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California Get-A-Way While I had talked several times with Jim and TinaMarie Schaafsma, of Arrow Five Outfitters, I had not had the chance to meet them. Yes, it’s one word, not two, TinaMarie.” Then, one evening purely by accident, while having dinner with Rick and Sue Van Jijl of John X Safaris based in South Africa, I found myself sitting across the table from them. Great people. At long last, I had the chance to hunt with them this last February. My friend, Peter Feain, and I arrived at their hunting camp in northern California with our pig and bobcat tags in hand. Our camp cook, Jay, warmly greeted us. She took us to our camp quarters. The rooms were warm and the toilet paper was soft. What more could you ask from a hunting camp? Later that evening, we were treated to a few sundowners and a great dinner. The next morning, we were out looking for pigs. The dog handlers were in the field also. While they were looking for bobcats, we were searching the hillsides for pigs. Over the next four days, both Peter and I took pigs over 200 pounds each. Peter took a gray fox with a .22 mag. Ruger single six. Did you know that gray fox could climb trees? I didn’t. I took a super bobcat later that week, with my S&W, M-10 .38. The bonus of this hunt, and there is always a bonus. The dogs jumped a large mountain lion on a recent kill. We were able to climb into the tree the lion was in and photograph him. The lion was so preoccupied with the dogs that we were able to get within five feet and take all the photos we wanted. After hitting the lion with a large rock, it jumped out of the tree and over the dogs and our photo session was over. Jim, TinaMarie and all of the folks who work with them made our trip and hunt a memorable event. I would recommend this hunt to anyone wanting a great getaway. Jim and TinaMarie hunt black tail deer, pigs, bobcats, turkey and some bear in northern California. They also have operations in old Mexico for coues deer and New Mexico for antelope. You can contact them at Arrow Five Outfitters, (707) 923-9633, or email them at arrow5@cwnet.com. You will not be disappointed. Ronald Machado |
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© Copyright: Ronald Machado - 2002
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