Frank: Most people enjoy it. The dogs do the actual driving and you get to look around. If the terrain is flat and the dogs aren't too fast, you get to relax. But with a fast team and some hills, you will work up a sweat.

The instructions they got was to not allow the six dog team to break into a gallop. With that much energy expended, they would quit and lay down after five mins, or so. I'm sure the trail was not full of hills. They were told to make the team 'trot', or maintain a 'pretty prance'. That way, they'd be good for 20 miles. They were also taught how to handle these Alaskan Huskies. With all the muscles and strength in their front legs, they had to lift the dogs off of their front legs and walk them to the sled on their hind legs. My daughter, at five foot nothing, said this was part of the great adventure.

Frank.

" They were also taught how to handle these Alaskan Huskies. With all the muscles and strength in their front legs, they had to lift the dogs off of their front legs and walk them to the sled on their hind legs. My daughter, at five foot nothing, said this was part of the great adventure. "

That's called taking them off of 4 wheel drive!

Search: Ely, MN Dogsledding.

https://www.ely.org/things-to-do/winter/dogsledding/

The different outfits all have a website. I watched one video the other day, it was taken by a drone. Flying along, with a dog team. It does look very relaxing, dogs just chugging along.

But if you'd check their www, they have prices and all, for all skill levels and such. But it does look like fun. Expensive in a way, but reasonable too. To keep that many dogs fed and watered, 12 months of the year, for a 4 or 5 month sledding season, that'd be a lot of work.

Outfitters always have Siberians or Siberian/Malamute crosses. Strong dogs that are easy to care for in that they do not eat or drink much compared to Alaskans. They are not fast but they are steady and recoup quickly.

Plus they are very pretty in a photograph. In racing circles, they are sometimes referred to as Kodak dogs. Good for pictures but not for speed.

I have had many. I still have a couple and they are on my "B" team.

I prefer Alaskans for 2 reasons: The first is that Alaskans will bond with you better. They listen. The second is that fast is fun!

The need for speed.

They are pretty dogs.

I can see where for a tourist, sledding in a new place, a place they've never been before, it would be more interesting to just coast along. More or less sightseeing and just let the dogs do the work.

One thing that I noticed in that video I watched, the guy was in a blue sled. Blue or red one, I forget. To me, that would just take away from from the experience. I'd much prefer to have a wooden sled, traditional old time, handmade sled.

While it's somewhat fresh in my head, I'll tell you what's going on around here. Sunday, 2 weeks ago we got 8 inches of new snow. We still had a little bit of old snow in the mountains. Pretty much shut down everything for a day or so. Long hours for me here at work, I told everyone to stay home.

Last Sunday, the snow had been on for a week. I took the new dog for a ride, took her to a place known to have bear and bobcats. Long story short, I broke track from the public road, to the back end of the property. About 6 miles total, one way. It warmed up, I had 34* midday. I tracked a fox, 1 maybe 2 coyotes a small bobcat and a dog. Everything was walking on the crust, and they were all old tracks. In those 6 miles, I'd guess there were around 25, maybe 30 sets of deer tracks that had crossed the road, and I'm sure some of them were the same deer. That one section of road for a mile or so, there wasn't a single track of anything.

Last Wednesday, I rode up on the mountain where I have 3 cameras. Being extra cautious. Moe more or less gave me a warning the other day. He said: You're screwing up if you go on the mountain. Told me later: If you get stuck, don't call me! The snow is all packed down and botched up from where that one guy had taken his buggy up the mountain. Looks like he fishtailed all the way up the road. It's slick. Only tracked one coyote, and a something. It was a track made early after the snow, melted out and caved in, I couldn't get a good track. It was either a huge coon or a fisher.

Last Thursday, I went up and changed the batteries in the camera at Wardney's salt lick. Very few deer tracks, considering the snow had been on for a week and a half. No fox or coyote tracks. I did find a few turkey tracks where they'd been under the pine and cedar trees, old tracks.

Last Friday we had another snow, 2 inches here in town. I was out yesterday, in a different spot, there's almost a foot of snow up on top. Only tracked a fox, there might have been 2 ? One fox can lay down a lot of tracks in 2 nights time. Just not finding much sign.

Where I sled there have been very few tracks of anything since the moose and wolves went by. I had one fox snare out and removed it today.

However, lots of deer tracks by the house. A pack of wolves swung by prior to yesterday and I set 5 snares for them. I want to set a foothold or three but we'll be getting 15-20 cm. of snow starting tomorrow.

We have a few deer here on the edge of town. Pretty much off limits as far as hunting, just beyond the city limit sign, that's some pretty good hunting. Easy hunting, that's where I took my doe the last day of season. I've trapped that farm, and helped the landowner a little bit, so we get along good.

The other day when I went up the road to change batteries in the camera at Wardney's salt lick cam, there was a deer carcass laying over the road bank. I stopped on the way back to town and snatched it. It was a fawn, pretty much intact, my guess, that deer won't weigh 50 pounds. It's tiny.

I didn't notice it going up the road, but there was a hawk face down in the snow about 10 feet from the deer carcass. I guess it flushed off of the carcass and a vehicle nailed it too. I didn't mess with it.

I'll have more time tomorrow, going to take the fawn carcass up on the mountain and see what kind of tracks I can find. We're to warm up today, I had 16* at daylight. Going out to check another place now. A coyote ran across a landowner's lane a day or so ago.

Above we were talking about the shotgun slugs that Musher uses while deer hunting, costing $5 a shot.

I'll tell you this. About 3 weeks ago, a man stopped here at work, told me that he'd just bought a rifle online, and wanted to have it shipped here. So, we could do the ATF paperwork and all. Shipping guns from state to state, that all needs to go between the 2 FFL dealers.

He was telling me all about his new rifle, it's a 500 Jeffery. That is one big, BIG gun!

Anyway, it was delivered the other day, boxed up in a hard box, wrapped in foam. It's a pretty gun, beautiful wood stock. Blued barrel and action. It's a bolt gun.

The man stopped and picked up his rifle the other day and was telling me that he'd found a 10 (ten) round box of ammo for $250. $25 per shot.

My daughter Kim and I double checked the serial number, just to make sure. She called off the numbers, everything was square. I handed it to her and told her just to feel it. I forget what she said, but it's a beast!

It does have a good set of open sights, fixed sights, with another flip-up sight. Maybe a 16th or 8th of an inch higher that the main sight, for long range.

But, $25 per shot! Do a search: 500 Jeffery. You'll find a couple of videos of guys shooting the same gun. Interesting to watch, but I have no intentions of ever shooting one!

Sighting in a scope would be really interesting for the wallet - and for the shoulder!