First time on a snowmobile today

[Big D]

My next door neighbor just fell into a great deal on three older used snowmobiles and asked me if I would like to go for a ride. I said absolutely. I’ve never been on a snowmobile before. We rode the wheat fields on the Waterville plateau for about fifty miles in all directions and it was truly beautiful. The sun was shining and the snow looked like a field of sparkling diamonds. Now it’s time to let the wife know that I’m in a shopping mood. It’s too bad that I didn’t take this trip prior to Christmas. I would have known what to ask for for Christmas.

Looking out over the Columbia River from the Waterville plateau towards Entiat

[Amx]

Snowmobiles are fun. I've thought about getting another one. I used to use mine to lay out trails for the dog sled races the club did.

[edge540]

Beautiful! Is Jameson froze over? Do you ever ice fish it?

[Big D]

Beautiful! Is Jameson froze over? Do you ever ice fish it?

I fish Jameson a lot during the season but, Jameson has a split season. It runs from the last Saturday in April until the fourth of July and then opens again for the month of October. I'm sure that it's frozen over with the last few nights running in the teens but the state says "No fishy" until next April.

[Bodofish]

Wow D, looks like fun! Way too much fun as a matter of fact. I guess I don't have to remind you we aren't 25 anymore? Take it easy, be safe.

[MotoBoat]

Is the picture taken above the cloud or fog layer. The Columbia is not froze over, and that looks more like cloud our fog. What would you guesstimate the altitude to be......3000ft? Snow looks pretty deep.

I sledded one time, some 25 years ago. Got the sled stuck! We spent most of the day getting it unstuck, and back on a trail. That part was not fun, but the rest was very cool. Sleds are pretty amazing contraptions.

To tell you the truth. I have down more snow traveling on on a 3-wheeler than snow machine. A snow mobile has to travel across virgin snow just one time. And the 3 wheeler will travel on that narrow track, without getting stuck. Been on and around fish lake, many many times in the snow and on the frozen lake.

[Big D]

Wow D, looks like fun! Way too much fun as a matter of fact. I guess I don't have to remind you we aren't 25 anymore? Take it easy, be safe.

Funny that you say that Bodo. At fifty four years old, I still have a very great need for speed but my need to not be in pain finally has taken precedence. I don't really know when it happened but when I looked down at the speedometer and it was bouncing on 80 well lets just say, the brown slick in the snow wasn't mud.

Is the picture taken above the cloud or fog layer. The Columbia is not froze over, and that looks more like cloud or fog. What would you guesstimate the altitude to be......3000ft? Snow looks pretty deep.

Hey Moto,
It's the cloud layer. The Columbia River used to freeze over but that was in the horse and buggy days long before the dams went in. My house in Waterville sets at an altitude of 2850 and we were a little higher so your guess of 3000 feet is pretty close. The snow was about two feet deep in that area which made for great snowmobiling for me because as I stated above "First time on a snowmobile today" I've got a lot to learn about riding powder but as the winter gets longer I'm sure I'll get my chance.

[MotoBoat]

Say, big D. Are you flying across private or public land up there on the plateau? Are there many game birds up there before the snow arrives?

[Big D]

Say, big D. Are you flying across private or public land up there on the plateau? Are there many game birds up there before the snow arrives?

Hey Moto,
It's all private land owned mostly by the farmers in the area. My neighbor married into a long time farm family so his winter time land use comes because he married into it. Mine comes by knowing the right farmer folks and politely asking them and then above all being respectful of their land. As far as bird hunting goes, I gave it up long ago but I do see lots of birds. Tons of Chuckers in the Moses Coulee area. Quail on Badger Mountian and Doves everwhere else. On the way back from the Christmas holidays with family in North Idaho we counted twenty or so Pheasants along highway 2 between Coulee city and Almira.

[MotoBoat]

Say, big D. Are you flying across private or public land up there on the plateau? Are there many game birds up there before the snow arrives?

Hey Moto,
It's all private land owned mostly by the farmers in the area. My neighbor married into a long time farm family so his winter time land use comes because he married into it. Mine comes by knowing the right farmer folks and politely asking them and then above all being respectful of their land. As far as bird hunting goes, I gave it up long ago but I do see lots of birds. Tons of Chuckers in the Moses Coulee area. Quail on Badger Mountian and Doves everwhere else. On the way back from the Christmas holidays with family in North Idaho we counted twenty or so Pheasants along highway 2 between Coulee city and Almira.

How long has it been since attempting to rearrange the feathers on the birds you hunted?

[Big D]

How long has it been since attempting to rearrange the feathers on the birds you hunted?

It's been years. Back in the mid nineties I was able to divorce the devil, but in doing so I became a single father to my three children. That took up most of my time in a much better way than putting a couple of Pheasants on the table. Now I’ve got grand children and life goes on. I’ve got room in my boat for two or three grand kids and I really don’t miss hunting. If I do ever really have the need, I can always drop a dove or two out in the back yard but my wife thinks they’re pretty so I have to do it when she’s working if you know what I mean.

[MotoBoat]

I do "know what you mean". Was the Pheasant hunting any good in Wa during the time you hunted? I hunted Wa from when I was a teen (70's) until about 1990 or so. Always hunted pheasant around Othello. Never got a limit. Chased birds all day for a hand full of flushed hens and maybe 2-5 Roosters. Of which, two were in range for a shot or two.

Seems like I have seen a public hunting sign, on the right. When traveling to Jameson, from Chelan via hwy 150 and the BB bridge, up the hill and a couple of lefts to Mansfield. Any idea the spot I am describing, and what game birds one would find in that area? It would be on top of the plateau, well on the way to Mansfield.

[Big D]

I do "know what you mean". Was the Pheasant hunting any good in Wa during the time you hunted? I hunted Wa from when I was a teen (70's) until about 1990 or so. Always hunted pheasant around Othello. Never got a limit. Chased birds all day for a hand full of flushed hens and maybe 2-5 Roosters. Of which, two were in range for a shot or two.
Seems like I have seen a public hunting sign, on the right. When traveling to Jameson, from Chelan via hwy 150 and the BB bridge, up the hill and a couple of lefts to Mansfield. Any idea the spot I am describing, and what game birds one would find in that area? It would be on top of the plateau, well on the way to Mansfield.

Moto,
It sounds like we are close to the same age. I’m 54 and in my teen years I lived in the Moses Lake, Ephrata & Soap Lake area and the Pheasant hunting in that area was unreal. After four years in the Navy I moved to the Brewster area in 1982 and took up Quail, Chucker & Grouse hunting with an occasional trip back to Grant County for the Pheasants. The canyon that you climb the hill from after leaving the Beebe Bridge is McNeil Canyon. If I was going to start bird hunting I would first garner permission from the locals and then hunt that area for the Chucker’s & Quail. As far as hunting the plateau goes, I think Pheasant hunting in this area is a thing of the past. I’m sure that you could flush tons of Doves but it takes more than a couple of them to make a good meal. As I stated above we counted probably twenty or so Pheasants (All Roosters) along highway 2 between Coulee city and Almira. That would be an area that I would research if I was going to take up Pheasant hunting again. In 1982 an area above Bridgeport known as Foster Creek was the best bird hunting that I’ve ever came across. To hunt it we would use two people, one would walk the wide creek bed and shoot anything that flushed from above down into the creek bed and the other would walk above the creek bed and shoot anything that flushed up out of the creek bed. We pulled limits of Pheasants, Chucker’s Quail, Ducks, Grouse and a few Cotton Tails just for good measure.