My "new" Prospecting Vehicle

[phrunt]

That's the coolest, you need to weld an old satellite dish on the front and go out in the desert somewhere and take black and white photos of yourself on it and you could say you went to the moon.

[beatup]

good on you , looks like a good rig

[Jim in Idaho]

7 hours ago, Rivers rat said:

No seats or are you just sitting on a thin bread like layer of foam??

 

RR

No, it has a nice seat. The top of the seat is about 1" above the fender so it doesn't show in the video. I got the seatback frame built yesterday, and will get it installed tomorrow.

Jim

[Jim in Idaho]

7 hours ago, phrunt said:

That's the coolest, you need to weld an old satellite dish on the front and go out in the desert somewhere and take black and white photos of yourself on it and you could say you went to the moon.

Speaking of that, Simon, I live only an hour from "Craters of the Moon" national monument, where the first men to the moon trained back in the old days. They call it that because the terrain resembles the surface of the moon as viewed by telescopes back then.

Jim

[UT Dave]

23 hours ago, Jim in Idaho said:

Dave, you have no idea how happy it makes me to see your post. GGVG seems like a lifetime ago, and I've often wondered what had happened with you. I don't hunt much anymore. Occasionally, I get a guy wanting me to teach him howling, but that's about it. Prospecting has become my outdoor challenge in the last 10 or 12 years. I hope to never outgrow it. You were one of the most skilled callers I've known, and I've known more than a few.

Jim

Thank you Jim!  I really, really appreciate that.  I'm still getting out amongst 'em and calling as much as I can in the fall and winter.  Numbers have been poor for going on quite a few years now though.  Drought, fires, etc.  These days, I always take a detector with me and hit all those long abandoned ranches and mining camps and homesteads out there in the Great Unknown.  Been more than a couple calling trips have turned into detecting trips when silver coins start popping up, 😁.

I'll always remember your quest to hand call a lion.  That was just cool as heck. 

I spent a whole winter a few years ago trying to call one, period.  Did call a couple, but only know that from them vocalizing and tracks in the snow.  Following summer, two days before my depredation tag expired, I was driving along with my kids looking for mule deer buck to photograph.  Spotted a lion chasing a deer through the oak brush.  I hit the brakes.  Lion stopped chasing the doe to look at us, but it was deep in the oak brush.  My daughter whistled and I'll be danged if that lion didn't jump up on a stump to get a better look at us!  Could see from the mottling on the shins it was a youngster.  But, I had a tag, and my Mach IV in the back seat (with my daughter).  She wanted me to shoot it.  But that just wasn't how I wanted to fill that tag.  I took a bunch of pictures and was happier than having a dead lion to deal with that morning. 

Daughter is still ticked off about it 😂.

- Dave

[matt]

9 hours ago, Jim in Idaho said:

Speaking of that, Simon, I live only an hour from "Craters of the Moon" national monument, where the first men to the moon trained back in the old days. They call it that because the terrain resembles the surface of the moon as viewed by telescopes back then.

Jim

I've been to "Craters of the Moon" several times. It really is a neat place to check out. Last time there was 2017.

My parents live in Ketchum and Ashton 6+ months of the year so we usually stop at craters of the moon since it's on the highway between homes. What a nice place to live! Let me know if you are ever interested in that old tote gote to fix up sometime. It would give me an excuse to come up to Idaho.

[Jim in Idaho]

4 hours ago, UT Dave said:

Thank you Jim!  I really, really appreciate that.  I'm still getting out amongst 'em and calling as much as I can in the fall and winter.  Numbers have been poor for going on quite a few years now though.  Drought, fires, etc.  These days, I always take a detector with me and hit all those long abandoned ranches and mining camps and homesteads out there in the Great Unknown.  Been more than a couple calling trips have turned into detecting trips when silver coins start popping up, 😁.

I'll always remember your quest to hand call a lion.  That was just cool as heck. 

I spent a whole winter a few years ago trying to call one, period.  Did call a couple, but only know that from them vocalizing and tracks in the snow.  Following summer, two days before my depredation tag expired, I was driving along with my kids looking for mule deer buck to photograph.  Spotted a lion chasing a deer through the oak brush.  I hit the brakes.  Lion stopped chasing the doe to look at us, but it was deep in the oak brush.  My daughter whistled and I'll be danged if that lion didn't jump up on a stump to get a better look at us!  Could see from the mottling on the shins it was a youngster.  But, I had a tag, and my Mach IV in the back seat (with my daughter).  She wanted me to shoot it.  But that just wasn't how I wanted to fill that tag.  I took a bunch of pictures and was happier than having a dead lion to deal with that morning. 

Daughter is still ticked off about it 😂.

- Dave

Cool story! Love that your daughter has the instinct...LOL I did finally call one into easy range in November of '06, but missed the shot. I really just think I didn't really want to kill it. I can't ever remember a single instance where I missed a shot at less than 60 yards. I called in a few others, but just glimpses. Calling lions alone, when it starts getting dark, and you get a "glimpse" will definitely get your attention...ha ha! I miss it to some degree, and will probably do it again, but only for pics. The excitement of calling lions is incredible, especially with mouth-blown calls.

Jim

 

[Jim in Idaho]

3 hours ago, matt said:

I've been to "Craters of the Moon" several times. It really is a neat place to check out. Last time there was 2017.

My parents live in Ketchum and Ashton 6+ months of the year so we usually stop at craters of the moon since it's on the highway between homes. What a nice place to live! Let me know if you are ever interested in that old tote gote to fix up sometime. It would give me an excuse to come up to Idaho.

Yes...we moved here in 1975, and it's been a great place to spend our lives. No matter where we travel, we've never found a place that has everything we enjoy like Idaho. But boy, am I getting to hate the winters...LOL

Jim

[blackjack]

Nice, slow is the way to go you get to see more, send some pics when you get an outboard motor for it.

[Jim in Idaho]

12 hours ago, blackjack said:

Nice, slow is the way to go you get to see more, send some pics when you get an outboard motor for it.

Jack, there's not a chance in H--- that this Coot is going into the water while I own it. After all those hundreds of hours rebuilding it, not going to risk damaging things. Coots can handle the water, but that's a far cry from "liking" the water. Even one of the original makers said that the "water thing" was way over-hyped. Mine is for deserts, mountains, etc. And crossing creeks up to 24" deep, for short distances is OK. In rebuilding this rig, I saw, up close and personal, the damage done by being immersed and not cared for afterward. As for "slow", I completely agree. Prospectors and rockhounds need to see the country they're going through. You can't identify anything at more than "walking" speed.😄

Jim