39.   With Project 6x6 99% complete we decided to take two machines to the Southern Shore for this week's moose scouting adventure. Our crew have been back and forth to our hunting area regularly for the last few weeks getting a handle on what animals are around.

38.   French's large enclosed trailer holds my 1989 6x6 and his 2017 Argo Huntmaster with ease. We didn't need two machines today but I want to log some hours on my rebuild to shake out any issues ahead of our opening day hunt.

37.   When French purchased his 2017 Argo 8x8 a few years ago Dad had already sold ours. I never dreamed that I'd have an opportunity to get it back and we'd be running these two machines in the woods together. New school tech and old school tech on one awesome adventure!

36.   French and Stroh hopped in his Avenger while Matthew French co-piloted with me in Project 6x6.

35.   At the first mud hole to the pole line Matthew grabbed this awesome slo-mo clip which came out great! I did manage to get stuck in Mark's ruts from last year (the new machines have a lot more ground clearance). A quick winch out with my trusty rebuilt WARN 2500 had us rolling again in no time.

34.

33.   We hiked back into the country to check our game cameras and we weren't disappointed.

32.

31.   The date on French's camera is still fooled up as he needs to replace the lithium clock battery, but sometime within the last week the Cow and Calf we caught before returned giving us some awesome shots!

30.

29.

28.

27.

26.   On Friday evening camera 2 picked up the cow and calf again, but more excitedly it also showed a young bull chasing/following her around!

25.

24.

23.   Saturday evening another younger bull was caught on scene!

22.   With game pics stored to our phones we headed out of the area to check out another clearing and continued on to pick some Partridge Berries. Mark wanted a supply to make Partridge Berry Moose sausages later this fall.

21.   Project 6x6 continues to run well, I have to grab a new compression nut for the right steering lever adjuster as the old one is worn and backed off.  I still have to play with the carburetor settings, it doesn't seem to make full power and occasionally stalls.

20.

19.   We found this cuddy of partridge and blue berries a few years ago and we weren't disappointed this year!

18.

17.   Matthew and I checked out the marsh around the berry patch but didn't find a heck of a lot of Moose sign here at this time.

16.

15.

14.

13.

12.   With berries in hand we headed back out the road and up to a lookout for more scouting and most important a kickass boil-up.

11.

10.

9.

8.

7.   After setting up another game camera we stopped to have our boil-up. Tonight I prepared my Infamous Backwoods Fried Moose, with Fresh Mushroom & Onion marinated in wine, minced garlic, balsamic vinegar and Italian seasoning. (prepped at home and marinated in a zip lock bag all day in the cooler).

6.   This was served over French onion flavoured minute rice. My new 2.8L Sea to Summit collapsible X-pot was a great choice for cooking the moose as it easily held enough to feed four fellers and cooked way faster than a frying pan. My MSR Superfly gas stove once again worked perfectly to cook up our meal simmering without burning everything up.

5.   French, Stroh and I recently picked up these awesome Dr.Si collapsible kettles on Amazon for a remarkable deal! Similar in design to the X-pot this kettle uses a stainless base and is designed for use only over a stove not open flame.

4.

3.   My smaller 1.4L X-pot cooked our rice , its a great size and large enough to easily cook enough rice for 4 people.

2.   To put our supper right over the top French brought a pack of fresh fish white puddings made at Porters in CBS with our own fish. They are absolutely amazing. These puddings come stuffed in large sausage casings, we find it best to slice and fry them up crispy in a frying pan as opposed to trying to cook them in links.

1.   I got so excited about supper I nearly forgot to take a pic of the finished product! All in all it was a great day and an even better feed. Both machines continue to run well, I got a chance to test out my new LED headlights and they work well. They don't shine long distance but create a great flood pattern in front of the machine. A 20" light bar will compliment the headlights and give me the perfect combination for nigh time illumination.

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith