Thursday, November 19, 2009

A bit more about me and my day, if it computes..





I hope this is a good one, post wize.

Im in the North, and the suns above the horizon from 11am to just about 4Pm. Were loosing 9 minutes a day and will be up  with twilight or awhile. were low in the Arctic, so we dont have months of Darkness, but we do have a breif time now to work outside in the day light.
 Traps hunt all night long , and setting them is almost here. Our freezeup came 3 weeks late, and letting it get "Safe" is in the cards. 
For now, its a net. When thats done, it'll be a rout for fur and getting wood, insted of wood and fish..........
I went fishing again today, pulling up only 20 whitefish and 2 Tiktallik, a Burbot in the North Rivers. Thats down from 40 Whitefish yesterday and 3 Tiktallik, and the previous days 62 Whitefish and 4 Tiktallik, which have been our average catch over the weeks. Must be a couple more runs yet.
 With freezeup so late, we missed catching the Whitefish with all the eggs under the ice and freezing them. They are very good eaten frozen, baked or fryed, and the eggs are extra nutritious. The ones we caught before the freeze have fermented, so theres a special treat anyways, "Stink fish", and alotta people enjoy that for dinner.
 Was up to -26 below  today a nice change from the -35 we were having. 
Been burning alotta wood lately, and with both saws down, weve been at it with the ax's. Problem is its too cold to run the motors, and by the time were in the country the saw is cold......but we get to use them at home, simply by having them inside untill needed. Often we use a sleeping bag and a thermos, but the saw can ruin such quickly on a ride over bumpy snow.
 A sled load of wood can be had by a hard working  axman in about 3hours and heat the house for 4 or so days. We try and get as much as we can now, for the storms will arrive, and the snow will become soft and deep, no place for a heavy load.
We burn stove oil as well for hot water and keeping nice at 4am. Since stove oil is 6.80$ a gallon, and gas only 6.10$ its easyier and more efficent to go get wood. Way cheaper than last year!!
Its better to buy gas and hunt than it is to buy food. We do buy basics, coffee, flour, suger,ect. and spices, but the fish and Meat are more than 1/2 our daily intake.
Well, I chopped out the hole , which was about 9 inches thick over night, and about 14 inches thick over all. 
The splashes from the ax froze immediatly to the snow pants, and I was warm, despite being coverd in ice.
My blue sweater was frosted like snow when all wes said and done, and I contributed some heat and sweat to global warming.
 I pulled my net and the first thing up made me laugh,






  One Tiktallik was not even enmeshed, he was just too greedy ! ~~LOL!!~~ All I had to do was pull the Whitefish protruding from his mouth out of a couple mesh, or it woulda been his. He just couldnt let go, and up he came with the rest.
Nice fish too, about 12 lbs. with a larger one caught as the last fish over, in the net. I figure were getting alotta Tiktallik because they are targeting the caught whitefish, so I think Ill tie a couple three or four to the top mesh's and clear the snow from the ice , so the Tiktallik can see the "Bait" and get caught as well.........wont know till I try.

 Hope this lets ya know me a bit more, I'll about have this master'd when I get a new key board and back to my Gateway~~LOL!!~~

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