May, 2014 | BearsButt.com | Stories, Ramblings & Random Stuff From an Old Mountain Man

By: Bears Butt

Heeeaaaaaa! Heeeaaaaa! Gottagoodonehere, waddaya gonna giv fer it? One! Gottta one, gimme two, gotta one gimme two! Gotta two gimme twoanahalf, gotta two gimme twoanahalf now! Gotta twoanahalf now gimme three!

I thought it would a a good learning experience for you folks to see just what we have at the rat auction in Canada going on. I logged into our account and downloaded our graded rat listing. Remember that we graded our own rats and were trying to be as tough as we could on it. Our thoughts were to be hard on ourselves and then see just what they came up with at auction. Well, here is how the grading went:

OurRatGrades

(Hopefully you can see the pdf document)

I then took our grade list and compared it to their, just in the size departments and then by damage. In the 3XL-XXL our grade was only 8 hides in the XXL and none in the 3XL, where as they graded us with 22 rats in that bracket! Up 14 from our grading. In the XL bracket we counted ourselves as having 119, the auction house gave us 157! Up 38 rats. That tells me we were quite hard on ourselves. And then I got to the Large size, where we had ourselves looking at 504 rats….the auction house banged us with 351, down 153 hides. But then 52 of them were graded Bigger than we had figured, and 82 were graded smaller. ERROR ERROR….52 were graded larger, while 101 were graded smaller and even though you can’t see it because it’s on a page number 2, they put 62 of those smaller sized hides in with the 84 medium sized ones we had graded. I feel pretty good about our grading as compared to theirs, but it’s obvious we need to do more of this grading stuff to get a better handle on it.

As we understand the process, they received our rats (733), documented the receipt and assigned the whole batch to my account number. Then they carefully went through and graded each pelt by size, grade and anything else that was special with the hides. With over 200,000 muskrats to deal with you know they didn’t take a whole lot of time grading them. But, then each rat was classified in specific groups, some only one rat was put into that group, others 2 or more. The most rats we have in any one group is 107. Each of the classified groups is then called a “Lot”. And that is what you are seeing in this first file. Our rats broken out into “lots”.

If you are interested in some of the grading classifications here is what they look for:

Grading

So, a GDFL grade means, “Good, Well furred, Solid, Heavy, Supple feel fur that was caught in the Fall of the year”. It’s my understanding that the desire is to have all Good Quality and very large at the same time. But we all know that can’t happen.

Ok, once everyone has had their furs graded and put into lots, they take all the common lots from all the shippers and group them together into what they call “Strings”. So, we are not the only ones with these lot numbers.

Here is that listing:

StringNumbers

Looking at our lot number 481610, we have 2 hides in that lot, but in the string there are 1600 rats classified as 3XL-XXL I-II and graded GDFL.

What does it all mean? Well, I’m just going to have to guess. When Lot number 481610 comes up before the bidding audience, they are going to start waiving their signs and the auctioneer is going to be sounding out the dollar figures and at some point in all the confusion the gavel will fall and the last one with his bidder number in the air is going to buy all 1600 rats for whatever the last dollar figure was called out. If they go for $5 each, well we will get $10 for our two rats, minus the commission for the auction house (9%).

Let’s look closer at the lot number and grading of our rats. Notice the Asterisk (*) on some of them. I wrote to the auction house and asked them what that meant: Their reply, and I’ll type it like they wrote me back:

“We have a wild fur label “NAFA Northern” as part of our promotional program. It is a quality designation and the only skins that qualify for the label are SEL and I quality skins. These are indicated by the asterisk (*)”.

I take that to mean those furs are “something special” and when you calculate all the furs with the asterisk in our batch, we have 339 in that category! That’s 46% of our furs! Tell me the extra care in drying and the combing didn’t pay off!

May the gavel fall on a high price!

Bears Butt

May 16, 2014

Written on May 16th, 2014 , Daily Trapping Events

LET THE AUCTION BEGIN

By: Bears Butt

Well folks, remember these days? With all that is going on I had to get my head into something else. Not that the stuff going on is a bad thing, it’s a necessary thing, but I can only take so much of it and had to have a diversion.

So I went to the North American Fur Auction web site and logged into my account! YEA! They have our furs and better than that they have graded them and posted up my information on the site!

This being all new to me, I looked over all the line items listed and it looks like they lost 6 of our rats….RATS! So, we will only get paid for 727…if anyone buys them. I suppose that is perfectly acceptable since they have over 200,000 rats to deal with in this auction and they grade every one of them….how would you like to have that job? Not me!

Just a quick glance at our listing of grades, it looks like we have 2 hides in the 3XL-XXL that have *SEL next to them….SEL, by there definition is SELECT–Winter or Early Spring skins with Good Weight, Clean Leather No blemishes or imperfections! (Those are some I caught)….hahahahaha!

Also looking down the list most of our hides are graded GD (Well furred, solid, heavy supple feel–There you go Weasel! Great job!), which is above their AV (Well furred but not as heavy as GD) grade.

Of course since I’m a novice at all of this, they tossed in a few symbols that aren’t on their list of grades. Why not…..keep us in the dark some.

Over all however, I’m very pleased with the report!

Monday is the sale for the rats and I’m keeping my fingers crossed as to how the sale goes.

They also listed (and I printed out) the totals for each category….one in particular (I don’t know what *SEL means but I’m going to assume the * means special and pay more guys and the SEL means Select) So we have 2 in the 3XL-XXL *SEL category and totally there are 1404 of them in the auction. Let’s hope they go for $50 each! Hurt me!

I’ll let you know more as I gleen the info from all of this paperwork and let you know what I’m finding out!

Happy Auction time folks!

Bears Butt

May 14, 2014

Written on May 14th, 2014 , Daily Trapping Events

DAN “MUSKRAT” GYLLENSKOG

By: Bears Butt

Muskrat 2 May 12, 2014

When it comes to down right good folks, this is your man. He would rather go naked than to see you shivering in the cold. His heart was as big as any heart could be and he enjoyed everything he did. His passion was whatever he wanted to do at the time and he put everything he had into it. He loved helping others who were less fortunate than himself. He loved his family and his friends were a part of that family. I’m very pleased to have been a part of his family.

At a Cache Valley rendezvous way back when, Wapiti Dung and I were there trying to figure out if and how we could become a part of this Mountain Man thing we were enjoying. We didn’t have the leathers and all the fancy clothing and coats these other guys and gals had. We were dressed in our Levis and plaid shirts. Our hats were made out of cotton and had a single bill sticking out over our eyes. But we had the desire to learn and observed with full intent the clothing we would have to someday be obtaining and putting on for these events. We really enjoyed the shooting events that were pulled off by these guys. A funner event could not have been pulled off at the time.

Well, it was getting very close to dark when the call went through camp that there was going to be a candle shoot and to gather up our stuff and get down there.

We did as we were instructed and stood along the shooting line. I was on the very end of the line. The range master came down and handed each one of us our own small empty bean can with a hole cut in one side and a candle firmly stuck inside the can. This shoot was going to involve putting the lighted candle flame out by shooting it off the candle wick! Impossible was my first thought. But then I was new to this whole blackpowder shooting thing and didn’t understand that “anything” is possible when you shoot a blackpowder gun!

As I stood there waiting for more instructions, up along side me came this big guy, dressed in leathers and very much intoxicated! He could barely stand as I recall, as he had been busily partaking of the fruits of the rendezvous with all his many friends….all day long…I introduced myself, “Hi, my name is Wynn”! “Hello Wynn, My name is Muskrat”!

So, down again came the Range Master and he handed my new friend Muskrat a can with a candle in it. We all then went down range and sat our cans with the candles on the top of the range rail and lit the candles. Everyone stepped back to the firing line and prepared for their shot. As the Range Master went down the line, one shooter at a time, each shooter took their best shot at putting the flame out without hitting their candle and one at a time nobody did it including myself, and with one last shooter standing there, waivering his rifle (remember I said he could barely stand up), he calmly settled down and with the sound of the rifle going off, the candle flame swooshed out and a single hole was visible behind where the flame once flickered! Our candle shoot winner was born! Muskrat won the shoot, hands down!

That was my introduction to Muskrat! A true mountain man if there ever was one. Fully decked out in his leather shirt, pants, moccasins and a really cool large brimmed hat. All over his person were dangles of different events and assorted Fue-Forah. He was big, robust, had a story to tell about everything imaginable, he could out drink most men in camp, always laughing and just a plain all around good guy. I liked him from the get go. Every rendezvous from that one on, it was always my goal to find him and let him know I was in the camp. I didn’t want to be a problem to him, just wanted to let him know I was there, just in case he decided he might like me too. I did the same with Just George, another story in itself.

What I didn’t know about Muskrat was that he was an Ex Marine, a man wounded in Viet Nam and subsequently a recipient of the Purple Heart, a plumber who helped build the Alaska Pipeline project and a musician.

Muskrat was a very well rounded individual, but that is not all. With all of his heart he poured out his love for people less fortunate than himself. He conducted fund raisers of all sorts to help gather up moneys in order to purchase the goods and services those people needed to survive. He helped homeless veterans by donating and gathering up donations to the tune of probably millions of dollars over the years! He also was a key player in helping the NRA gather funds to help local organizations and the Utah DWR build and expand upon shooting sports properties, training and materials. He was a member of the Patriot Guard and was proud to go on their rides and to protect the integrity of the funerals of fallen soldiers and he was THE man to get the Wall of Healing set up in Logan so that everyone in the Northern end of the state could see it and read the names of all the soldiers who died in Viet Nam. Muskrat loved his country and he loved his Flag! One day he came to my home and made me correct a hanging flag I had outside my front door. He would not enter my home until I fixed it….the stars have to be closest to the flag stand he said. I fixed it and he came inside.

Muskrat gave me a bumper sticker that said, “It’s God’s job to punish Bin Laden, It’s our job to arrange the meeting”! A U.S. Marine bumper sticker. I proudly displayed that bumper sticker and it’s still on my vehicle today. When word came down that Bin Laden had been found and properly disposed of, Muskrat quickly gave me another bumper sticker that read “Osama bin Laid out, Thank You Navy Seals”.

Muskrat, I’m proud to have gotten to know you these many years. I hated to hear the word that you had cancer. You fought hard and long trying to rid yourself of such an awful disease. You woke me up to get into the Veterans system of medical care and I didn’t get the chance to tell you my first appointment is next week, May 22. You made Roy Torgesons Korean War Purple Heart be so rightfully presented to him. Your courage, friendship, honesty and loving spirit will be with me forever.

I love you man!

Bears Butt

May 13, 2014

Written on May 13th, 2014 , WILLOW CREEK FREE TRAPPERS GONE ON AHEAD

TURKEYS 6, HUNTERS 0

By: Bears Butt

The twist almost worked! As it turned out Weasel wanted to try his hand at sitting under or very near a roost tree. We snuck in under the cover of darkness and he set himself up. I kept going up and over to another spot, one in which Dry Dog knows very well. I staked out Gretchen and then went to building myself a blind next to one of the only oak trees in the area. I was positioned about 15 yards from my decoy (Gretchen). My blind went together really well considering I was working almost exclusively without my head lamp. I didn’t want one of the birds to wake up and see me playing around less than 100 yards from where we suspected they were sleeping.

Once my blind was put together, I snuggled into it and began my long wait for daylight. The day was overcast with a very slight breeze. The birds woke as usual: First the robins, then the tweetie birds, followed by the magpies, crows and pheasants….and then the distinct and very close call of a gobbler! Right where we wanted it! YES!

I figured Weasel must be sitting in its poop under the roost tree and he probably added a bit to it as well when that bird sounded off.

I laid out a couple of soft purrs and a cluck or two hoping that when the bird flew down he would come over to check Gretchen out. Gretchen is one sexy little beast.

Now remember my hearing is terrible and even though the birds were on the roost less than 100 yards away, I could not hear any hens, only the gobbles of the birds and it sounded like there could have been 3 in there. It wasn’t long before the sun was trying its best to poke through the clouds, but obvious at the same time it was not going to happen. That is when I heard the distinct sound of a PUTT! What on earth is a bird putting for? We are both hidden very well and not making any noise. But putting was for sure what I was hearing and it was going away and down hill from where Weasel was. I never saw the bird.

Later, I could hear the distinct sound of a gobbler drumming his wings on the ground. That sound will never leave you once you hear it. I’ll describe it as a soft and very low drum beat with a fast cadance…..boomp, boomp, boomp, boomp…..This went on and off for the next several minutes and then I heard the gobbler call out, but he was not coming my way, instead going down hill and away from my position! He will come back up, I kept telling myself. I continued to offer seductive sounds of a hen in heat, about 5 minutes apart. Some louder than others, but no response. I figured he was coming in silent and so after each series of calls, I put the call down and the gun up to my shoulder, aiming at Gretchen the whole time. I expected to see the red head come popping up just over the decoys back and I wanted to be ready for action. Nothing. This went on for over an hour and I never heard another gobble anywhere around us.

I did see a distant red fox however!

Soon Weasel came over to my spot and told me he had had a great morning. Here is what I remember of his story:

I was hidden pretty good but when that first Gobble sounded off, I about crapped my pants. He was about 15 yards from me and up in the tree. I could see him through the branches. I was ready for when he came down, I was going to blast him to smitherins! The hens were all making their sounds as they all were waking from their nights sleep. There were at least 3 gobblers sitting in the branches around me and I wish I had been about 15 yards farther down the hill from where I was and pointing a different direction but I couldn’t do anything about it now, it was too light and they would have seen me for sure. So, I just tucked myself down and held fast.

It didn’t take long once it got light for the hens to come off the roost. They just fluttered straight down. As I sat there pointing my gun at a small rise in front of me, up popped the head of one of the hens! BLAM (not a gun blast but more of a swear word)! She spotted me right off and began to Putt! Once she started that, the gobblers all shut up and stayed in the trees. She putted off down the hill and to my right taking all the other hens with her. Then the gobblers flew down about to where I thought the hens were and off they all went. The first gobbler that hit the ground came through a small opening about 35 yards out and I was on him, but not 100% sure it was a gobbler so I didn’t shoot. Had I known for sure, I would have taken the shot. (Weasel is shooting a 3 inch 20, loaded with Heavy Metal Turkey loads, 35 yards is not too far for that load)

So, there you have hunting day 6 for us….Turkeys 6, hunters 0. At least Weasel got to aim at one! That was the first one he has aimed at in his life!

We came off the mountain and I had some business to take care of, so no extended hunt was allowed for us today.

Bears Butt

May 12, 2014

Written on May 12th, 2014 , Hunting Stories

A BIT OF A CHANGE TODAY

By: Bears Butt

Boy how time flies! It’s already the 12th of May! The turkey season is over half way done and we haven’t connected yet. Turkeys 5, hunters O,O,O……what can I say and this was supposed to be our year. Today maybe!?! Weasel and I are out to get them one more time. I have always said, You can’t get them by sitting on the couch or laying in bed.

Today’s plan is sort of the same but with a twist. Maybe the twist is what we need. The birds have been doing a little twisting of their own this year and we need to twist with them. It seems that in the past they would do what we have been trying to get them to do this season, but they haven’t held up to their end of the bargain, so we are going into their court yard and hopefully take out the king pin. It gets frustrating sitting in my blind, high on the hill and listening to them gobbling below me, hoping they will fly down and then come up the hill into my waiting 20 gauge, and then have them go the opposite direction time after time. So, this morning we are going down into their strut zone and way lay them….we think. At least we are doing something different this morning.

So, wish us luck and I’ll be adding more later on about this days hunt!

Bears Butt

May 12, 2014

Written on May 12th, 2014 , Uncategorized

A WHOLE LOT OF WAYS TO LACE YOUR SHOES

By: Bears Butt

I have always double tied my shoe laces to keep them from coming untied, but today I found a way to keep them from coming undone and only tying them with one knot!

Check out this site I found, there are tons of ways to tie your shoe laces!

http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/index.htm

Bears Butt

May 9, 2014

Written on May 9th, 2014 , Uncategorized

ANTIQUE RANGE FINDER FOR TRADE

By: Bears Butt

I’m always trying to figure out cheap and effective ways to accomplish something. For instance some of you will remember and maybe even still have one in your possession, my Popsicle stick range finder. I put a lot of thought and energy into that devise and it really works at telling you the distance you are from a deer. I devised it as an aid for us muzzleloader guys and gals so that we would not waste a shot on an animal too far away for an effective kill shot. Well, most have never used it and probably ended up tossing it into the fire, but oh well.

The thing was “calibrated” using a bucket that measured 18 inches tall. I measured the distance of the bucket by laying a tape measure on the pavement and marking off distances in 25 yard increments. Then while standing in one spot, I marked the top and bottom of the bucket on the stick…25, 50, 75 and 100 yards. Each set of lines got progressively closer together. The bucket being 18 inches high, represents the thickness of a deers back to brisket measurement….18 inches (average). So, when a deer presents itself (broadside of course), you take the stick, bracket the deers back to brisket between the lines on the stick that are the same as the deers thickness and there you have a pretty good idea as to how far away the deer is from you.

The stick also has to be held out in front of you at arms length. My calculations are only off by the fact that most everyone has a different arms length, I suppose that is why Dry Dog takes such long shots.

So, the bottom line of my thinking was to have myself a “range finder” and to have one at little or no cost….always a goal of mine. “Have for cheap”.

The other day I was perusing (checking things out) a classified ads site and low and behold here is a guy in Brigham City, selling an antique range finder for $10 or best offer! A range finder for under ten bucks! How can the Bears Butt pass on this deal? He can’t!

I quickly responded with “Will you take $5 for the range finder”? In less than a minute, a “like” came to my question! I responded with astonishment….”Does that ‘like’ mean you will take my offer”? He responded with a “Yes”! And then continued with “I PMed you with my address, I’ll mark the item Sold Pending Pickup”! I quickly looked at the clock and said, “I’ll be there as quickly as I can”. Hurrying to get the deal of a lifetime in the shortest time possible, I jumped in the truck with the dog and headed for town. I was there as fast as the speed limit and stop lights allowed. The guy was amazed at how quickly I got to his house. All I had on me was a ten dollar bill and I was fully prepared to give it to him in exchange for this wonderful antique range finder. After all he did advertise it for $10 OBO. But, he gave me a five in return and handed me the range finder, still in its original box and it has a leather case and instructions on how to use it!

My heart was racing and I could hardly wait to get it home to try it out! It looks really cool and the box says “Measure-Rite Range Finder. The distance meter of guaranteed accuracy. Brownie mfg. co —New York 7, N.Y.” How cool is that? My very first Range Finder and for only $5! Inside the box, I read the instructions to make sure I wasn’t going to break the thing before I ever got to use it to range the distance a deer was away from me this muzz season. The instructions told me how to use it alright, but the thing that really peaked my interest was the thing would accurately measure from 2 1/2 feet out to infinity! Holy Cow! That is better than almost any range finder out there today….well maybe not the military guys ones, but for Joe Hunter, most of them are only accurate to maybe a thousand yards. This guy will go to infinity! Do you realize how far INFINITY is? You can’t even see INFINITY! Dry Dog would never in his wildest dreams shoot that far, even if he knew how far it was!

Man o man, what a find I have here. I carefully took it out of its leather case and looked it over really good. It’s not a big thing and yet it is powerful enough and accurate enough to measure out to infinity….accurately! And for $5!

So, how does it work? Well, on one side it has an eye piece that you look through at your target. On this same side it has a dial, which you turn slowly. As you are looking through the eye piece and turning the dial, a second vision of your target slowly climbs up into your view and when the two visions come together, you read the dial and it tells you how far away it is. Cool huh? It ain’t a lazer deal, nor as fast, but for an antique it gets the job done quick enough.

The side opposite the dial just has a second lens.

So, I looked out the window of my cave at the house across the street. Their VW was sitting in the driveway, I looked at it through the range finder and began to dial up the second image. It wouldn’t quite come together, close but no bannana and the dial was maxed out. My first thought was that a lens or something inside must have come loose or something causing this problem, and I know that if anyone could fix it it would be me!

I quickly went to the web to find out if anyone else out there in the world even had one of these things. I was so happy, even if it is broken. What I found deflated my balloon.

This baby was developed and used by photographers to get the proper distance from the camera to the subject and infinity means greater than 10 feet…..input a frownie face here.

So, I must ask you! Is there anyone out there willing to trade “straight across”, a modern day range finder for a very fine and accurate “Antique Brownie Measure Rite Range Finder, in its original box and comes with its original leather case and instructions”….This thing must have a value that would exceed the value of a stupid modern day range finder, don’t you think?

Bears Butt

May 9, 2014

Written on May 9th, 2014 , Uncategorized

WHO NEEDS A GPS?

By: Bears Butt

So, I left Winemaker and MaPa’s sleeping while Weasel and I went in pursuit of the wiley Turkey. It was 4 a.m. when I picked up Weasel and off we went….heading for our usual beginning hunting spot.

We arrived in perfect time to get signed in and make the mile long hike in the dark. The weather was not what you would call Great, but we bundled up and made the best of it. Not to say the turkeys couldn’t see and/or hear us shivering in our blinds long before they flew off the roost.

We toughed it out until first light and then we heard the distinct call of a gobbler on the roost….exactly where they were supposed to be this time! I was a happy guy, knowing they would soon be busting up the hill right into my waiting Gobbler Getter! There had to be at least 6 gobblers sounding off down in the holler and I was pretty excited, even though I was freezing my toosh off. I kept my thoughts on the prize.

As the morning progressed, I could hear one gobbler getting closer, but not close enough. Time marched on and the whole lot of them took a long break without making any sounds. I expected one to pop up in view any second.

Today was a bit different than we have seen in the recent past. There didn’t seem to be the numbers of deer that we usually see, I think I counted 15, where last time I counted nearly 50. I guess they have migrated through. My little friend Chipmunk didn’t show up this morning either. Too cold I suppose.

So, there we sat, frozen or in the process of becoming that state and the big birds just would not sound off. About 9:30 Weasel came to my blind to make sure I was alive. He had seen a big Tom travel up a trail in the bottom of the holler and wanted to go try and make it wake up. So we made a big circle and ended up on the trail high above where it was likely to be heading. We called, walked quietly, called some more, walked some more, called….Nothing! So back to the rig we went.

Our next stop for turkey hunting would be….well, I can’t tell you or it would not be a secret….but we took a detour and visited a friend who needed to know the type of animal furs her deceased husband (and our very good friend) had stored in the house. Seems she is going to go to Rendezvous and participate in “kids day” to show the kids the different types of furry critters we have in and around our woods. We had a great visit with her, even though it was short. And then OFF we went to our next hike.

LONG story SHORT! All we found was….Well…A…Well, another….GeoCache! Weasel was the one who spotted it this time.

It is becoming obvious that turkey hunters are natural GeoCache finders. And after signing our names, I plopped down another of my famous cards!

Oh Ya! It isn’t every GeoCache that contains a “Bears Butt Dot Com” card….by the way….Don’t forget the “S”!

Bears Butt

May 8, 2014

Written on May 8th, 2014 , Hunting Stories

TURKEYS VERSES US HUNTERS

By: Bears Butt

This little Gobbler is the one we want! Today is our 5th day trying to find one like this little guy and will we do it today? Only time will tell.

It’s 3 a.m. and I pick up Weasel in an hour for our trip to the usual morning haunt. Not once have the birds done what they have done for the past four years, will they do it today? I’m telling you, turkey hunting is not easy. The first time I went turkey hunting was in Missouri with my friend Bo, and he had one come in “on a string” (that’s what they call it when one comes running in straight at you). The season started at 7:05 and by 7:30 we were taking pictures of me with my 26 pound bird. Have I found that to be the case here in Utah……?…….Not yet.

Well, maybe today. They say that you have to have faith in where you are hunting and the method you are using to hunt them. I have faith in both of those things. Yesterday it rained like the dickens and I highly doubt any hunters ventured out, so the birds got a break from the hunting pressure. Maybe it was just enough to relax them a bit for todays hunt.

I talked with a lady the other day at the store who owns a mountain cabin near where we have been hunting and she said the turkeys are such a nuisance, she has had as many as 50 birds roost in the overhead of her patio awning and poop all over her furniture and she wishes they would all get killed. I laughed. She went on to say that when they first bought the cabin it was such a treat to see the turkeys come into their yard and strut around and how they fed them to make sure they came back. Now with 50 or more birds coming around she wishes they hadn’t even seen the first one. I laughed again. Isn’t mother nature a funny one? Maybe Weasel and I should go set up on her back lawn…..Coffee, Donuts and a big old yard bird!

There is a fish they call the “fish of a thousand casts”, I’m thinking turkeys are just like that…”The bird of a thousand trips”…..

It’s pretty funny when you think of it, here we are stomping over an area 10 miles, trip after trip and people are complaining about them in their back yards…something doesn’t seem right here.

More to come later, but for now I have to get ready for todays hunt!

Bears Butt

May 8, 2014

Written on May 8th, 2014 , Hunting Stories

EVER HEARD OF LOWER FOODS IN RICHMOND UTAH?

By: Bears Butt

Went for a pleasant drive this morning with Tracker, Bones and Winemaker and while we were at it we stopped in a little store in Richmond Utah, just North of Logan because we had heard they sold goods to the general public. What we found was a very nice, EXTREMELY clean little store with TONS of good food and very friendly and attentive people manning the counter.

The store is filled with all sorts of already cooked foods, mostly meats, but I did see some cheeses and BBQ sauce as well.

I asked the lady if it would be alright if I did a little advertising for them on my web site (this one) and of course she said it would be alright….with that, I gave her one of my wonderful “Bears Butt, don’t forget the ‘s'” cards…she smiled and probably tossed it in the garbage once I was out side. Whatever she did or does with it is OK with me.

So, I decided to give them a plug on here and if you are ever in the area of Richmond and want to check out some great food, stop in there. Today, and I assume every day, they had samples of several of their food items that you could try out. We sampled the Pot Roast, Sliced BBQ Beef, Shredded Pork and Beef Taco. There was another up for sampling but I don’t see it on their list of foods. It was very good as were all the others. Now for you samplers out there, they trust you to not to over indulge in their samples and even provide you with a personal spork (spoon/fork combo) and you can have napkins as well. Please be courteous and just try a sample and not stand there and have your lunch…not that you would.

I have had their Pulled pork before and didn’t even know I was eating their food….Thanks Muskrat! And I had some of their Pot Roast and it was some of the best I have ever eaten…and this is one of the reasons we stopped in their today. We could not leave the place without picking up some of the sliced deli meats, pork roast ends and pieces and who can walk away from prime rib?

When you think about a plant that takes raw meat and cooks it to order for a restaurant or special service company that caters food, you have to figure there is going to be a certain amount of the food that will be left over from cooking that order. This is where the store comes in to play. They have tips and ends of the larger pieces of meat left over. It’s cooked up with the rest, but does not meet the standards they have to sell to the restaurant or other customers, but it’s WAY TOO GOOD to throw away. So they package it up and sell it at a very reasonable rate to people like you and I. Heck, I have NO problem eating my fill of pork roast tips. Just because when the big pork roast is sliced the pieces become to small to be made into “slices”, so they stop slicing it and toss the chunk into a pile. When the pile is big enough, they package it up and sell it to me. I like that! Now all I have to do with it is heat it up and eat it.

Ok, nuff said. Here is their current (May 6, 2014) prices. Remember they have other items that are not listed on this list that they have because of special orders and it will pay you to stop in often and check their items out. They also have daily specials and today we could buy one package of sliced turkey and get a second one free….that went for sliced beef roast as well, and they let us trade out the second package of turkey for one of the beef! Good deal huh? Also, not on the list, they had 20 pounds of “scrambled eggs”, for $15!!!!! Can you imagine how many eggs need to be scrambled to make a pound? I’d say at least two dozen! So, 20 pounds would be 40 dozen eggs…..40 dozen eggs for $15! Give me a break! That’s only 38 cents a dozen!!!!! And they are cooked! I digress.

The list is kind of small (a cross between my abilities and this web site), but save it to your computer and make it bigger.

I want you to notice something about the price list that I find funny. Everything has a “people per pound” suggested serving except the Ribs and Rib tips…..That’s because people like me just can’t get enough of good tasting ribs! So how could they put a people per pound or better yet a Pound per person statement on them? They can’t….if you are in the market for serving a bunch of people ribs, you best count on two pounds of ribs per person and then HOPE that Aunt Martha, Uncle Ben and Cousin Charlie are “no shows”.

So, give them a try!

Lower Foods Factory Outlet, 700 South Hwy 91, Richmond, Ut 84333…..Give them a call…435-258-3755! Open Monday through Friday 9 till 6!

Bears Butt

May 6, 2014

Written on May 6th, 2014 , Uncategorized

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Just some of my old stories, new stories, and in general what is going on in my life.