Well, I TRIED to hunt with a Parker

[Richard Flanders]

After all that snowshoeing, if I didn't have the chair I'd be, and have been before I took a chair, flat on my back laying on my engine cover in the snow recovering. The chair was a great addition...

For anyone not familiar with these snowshoes, they are vintage military issue shoes made by several contracted makers in the 30's and 40's. Every shoe has a serial number and is dated. I have owned and dealt car loads of these up here and have several near mint pairs that I use, at least one pair which has never been on the snow. The dates on mine range from 1934 to 1944, if I remember right. All of the surplus supply of these in the lower 48 have been purchased and sent to Alaska by the connex full. The last load and the supply from which I got most of mine was a batch of 2500 pairs that were sent to Anchorage and sold in an army surplus store for around $75/pr. They are still a favorite of pilots, trappers and the natives living in remote villages. You can't buy wooden shoes of this quality and especially design any longer; if you could they would likely cost at least $800/pr. It has to be quite the project bending the wood and lacing all that rawhide. The current US military white magnesium shoes have excellent - incredible actually - bindings and are good on harder spring snow but are way too small and are useless in deep powder.

Update: I have never before last night investigated the red spot over a ptarmigan's eye. What's under there when you part the feathers was a surprise to me. I assume they make these show somehow during their mating ritual.