JJ seems to have the bear hunting bug, so when he was finished keeping Big Jeff company on his two-week archery hunt, he drove across the highway to our camp. I’d told him that he could stay with me so he didn’t have to sleep in his truck, and I got a little teasing from camp about that, but not too much. They know that those boys are my friends.

So bright and early Saturday morning found me once again following Todd down the old road. I’d see him slip in the mud ahead of me and I’d have an idea about where to put my heavier truck so it didn’t completely bog down, but remember that I’m sort of a beginner at this four-wheeling thing. So I didn’t hit the big mud hole with quite enough momentum to pull myself through and had to rock back and forth to get out of there. That old truck did it though, without having to climb out and break out the winch.

Todd had stopped just in front of me to do a little road clearing with the axe, so I shut it off to go walk up there. Good thing I did too, or I wouldn’t have heard the evil “hsssss” coming from my right front tire. Sure enough, I’d popped the sidewall, probably in that mud. I couldn’t have done it too much earlier, since it was still blowing air out; it stopped that while I was standing there looking at it. Brand new tires too.

 

 

 OK, time to find the jack then. I was in as good a place as I could have been on that road, and I had help. I think JJ might be a little bit of a bad tire-luck charm though–he changed my last flat for me too. Of course, that was more than five years ago, and I wasn’t even in the truck at the time; he was driving it and I was riding up ahead with Dennis.  

 

 

But he’s game, so he got under there with the mud dripping off of the suspension and jacked that sucker up. We got the flat one off and the spare on with hardly any problems. The spare was a little low, so I got to try out my new toy, grinning like a fool for getting to play with it. Whoever thought of putting an air compressor on a winch is a genius, I swear.  

After a whole day of chasing dogs and feeling useless, and the lack of another spare eating away at me, I’d had it. I did not want to be running around on those roads without one, even with my friends all around to rescue me. What a monumental pain in that ass that would be, if something else happened. My patron saint is Murphy, so something was bound to happen. So I dropped JJ off at camp with the food and headed on down the hill. I thought I’d paid for the extra hazard warranty on these tires, so I was hoping to sneak on down to the new store they’d opened and stare at them until they hurried up and put a new one on for me.

Turned out though, that not only did the new store not have that tire in stock, but the whole manufacturer is backordered. It’s a popular tire, and I can see why. I was quite happy with it myself, until I put that hole in it. I was down to Oakdale at that point, so my next best option would have been to buy a used tire to have on there temporarily, or at least to carry as a spare. But are there any tire shops open in Oakdale on a Saturday? Of course not. Ron generously offered up one of his extras, but a little more calling turned up that the lug pattern on a Ford of his year doesn’t happen to fit my Dodge. An older Ford would have, so it wasn’t crazy to think that it might.

I was feeling the time and wanting to get back up to camp by then. I figured I could go on a goose chase in Turlock, the next closest town, or I could go to a place where I knew damn well that they had a used tire in my size, and would be open, as they’re about across the street from my house. I drove all the way home, the long way, and got one of my old tires put back on, and got myself back up into the mountains by dinner time.

Once I was at home, a part of me was kicking myself for making that big circle of a trip. I could have just brought my stuff down with me and stayed at home, but camp was expecting me back, so back I went. Not showing up would have worried the hell out of them. Besides, I wanted to be there.

I was surprised on Sunday morning when all of the shooters and half of the houndsmen bailed on us. It was down to Don’s and Todd’s rigs, and me and JJ. I was really hoping that we’d catch one, as JJ’s put some heart into it lately and I wanted to see him get his. 

I got a little distracted coming back up the Old Road when Todd got a strike near there, and ended up turning into a wrong-way Charlie. My wrong turn was a right turn though, and it put us at exactly the right spot to not only hear the race, we actually saw the dogs flying by, in a strung-out pack, thirty yards from the road below us. Since we’ve been hunting that area so much this year, I had a very good feel for where they were going, so JJ and I took off after them on the main roads to get up around and in front. We ended up out on the end of the Julie road listening to the music down below us. Don and Todd came in at them from other angles and called us down.

I was for damn sure going to get JJ to that tree, so I might have been in a little bit of a hurry, but we got there in plenty of time. They were treed not too far up in the creek where I’d shot my bear last year, and where Junior got his this year, and where we’ve dragged twenty more out. The five of us busted our butts to get there and what a pretty sight we found when we did.

 

 

 He looked big, although it’s sort of hard to tell when they’re treed, and it was open and low enough to get some good photos. Just as cool as can be, JJ pulled out that pistol of his and aimed, and that bear was dead before he hit the ground (we like them to be dead quick like that.) It was a good shot.  

 

 

The best part of this one, even though I really like them all, was getting to see this look on my friend’s face. He and I have been friends for a long time; he and his family got me my first deer. I’d have been thrilled for him even if he hadn’t, but getting to pay him back for that was pretty special.  

 

 

He did a hell of a job, and I have a feeling that now he’s hooked. The bear hunting gets to you like that. I’ve been over the edge for a couple of years now. This is the best part, seeing someone else get such joy out of it.