Back in 1995 as I was approaching Blue Lake about 30 Southeast of Kamloops I had a "blow-out". This was a little distressing since my spare was back at the cabin on Peterhope Lake. Okay, I deserved this, although there was a reason. My spare was mounted on an "after-market" bracket attached to the back of my Jeep. However, earlier in the trip the bracket broke -- presumably from all the bumping on the back roads. One of my old Xerox buddies (Frank), was with me at the time. We had no choice but to hike back 12 miles to the cabin. Although there was nobody at Blue Lake, there were several people at Peterhope. $20 got someone to drive us back up to where the car was. On the drive back up to Blue Lake we came across a Blue Grouse standing along side the road. The Guy driving us stopped his truck and grabbed his rifle while quickly asking us if it was okay? Well, since he was the one with the gun we decided "yes" was the best answer. Anyway, the Grouse was standing about 20 feet from us. Guy (I don't remember his real name) took three shots. Each time the grouse looked to the right and then to the left as if he didn't know what had just happened. After the third shot he decided to run across the road -- but, stopping on the other side. Then a fourth shot with the same result. A fifth shot caused the Grouse to jump up on a log -- yes, that's right. Now, the Grouse is sitting on a log --- like in one of those carnival booths where you get a stuffed animal for hitting seven or more out of ten. After the sixth shot missed, the Grouse jumped off the log and disappeared into the woods. I was at a loss for words. I mean, "nice shooting" came to mind; as did, "shoot much?" But, again, he had the gun so nothing was said until we reached Blue Lake when I thanked him. I, of course, got a photo (being happy with my photo and happy that the Grouse lived another day):
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