New Member from Idaho but living in Western Montana

[WillMFerguson]

Welcome! I grew up in Missoula and learned to hunt in western Montana. Texas is home now, but I (like most here) have Africa in the blood.

Thank you! It's definitely a culture shock. I sometimes still have to ask for interpretation lol. My wife is from just up the road in T. Falls and her grandad worked at the Bonner mill.

 

[Velo Dog]

Very cool. I have my great, great grandfather's velo dog. He carried it as his backup backup gun as the Police Commissioner of Detroit, back in the early 1900's. I will definitely look at Khomas Safaris. Thank you!

Having a family treasure handed down is a delight for sure.
I have my grandfather’s last pistol as well.
It is a 1947 Colt Woodsman, 4” barrel.
He bought it new, as a celebration gift to himself, just after WW-II, when his sons / my mother’s brothers, were finally home safe from the war.
He himself was wounded (serious mustard gas burns), in the trenches of France, during WW-I and knew the risks when his boys joined the fight.

A farmer by trade in Missouri, he carried that Colt in a brown leather flap holster, made in St. Louis Missouri.
I have that as well and have dunked it in “Hubbard’s Leather Treatment Oil”.
But despite the oil treatment, the old holster is tired so, I don’t use it at all.
The bluing is nearly gone from the gun and the original grips are well worn.
I only shoot it with Standard Velocity ammunition, as I had read somewhere that, Colt did not put a stout enough recoil spring in the older Woodsman’s to tolerate a steady diet of today’s high velocity ammunition.

Drat and apologies.
I have derailed this thread with my espresso fueled ranting.

El Doggo out.

 

[Sue Tidwell]

Holy cow! Yup, we bought my dad's mare from the Campbells and bred a thoroughbred mare to their same stud. The stud horse they had was "Bill's Four Aces." We liked him because of his Snipper Reed breeding. They also had a palomino stud years later that we bred to one of our quarterhorses. That foal ended up being an absolutely bomb-proof gelding.

Talk about a small world. I did some work for Rod last year. I still do contract work for the County, so I was up there to drop off reloading components, 2 weeks ago, while I was in town. I hope Rod is feeling better. He was supposed to go to Mexico for Coues Deer last month with a client of mine, but got sick and couldn't go.

I'll definitely get ahold of you guys when I decide to go to Namibia. It's not a matter of "if", it's when.

@WillMFerguson Rod is feeling better. In fact, totally healed! He even went on that Coues Deer hunt. I turns out that.....get this........he had malaria!!! As you know, Rod is ROD....need I say more. When we were in Mozambique last year, he did NOT use the mosquito nets provided at night like the rest of us.....and he quit taking his malaria pills after he got home, even though we were supposed to keep taking them for two weeks. The other 3 of us are fine. In fact, honestly, I didn't even see a mosquito but apparently they were there! We are meeting up with Rod and Sue at SCI in Nashville in just a few weeks. It is so funny how things turn out. We went to a RMEF banquet in Colville years ago with some other friends of ours. That is where we met Rod and Sue. Then we kept seeing each other at those type events for the next few years. Needless to say, we became great friends and booked that Tanzanian safari together. That was our first time traveling with them or spending any real time with them. Now they are who we always go with and are dear friends.
I remember the stud Ace, as they called him. He was here on the ranch when I first "married into" Idaho. I'm glad your horses sired from them turned out so well. Rick doesn't LOVE riding like the rest of us...but he has no problem getting on one when it comes to hunting in the mountains. LOL. I wish I had the horse savvy that his family does!
Are you going to SCI this month? It would be great to meet you in person. I'm sure Rod and Sue would love to see you too.

 

[WillMFerguson]

Having a family treasure handed down is a delight for sure.
I have my grandfather’s last pistol as well.
It is a 1947 Colt Woodsman, 4” barrel.
He bought it new, as a celebration gift to himself, just after WW-II, when his sons / my mother’s brothers, were finally home safe from the war.
He himself was wounded (serious mustard gas burns), in the trenches of France, during WW-I and knew the risks when his boys joined the fight.

A farmer by trade in Missouri, he carried that Colt in a brown leather flap holster, made in St. Louis Missouri.
I have that as well and have dunked it in “Hubbard’s Leather Treatment Oil”.
But despite the oil treatment, the old holster is tired so, I don’t use it at all.
The bluing is nearly gone from the gun and the original grips are well worn.
I only shoot it with Standard Velocity ammunition, as I had read somewhere that, Colt did not put a stout enough recoil spring in the older Woodsman’s to tolerate a steady diet of today’s high velocity ammunition.

Drat and apologies.
I have derailed this thread with my espresso fueled ranting.

El Doggo out.

LOL nah, that's cool stuff to read. I have an affection for old firearms that have a story. Speaking of espresso.....

 

[WillMFerguson]

@WillMFerguson Rod is feeling better. In fact, totally healed! He even went on that Coues Deer hunt. I turns out that.....get this........he had malaria!!! As you know, Rod is ROD....need I say more. When we were in Mozambique last year, he did NOT use the mosquito nets provided at night like the rest of us.....and he quit taking his malaria pills after he got home, even though we were supposed to keep taking them for two weeks. The other 3 of us are fine. In fact, honestly, I didn't even see a mosquito but apparently they were there! We are meeting up with Rod and Sue at SCI in Nashville in just a few weeks. It is so funny how things turn out. We went to a RMEF banquet in Colville years ago with some other friends of ours. That is where we met Rod and Sue. Then we kept seeing each other at those type events for the next few years. Needless to say, we became great friends and booked that Tanzanian safari together. That was our first time traveling with them or spending any real time with them. Now they are who we always go with and are dear friends.
I remember the stud Ace, as they called him. He was here on the ranch when I first "married into" Idaho. I'm glad your horses sired from them turned out so well. Rick doesn't LOVE riding like the rest of us...but he has no problem getting on one when it comes to hunting in the mountains. LOL. I wish I had the horse savvy that his family does!
Are you going to SCI this month? It would be great to meet you in person. I'm sure Rod and Sue would love to see you too.

I heard about the malaria, but I thought I heard wrong. I kept thinking, "did I just hear the word malaria?" I'm glad he got to go! I only briefly saw James when I dropped off those components, so I didn't get to talk to him. I met Rod and James through Pete Sullivan (who builds an amazing suppressor, BTW). I think Rod and Sue are friends with Danny and Evelyn; I'm betting you met them. I think Danny was the local RMEF chapter pres for a while. I don't go to RMEF functions anymore; successfully suing them makes things kinda awkward. I've hunted with Danny and Evelyn a few times and they are awesome. I think they've been to Africa 2x. They warned me I'd get addicted to Africa.

The only issue (not really an issue?) I had with my mare was that she ran on jet fuel. I'm probably biased, but I've never seen anything run that fast. Once I got older, I could handle her, but it was like handing a Stinger Missile to a kid.

Sadly, I'll miss it. I'm grounded for probably the entire month.

 

[Sue Tidwell]

I heard about the malaria, but I thought I heard wrong. I kept thinking, "did I just hear the word malaria?" I'm glad he got to go! I only briefly saw James when I dropped off those components, so I didn't get to talk to him. I met Rod and James through Pete Sullivan (who builds an amazing suppressor, BTW). I think Rod and Sue are friends with Danny and Evelyn; I'm betting you met them. I think Danny was the local RMEF chapter pres for a while. I don't go to RMEF functions anymore; successfully suing them makes things kinda awkward. I've hunted with Danny and Evelyn a few times and they are awesome. I think they've been to Africa 2x. They warned me I'd get addicted to Africa.

The only issue (not really an issue?) I had with my mare was that she ran on jet fuel. I'm probably biased, but I've never seen anything run that fast. Once I got older, I could handle her, but it was like handing a Stinger Missile to a kid.

Sadly, I'll miss it. I'm grounded for probably the entire month.

I don't know that we have ever met Danny and Evelyn...or, if we did, I don't remember. But believe them when they say you will get addicted to Africa. They were NOT lying! I don't know anything about lawsuits....but I could see how that would make things awkward.

I can't wait to tell Betty about your horses. She will be over the moon! She hasn't changed a bit. She works all day long, still milks dairy cows to feed bummer calves, has 100 chickens, 60 head of cattle, etc etc. And each year, loses money. LOL! They finally got her to decrease the stock of horses but trying to get her to change or give anything up is liking talking to shit on a barn door!

 

[enysse]

Welcome to AH!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Welcome to AH!

 

[SAFARIKIDD]

Welcome! I had a home in North Idaho years back on Lake Coeur de Alene..Miss the area ALOT..My home value went up 6x what I paid for it in 99! Should have kept that one!

 

[LIFE-FORM TAXIDERMY]

Welcome to AH! Glad you found us and joined our community.

 

[lockingblock]

I’m a new member here, but I have been lurking for more than a few months. I’ve been following posts from a few members here because I am an absolute gun nut and there are some extremely knowledgeable and talented members who are doing some really cool things.

I finally decided to pull the trigger, so to speak, because I recently bought a safari to South Africa and I wanted to learn more about hunting in Africa. My first guided hunt was last year, for bison in South Dakota. I realized that I had less than a snowball’s chance in hell of ever drawing a bison tag, so my only option was to purchase a guided hunt. I had a great hunt that positively influenced my views on guided hunts.

I am from a place that most people, except one or two members on this forum, have never heard of; a small (very small, as in less than 150 people) town on the Nez Perce Rez. Through a serious of choices, I managed to end up in Western Montana. When I say “Idaho”, I mean Valley County and everywhere north thereof. Anything south of Valley County is just Northern Utah. A judge where I used to practice referred to my home territory as “fightin’ country”. A colleague of mine calls it “the drainage ditch”. Anyway, I married a Western Montanan and she wanted to move home.

Shameless plug: I am reading Sue Tidwell’s book and I am thoroughly enjoying it. About 2 days ago, I recommended the book to my mom (who also still lives in Idaho). My mom came over to visit so she could be here for the birth of my first child (a girl, BTW!). By the time my mom arrived, she had already finished Sue’s book (showoff) and couldn’t say enough good things about it. My mom is by no means an anti-hunter, but she has many friends who are, including many who are in her book club and she managed to persuade them to read Sue’s book.

Anyway, thanks for letting me join. I look forward to learning. By the way, if anyone wants to know about hunting in Idaho, drop me a line.

How does that work, living on the reservation? Are you Native? I ask because I see land for sale that often look to be inside the border of the reservation.

 

[WillMFerguson]

How does that work, living on the reservation? Are you Native? I ask because I see land for sale that often look to be inside the border of the reservation.

It depends on the reservation, which town, and what you're doing. Most of the reservations in Idaho are pretty good. I'm not enrolled or Nez Perce. I'd jump at the chance to move back and wouldn't hesitate to live on most reservations.

 

[TROPHY SHIPPERS]

Welcome to AH! Glad you found us and joined our community. If you need any help we’re here for you.

 

[dlmac]

I’m a new member here, but I have been lurking for more than a few months. I’ve been following posts from a few members here because I am an absolute gun nut and there are some extremely knowledgeable and talented members who are doing some really cool things.

I finally decided to pull the trigger, so to speak, because I recently bought a safari to South Africa and I wanted to learn more about hunting in Africa. My first guided hunt was last year, for bison in South Dakota. I realized that I had less than a snowball’s chance in hell of ever drawing a bison tag, so my only option was to purchase a guided hunt. I had a great hunt that positively influenced my views on guided hunts.

I am from a place that most people, except one or two members on this forum, have never heard of; a small (very small, as in less than 150 people) town on the Nez Perce Rez. Through a serious of choices, I managed to end up in Western Montana. When I say “Idaho”, I mean Valley County and everywhere north thereof. Anything south of Valley County is just Northern Utah. A judge where I used to practice referred to my home territory as “fightin’ country”. A colleague of mine calls it “the drainage ditch”. Anyway, I married a Western Montanan and she wanted to move home.

Shameless plug: I am reading Sue Tidwell’s book and I am thoroughly enjoying it. About 2 days ago, I recommended the book to my mom (who also still lives in Idaho). My mom came over to visit so she could be here for the birth of my first child (a girl, BTW!). By the time my mom arrived, she had already finished Sue’s book (showoff) and couldn’t say enough good things about it. My mom is by no means an anti-hunter, but she has many friends who are, including many who are in her book club and she managed to persuade them to read Sue’s book.

Anyway, thanks for letting me join. I look forward to learning. By the way, if anyone wants to know about hunting in Idaho, drop me a line.

I have a connection the the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and Dixie, Idaho. Now in MN in the summer and the Rio Grande Valley in the Winter. And Dixie, Id sometime in between.

 

[dlmac]

Oh my gosh @WillMFerguson, you absolutely made my morning! I am thrilled that you are enjoying Cries of the Savanna ....and even more thrilled that you Mom enjoyed it enough to persuade her book club members to read it. YAY! It is hard to get it into the hands of non-hunters....That is why it is so important when people recommend it like this!

Oh yeah, and welcome to the forum!!! You will love it here. I have only been here a few months but have already learned a lot...and have received such wonderful support.

On a side note, if you don't mind me asking. Which little town did you live in? Were you near Craigmont or Lapwai? I'm not sure if you know this or not but I live in Cottonwood. We are ....or were before you moved...practically neighbors. Also, how do you learn about the book? It is always interesting and informative to know....for future reference.

Anyway, nice to meet you! Enjoy AH!

Wife and I lived in Clarkston of 9 years(had a medical clinic there) and have land in Dixie, Idaho. I am a luck man and my Wife hunted and travelled with me in the Pacific Northwest. Will have to get your book!

 

[Sue Tidwell]

Wife and I lived in Clarkston of 9 years(had a medical clinic there) and have land in Dixie, Idaho. I am a luck man and my Wife hunted and travelled with me in the Pacific Northwest. Will have to get your book!

Wow, @dlmac, Dixie is an awesome place! We love riding the ATV down to Mackey Bar from there. I’m sure you have been there. Do have have a cabin there or plan to build someday? My husband always wants to hunt there but it never seems to work out for one reason or another. This year there was just too much snow. I’m excited you want to read Cries of the Savanna. It talks a little about Idaho too. Happy adventures!

 

[dlmac]

Wow, @dlmac, Dixie is an awesome place! We love riding the ATV down to Mackey Bar from there. I’m sure you have been there. Do have have a cabin there or plan to build someday? My husband always wants to hunt there but it never seems to work out for one reason or another. This year there was just too much snow. I’m excited you want to read Cries of the Savanna. It talks a little about Idaho too. Happy adventures!

We have a cabin 6 miles southwest of Dixie....Lots of snow this year. The Moose are coming back, the elk are a little slower. Still plenty of black bears and a few Griz. I once hired a fella from Cottonwood to work at our clinic and one of my patients was the camp host over there.

 

[Sue Tidwell]

We have a cabin 6 miles southwest of Dixie....Lots of snow this year. The Moose are coming back, the elk are a little slower. Still plenty of black bears and a few Griz. I once hired a fella from Cottonwood to work at our clinic and one of my patients was the camp host over there.

Geez, I didn’t know there was a medical clinic there. How wonderful of you! You know Elk City of course. Well I used to work at St Mary’s Clinic awhile ago and once a month we went to elk city to serve the people there. Some interesting characters walked through thst door ! I loved the days that I got to work there. Do you get to your cabin often. I’m glad the moose are doing well and elk are starting to come back. We saw one of our first wolves right outside of Dixie on the way to Mackey bar. He didn’t even back down. Rick wa scouting for Mike deer and after hiking up and down drainages I was whipped. He left the gun with me and my pup to rest while he checked out one more draw. So when he saw it he had nothing!

 

[dlmac]

Geez, I didn’t know there was a medical clinic there. How wonderful of you! You know Elk City of course. Well I used to work at St Mary’s Clinic awhile ago and once a month we went to elk city to serve the people there. Some interesting characters walked through thst door ! I loved the days that I got to work there. Do you get to your cabin often. I’m glad the moose are doing well and elk are starting to come back. We saw one of our first wolves right outside of Dixie on the way to Mackey bar. He didn’t even back down. Rick wa scouting for Mike deer and after hiking up and down drainages I was whipped. He left the gun with me and my pup to rest while he checked out one more draw. So when he saw it he had nothing!

The clinic was in Clarkston, WA. Looked at the clinic in Elk City. The hospitals we used we at Pullman, Lewiston (St. Joe) and Clarkston (Tri State). The first wolf I saw in Id was outside Grangeville. We also decided to work there in the mid 90's.

 

[Sue Tidwell]

The clinic was in Clarkston, WA. Looked at the clinic in Elk City. The hospitals we used we at Pullman, Lewiston (St. Joe) and Clarkston (Tri State). The first wolf I saw in Id was outside Grangeville. We also decided to work there in the mid 90's.

Grangeville is just a hop, skip and a jump from our house. We also spotted wolves in Grangeville while ATVing. Typically, they are just quick glances though. Those buggers disappear like ghosts in the wind.