Gail Castor Interview

Jan 12, 2007

(Gail is the wife of Donny Castor, who was the Head Wrangler at Skinners’ Camp for 13 years. They were married in August, 2001 and live on a farm near Wellington, CO. Gail trains race horses and Donny is a horseshoer and Assistant Starter on the Starting Gates at the race track.)

I have been to Skinner Brothers twice. The first time I only got to go to Burnt Lake. I went up to see Donny in-between hunts. Willard Mills was there, as usual, and we went on a great fishing trip up on the river and later went to Jackson Hole. Donny showed me where the old Skinner hunting area was near Yellowstone. It was a great time. Willard was great fun and, of course, Donny had to get me the right “attire” for the trip. He bought me waders, fishing vest, etc. We parked on top of a hill and hiked down to the river. I caught one fish after another. They were really slick and the rocks were too. I started putting the fish in my raincoat pocket until I could get back to the stringer on the edge of the river. After we had our limit, we cleaned the fish on the river bank and hiked up to the truck. We were taking off our boots when I reached in my pocket, and guess what I found? Another fish! It surprised me so much that I yelled, “Oh, there is a fish in my pocket!” Everyone died laughing and, of course, we had to put on the boots and hike back down to the river to clean the fish. Willard will never let me forget that one!

The next year I went to camp I arrived at Burnt Lake about the time Donny and the hunters were getting back into camp from a 10-day run at Horseshoe Lake camp. As they rode into camp, the only one I could recognize was Jake…. the mule! The men all looked the same – brown, full beards and orange clothes. The hunters never let Donny forget that his wife recognized a mule before she recognized him!

I got to go up to Horseshoe Lake with the regular hunting group. Wow! What an experience! Before we left I told Donny that I wanted to ride Johnny, an old half-draft, half-quarter horse. He was so sweet and kind, and one of the most sure-footed horses I have ever seen. He is one of Monte’s favorites and Monte has had Johnny a long time. I had never ridden a draft horse before. I am used to riding ex-race horses. One of the hunters was Kennedy from New York, along with his group, some of whom were from New Jersey. I was saddling Johnny with my own saddle when I noticed that the hunters had some foam rubber pads attached to the seats of their saddles. I chuckled when I saw them. Of course the guides were giving them a hard time about using padding.

Kennedy looked at me and said, “Well, if she can ride the trail, so can I”. Dan (Holly Skinner’s boyfriend) knew of my race background and said, “Hey, guys, I got news for you. She rides 8-12 hours every day at the race track! You should have seen the look on their faces. I heard no more.

The trip to Horseshoe was beautiful. It is the last of the wilderness, so untouched by humans. I could not believe that horses could go over such rough terrain. The burnt forest was very sad. Dan called it “the valley of the shadow of death”. The trees could fall at anytime, not making any noise.

I had never stayed in a teepee before, but it wasn’t bad. I have always enjoyed camping. Of course Willard and I had to fish the lake (Horseshoe). We then went on up to Baldy and fished there and also one of the lakes in between. I was the only one who caught any fish and they were big!

The hunting camp experience was great. The men treated me well and I enjoyed the stories of their Canadian Bear hunting & past experiences. Later on, Ole and Courtney came into camp. What great storytellers they are!

You need to get Ole to tell you the story about the hunter that he thought was having a seizure. I can’t tell the story like he can. It is one of his favorite stories at hunting camp. The hunters were brothers and came from back East. They brought along some moonshine to drink. The one hunter was diabetic. They had all filled their licenses except for the diabetic hunter. They had gotten drunk on the moonshine the night before. When Ole found some elk, they were on the side of the mountain on the trail. The diabetic hunter was the only one that was supposed to shoot. Ole hollered at him to get off of his horse and shoot. When he got off of his horse, he was shaking. He dropped his hat and gun and yelled at his brother to shoot. Ole and his brother ran over to the downed elk. In the meantime, whenever you stop on the trail, the first thing the horses do is pee. Well, Ole saw his diabetic hunter lying on the ground and water was running off of his head. He came running back to him thinking, “My God! He is having a diabetic seizure!” When Ole got there the man said, “My horse peed in my hat!”

Another story I remember from my one time in hunting camp was the one about the two hunters wanting to hunt on some property. The hunters decided to go to the landowner’s house and beg for permission to hunt the herd that was in the pasture on his land. The one hunter went to the house, leaving the other one in the truck. When he got to the house, the landowner said that he would allow them to hunt on his land under one condition. He had an old horse that was ailing and need to be destroyed. The man didn’t have the heart to kill his old companion, so he told the hunter that if he would shoot his old horse and put him out of his misery, as a favor to him, he could then hunt on his land.

Going back to the pickup the first hunter got the idea to play a practical joke on the other hunter. He acted really mad and said, “This landowner won’t let us hunt! I think I will just shoot his horse to show him!” Well, the second hunter said, “Fine” & pulled out his gun to start shooting his cattle and said, “I’ll just show him too!”

One of our men from the racetrack, Jessie, came to work as a camp jack that year. His job was to run back and forth from Horseshoe to Burnt lakes with supplies, and anything that needed done. After he got back to Burnt, some of the horses had cinch and saddle sores. So I volunteered to help Jessie doctor them with furacine. Jake, the mule, didn’t like to be caught by men. Finally Jessie got a hold of him and off Jake went, dragging Jessie at the end of the rope, through the manure and hay and across the horse corral. Finally I yelled, “Jessie, there is a snubbing post in the middle of the corral”. Jessie managed to get near the post and as soon as Jake saw that rope on the post, he stopped. He was exceptionally smart. The men hauled the horses that needed a break down to the ranch near Pinedale. We were staying in Willard’s bus at the ranch. I continued to doctor the sores on the horses. Jake would come to me when I called him and I would doctor him without a halter or rope.

The Skinner Brothers are the most unique bunch of people I have ever met. They treated me like one of the family!