Running Maracas....

So during rifle deer season I don’t like to take the chance and run between 10 am and 2 pm. I don’t like to be rushed when I’m out with the dogs and I also don’t like to be told what to do (I know weird right?). I prefer to run the roads at night. Where I am there are a bunch of deer hunters and I’m not too worried about them being out at night except to go out to eat or something like that so running the roads is a great opportunity for me to hook up big teams and go.

Last night was a great night! It was COLD (Finally!) and there was plenty of water on the roads from the 1-2 inches of rain we had gotten the day before so I wouldn’t have to stop and water much if I needed. I teach my dogs that going around water is not an option so they will run through the many puddles and those that are thirsty can grab a quick drink and away we go.

Great run! The dogs were looking good and I was really happy with them for their first run in almost 2 weeks!! As we are running I would hear a noise, it happened only when we were moving and it sounded a little bit like a very soft maraca. With my luck I figured that it was the quad I was using….I’m pretty good at breaking things and have just accepted that I have no mechanical luck at all.

We stopped about 2 miles from home because one of the dogs got a bit tangled. As I was fixing it, her neighbor shook…the maracas sound!! Because it was so cold and we had so much water, icicles were forming on the dog’s fur every time we went through a puddle!! HAHA!! I had noticed it earlier but didn’t really think anything of it. It didn’t bother the dogs at all; they were all still happy and eager to go.

When we got back to the yard and I started unhooking it was pretty ridiculous! The entire gangline was frozen solid, tugs and neck lines were frozen solid. Harnesses were frozen solid! Snaps….well snaps are always frozen shut that’s just the nature of the beast. So a little extra time was taken and everything was hauled into the cabin to thaw and drip off. The dogs however were not any worse for the wear and were cleaning themselves as they waited their turn to get unhooked.

That’s the night I drove a team of maracas around Luce County!! Life is never boring as a dog musher...