My partner and I went out to set Beaver sets last night. We left about 8 PM, the sun was coming off the water and blinding me every time the river swung north west. I run a 16ft john boat with a stand-up center console and twin 40s and jet pumps. What we normally do is run up river to a big log jam, then I cut off the engines and drift down stream. I control the boat with a set of oars, when we see a likely spot, we are past it before we can decide if it is a good spot to set out traps or not. So I start the engines and go back up and pull in. Pulling on those oars for the first time of the season did not seem bad last night, but this morning I can hardly move.
At one point we had made a few sets and I was pushing the boat away from the bank when my foot slipped and I fell, Darn that hurt. Later I was pulling in to a spot where we wanted to make some more sets. We were running against the current so I had the throttles open a little. I did not see the submerged log till too late. I closed the throttle but we hit the log at a good clip. I lost my balance, fell forward into the center standup console. The rivets holding the console in place broke, and console and I went forward sprawling into the middle of the boat. The last thing was when we were pulling into the bank to make another set and a small leaning birch tree decided to let go as we approached. I was watching where the boat was going so I did not hit anymore submerged logs, and did not see the tree coming till it hit me. The tree hit me and knocked me down into the bottom of the boat. This morning my knees are bruised, I have a big bruise on my hip, cuts on my hands, and my body hurts just to move. At least all three times I fell I was able to stay in the boat and not go swimming. Running the river after sundown was exciting, especially when I crossed a gravel bar at full throttle.
The sun went down on the river at 10:45 and the river got real cool after that.
Saw three Moose, and one bear. We were both carrying bear rifles, but the bear was not giving us a chance for a shot. it was a medium size Black Bear. Did not see the normal number of Beaver we usually see, we only saw 18 to 20 last night. Got home at 1 AM.
