Brings to mind my grandmother's story. Born in '31 near Fernie, B.C. along with her 4 brothers and sisters, most of them not even having birth certificates. Eventually wound up living in a tent near Fort Peck, Montana while her father helped build Fort Peck dam. The Tom T. Hall song "Don't Forget the Coffee, Billy Joe" has a line in it that goes "folks wonder why there ain't no rabbits left here in this day and time, to tell the truth I guess we ate 'em all back in '49", well that was her family back in '39. I have sang that song to my daughter almost every day since she was born and that line still chokes me up a bit. The stories she had about every one of the kids doing any sort of odd job, cleaning, sewing, cooking, just to add a few cents to the family coffers will never leave my mind. She would tell you till the day she died, she had been poor and hungry before and was never going back to that. To a girl born in a cabin in the Kootenays that had lived many Canadian and Montana winters in a tent with 6 other people, she thought a humble Northern MT wheat and cattle outfit was a veritable kingdom by the time she made it that far.

@brandongould6294

5 ай бұрын

And she so never ate another stitch of game meat if she could help it either, a mule deer a week or slim jackrabbits (hares) growing up ruined her on that. She figured we raised beef for a reason and she'd already eaten more than her ration of game.

I grew up poor as shit in a shack in the middle of nowhere, as a child of maybe 6 or 7 I started trapping gophers with a couple old pan traps that were given to me by an uncle along with some good advise on how to be successful in trapping them. I got 50 cents per gopher from the township, when I had enough money I’d beg the old man to take me to town to buy more traps. Eventually I had saved up $375 and bought an old Yamaha motorcycle to expand my trapping operation as I was sick of walking miles a day to check all my traps. Eventually every neighbor within a few miles was matching the township bounty to have me get rid of all the gophers in their fields. It’s funny where a person starts from and where they can end up with nothing more than determination 👍 great story brother, you got me all nostalgic now!

@Polo1683Official

5 ай бұрын

In a world with a gold backed currency*. Must be nice to come from that time. Welp anyway, not paying your pension.

@eugenepolan1750

5 ай бұрын

Do you think it would have paid to catch them live, put them in cages, and breed them for the bounty?

@superman9772

5 ай бұрын

yep.. i did the same thing... got my traps from grandpa and got 5 cents a tail from the zanjero (in english it's the job of water canal/ditch manager)... saved up $100 u.s. to buy an old '48 indian motopsycho (i had to hide it from the folks) and that enabled me to get back and forth from a farm job (at a dollar per hour), saved some more and traded the cycle for an old army jeep and so i could carry my own tools.... started raising steers and chickens on a piece of land nearby... never looked back... paid cash for a new truck by 16 and had a grubsteak when i left home at 18... time in the military paid for my education... retired now after a long career and pretty happy....

@moonasha

4 ай бұрын

@@Polo1683Official hate to break it to you but gold backed currencies flat out don't work, the government in charge always tampers with it. If they're not watering down the coins they're changing the exchange ratio to suit themselves. It's not some magic technology that fixes money. Crypto currencies are far more promising in that regard, backed by work that cannot be duplicated.

Everyone loves story time with Uncle AvE 😊

@arduinoversusevil2025

5 ай бұрын

Not everyone. Thanks for sharing a rueful chuckle with me.

@BurchellAtTheWharf

5 ай бұрын

@arduinoversusevil2025 thank you for the wonderful stories, you do a boat load of good my guy, don't mind the haters, thay got nothing better to do

@williamwilliams8145

5 ай бұрын

Can you do longer stories, iv'e been trying to make toast in front of my laptop screen and the bread doesn't even have time to get warm. @@arduinoversusevil2025

@rdouthwaite

5 ай бұрын

@@arduinoversusevil2025 there's always gonna be a dufus or two don't know what's good for 'em...

@rallycsx

5 ай бұрын

Bumblefu(k

These stories are excellent. Please keep it up.

my family came over from that place called the ukraine in the early 90s. my last name actually ends with CHUK. They didn't have much but a 50 dollar bill, few suitcases of clothes, some pictures, us and each other. my father went from being a big shot director of a plant that employed hundreds of people to being a superintendent assistant. A highly educated and skilled man who was grateful for the opportunity to fix toilets and take out the trash. Both of my parents ended up going ro college after that and are now retired. I am doing fairly well myself and have them to thank for it. I hope I can raise my kids to appreciate opportunity and work hard, as my parents taught me Your fireside chats have kept me warm on many nights Mr. Ave, long after the ambers have turned to ash that has been shoveled out into a bucket. A longtime fan of many years Ted

Hey uncle AVE three things to guarantee you to get hypnotized, a roaring fire, a babbling brook, and a Zamboni going round and round. Cheers happy new year.

@deletesoon70

5 ай бұрын

That bouncing DVD logo screen saver still does it for me, up yorn Nitffxx.

My grandparents, Ukrainian on the matriarch side, had a farm near Shoal Lake. I was shooting gophers with a 22 as early as I can remember. Grampa told me about how they'd take bale twine and make a snare to snag the critters when they poked out... Pretty strange to hear you say these words, maybe not that strange. This huge country was very small not long ago. Man the time does fly.

@grantmcinnes1176

5 ай бұрын

"This huge country was very small not long ago". Perceptive words my friend.

'Those people lived on next to nothing, but they certainly lived'

Makes a man realize that times aren't so tuff these days. Love these AvE, please keep it up. Also would love to hear some more Burroughs .

@alanbunder9068

5 ай бұрын

Hard times are a' coming my friend. Prepare accordingly.

@CopperBased

5 ай бұрын

​@@alanbunder9068 I wish hard times were coming, but they aren't. People in the world today are just too good at harnessing the power of electricity and chemistry to have hard times come and stay.

I have family in the Shoal Lake region of Manitoba. This story is as accurate as it gets for pre WW2 life in rural Manitoba. Especially in that area.

Best tool review yet

Wow. Sounds like stories my dad would tell from the depression here in Sk! Not to mention jackrabbit drives. And hauling wood all the way from Moose Mtn Park for firewood. I think about these things once in a while and realize how good i have it on the farm now!

Gopher tails? : ) AhHa, a Gopher bounty! Great story. Sounds like they lived on Gopher stew and got paid to boot.

When the going gets tough, the weak die and the strong in heart and body survive! Cheers.

Gopher stew, its whats for dinner. And back then, venison was known as Government sheep around here, lots of families would have had trouble if not for the deer.

@AtlasReburdened

5 ай бұрын

Deer is what got my sublings and I through some hard times. We had next to nothing, but papa Jack would let us hunt on his land. Bait corn was cheap so we got that and some gas to get us there and back, kept real quiet in the blinds, and made damn sure our shots were true. Got strong backs dragging bucks up the hill, strong stomachs learning to hang, skin and part them before they got too rigid, and strong wills sleeping in the cold of hunting season. Good god do I miss the certainty of a deep freezer stuffed with venison. Feels like so long ago now. My fridge is full and I live without want, but it's just not the same.

@richardlincoln8438

5 ай бұрын

Yes Sir, pre war and WWII my family ate dozens of antelope. There were many more of those around than deer. Natrona County, Wyoming.

There's a life lesson in these stories that reminds me of Paul Harvey's radio program down here in the States, takes me back to my childhood days. Thanks for sharing with us, happy New Year.

Them poor golfers! Gettin murdered by the day for their tales?! Why I'd have just kept quiet about them hole in one's for damn sure!

You’re better at this than you’d ever let on many thanks appreciate it

Nice fire, nice old story to cook my dinner by.

That has got to be one of the best fires for staring into on all of KZread?

It's odd for me to think about sometimes that I'm only 2 generations removed from that and that I personally knew well over a dozen people, all long dead now, who lived through that time for part of their lives. Most of human history was probably worse than even they had it. We really don't know how good we have it.

@teabagmcpick889

5 ай бұрын

Amen to that. Bmen & Cmen too while we're at it.

Thank you for the fireside chat Uncle Bumblefack.

Thanks AvE! My uncle Louie was a crop duster pilot on PEI where I am from, then air-frame mechanic in NWT and the rest of the country. He swore by Generac and Toyota. He couldn't believe when I told him I operated water-jet as I was the wannabe musician of the family back in the day. You remind me of his sense of humor and predictions of the future. I haven't spoken to him in a decade but it wouldn't surprise me if you know each other somehow. Cheers Uncle!

After spending Xmas and new year in hospital, once again, Ave got me trough it, Keep it up mate your videos are always a welcome on my watch list. Happy holidays.

I was hoping that one would go on awhile longer. Good story..

In the dark times / will there also be singing? / Yes, there will also be singing. / About the dark times.

Bounty hunting. It has a long tradition in North America.

I adore these little dispatches sent from reality.

My best friend Mickey and I used to hunt rats at a dairy farm for 25 cents a rat back in the 1950's. A box of 22 cal, was ~ 50 cents. We were poor but not too poor. Just on the lower end of the social spectra in the Plymouth area of Massachusetts. We also hunted wood chucks for the same price. This was how we earned spending money some of which we gave to our parents to help out. We both ate a lot of wild rabbit, and other small game.

It's getting a little chilly in here so I am just gonna watch this video till the end. 😌

As kids we did the same thing to gophers in our cities cemetery in the 60s. Scrawny kids carrying buckets of water and dumping it down holes. We got paid a penny a gopher which we’d spend on candy. Kids being kids.

Fireside chat in another century is all. And I rather enjoy the way he talks and tells the story.

Thanks for spinning the yarn Uncle Bumblefuq!

Thanks for the story. I love your Christmas reads and these are all great too 🤘

Enjoy all these, thanks! Great perspective. Dave J

My dad grew up on the prairies, dirt poor I'm sure but pride and good scene would not have allowed him to ever admit how poor... He told me stories of lassoing gophers as a kid and I thought he was pulling my leg until he explained how it was done. When you see one, walk up to the hole but before you're too close they'll duck inside. Carefully place the loop around the hole and walk away holding the other end. Lie down or crouch there quietly. Very soon after, because they're such curious creatures, they'll pop their heads up and you yank the noose on them. He never did mention whether there was a bounty on them but knowing my dad, I'm sure he was make a few dimes if there were dollars to be made. Thanks for the story and bringing good memories of my Dad to me.

As Jim Morrison was said "Strange Days Have Found Us" buckle my friends...

Taking a piss outside, listening to the fire. Refreshing!

Gophers pretty good. Reminds me of squirrel. 😋

Nice to hear another story beother ave. Thanks and cheers 🍻

Keep up the fireside stories!

Good story ave 👍🏻 my kids go gopher hunting with a garden hose and a bow and arrow they actually get some gophers they way . 🎯🎯

I recall spending hours sitting and listening to my elders tell stories. Good times..good lessons.

Thank you, sir! A great story and the fire was comforting on a winter night!

Us kids born in more civilized places don’t have a clue about such things, times, people, etc. Happy New Year AVE!

Happy New Year, Uncle B.

AVE idk where your getting all these little stories from. But I like em they touch on times gone by or actual things I have witnessed. Keep ‘em coming

My dads family grewup in Holland during the war and i heard stores if them eating boiled tulip bulbs and chicken backs as that was the cheapest thing at the butchers. The kids were sent down to meet the fishing boats as they off loaded and would bring home pails of the off catch eels catfish and such.....its amazing what people will eat when they are truly hungry

Love the story telling. Keep it up ya crazy cnuck! Much needed in this day and age when we are oversaturated with CGI movie wizbangery on screens big and little. Oral story tellin is a near lost art. Keep it up!

Hard times hard people.

Just sit right back and we will hear a tale

Back during the Great Depression, my grandfather and his brothers would run down cottontail rabbits. They would take turns running until the rabbit was exhausted. Then off it went to be dressed and hung in the smokehouse. It sure 🎉beat living on snowballs and wish sandwiches. A wish sandwich is two pieces of bread and you wish there was something good between them.

The question is was this a fire that had a story? Or a story happily accompanied by a fire? You decide it'll be one of the no wrong answer deals.

Where there's a will, there's a way. I finally got a little dachshund that loves digging moles.

from about 4:00 on I thought this was the best production piece to come out of AvE studios.

A lot of " Hunkys " in my part of northeastern Ontario also Canadianized their names soon after arriving .

We do love your content

Tough times make hard men! Tides a changing! Thank you for the story it puts things into perspective.

My mother was a kid during the depression era, i heard stories of how they had to survive........

@richardlincoln8438

5 ай бұрын

Yes Sir, mine also. Natrona County, Wyoming

Fireside chat ..... feels good !

Guess it’s time to go fire up the wood stove and stair at it while contemplating what’s coming our way. Thanks for the reminders.

Uncle Bumble's stories always make a man think

Thanks for that. The long pause, in particular.

Whats the name of this collection of stories? Sounds like a good addition to my collection of many leather bound books on shelves of rich mahogany.

Thanks Fireside AvE. Youre the CBC we deserve, not the one we have. Peter Gzowski is smiling down on you beatifcally, flanked by Stuart McLean and Arthur Black, wrapped in loin cloth.

Keep them coming. thank you.

Can I request a reading from a Farley Mowat book? Perhaps something from "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" or "the Grey Seas Under"

Made me chew the food I was eating, a little bit longer and appreciate the taste, that bit better. Yeah, I grew up on Chips/Potato Fries and Pasta too. That fire's hypnotic.

Thanks for the good stuff friend.

When I grew up it was 25 cents for the front feet of pocket gophers. Guess I was living the high life.

Love these

My uncle and the old man had a few hours of "Remember the great old days during the DEPRESSION?" when I was about 10 years old. They decided to roast a woodchuck, just like in the "good old days". My uncle shot one of the many in the fields around the house, they skinned it, then stuck it in my mothers turkey roasting pan and into the oven. It was about 12 pounds skinned out. After 3 hours or so of roasting they decided it was done and pulled it out of the oven. Turns out 12 pounds of woodchuck works out to about 9 pounds of liquid fat, 1 pound of bones, and 2 pounds of the toughest stringiest meat ever. And one REALLY pissed of wife/sister/mother when she got home...

Well, I can't love that story, as relatable as it is today. But my fire is blazing, and your's is firing some LCDs, or whatevers, and there's still a war going on. Lots of wars, in fact.

I hope you paid your carbon tax on that solid fuel in the stove. Great story thank you.

Where do you find these wonderful Tails (sic).??? Would it ruin it if you put dates in the description ... if available?

Thank you. Reminds me of the old country I've never seen, but whose blood flows hot through my veins nevertheless.

175 views in 5 mins... edit... 2 minutes...holy oh fuck over... kick ass. Love the storys!

@BurchellAtTheWharf

5 ай бұрын

128 👍 in 12 mins, this is a banger

Ground hogs here, in the Pontiac region of Quebecistan, are bigger than gophers. They make holes that livestock step in and break their legs. Being an Irish and German populated area, have a solution. Some of us shoot and eat them. No limit with a small game permit. A stew with ground hog is actually good! My first taste of it was in 2014, at a small gathering. I thought it was beef stew untill I was told otherwise. Some people I told thought it was disgusting, but why not learn to live with what you have on your own land. Thank you AvE for the great story.

Truth is they enjoyed it and would have done it for free. Being with family is a good living.

i had so little free time last year that i didn't get to cut any wood until fall. so all my firewood this year is standing or recently fallen deadwood. its still very moist, so i have to bring in a days worth of wood in advance. so I spread it out infront of the stove to dry it as best as i can. but it still burns like ass. and I cant use my catalyst because its so wet. but hey, at least i got something!

Love the Gopher talk as my dog is a Gopher murderer. She means well, it's in her head that it makes sense but in reality she gets a treat. Killed 7 babies, is that bad? I think it's part of life and she had had enough.

Your 8:29 stream was a heck of a lot more relaxing than another creator's 2 hr stream which I closed after an hour. I could only take so much forehead slapping.

@wacomtexas

5 ай бұрын

Beware of a stream that claims to put you straight to sleep in 2 minutes, yet runs for 2 hours..

I sure could use a toe warmer right about now.

Fireside story time, awesome.

Fought gophers for years here in Central Texas. They oddly like to make their birthing centers up on ridges where the soil gets sandy and had flint rock smattered. First place to clap out in a drouth. A Birthing center is identified by a gopher mound about 10x larger than the ancillaries. Would take the old 44 D7-3T with a 12 ft homemade root plow and a team of dogs following and undercut that damn birthing center about 3ft down and the dogs would grab up the dozens, or more, of fleeing unearthed gophers. Still have issues with them but are limited to property line boundaries, where neighbors kids, who own the placesnow that their old folks are passed on, are Houstonites, and could care less about their gopher population spillin over the fence line.

Gopher Stew (Acaudate Geomyidae Pulmentum) 10 gophers gutted and cleaned (11 if they are tailless) 2 tablespoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 large potatoe cubed 2 tomatoes cubed 3 cups of water As grandad used to say when life gives you gophers, make gopher stew Grandad came from too far north for life to give him lemons for thems of you a wonderin.

Keep em coming

I grew up with lots of Ukrainian kids who came to live near Bloor and Runnymede in Toronto. I learned a lot from them

I started with nothing and still have plenty of it left .

Good stuff !!

Nothing like a warm place to poop.

3:25 i suppose they ate the gophers? We will all be living on 80c a day real soon!

Thank you

Some Robert Service poetry might be nice. The Shooting of Dan McGrew or Cremation of Sam McGee There was a saying in the Ottawa Valley that during the depression we survived on fresh air and rabbit tracks.

@jasonh.8362

5 ай бұрын

A friend of mine has a small sign that says, deer tracks make mighty thin soup.

These stories are reminding me of what it means to be human.

I do fancy my self by ye cozy ole yule.

As a descendant of tough Ukrainian Cossacks, my Great Grandfather rode with the cavalry in WWI, and was as tough as a coffin nail, the only thing tougher was my Great Grandmother, who’s pirogies were our New Year’s Day treat, made each by hand into her 90’s. People are just built different now, but as long as we remember them, the legacy has a chance to live on. Thanks for the story.

As of this post, 59 down trodden souls with nothing but dislike in their hearts, sad people.

Gotta close that door & get that fire into efficiency. You know what I'm talking about. I got a fireplace in my shop, too. Nothing better.

By gwad I'm enjoying these. Care to read jack London's Call of the Wild for us? Thanks.