9/14/2007

I just got back from a two week moose hunt in Alaska.  My brother Jim (also from Kansas) and I went to Alaska as guests of our cousin Larry (a.k.a. Larry the Alaskan) and Larry’s lovely wife B.J.  Joining us there were two of our cousins, and brothers of Larry; Dave of Alaska and Dan from Oregon. Larry and B.J put us up at their house, providing us with comfortable rooms and great food for the duration of our stay.  Larry fed us some of his outstanding smoked salmon and moose from his previous hunts.  Their home was used as a base of operations for our hunt and Larry allowed us the use of his off road machines and camping equipment for the hunt.

I did shoot a moose.  It was a small moose; the antlers measuring 34” wide.  I was very happy that it was a small moose as it was in a very difficult place to get it out.  The weather was great for the hunt, but the area where we hunted is swampy and I have never hunted in such difficult terrain.

On our first foray into the hunting area, we started out with Larry’s big tracked vehicle and his smaller tracked ATV, as well as David’s four-wheel ATV.  Each of the vehicles was pulling either a trailer or a sled.  The swamp was unusually wet and the water deep this year and we had a great deal of trouble with getting stuck.  We wound up having to tie the vehicles together so that the big track rig was pulling the smaller ATVs through the mud.  I was riding the four wheel ATV behind the other machines and I can tell you that there isn’t much that is more exciting than watching two larger ATVs go through huge, deep mud holes and knowing that you are going there too as you are tied to them and have no choice.  It was quite an exhilarating experience!

We were about 12 miles into the swamp when the big track rig broke down.  It had just turned dark and we were basically stranded in the swamp without enough machines to easily transport the members of our group to better ground for the night.  Thankfully, some other hunters that were in the area with their airboats found us and took us to their encampment on some high ground.  They fed us breakfast the next morning and used their airboats to help us get our gear and Dave and Dan out of the swamp.  Larry, Jim and I then drove the two smaller ATVs out the next day.  We are very much indebted to Percy, Orville and Randy for providing us with comfortable quarters for the night and their help to get our equipment out.

As we no longer had the big track rig, we didn’t have enough machines to get all five of us back into the swamp. Only Dan and I had moose tags, so it was decided that Dan and I would take the smaller tracked ATV and go in by ourselves to hunt.  We spent a day resting and then set out the following day into the swamp again.  We traveled about 16 miles into the swamp the first day and camped overnight.  The next day, we spent all day hunting around two lakes near where we were camped.  We were on our way back to our camp around 6:30pm when I decided to check out a clearing that was just behind our camp.  I was only 30 feet from where we were camped when I saw the moose.  I shot it and it fell only 100 yards from where we were camped.  Initially, we were happy that the moose was so close to our camp, but upon investigation, we discovered that the moose was across 100 yards of the worst terrain that we saw on the entire hunting expedition.  There was floating grass over deep water and a creek channel filled with mud and muck and vegetation that had to be crossed to get to the moose.  We spent the rest of the night trying to get to the moose without finding a way and had to leave it until the next morning.  At first light the next day, we sorted out a way to get to the moose, though with great difficulty.  I fully expected that bears, or some other creatures would find the moose that night, but we found it untouched when we got to it.  Due to the cold weather the meat did not spoil overnight.  We had a heck of a time getting to it and packing it out to our camp.  After loading up the moose, we traveled about 5 miles back towards civilization and camped overnight on some high ground.  The next day we finished the trip out.  The trip back was without incident, except for the numerous times that we got stuck (as expected) and had to work our way out of mud holes and deep swamp water.

Because of myself and Dan’s inexperience in this terrain and also with the ATV that Larry allowed us to use, we probably worked harder at getting around than was necessary.  Our inexperience also heightened our sense of concern over our ability to get the machine through the mud holes and prevent our getting stranded in the wilderness.  At this point, it is easy to look back and say, “That wasn’t so bad”, but at the time we were quite anxious about the situation.  I’m sure that experienced Alaskan hunters would find our reaction to the adventure humorous.

We got back to Larry and B.J.’s house and then took the moose to a meat processor.  We took the next day off to rest and re-gear for another expedition.  Dan and I went back in for another 24 hour hunt to try to get Dan a moose, but did not see one for him to shoot.

Larry had told Dan and me that there were bears in the area and that we needed to be careful of them.  We didn’t see any bears, but we did see signs of them and were concerned for our safety the whole time that we were out.  After the hunt, Larry and B.J. had some of their friends and B.J.’s sister and brother-in-law over to their house for a very nice meal of grilled salmon and baked halibut.  After the meal, they all shared their stories of Alaskan hunting and outdoor adventures with us.  Dan and I heard them tell of how concerned they were of bear attack.  These folks are seasoned Alaskan hunters and we got the feeling that we should have been much more afraid of bears than we were.

Though this was the most physically challenging hunt hat I had even been on, it was definitely the most exciting adventure that I have ever experienced on a hunt.  The setting and scenery is some of the most beautiful on the continent.  Because of the difficulty and the outstanding beauty of the landscape, this was the most thrilling hunting adventure I have ever been on.  The memories of this hunt will be with me longer and be more vivid than any Kansas deer hunt that I have ever experienced.  I want to thank Larry and B.J for their generosity and hospitality during our stay.  I also want to thank Dave for all of his help, Dan for accompanying me on my hunt and all of his work to get my moose out and Jim for sharing this adventure with me.  I am very lucky to have such great family members.  Thank you again and God bless you all.

As I have taken this time off to go hunting, I am quite behind in the shop.  I have a pile of guns to fix and the gun and knife show in Wichita Kansas is just a few weeks away.  At the time of this writing, I have absolutely nothing to take to Wichita, so I have got to get busy!

Before I left for Alaska, I completed a new knife model.  It is my Chisholm Trail Camp Knife.  It is now shown on the Models Page.

Got to get to work, so I will write again the first of next month.

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