"A Year of Longbows in Alaska"
OK, "Gang-Twangers", it's been a bit slow around here lately so here is my contribution, Parts 1 and 2 or 4 of "A Year of Longbows in Alaska".
My adopted step-child Benny (Pinney) just had finished his first year of dental school in Portland and was on break so he came up to Alaska. Our plan morphed into a three-trip hunt. Benny would serve as my sherpa on a mountain goat hunt (Part 1) outside of Juneau in earliest August; next we would hunt caribou on Adak Island (Part 2) on the Aleutian Chain; and third a moose hunt outside of Tok (Part 3). Benny would fish and hang out in the in between times and I would go back to work. Benny had to head back to Portland on Sept 18 and I would do a brown bear hunt in October on Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands (Part 4) with another buddy, Charlie Rock of St. Louis coming up to keep me out of trouble.
PART 1: ALASKA MOUNTAIN GOAT HUNT
Benny and I headed off for the Alpine during one of the earliest days in August in a typical-Juneau pea soup fog and soaking drizzle. It took us between five and six hours to make it to the alpine, right at dark. We pitched out tiny tent and waited until the next morning, then we waited all of the next day for the fog to lift; visibility was only about 30 yards. We went for one short walk as I knew the area and that I could get us back to camp even in the low/no visibility. Too thick so we went back and waited thru the day and another night.
The following morning the fog started to break and we were ready to locate our first goat(s). We had only been away from camp for 15 minutes when I spotted a lone billy in the rolling alpine which lies above the cliffs of a huge drainage. I took advantage of the remaining fog banks and when one rolled in I slipped below sight at the top of the cliff edge as Benny hung back on a grassy knob.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/PreShot_080605.jpg)
I timed my next move around another fog bank and slipped out of Benny's sight, just to the right of where I am sitting in the previous photo. Soon, the goat stood and started feeding and moved towards me. The goat then walked right towards me as I crouched behind and below a rock ledge. Soon I saw white right above me as the goat walked out on the rock right above me and stood and looked down! "No way this close, he's going to bolt before I can draw" were my thoughts as I had been in similar situations before with the white beasts, just not THIS close.
The billy turned and stepped out onto the rock right in front of me and gazed across the deep chasm, striking the classic mountain goat pose. I did not hesitate and pulled to as full of a draw as I was going to get to in my awkward position. The arrow flickered for its full path of travel for those SEVEN (7) FEET and buried in the billy's ribcage.
Benny later told me that he saw the billy's side quiver and he knew that I had scored a hit but he was utterly shocked when I stood up right where the billy had been standing. Benny had not seen me change positions due to the fog between us.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/ShotSite_080605.jpg)
The attached photo shows where I was kneeling at the time of the shot and the goat's horns are placed where he was standing. Those pretty red things on my feet are my Ruby-Red slippers (AKA Koflach plastic mountaineering boots), that help keep me attached to cliff faces when I do stupid things and go to stupid places while hunting in the cliffs.
This goat tale is not over yet however. The billy ran below me into a chute and then made a last trek across the loose talus in the chute, fell, seemed still, and started to slide. Sliding down the chute soon turned into rolling down the chute as the dead goat gained momentum, and rolling down the chute turned into tumbling head over heals down, down the chute and out of site.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/CliffEdge_080605.jpg)
Benny and I carefully descended and soon realized that the goat didn't get hung up where I hoped he might. Finally after about 1000 foot decent, on the back side of the mountain of course, we found the billy hung up on a small rock that was barely holding him from tumbling another unknown hundreds of feet.
Unbelievably the horns were only scarred and not broken but his lower teeth were all broken and his cape was badly mangled. The billy was 8 ½" with heavy 5 ½" bases, with four growth rings which is a real nice goat for that age.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Goat1_080605.jpg)
Benny stabilized the carcass as I did the knife work and we miraculously finished the job without rolling further down the chute although a broken pack strap had Benny headed towards the bottom on a retrieval mission. We got the goat back to the top and laid out the meat to glaze over and fended off the ravens.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/GoatsOnTheMountain_080705.jpg)
A view of six billys and a awesome view taken near the shot site.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/SherpaBenny_080705.jpg)
The following day Benny earned his keep on the pack out and saved this old man's poor broken down joints some stress by taking the lion's share of the load. We made it back down the mountain and into Juneau where Benny played some games with fishes and we awaited our next hunt!
You're killin' me!! Why did this have to start off with a Goat Hunt... at 7 feet yet.... even I could hit that one.
Ben Pinney is gonna be a Dentist!! Might be appropriate as I remember seein a lot of his pearly whites in them harvest photo's
Jim Coffey
Awesome story and pics. Congrats!!!
What an agonizing existence you live! ;)
Just too cool, great pics too.
David
Great Stuff!!
Cool beans Ho! Neat photos and man 7 feet? What a shot ha ha
Wow, 7 feet on a goat. Nice goat and story. Some beautiful country there. More pics??
Nice story, congrats :0)
Great story Stevey boy!
Even a white bison will hit um at 7 feet? haha (sorry bud) had to. The thing had to look like a tank at that range?
Cool pics!
Great pictures. Thanks for sharing. Hope to hear the other stories soon.
Chuck
Equipment? I don't know what that Timmy guy above thinks I used but here it is:
My bow is a personally made laminated longbow:
"Made in Alaska", #002", 65", 59# @ 29"; I used RRA shafted arrows, and 160 Gr Ribteks.
Benny used a "Made in Alaska" @ 63# that I built for his college graduation present, RRA's, and a 125 Ribtek.
My last two hunts that are not posted yet I used a 63# longbow, RRA's, and a 190 gr. Ribtek.
I have more photos that I may be able to add later.
I figure I will post the other three stories when "Tuttu-Chuck" tells us about his grizzly, that rumor has it he shot!
Dang Steve!!!
How in the H$!! did you get drawn on that thing? I think he wasn't gazing out across the deep chasm like you said, he was danged near blind and was trying to remember what the place looked like back when he could see. Sure is pretty country in them pictures.
Sweet story and that senery behind you is post card perfect. You are trully blessed to hunt such a beutiful place. Keep it coming
Steve,
Good stuff.
"made in alaska" huh....ugg ;)
Are you seriously going to tease us like the rest of the folks have been doing lately? Tuttu will come around when he's ready, you got some written to do son!
Actually I have all four parts written and ready to go. I thought I was only SUPPOSE to release one segment per day?!?!?! At least its the whole trip in one shot not over a week or more!
I need to go to the office as I can't find my CD of photos I have at home. I will add a few more goat hunt photos and I need more for the caribou trip before I post it.
I intend to post the caribou portion in its intirety this morning.
Danny, the bow I used is "Archemedes", the one with the extra screws in the riser that I had on our last sheep hunt.
Hey Steve, great to see you're still here. Looking forward to the stories/pictures. Sorry I never got back to you but I have my own story/excuse to tell you.
Neven
Very cool stuff!!! Keep it coming!!!
PART 2: ADAK ISLAND CARIBOU HUNT
Benny and I had hunted caribou together twice in the past, both times in the Brooks Range, once with our fellow Gang-Twanger, Ozzie-wanna-be, mate RicMic. We had previously researched going to Adak Island, home to the world's largest bodied caribou, and we decided that this was the year. Caribou were transplanted to the island in, I believe, the late forties. Adak Island is in the Aleutian chain and has an interesting military history.
I had located a boat owner that agreed to drop us off on the side of the island known to harbor the densest concentrations of caribou on the island. When I contacted him the evening before our departure (the third time we talked) he did some song and dance about only being able to take us out for 3 days. Well, there are only flights in and out of Adak on Thursdays and Sundays so that wasn't going to cut it. Somehow, we managed to locate the one known, reliable boat captain on the island that is permitted for drop-offs and arrange our trip in the last hours before we were forced to cancel.
Getting to Adak is very expensive unless you have Alaska Air miles to purchase your ticket. We also had to cough up $230 per night each way for local lodging. We stayed the course for our flights and arrived on Adak on Benny's 24th birthday after staying with his childhood buddy, Matt Richard, the evening before.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/SteveAndShipmate.jpg)
The best thing that happened on the trip was meeting up with our new friends, boat captain, Al and his buddy who everyone refers to as "Shipmate" and refers to everyone else as "Shipmate". We had an enjoyable 5 hour trip along the east and south shores (Pacific Ocean side) of the island to a drop-off spot where we packed our gear across a peninsula to a cabin owned, yet not maintained by the USFWS.
The cabin was rat infested. Rat droppings, rat urine, rat vomit, rat parts, and a rat nest with RATS! I took one out with a shovel and Benny, doing his best impression of his Norwegian Viking ancestors, took one out with his battle ax. We opted to pitch our tent on a grassy knoll above the cabin but we did use the cabin for dry gear storage.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/MtDoom.jpg)
Here is a view of a mountain as viewed from the Rat Cabin that we affectionately referred to as "Mt. Doom".
I had spotted a group of five bull caribou on the pack in so we quickly strung our bows and set out on our first stalk. One bull was definitely a shooter with short yet extremely massive and well palmated tops with long tines. We got close but it wasn't to happen that day.
Caribou sightings over the next few days were lean but we did find a couple and I did a controlled push of one to Benny that went out of control as the caribou raced by Benny at 15 yards at full tilt. We were then able to stalk another bull that we spotted prior to our previous stalk. The bull fed on kelp in the intertidal zone as I slipped up close and slipped up on my opportunity. The day advanced into a warm, clear afternoon and we admired the volcano on a neighboring island. We had been told if the volcano is visible then a bad storm is coming!
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/VolcanoBenny.jpg)
The flowing day we re-located the big bull from the first day, about 4 miles from camp, and unfortunately too late in the day. The storm arrived. The winds blew and the rains fell hard, and then the fog sank to the ground. I had to restrain my youthful, eager partner on a day meant to be spent in camp.
Late the following morning the fog started to lift and we geared up to go search out that one bull. We hadn't even left camp as five bulls including the big one of Benny's dream appeared on the ridge top adjacent to camp. We waited until it was apparent which way the bulls were traveling and Benny got into position in a small stream bed in front of the feeding bulls with my instructions to not shoot one of the little ones. The bulls soon boiled out of the draw with the big one wearing Benny's fletching colors on his side. I soon learned that Benny had almost been trampled by each animal before the last and only large bull of the group presented a shot at NINE (9) FEET!!!
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/BennyAdakBou18.jpg)
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/MassiveBennyBou_081605.jpg)
When we walked up to the downed bull he was immense! We hadn't fully realized just how huge a body these animals have. He was by far the largest bodied caribou I have ever seen and my weight estimate only starts at 500 pounds. I measured his nose to tail length at exactly eight feet! Benny was as excited as a puppy on fresh newspapers. I was almost most excited that the animal dropped 30 yards from the salt water so we wouldn't have a rough pack job!
Two days later, our second to last day, we headed out for a long day, headed deeper onto the peninsula than we had previously traveled. We located a group of four caribou including two decent bulls about four miles from camp. I was able to maneuver around a rocky coast and get in a small creek bed and stalk to one of the larger bulls. As the bull fed toward me at less than twenty yards, a ptarmigan popped its head up ten feet away and threatened to blow the scene. I held my breath.
The bull moved closer and the ptarmigan appeared again on the bank above me. I held my breath again. The bull moved to about 8 yards and spooked back to twenty yards at the site of the blob in the stream bed. Go time. I came to full draw; my arrow sank into the ribcage of the bull, and he fell after a 90 yard sprint.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/SteveAdakBou3.jpg)
Al and "Shipmate" picked us up on our scheduled time and date and we enjoyed a calm four-hour boat ride back to the village of Adak around the west and north side (Bering Sea side) of the island.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/AllPlusRacks.jpg)
Folks have asked me about this hunt and what it takes to pull it off. As we did it, I wouldn't highly recommend this trip as a routine caribou hunting option at this time. The trip was fairly expensive (relieved by air miles), the weather can be really drastic, limited flights in and out of Adak, and we only saw 4-6 mature bulls in about 10 days but did capitalize on two of the largest bulls that we saw.
I'll write the grizzly story and post pictures after Christmas break. I hope to get to it in January.
Steve keep them coming. I can't wait for the other stories.
Chuck
Note: I addded more photos to the goat hunt segment on page 1.
Great story and awesome pictures. What a cool place! Those caribou are twice the size of the ones I chase around.
Chuck
Wow. Thats just a buncha bull!!! I need to move to Alaska well and Iowa and Montana.......
Steve,
I considered taking a management job with the Aleut Corporation a while back. While the Board interviewed me for the job I asked a lot of questions. Much of the discussion centered around Adak - not only how the Corp could make money with Adak but also the problems with unexploded ordnance AND those huge caribou bulls. One of the Board members told me that the ADF&G had weighed one bull with a live weight of 750#!!!
Adak is indeed a long way to go for boo, but to get the chance to take such a huge specimen is very special. Thanks for sharing the story!
John
WOW!
That's something most of us can only dream about. You guys are livin' it!
Two great reads, & beautiful pictures to boot!
Thanks for sharing!!
Larry
this is a delight...I mean I can hardly imagine this type of adventure, but this helps. I need to move as well.
Steve I bet you really regret moving up there and missing all those Mojams :saywhat:
Great story Steve, and great pics too. When is part #3 coming?
David
I figured I'd add Part 3 tomorrow.
Bens came a long way since that havie in Texas!
Dandy bulls all around Stevey!
Great pics! :thumbsup:
Great stories, Steve. Chad
Hey Chad,
The moose call Dale Torma (Where IS he, you know?) made for me comes up in the next part.
Good storyes, great pictures, great thread all around.
M
Great stories! Thanks for sharing. I can't wait for tomorrow's installment. Seems to be the Tradgang theme. I like it, it keeps me coming back for more!
Steve,
Sorry I missed ya, tomorrow is my friday, woooohooo, only -25, about time to get out for predators.
PART 3: TOK MOOSE HUNT
Benny and I packed up my truck and caught the Alaska Marine Highway ferry out of Juneau to Haines on about Sept 5 and had a phenomenally scenic drive thru NW British Columbia and the Yukon and on into Tok. We met up with fellow "Gang-Twangers" John Schneider of Tok and the Wingnut/Jason/John Havard crew from TX/IL.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/MooseFlight.jpg)
Benny and I were limited to 50# each of gear for this Super Cub fly-in Lake hunt and they weighed us to the pound so we were feverishly cutting gear down to the wire.
I was dropped off first and watched a cow moose munch aquatic plants in our lake while waiting for Benny to arrive.
The first day out I grunted an upper 40's inch bull (we were in an "any-bull" area so it was legal) but it hung up at about 35 yards. He was about as nice of a bull as one could see of that size with nice palms that swept forward and distinctive, long points. Benny and I traded off turns calling with the birch bark horn my friend Dale Torma from Minnesota had made for me a few years back.
We would call each morning and then still hunt for grouse on a hill behind camp on the way back in the morning and to a calling site in the evening and loose arrows, mostly my arrows. Benny eventually brought down a plump Spruce Grouse which we cooked in an open fire stuffed with lingonberries (low-bush cranberries).
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/BennyGrouse.jpg)
I was on a mission to arrow a teal and had a couple close calls but no-go. We also started finding snowshoe hares on our still hunts and we tag-teamed one for the pot.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/SteveBennySSHare.jpg)
We saw a few moose that would come to our lake and feed on the aquatic vegetation as it was a very shallow lake but only the one bull (three times) ever came in to our calls. On the second to last day the same bull came into Benny's call and was about twelve feet away from me on the backside of a cluster of black spruce trees and in between the two of us. We both came so close to getting a shot, or trampled, but that bull had a charmed life around us!
This hunt ended with not much hurrah. As we awaited our plane we picked five, quart bags of lingonberries and I have them soaking in rum now which makes a tasty liquor. We had an early morning drive back to Haines to catch the ferry and saw a hundred or so Dall sheep ewes and a mountain grizzly on the side of the road in the Yukon.
Two days later we mailed Benny back to dental school in Portland and I was back to work but instead of dreaming of the once-in-ten-lifetimes brown bear tag that I had drawn and my upcoming trip to Unimak Island, I was confronted with the harsh reality that my lady friend Donnie had just been diagnosed with the blood cancer, Multiple Myeloma.
Great hunting stories and well-told, Steve! My prayers for a healthy resolution for Donnie.
Steve, sorry to here about Donnie. Prayers sent. Dale is a loner by nature. Don't see or here much from him. He lives in a pretty remote part of the state and goes about his business. I should give him a call sometime. Chad
Thanks for the story. I hope and will pray that all goes well for Donnie. Can't wait for the next installment.
Thanks guys.
I think the next installment will be broken into two portions as their is a "natural" breaking spot. My intention is to add Part 4A tomorrow early morning (or late night tonight) Alaska time.
I may also have a small, fifth section from Luke "The Ursus" and Woodruff and my longbow duck hunt.
awesome, just awesome. The stuff dreams are made of. Can't wait to get back at them moose now myself...
From a melanoma surviver(so far), all my best to Donnie. Encourage her to stay strong, its not that uncommon to beat these insidious things nowadays. A srong mind, spirit and supportive friends can go a long way. - eric
Steve - My best to Donnie. Tough situation.
Like the stories and the pic's. Keep them coming. Hopefully heading out tomorrow for caribou (a bit smaller then that wopper that you tagged!) if the temps aren't too low (they are 27 below now). I'll probably go if its not below 35 when I plan to leave. Got a cold valley up the taylor that I plan to hunt. Will also do a bit of calling for fur (my #1 passion that I can do myself) Oh and Don't forget the drawing deadline!
- John
Steve,
Did I ever give you a taste of Dawns lingonberry-bananna Jam? man oh man!!!
Hey Dan - I love them berries! You outta ship some to all of us here on the forum!
Spent the last few days on snowshoes (snow was really deep) running a walkline with the grandsons. tried taking my bow for squirrel & rabbits but had to dump it in the snow (storage - snow don't hurt it when its chilly out) as I had to cut a bunch of martin & squirrel poles and toting it became a pain. Only loosed 10 arrows!! all weekend!!
This is a great thread,thanks steve!!
my best to Donnie.
PART 4: UNIMAK ISLAND BROWN BEAR HUNT
Donnie insisted that I go on this bear hunt as nothing would happen within the two weeks I would be away and my buddy Charlie Rock from St. Louis was packed and ready to travel up North. I knew that if I didn't go it would upset Donnie so I agreed to go and make the best of the trip.
Charlie and I met up in Anchorage and flew to Cold Bay on the 28th of September and were flown into the bush the following day by super cub which was two days before the season started. I saw five or six bears on my flight in to a place called Winding Creek. When Charlie arrived we did our best to brace our camp for what is now the windiest place that I have ever been. We set up our 4-man Cabela's Outfitter tent with vestibule and a tarp for a cook area. Here is chief cook, handyman, and bearer of the .375, and one heck of a great buddy Charlie at our cook tent.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/CookTentCharlie.jpg)
We located the best vantage points and glassed, glassed, and glassed but didn't see much after the season opened except a sow and two cubs and one lone bear that we stalked to within 100 yards. The bear crossed our path and went on alert and headed out. There weren't really any salmon left in the streams like we anticipated and were told would be there so the bear sightings were pretty lean and were dictated by when one would happen through the area while feeding on berries.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/UI_BrownBear.jpg)
We agreed with our pilot that we would call on about the fifth or sixth day if our area wasn't producing so we called and arranged to be moved. That evening we saw another lone bear about an hour away and hour before dark but didn't relocate the bear the following morning.
I was moved first and we saw three wolves on our flight. I had to hold the wing strut of the plane down while the pilot unloaded my gear so the plane wouldn't get flipped over it was so windy and did the same when Charlie's flight came in.
The second camp was along the coast near a lagoon. We had to wait a couple hours for the wind and rain to calm down enough to set up our second camp and while we did so a lone bear came on the other side off the mouth of the lagoon, and swam out into the surf and bobbed for fish. I'm telling you this was Jeff Spicoli, "Surfs-Up Dude" kinda surf, big looking stuff to this land-lover; I'm guessing 15 foot breakers!
We set up our tent using gray whale vertebrae as tent hold downs and driftwood for our cook lean-to and for seats. We could glass a large area from a hill just outside of camp and we soon located what turned out to be a large sow and cub.
One afternoon Charlie and I hunted along the coast to see if a bear might be looking for something to eat that has washed on shore. Here is a photo of yours truly after the surf had calmed down.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/SurferBowhunting.jpg)
The beach combing was fantastic. We found more whale bones including the whale rib that I'm leaning on in this photo, more vertebrae, and even a skull that I estimate would weigh over 300 pounds.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/SteveWithWhaleRib.jpg)
We also found numerous fishing floats that broke free including a dozen small glass floats from the oriental fleets of yesteryear. I stalked to within yards of a red fox but couldn't pull off getting the close range shot. We didn't see any bears.
In the succeeding days we ventured up to the lake's inlet and found the last of the semi-living silver salmon and remnants of many that had been devoured earlier in the run.
We started back for camp in the rain and WHAM! There it was. There was a bear, only yards ahead in the long-grass. We backed up to re-group and then slowly moved in to mere yards of the boar. I was so close I could see the rain drops on his coat, claws on his paws, and the whites in his eyes.
To be Continued.....
Steve,
You can't be pulling this kind of stuff with us. Awesome story! You have me at the edge of my seat!
When your story telling is all said and done, I need to ask you some questions about this hunt. I've been putting in for Unimak Island and hope to hunt it in the future. I can't wait for the rest of the story.
Chuck
Steve, Great stuff...you're living a dream bud!!
OH OH OH, don't stop THERE!!! Jeez man. Now I'm gonna spend all day checkin back.
Those are awesome. Your living the dream of many people! Myself included.
Definately living a dream... my dream :) Awesome stuff, can't wait to read the next installment :thumbsup:
Kevin.
The fiction, hunt re-caps, antics, and pictures on this website are phenominal. I LOVE IT!
Thanks much for taking the time to share with us this incredible journey.
Hey Steve,
Great stories and pic's.
You've been busy.
Prayers for you and Donnie.
And thanks for breakfast.
Give me a call if you get back into town.
Bill
When I get fired for not working, I'm blameing Trad-Gang.
Great Story.
Hellooooo... anybody there???? I'm more than ready to kill a bear here!!!
Holy Shite!!! Come on!!!
Pretty damn cool! I didn't get this story when we talked?
I guess you were to busy thinking about all those fantastic Alaskan women!
Chad,
Don't feel bad neither did I, heck I can't even finagle AKbow #1000005 and Benny's got one ugg. So much for sheep partners eh haha.
The bear that had killed him must have been a brute. We stopped and looked over the fresh carcass and pondered its death before retreating back to camp.
The bear hunting continued to not live up to the islands reputation as our time ticked away. Towards the end of our stay it sunk in that we were camped on a historic campsite. We started noticing that there were more artifacts strewn about on the ground than the broken oil lamp that I had found on the first day.
We found dozens of stone weights used with fishing nets, basalt shards that were pressure flaked, bones that were worked into tools, and then the discovery that made all of the others pale; a mass human grave site with skulls, lower mandibles, femurs, etc. eroding from the cut bank from one small location. I photographed the site and filed a report with the USFWS upon my return.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/UI_MassGrave.jpg)
On the last evening a fox offered the close-range shot with a volcano as a beautiful backdrop and capped off our visit to this most windy isle.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/UnimakIslandFox_100905.jpg)
THE END......
man, remind me just to wait for the website stories, like Chad my experience varied ;) !
Good stuff maynerd, good pics too boot!
WOW, what a season. Thanks alot and hope it all works out for your lady friend.
Thanks for sharing Steve...
Thank you so much for sharing.
jeez, exotic location, dangerous game, ancient camp sites, human remains, beats all hell out of any National Geographic episode I ever saw. Great stuff Steve.
Wait a minute... I got lost. What happened to "I was so close I could see the rain drops on his coat, claws on his paws, and the whites in his eyes?"
How come we didn't get to kill no bear???? :readit:
Steve, this has been a wonderful read! I admire you, Benny, and Charlie for your efforts. Thanks for taking me places I will likely never physically go to.
I hope the USFS will report back to you with their findings about the mass grave site. Would love to know what this was about.
Praying for the best for Donnie.
Al
tm,
Cause the bear was already dead! I would have liked to have been the one to have killed that bear but another bear beat me to it. When I spotted it we didn't, at that time, KNOW it was dead. It was actually quite creepy slipping in on it because it wasn't "acting right". I have been within 20 yards of probably half a dozen brownies looking for that perfect shot so it wasn't just because it was the first.
Al33,
US Fish and Wildlife Service is USFWS. Actually, archeological sites are protected and information on their location is not releasable under FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) so I do not anticipate hearing anything from them.
WOW! Great read Steve, Thanks.
And for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of tasting AkDan's wife's jam, it's to die for!
:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
Awesome story, Steve...you live my dreams!
Sorry about that Steve... I went back and reread the post and now I see where I missed the boat! I was just looking forward to killing a bear right along side of you... I have enjoyed the stories.
Steve,
I don't know why I didn't thinkn of this before hand about the USFWS but I do have some friends up here that work for them. She might be able to get you info if you don't get it...let me know.
Thanks for sharing those great adventures and photos!
Now take care of Donnie; we will pray for her.
Yep up there havin all that fun while us poor suckers are down here with nothin to do :D Enjoyed it all, good job story telling and picture taking. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Very enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing it with us.
man thats livin'
thanks for sharing it!
Great stories, sounds like y'all had some great trips. All the best for Donnie.
We did a clam hunt with traditional shovels tonight.
ttt for the sleapy heads who missed this.
Thanks Steve,
Great story once again. Thanks for taking so many of us along for the ride. Just from the responses here I am sure you know never to take the opportunities you have been afforded for granted. Youare living a lot of our dreams. Hope to share some Alaska soil with you someday when I make my dreams a reality.
Continued prayers for Donnie.
Jim Coffey