Hi All

 

I finally have some time to write. My Fall guide season is starting to slow down. Some of the biggest news of this fall is the sale of our Star Lake Cabin. We closed on it last week. A very good friend and now former Red Moose Lodge customer (that is the bad side of selling our cabin to a great lodge customer) John Still is the new proud owner. Congradulation's John, we hope you will be as happy with this cabin as we have been for many years. We know you will have many great memories there.

 

That leads me to my next new project....building a pole barn. For the last 2 weeks I have been chasing my own tail. Going back and forth with contractors, zoning boards, building departments, lumber packages etc. I had a hard time confirming the size I would build but it will be roughtly 32' x 52' x 14'. There is lots of work ahead of me with this project. Tree's to remove, LP gas tank to move, excavation and lumber packages to order, pickup permits and then, finally, building it. That's the fun part.

 

The next project slated for this fall is an asphalt driveway and parking lot here at the lodge. So once again, dealing with permits, contractors and zoning boards. All would be going well if this weather would warm up for a week or two. With all the rain and frost and on and off snow storms, the projects aren't moving along as quickly as I would like.

 

On the fishing side of thing.The river looks great!!  Above average flow with some stain. A great Salmon season behind us has me looking foward to a awesome Fall / Winter Steelheading season. I had a trip last week on Tuesday. We were after Steelhead and fished a lot of the likely spots with only a few Trout on the sunken indicator. We all still had a very enjoyable day on the river despite being a little slow.

 

My time in my treestand has been good ! I have been out 4 times. My first evening a spike came in. Second evening out... a doe. Both could have been shot, but passed. The third time was a morning hunt just to see what I was missing by sleeping in. Nothing was missed this morning though. The fourth time was out 5: 30 p.m.. 5 min. after I got in the stand an 8 pt. came in. One fatal arrow later and a 200 yard walk in the woods, he was found. I came back to the lodge to get help to drag him out. Tracking was easy, lung and liver shot. Now he's at the M-37 Meat Shack for processing.

 

 I have been shooting my bow for the last week or two and setting up deer stands. When not chasing a paper trail and my own tail. The last couple years all I've had time for is some firearm deer hunting with my TC Omega smoke pole.The last time I shot a deer with a bow was a few years ago just days before the firearm opener the first year we bought the lodge. I may go out deer hunting again. I usually only need one deer though. That's all I can make use of in a year. If I do decide to hunt some more, I will be passing up everything but a large buck for the wall.

 

I have had a few opportunities to bird hunt. I took a few days off to hunt with some friends during my peak guide season on Sep. 23rd and,24 th. That was a nice break. To be off the water a couple of days and kill some birds, chase the dogs and catch up with friends. The next time was Oct. 18 th. I took a couple of customer out that stay here at the Lodge, Paul and Rich. All the hunts produced good bird #'s and plenty of shooting opportunities. My next big planned bird hunt is Dec. 3rd through the 7th to Nebraska for Pheasant and Quail with some good friends. I will be back on the 8th. of December.   

 

I'm in the process of trying to schedule some time to fun fish this week and scout good fishing holes. Just in case a few people want to go out on a Fall Steelheading trip ,we are back to our regular season rates until Dec 1st. and then we'll go to our winter rates.  

 

I would also like to say Thank YOU to all the customers who stayed with us and/or went on a guided trip with us for this past Steelhead ,Salmon & Trout season. This was definitely our most productive season and we hope it will only get better. We apologize if we were unable to accommodate any customers who wished to stay with us over the busy seasons. Please book in advance if possible to ensure you get the room with the dates you require. October 15th of this year was our 3 year anniversary of owning the Red Moose Lodge. A lot of great changes have occurred here in the last 3 years. We hope you found that these updates and remodels have made your stay with us more enjoyable. Look for many more improvements still to come at the Red Moose Lodge.

 

As a special offer, to celebrate our 3 year anniversary...book any guided trip Sunday through Thursday November 1st 2006 through March 15th 2007 for Fall/Winter Steelhead or Trout and receive a free night's stay. What a deal! If you don't mind the cold and like to fish all day with very little fishing traffic . These are typically slower days on the water and around the lodge. This will allow me to spend some real quality time on the water and around the lodge with you, the customer. Many evening are spent tying flies by the fire in the wood stove out in the Lodge center this time of year. Join me for the most relaxing time of year !! 

 

Tight Lines and Strait Shooting

Clint