7/12/02
On July 12th I made a deal with Darryl Wise of Montana to sell a 1999 White diesel Suburban. Darryl plans to use the truck in his Hunting Guide business in Canada. Darryl is one of the premier water fowl guides in Canada. www.thewiseman.com Darryl is on the Winchester Pro Advisory Board and has his decoys featured in "Cabellas" catalog. He has been on TV numerous times, has been written about in several publications including Ducks Unlimited and sought out as a lecturer. After the deal Darryl and I made an agreement that I deliver the Suburban to him in Montana and he would take me hunting this fall. Before I made the deal I talked to a couple of people that had experienced one of Darryl"s hunts and heard nothing but rave reviews. The trip will be sometime in Sept. or Oct. My wife gave me the thumbs up and here we go. Time to get the Suburban moving north.

7/16/02
I left for San Antonio in the Suburban. My folks live there and my wife and kids had traveled there the week prior. I already had an airline ticket to travel over before I made the deal with Darryl so I had to eat the ticket, oh well. The drive over (735 miles in 12 hours) was uneventful. I averaged 16.6 MPG in his K-2500 4x4 Suburban with the 3.73 rear end. While in Texas I visited some friends whose home was flooded the previous week, they were also flooded in 1999. They live on Lake Placid in Seguin which is a so-called constant level lake. I ate plenty of Mexican food and had a chance to visit with my extended family. I left the Suburban with my Dad on the 21st and caught up with my Wife and kids for the drive back in my Suburban. If you're asking yourself, does David have a diesel suburban? The answer is no and no. First of all, even though I have owned four diesel Subs in the past I am currently to poor to drive one now. Secondly, my wife took my Suburban privileges away about 15 years ago. She drives it and I am allowed to drive it on trips with her. Fortunately for me I get to drive home a Diesel Suburban from here at work nearly every night.

7/25/02
My Dad left San Antonio for Montana in the Suburban and he made it to Amarillo the first day. He stayed with some friends he hasn't seen in 30 years. (Thanks Don). Yes, I enlisted my Dads help for the rest of the trip. He will go on the hunting trip with me and frankly that is the main reason I made this deal.
 

Dad is 70 years old, looks 60 and is grumpy as an 80 year old. You never know how many more chances you have to share some special time with your Mom and Dad. We hunted together all through my childhood and up until my marriage in 1987. We have gone hunting back in Texas about 10 times in the last 15 years. All through my childhood and up until my kids were about 5 I never understood why my Dad would stand beside me when we bird hunted. I often made the comment, "If you moved down some you would get more shots." He didn't have much interest in moving away unless I was running low on ammo or needed a drink and then he would head off to the truck. Whenever I would offer to run back to the truck for something, he would say "No, you stay here and hunt, I'll get it." I finally figured it out about 8 years ago when I took my daughter fishing for the first time. I had to bait her hook, cast for her, get the line un-snagged, take off the fish and clean up everything. I really didn't have much time to fish myself and you know what, I loved it. The joy of seeing my daughters face with a fish on the line was far more exciting and satisfying than catching all the fish in the sea. For a Dad the joy of hunting, fishing, playing catch, golf or whatever is not in the activity it's in the joy of his child.

The next morning Dad went out to hit the road, the truck wouldn't start, dead battery. He jumped the truck and went to a local parts store where they tested the batteries. They told him the batteries were good but they thought he needed an alternator. He found a shop that specialized in alternators and by 11AM they had it in a bay. They asked him if he wanted a diagnostic before replacing the alternator and he agreed it would be a good idea. Guess what? The passengers side battery was bad and had a thermal runaway, the alternator was fine. They disconnected the battery and after waiting an hour for it to cool they replaced the battery and he was on his way. Learning point: I had the same thing happen to me on my gas Suburban 6 months ago. I had the battery tested and they said it was good, I put on a new starter and the truck still didn't crank. I then called a friend/customer that buys 5 cars a year from me and he said..."I haven't seen the truck but I would bet you a dollar to a donut that you have a bad battery despite the test." I bought a new battery and just like my Dad, I was on my way. My Dad made it to Fort Collins the second day and to Butte Montana the third day. He delivered the truck on the forth day to an eager Mr. Wise. My Dad stayed with the Wise's that night and was treated to a tour of the surroundings. He has commented to me several times on how nice Mr. and Mrs. Wise treated him and on how beautiful it is up in Montana. During the trip he saw, Deer, Antelope, rabbits and an abundance of birds. He commented that other than some high winds in the mountains it was a great drive and beautiful country. Hunting Trip Photos

7/29/02
Dad flew home to San Antonio but the airline has lost his luggage.
 

8/1/02
Luggage found

8/5/02
We have set a date for the trip, mid Oct. I can't wait. We will fly into Edmonton, Canada and drive about 3 hours east to the lodge. I will be leaving from Pensacola and my Dad from San Antonio. I set up the flights so we are on the same flight out of Minneapolis into Edmonton. We land early afternoon then have a 3 hour drive. We want to try and arrive in time for the first afternoons activity of shooting "sporting clays" there at the lodge. I haven't bird hunted in two years so I really need to sharpen my sword prior to going after the real deal.
 

10/09/02
The day has finally arrived. I left the house at 5AM for the airport. Caught a flight to Memphis, then to Minneapolis and on to Edmonton. I met a nice woman on the flight from P-Cola to Memphis. She has a son in the Navy that just finished Officers Candidate School and is starting flight school. We talked about flight school and she told me how scared she was for his safety and I gave her my right wing view of life. At one point she started to cry, not for the safety of her son but because she misses her baby boy. I am proud of her and her son I will never meet. I really appreciate our military and the parents that raise those kids. Met up with my Dad in Minneapolis for the final leg, it was great to see him. I saw him in July but I never get to see him twice in one year. We got the typical hassles at customs in Edmonton. Paid the stupid firearms use tax (we brought our own) then caught the shuttle to get our rent car. The phrase, "I would rather be lucky than good" struck us when we noticed our hotel where we were going to stay on our last night was right across the street from our rental car drop-off point. The roads out of Edmonton are great, the country is beautiful. On the 2.5 hour trip to Edgerton we saw Moose, Deer, Elk and a lake full of snow geese. The lodge is about 10 minutes from Edgerton. We stopped in Edgerton and bought our license and ammo. The License was $130 each and ammo was $24 a box (The tourista price). We got to the lodge about 4:30, wow was it nice, 3 floors, all wood, a huge separate garage and workshop and a great view, temp. of 50 degrees, we were in heaven. Only the cook, (Gail) was home. Darryl and Chris the guides were out scouting. Six more hunters were coming but we had it to ourselves for 3 hours. When the other 6 hunters arrived and the guides got back we sat down for dinner. All I will say about the food at the lodge is, if you you want to diet or if you have a weakness for large amounts of great food, don't stay there. I bet I gained 5 pounds in 3 days.

10/10/2002
My Dad has a saying, "The early bird gets the worm because that's what they deserve" The 4AM wake-up came way to soon in my sleep cycle. We got dressed and went upstairs. On arrival we were told my pants, blue jeans, and my Dad's coat, black, would not cut it, we had to be in full camo. Some of the other hunters loaned us some gear and off we went. I will get to the other hunters later, they are nuts! We hop in the two Diesel Suburbans, the 99 I sold Darryl and a 98 with 158k miles. These trucks are a testimate to the diesel Suburban, they get used in the hardest way. They run in 4wd every day pulling a trailer in the worst of weather. We got to the field and began the setup. 4-5 Blinds to deploy and assemble plus put out the decoys. We were finished in about 45 minutes. You change locations every day so you setup and takedown every day. My ARC AAA flashlight was awesome for pre-dawn work. It is small enough to tuck under my hat to be used as a headlamp. If I could only have one flashlight, this would be the ARC AAA. I use it nearly every day. 30 minutes after first light the geese start coming. I sat with Darryl the first morning and watching him call in the birds is nearly poetic. He brings them in so close you could just about use your shotgun as a bat. Some of the birds land right in the decoys. Our hay bale blinds looked so real you couldn't tell they weren't the real thing from 100 yards. We shot plenty of birds the first morning. I was shocked at how fast a 12 pound goose can turn around and fly away, I missed several times. The afternoon hunt was extra fun because I sat with Dad. Less birds but a great time with the old Man. I doubt I will ever forget that afternoon. Just me and Dad in a blind telling lies, watching the geese come in and enjoying the perfect weather. We discussed the merits of a hay bale blind and how "we" could improve upon it if we had $200k to spend on blinds. We saw geese flying so very high migrating south and the ones that turned back in and gave us a shot. At one point a flock was getting close and I turned to my Dad and said, "When they get here take the shot, don't worry about me, I'm gonna get my shot". When the geese were on top of us and beginning their flair to land Darryl made his standard call, "Take em". We threw back the roof, stood up, took aim, I waited to hear the sound of my Dad firing and once he blasted away I let loose myself, we both missed. It didn't matter, neither one of us cared. We were just buddies out having the time of our lives. That night the temp started to drop and I think that may have made our coon-ass co-hunters a little more crazy.

10/11/02
We wake up to 24 degrees. My Dad says he isn't feeling good so we go without him. The setup was not as fun at 24 degrees and 10 knots of wind. More of the same as the first days hunt just colder. Inside the blind is fine but once you go outside your hands, toes and ears remind you of your location. After the morning hunt we take our geese to the Hutterites. The Hutterites are an interesting group of people. They all live in a compound. They farm, make blankets and coats and clean geese among other things. I believe they are similar to Mennonites. All of our bread, potatoes, and vegetables came from them. Friendly folks but a little different. It starts to snow when we get back for lunch. It snows all afternoon and quits about 5. Dad goes scouting with Chris while we are out on the afternoon hunt. It's not as fun without him. Back at the lodge that night the "Coon-ass 6" as I started to call them were running wide open. These guys from New Orleans tease each other mercilessly. Three of them are cousins and the other three are lifelong buddies. They kept us in stitches the entire trip. I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to hunt with. They ranged in age from 50 to 66 and went by the nicknames, "Tootie", "Sport", "Bubba" and so forth.

10/12/02
We wake up to 16 degrees and this southern boy is starting to whine. Dad was feeling better but decides not to risk it and stays home again and the rest of us go out and freeze. Had a ball wish Dad was there. Darryl the guide has a saying when he sees someone peeking out from their blind, "Get down, don't let them see their worst enemy". We get back to camp, pack-up and say our good-byes. I shot an extra large "Honker" that morning and brought it home to mount. We are on the road by 12 noon. We stop at the hardware store where we bought the ammo and try to sell back our unopened boxes, they turn us down. That's not the bad part though, I left my backpack in the store, it has my cellphone, passport and e-ticket inside. I made it home without it and will have it back in three weeks. We went to dinner with an old friend of Dads and his daughter and fiancee back in Edmonton. They were super folks and had wonderful things to say about Dad. Dinner was good as well. I had a thing called a "Baseball Sirloin" It was the size of a tea saucer and 2" thick, looked more like a filet. It was the best steak I have ever eaten and I am not a sirloin fan.

10/13/02
Back to the airport at 6AM. Next vacation will be one where I get to sleep a little bit. No hassles about not having the passport. Nice flight with Dad to Minneapolis where we say good-bye. I made it home about 6:30PM. What a trip, it was everything I hoped for and more. A trip of a lifetime and an adventure with Dad.
 

If you have a desire to go goose hunting in Canada. Contact Darryl Wise at www.thewiseman.com
Great accommodations, Great Food,
Great and Comfortable goose and Duck hunting
I give it a 5 Star rating