August had some late entries including a note from Annie Byberg and an ancestry update.  Click on the salmon fly to revisit.

Click on the moose button to leave us your thoughts!

Hi all!!

As usual, I did my daily check into the lodge and noticed nobody had posted a comment for September.  I just couldn't resist.

It has been awhile since I posted a message here.  It is good to see a message from Annie Byberg.  Mary Ellen is keeping us up to date with her pregnancy.  Have Jack and Mary moved into their new home yet?  Kevin Vickers remarked once that he noticed I hadn't posted for quite awhile.  I especially like his posting about seeing Rita's cottage after many years and remarking how things seem much smaller now than then.  I have noticed that too!  Where is Brenda these days?  I'm sure her addiction to the lodge has not waned.

My summer has been pretty fun - great sleeping weather at night... not too hot!

I played on a slow pitch softball team for the summer and did not hit a homerun... although I had a few close calls.  My teammates enjoyed me trying to get one... they teased me all year long... the word is that I have to get a nitrogen filled bat... they say it will give you an extra fifteen feet.

Anyway, that's it for now.

I'm the first one for September... Nah..Nah Ne Nah!!!

Tom

John and Dad.... Excellent job on updating the family tree!!

Hi ya Tom,

Nice to see you stop by the Lodge.  With your Dad's and others contributions, this site is proving to hold quite a snap shot of the Kingston generations at the millennium.

Can you believe it? - The Gill Net Lodge will soon celebrate its first year in business!  The balance sheet reports revenues are fine and family connections are up..:-)

John V

I thought I would continue the George Kingston family domination of the Gill Net Lodge for September by adding my two cents worth!  It has been a great summer with lots of family coming to sunny Alberta.  Finally got rid of them by mid August.  Don't they know the bad fish rule?  After a couple of days, fish begins to smell and it is time to get rid of them!

Seriously, it was great fun.  I had so much fun with brothers and sisters that I plan to visit my brother Tom for his birthday this month.  I'll have to find out if Tom really does have any friends in Mackenzie.  I'll report back to the lodge to let you all know.

Hello, all you Kingston Clan out there!!!

We are here in Miramichi after spending a few days at Mahone Bay with JoAnn & Pat & twins.  They are settling nicely into their "mansion "on the bay - quite a beautiful spot almost as nice as the Miramichi, HA!  Also, still waiting for the blessed event at the Ritchie's.  Besides that other grandchildren are involved with starting school. Al says there's lots of partridge this year - for all you great hunters.  Keep up the great work on the 'PAGE'.

The A. Kingston's.

Eleanor,

Great to see you here.  I remember so fondly the early mornings as a young boy when I got up so early to go hunting partridge with my Uncle Aloyisus.  I would never sleep the night before as grandmother Lillian had me all wound up about he being such a great hunter and his legendary feets as a woodsman.  Grandmother would make me lobster sandwiches with home made rolls.  I did not like lobster then and could not understand why she would make so many of them for me.  In any event, the next morning would eventually arrive and I would meet Ally at your house.

I would get into the old "Scout" 4 X 4 and not long after would be travelling through rivers, up river banks, across old railway lines, and learn such things as the Bartibog River is not all that far as the "crow flys" or "Ally travels" from the Portage River Road or the road across from the road into the mouth of Smoker Brook.  With Ally, I literally would get tired of shooting partridge.  Once we stopped to eat, I soon learned why grandmother packed those lobster sandwichs for me.  Al would ask me if I would like trade and of course I would do anything to not have to eat them.  I can seem my Uncle yet, enjoying every mouthful of grandmother's delicacies.

I remember on once occasion, I had received a new .410 shotgun but the friggen thing shot low.  After missing eight to ten birds, I felt terribly incompetent and Ally knew I was somewhat distraught.  Don't worry about that he said, driving me to a special place.  The partridge were so thick, all I had to do was point in the general direction, and on some shots killed two birds.  Of course that 410 went from being a terrible gun that shot low to me advising Ally what I great hunter I was.

Kevin

Partridge season opens here September 1st, as it did in the Yukon.  I had heard that it was September 15, but was misinformed and found out only Thursday the season had been open since Wednesday.

To get a license to shoot partridge in BC, I have to write a hunter safety exam ($50) and pay a license fee of $30.  It's a bit of a nightmare that I will take care of in a day or so... To buy a gun, I have to get a Firearms Acquisition Certificate (probably another $30)

I shot one today and couldn't find it.  He flew before I shot and landed in a tree.  I shot at him with a .22 and saw him drop from a branch 25 feet in the air, dead to the world.... still couldn't find him.  I was hunting with friends from work.  We did shoot AND gind one and I ate him for supper this evening.

Hey Tom,

What is it to "gind" a partridge?  Don't know that one.

Just Wondering,

John V

Gind was a typo... I meant find

Oh,

I honestly thought "gind" was a word to describe a method of either gulleting or plucking.
I guess I should stick to flyfishing. :)

John V

John,

A few comments about the webpage:

1) I just love your monthly themes, this month it's fly fishing, not quite as popular as the Coca Cola month... but still excellent and very creative!!!  John, you are one of the most creative persons I know.... of course, you are also quite a bullshitter too!... the two aren't entirely unrelated.

2) I was kind of wondering about the fish at the very top of the page... I believe it is a pacific chum salmon, near the end of its long spawning run, very near death.  That is a fundamental difference between pacific and atlantic salmon - pacific salmon die after they spawn - atlantic salmon spawn several times in a lifetime; this is probably the fundamental reason why atlantic salmon taste much better than pacific salmon.  They live happier lives, and hence taste better, because they spawn often.  John, this isn't the point of this story - the point is that your almost dead pacific salmon looks somewhat unappetizing and I would change it if I was you.

3) I'm still working on getting my hunting license...the nightmare continues...

4) It might be time to start issuing threats to lurkers and malingerers to get the crowd back at the lodge.

5) I hope Bill and Monica are making good use of their time... making wine for the reunion, ... and that Kevin Sullivan lad, is he really taking orders for home brewed beer?  If so, count me in for two cases

6) As for the registration process:

Name: Thomas Joseph Kingston
Do you need a place to stay: Yes, a queen size bed
Do you need food: Yes, breakfast around 7:45, lunch at 12:30, and I will be dining around 6:00
Will you be consuming alcohol?: Perhaps
Will you be able to set up or organize an event?: Heh...I'd like to pitch in and help out, but I'm going to very busy eating, sleeping, and drinking to do anything else. Sorry, catch me next time :-)

(Seriously though, with a 185 or so participants... I'm figurin' if we divided the group up by the number of days, each person would have a day to "work" from anything to dishes, food preparation, dirty jobs etc. stuff, a person would only have to work one day and enjoy the rest.... just an idea)

The late fall salmon run on the North West consists of fish that are pretty ugly Tom.   They are around next year however before they get there they go through a metamorphosis - they grow abit of a grotesque snout and abit of a hump it seems - definitely not a fish to present at the kitchen table!  Stick around till early June, 2000 and I'll post some pictures from the first big bright salmon run that your Uncle Al has a way of always meeting up with.

John V

Howdy everyone,

Rebecca has started Kindergarten and I think I am going to flunk :)  It is quite a leap for a mother to go from dropping her child off at pre-school to the "big school".  I am not ready for it.  I thought I was, but I am not adjusting well.  The prenatal hormones don't help either.  There is the waiting in a common area until classes start in the morning; the fact that she hasn't attached herself to a friend yet; the long bus ride home, etc.

Now as for Rebecca, she is doing fine.  Maybe she will have to teach her mother how to survive kindergarten. :)...ME

I got my hunting license today!!!  I had to call the Newcastle Forestry office and had someone search through their records and fax a copy of my last year's hunting license to the "BC government agent".  Actually, this was not acceptable.  I had to have the district ranger sign on official letterhead that I "had legally held a hunting license in the province of New Brunswick in 1998".  Anyway, I finally got my BC Hunter's number and my BC Hunter's license at 1:15 this afternoon. The next step was to get a gun... well, you can't just buy one (an FAC, firearms acquisition certificate is required), so I had to borrow one... I made arrangements to borrow one from a friend at work... I'm not sure if I can even borrow someone else's firearm... The consensus of opinion was that you can  legally borrow, and being the consensus kind of guy that I am, I accepted their position.

At 5:20 p.m., I picked up the double barrel 12 gauge, at 5:20, I purchased 25 shells #4 (a little large I guess), at 5:35 the truck was gassed up and I was on my way out of town off to partridge (grouse, as they say in BC) country.

I turned onto the dirt road at 6:00 or so and hunted hard for the first six kilometres, just idling along real slow in the 1999 Toyota 4Runner (I love my truck!!!).  This took me about 45 minutes and well past the spot that we saw the partridge a few days ago...it wasn't looking good... up ahead I saw a small bird on the right hand side of the road.  It looked a little small for a partridge.  Then it scurried across the road...it still looked too small, but I thought I should stop and have a closer look.  I got out of the truck and sauntered in that direction, not expecting to find much... at least the exercise would do me good.  I proceeded slowly and when I got about 20 feet from the spot I thought he might have travelled, I could hear a "pit" "pit" "pit"... Partridge do that.

I stopped and looked closer.. there he was, right where he walked to, a partridge.  I loaded both barrels (it has two separate triggers).  KABOOM, partridge down... all of a sudden the woods came alive.... there was partridge everywhere!!!  I was surrounded!!!   I saw one running in the bush.  KABOOM... partridge down... I went in the woods to get that one, and did, and started looking for the first one I shot... I couldn't find him.  He should be easy to find...he was right at the edge of the road... I cursed something about those damn BC birds being hard to find... then I found him and then I heard a sound in a tree just above me, another partridge... I tried to shoot, but didn't have time.  Oh well, two birds is better than none. I was happy

I drove along another 1/2 kilometer and decided I would walk for a bit...it was now 7:15 and hunting ends at 8:00 on account of the darkness.  A walk for 15 minutes and 15 minutes back to the truck should be okay... I walked for about 10 minutes and saw a shape that could be a partridge, but it wan't moving... I slowed my pace.. the shape was moving and, holy cow, it was a partridge... it had that wild look about it, so I knew I had to shoot fast... I did, KABOOM, partridge down and holy cow, another partridge down... I got two with one shot and didn't even see the second one... I have done this twice before, and like this one, it was pure fluke.  Neither shot was a drop dead kill as both birds were flapping their wings wildly, but not getting anywhere.  One thing about partridge hunting is to be a good "flap" judger.  There are times when partridge do flap furiously, but regain their composure, and walk away and you never see them again.  There are other times when they flap but will die very quickly, and stay right where they are (so they are easy to find).

I was sure both these partridge were near death so I walked slowly in their direction because there could be more....  Holy Cow, there's another one 3 feet in front of them, even closer than the ones I just shot.  KABOOM... partridge flies away.... but he did hit a tree with his wing as he flew away so I did get a piece of him....  I arrived where the two I just shot were.   I saw a branch move...another partridge, KABOOM, partridge down...

It was now 7:35 and I walked back to the truck.   I drove out at a hunting pace, but much quicker than before and did not see another.

A five partridge hunting day!!!... it has been years since I had a five partridge hunting day... last year I had a couple of fours and a couple of threes, but today was a great day!!  I'm going tomorrow after 3 o'clock..

Tommy,

Nice truck....way too much gun for partridge.

Kevin

Kevin,

I agree!! I prefer to use a .410 to shoot partridge.  I even advertised in the company daily newsletter that I was looking to buy a .410, but did not get any takers.  I have shot 95% of my partridge with a .410.  The 12 gauge was the only gun available.  By the way, I left the house at 3 this afternoon and just got back around 8:30; I went to a different place, trying to find another good spot. The country looked excellent.  I swear I could even smell them, but did not see even one.

On October 1, 1994 (that's almost five years ago) I sent Will Vickers the following e-mail:

Will!!!, went hunting yesterday and got four birds. I bet I haven't had a day of four birds since I lived in the Yukon.  One day, I got seven ptarmigan..... What's your record with Ptarmigan?

Going hunting again tomorrow. They say this year isn't a good year for birds.... I suppose for "some" this is true.

Tom
 

Willy replied:

The reason why you got 4 birds on your hunting trip is because I phoned down to Newcastle Renewable Resources and asked them to put 4 dying, deaf, blind and diseased birds ; which were used in experiments to fight cancer and were crazy-glued in certain locations so that the most inexperienced hunter (like yourself) could think, that they actually were "good at hunting!"

Cheers
Willie
P.S. Love to be home hunting

Stephen & Giulia Kingston, their children Spencer, Mia and Renata
 

Ann Marie and Joe's family:

Mary Weissler & Jack Kaestner, their dogs Albert and Stanley
 

George and Stephanie's family:

Anne Marie Kingston, her children Sam, Jayson and their girlfriends
John & Heather Kingston, their children Stephanie and Leslie
Patricia & Dennis Boyle, their children Dennis, Seamus, Christine, Brendan and a new baby
(Tom - where are you? - we are not aware of partridge hunting in August)

Monica and Bill's family:

Kevin & Ann Vickers, their children Andrew and Laura
John Vickers
Will Vickers
 

Rita and Peter's family:

Annie Byberg
 

Carmel and Donald's family:

Carmel & Donald Leslie
Anne & Nick Napke, their children Nicola, Andrea, Alana and Janna
Robert & Elan Leslie, their children Kelsy and Brian
Mary Leslie
Barbara & Mark Dunnett, their children Megan and Michael

Bernadette and Pat's family:

Bernadette & Pat, Father Frank Corless
Michael & Pattie Sullivan, their children Kelly and Matt
Theresa & Hugo Bergen, their children Rebecca and Ryan (possibly will attend)
Mary & Peter McAlpine, their son Sam
Kevin Sullivan

Aloysius and Eleanor's family:

Aloysius & Eleanor Kingston
Mary Ellen & Ray Ritchie, their daughter Rebecca and a new baby
Paula Marie & Scott Mather, their children Anne and Shawn
JoAnn & Pat Riechers, their children Monika and Benjamin
Ken & Patsy Kingston
Sam Kingston
Mark & Jennifer Kingston, their son Tyler
 

Total number of people registered to this point: 82 (77 of whom are definitely or probably coming)

Registration Runner - click here: 

Hello,

Tom Kingston informs me he is flying in tomorrow for a four day visit - looks like a trip to the beeeer store is in order!

Victoria is finally experiencing real summer weather - so nice at around 28 degrees everyday.  Our claim to fame in this morning's paper is the largest travel magazine in the US has ranked Victoria as one of the top seven tourist destinations in the WORLD!

When I was in Portland, Oregon last month I went to a movie and in the opening, they had a Western Union commercial.  The banner across the screen started with a big sign "Fishing on the Miramichi" and the story went on to show a guy losing his wallet in the river and he called Western Union and they came to the rescue.  Amazing - I couldn't believe what I was watching - it was the North West Miramichi at that..

John V

Tommy,

You're driving a 1999 Toyoto 4 runner.  Flying into Victoria to see John.  What lottery did you win?

Hi everyone!

Sorry I have been absent for so long (have not even looked at the puter in weeks) but we are settled into our new house now and I am back!  This is about the most exciting thing I have ever done!  We LOVE living in this beautiful house and the doggies and kitties are in 7th heaven having 3 floors to rampage through!

It sounds like conversation has been quite lively in my absence.  Hi Eleanor and Al!  All this partridge carnage leaves me feeling that I must have been brainwashed into participating ONCE in this killing of the beasts with George and Tommy...and there are pictures to verify it!
 

I understand my dear father is up there! Hi Bayou Joe!!! Are you having fun? When do you think you'll be able to visit us at our new house? We have a bed made up for you! If no one has shown Joe the Reunion 2000 Website, someone please do! He'd get a kick out of what an amazing communication tool a computer is and how fun the Gill Net Lodge is!

Again, sorry for my lenghtly absence and it's good to be back!

Mary W.

Hello,

Verrry hard getting up for work this morning.  I am out of coffee as well which has been a great shock to recover from.  Tom's visit continues.

John V

Yes, indeed, I am up here in God's Country drinking scotch, eating salmon, partying every night with the local gentry, and gearing up for theparty of all parties next August.

Swampy, I' m most anxious to see your new house and plan to visit during the second half of October, as soon as I complete all my prior commitments.

Tommy, did Aunt Monica ever tell you of the time that I dropped a partridge with a stone at an estimated distance of 66 feet? She picked it up, gave it mouth to mouth resuscitation, squeezed it's breast a few times, and it seemed as good as new.  She set it on a low spruce limb, I stepped back the 66 feet and knocked it off again with the second stone.  She was unable to revive it the 2nd time, so we cleaned it and added it to the 4 or 5 that she had shot the day before with Al's 22, using the little mirror from her purse and shooting backward over her left shoulder.  Charleton Heston presented the medal to her at the next meeting of the NRA.

Hope to see each and every one of you Gill Netters next August and hear your voice loud and clear, individually and as a chorus.

God love you, George !!!

CHEERS,
Bayou Joe

Hey Bayou Joe!

Welcome to cyberspace and to the Gill Net Lodge!  What and how much was Aunt Monica drinking when she recalled these partridge hunting stories?

Glad to hear you're all having fun planning the big party of parties for next summer!  Keep the Gill Net posted on all that happens!

How is Uncle Billy?  Does he ever read the Gill Net?  If so, it would be nice to hear just one small word from him! :-)

Mary W.

Hello Uncle Joe,

I had absolutely no idea my mother was such a great shot when it came to partridge!  Her resuscitation abilities come as know surprise however as she always was a pretty good nurse :-)  -  Glad to hear you are having such a great visit.

John V

P.S. (Dad called later this pm to say Joe flew out yesterday morning.  Mary - when he comes to visit your new home you will have to coax him to get wired into the net!)
PPS - Hey Will, Esson Casey (Casey Tire) died this week - the whole crowd was home.

Belated birthday wishes to Tommy. I hope your 38th birthday was great and all the best for the year. Sorry I didn't get it out to you yesterday....ME

> Mary - when he comes to visit your new home you will have to coax him to get wired into the net!) <

John, I will do my best!  He seems to have some sort of aversion to the whole computer thing in general but I was rather amazed he dropped a note to the Gill Net while he was up there! Uncle George must have worked on him. :-)  I'm not sure exactly when he'll be visiting...the end of October I think.  Maybe he can help me pass out candy to all the little goblins on Haloween!

How is Mary Ellen Ritchie doing?  It's getting close to the big day, no?  When, exactly, is that day again??

Mary W.

Hi all,

No baby yet.  I was hospitalized last weekend because of high blood pressure, but, unfortunately, they did not induce me.  I had to cut my work short and am home on semi rest-- which is very hard for me to do -- and phenobaritol (which Rebecca calls "pheno Barbie Doll").  I have had several biophysical profiles and the baby is very sluggish because of the medication.   I am very worried, but the doctor and nurses keep telling me not to be.   I think the sooner we get this child out the better.   Your prayers for "Katie-Rose" would be greatly appreciated.   I will let you know when she arrives....ME