed an eternity. I doubt that he was as impressed by my countenance as I was by his.

Had he decided to charge there would have been nothing I could do. Instead however he quickly got up and bolted away. I radioed Tim as he was running in Tim’s direction. Tim confirmed that he had eyes on the bull and he was quickly leaving the area.

I stood there stunned for a bit but stayed quiet as I was hoping the bull had some of his female friends around whom we had been looking for. I called a couple of times and received another angry reply from what was either a another elk or the bull who had returned. His call rang loudly in my ears and is definitely different than the synthetic calls elk calls that we were using – it contained irregularities and the sound of spit and fury. It’s definitely an experience I won’t forget!

Noob Elk Hunter

We walked at least 5 miles a day looking for the antler-less Elk for which we had tags. We saw a lot of mule deer, javalina, coyote and cattle, lots of cattle. Since we were hunting on and extremely large and extremely active cattle ranch, they were everywhere.

The airstream performed very well. There are however a couple of items that will need to be addressed. We need some way to better monitor the level of propane when we are dry camping and a duel fuel generator with remote start would be very nice. I was very jealous of Mike and Tim and their rented toy hauler as it had the capability to remote start their Onan generator. I however had to get up in 30° weather, go outside and try to pull start convince my Chinese construction generator to start. It did however perform the function and I would’ve been worse off without it.

I will also be addressing some issues with weight distribution and towing, as we have a bit of a sag that has developed since my last suspension change on the F250.

On the very last evening of our hunt we were sitting on a watering hole called “Little Bud” and Mike and I were within close proximity. As it got closer to evening and we had no activity Mike decided to start calling for the elk. He did so without letting me know in advance and scared the living crap out of me by. He did it on purpose you can tell by the funny look on his face. I have not forgotten that and a few other “bumps”. Payback will be planned and fun!

In the middle of the hunt, on the weekend, the families came up to visit. Linda and our three puppies, Stephanie (Mikes bride), Sarah and Lauren (their daughters) and Shelbie and Michael all came up and spent a couple of days with us. We even celebrated Stephanie’s 50th birthday! Great times had by all!

Here are some other pics. I may add commentary to these later.

Waiting…
Hunting is very serious business….
Mid Day nap time
Mike’s shed
Indecision
Puppies at rest
Stevenson Tent
Yum
More yum
Well it WAS full…
Best. Steak. Ever.
Mike and Stephanie

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Elk Hunt – Day 1 & 2

Scouting both days thus far – no elk in Arizona Unit 10. Lots of cattle and javalina and old elk scat. Plan to keep looking – opening day is tomorrow.

Great food!

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2018 Elk Season – Preparation

I am going Elk hunting for the first time this year! A lot of preparation has gone into this trip with much help from family and friends! We will be hunting Area 10 in the White Mountains of Arizona for two weeks!

Thanks to Mike for all of the shooting instruction, a 30-06 is a little different than a 12 gauge shotgun! “Control your breathing!”. Can’t wait to experience this with you and the family! No mud this time…

Thanks to Corbett for geeking out with me on the various rounds and guns there are and for helping me acquire a very nice scope and laser range finder! A true friend indeed!

Thanks to the IBMers that are backing me up while I am out. I learned a long time ago that if you don’t take the vacation you earn you will burn out. Thanks for the help team IBM!

One of many steps is prepping the Airstream which will be home for two weeks. Here is a video of the removal from the RV Garage:

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Newmann Expedition – Home!

So very good to be stateside and home. Feels strange not to wake up and jump into a vehicle, purchase fuel and get moving. Feels weird to be “home” but I am certainly glad I am.

It was an experience I shall never forget. Not much more can be said.

Perspective is amazing!

Now back to work….

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NE Day 13 – Last Day!

I believe there is a specific state of sanguine reserved for the last of anything. A relationship, a life, a road trip or an expedition. The trick becomes capturing it in long term memories, to be able to recall the ghost in the machine later.

The GWagon now is a name, “BajaG”, I have made a new friend and learned new things about an old one.

We had no connectivity of any kind last night in Catavinia. It’s a hotel built for the President of Mexico in 1973 and is a gorgeous place.

Plan for today is to get from Catavinia to San Diego airport. A long drive but doable.

We are at Mama Espinosa’s which is a famous Baja stop, Luis loved the food! It was very good!

Fueled up and on the way

The Pacific

Can you tell I am not driving?

This shows the scale and is very close to our actual route…

Delivered!!

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NE Day 12 – Loreto to Bahia de Los Angeles and onto Catavinia

Today is a big day, both miles and reminiscing. We head out from Loreto to Bahia de Los Angeles where Jim and I used to have 3 beach front acres on the Sea of Cortez. That is a long story. Buy me a beer next time you see me.

It’s going to be a beautiful day!

This is why I miss Baja….

Stop for breakfast and then my turn in the drivers seat again…

Bahia de Los Angeles

The beach picture was taken on “our beach” which was the three acres we had leased a long time ago..

This is the view from Roger and Jeans place, Villa Bahia.

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NE Day 11 – La Paz to Loreto

So, little tip when booking a Mexican cargo ship. Do not trust the time estimates. 14 hours has come and gone and we are looking at more like 24 to 28 hours on board.

We had rough seas last night as there are no provisions for stabilizers on cargo ships. At times we probably made 15 to 20 degrees side to side. At least I don’t get sea sick. A few folks did… We are in a nice-ish room with seats for passengers and a lot of pirated movies in Spanish. I really preferred The A Team in it’s original English. After the time we and the truck drivers with cargo in this ship the room has it’s own distinguished odor.

This puts us behind schedule again. Way behind.

We are still on the ship but can now see land and have cellular signal once again.

Baja is beautiful! Can’t wait to get Linda down here some day!

So the current “plan” is:

Saturday – La Paz to Loreto

Sunday – Loreto to Bahia de Los Angeles

Monday – Bahia de Los Angeles to Tijuana

However, given that the ship was late, we may not be able to get to Loreto tonight. We shall see!

What could possibly go wrong?

10:38pm – Made it to La Mission Hotel on the ocean in Loreto. Time for a couple of drinks!

See that bartender? Yeah him… He is a thief!!! I was tired and left my credit card on the bar. He took it and used it a couple of times before I realized it was missing when attempting to purchase fuel the next morning. All fixed now.

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NE Day 10 – Mazatlan to La Paz!

We got another early start today at 6:30, hopefully headed to the Ferry Mazatlan.

We are trying to sneak a ferry ride to Baja California in between two Pacific hurricanes, Rosa and some other storm who’s name currently escapes me.

Problem is the Baja Ferries web site SUCKS. It’s either been down or not usable. They also do not like to answer their freakin phone but only after about 15 minutes of phone tree torture which gives on false hope.

So we are hoping that the ferry from Mazatlan to La Paz is working – we were told it was by Oscar the very friendly Federal Policeman who actually called a friend of his in Mazatlan to check. If it is NOT running, we drive 5 more hours north to try and catch the ferry from Los Mochis.

If we don’t make that well then…. We keep heading up the coast to cross in Arizona…

IBMers who may be following – we are safe so far but running a little late due to various issues – no of which are mechanical – yet!

Just hit traffic and an inspection.

10am – Made it to Mazatlan and are booking passage on the ferry. However, this is not a tourist ferry but rather more like a cargo ship. Basic necessities only. But we get a couple of hours in Mazatlan to do laundry. Should be a very interesting experience!

Vamos a la Playa!

Waiting the load up and preparing for a 14 hour tour to La Paz!

I also found the rarest beverage in all of Central America:

Jim loading up the GWagon

5:10pm – We have boarded and these seats are our home for the next 15 hours or so…