Expensive Hunts

[35 Whelen]

Jamila.
You know by the time I arrived in Alaska(1979) the Polar Bear days were over (1972). But about everyone I flew for in the
Early days had been out on the ice and done it ............
I have been around them abit, as when we used to Sheep Hunt every fall , on the North side of the Brooks Range, our hunters used to arrive into Deadhorse
For me to pick them up. But I also flew in and out of Kaktovik some (Barter Island) and Polar Bears are frequently down the beach just east of there. It certainly would have been very simple back in the" same day airborne" Days to have harvested one. The big danger was the weather, there are some pretty wild stories about flying back from the Russian coast in ice fog.whiteouts, wicked winds etc......... I am sure I would have enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, however all those hunts were usually done with two airplanes one flew low and did the tracking, the other plane stayed high, and just kept a watchful eye on the tracker, he had the hunter onboard. When the bear was located the tracker usually went ahead of the bear and found a place for the other plane to land. Trying to ambush the bear. Although it is not commonly know or discussed if things didnt work out as planed, it was then the trackers job to jump back in the air, and " herd the bear" back past the hunter ........... You wont hear this discussed much nowadays, but at one time it was called Fair Chase minus the F in fair........
When the infamous Ron Hayes ( one of the best) was finally apprehended part of the plea bargin to get out was
He had to show the Alaska Dept of Fish n Game exactly how to herd a bear with a Super Cub...... An art some had perfected. When we were partying in Anchorage the pilots that were part of this group ,would often refer to their skills as being able to " run one right thru the tent door"
Or commonly the case; the hunter would miss the bear on the first pass, and you would simply turn him around and run him past again!!!! Maybe I will expound on that some in the book..........
As for ever hunting higher Altai now, I dont know, the urge is still there but probably would prefer to go with a good friend for the memorys...........and alot of my old hunting cronies are not physically able or financially capable to go
So not sure if I will ever make it or not!!!! Sure would be a heck of an adventure!!!

 

[Africa Huntress]

Thanks Earle, that is interesting, at least to me.

My great, great grandfather ( whom I did not meet ) and my great grandfather, and grandfather, amazed a large amount of hectares. Large enough that we had both plains game and dangerous game on the property. I mentioned that to you, so you would understand the following.

My great grandfather ( with help from my father, mother and grandfather ) would arrange to take my sisters and I out at night into different parts of the property. They prepared a camp when we arrived and then it was up to one of us girls ( myself or one of my sisters ) to hunt dinner for us all. While dinner was being prepared, my great grandfather would ask each of us, what animal was making a particular sound. He would also tell us hunting stories from the past and we all enjoyed them so much. He passed a while back, but those nights are still very much alive and well in my mind. We learned so much. I wonder if more young people spent more time in the wild instead of in the mall, if the world might not be a little better for it.

I know most here will think my post to Earle is just girlish ramblings and maybe you are right, but they were important to me and I wanted to share them with Earle, perhaps I should have pm'd my thoughts to him. To those who I have offended, my apologizes, but I dont feel like deleting this and retyping it in a pm to Earle

Best Regards,

Jamila

oh Earle, btw, the sounds of an Africa night is still music to my ears, well except for an Africa thunderstorm. Although they come and go quickly they can be brutal, loud and dangerous. One must always think about them, before deciding where to set up camp for the night

 

[Blkram]

Jamila,

You are not alone in fondly remembering being taught life in the outdoors as a child or teenager. Some great memories being out in the bush, both around the campfire and back away from it where the sight and sound was not covered by that of the fire, or those around it, while listening to night sounds and being able to identify which was what.


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[35 Whelen]

That is a fantastic post Jamila! I enjoyed that immensely! I love it one of you girls had to shoot super. Thats pretty darn cool. I could not agree more with you on the kids of today and hanging around the malls...... I have a nephew that has degree from Boston University. He could not tie a simple overhand knot for me one nite i had him help me securing
The airplane just before a storm hit........ I was dumb founded when I checked his work and relized he knows nothing of knots..... Nothing at all. I have come to realize that also includes, building fires in the rain, what it means when smokes comes to the ground ,or owls hooting at mid day. He would have zero concept what the leaves where trying to tell him,when they show their backside, he would be lost on how to boil coffee over an open fire ;without having it foam up, and out over the sides putting his fire out.... How to load a canoe to travel upstream vs downstream, I doubt he would know how to locate Polaris at nite, or how it could help him. I would certainly bet my life he would not know how to find out where the sun is on an overcast day with only your knife blade.....
He would have no idea how pack a bearhide, or get it and his hunter safely off the mountain and back to the tent if a
Fast moving storm over took them......
In todays world of baggy pants hanging down to the crack of ones a*s and your hat round backwards those are not things they teach down at the malls. They learn important stuff like who has best deal on Crack , where to "hang with the cool dudes" and what is a reasonable payment for my parents to expect to pay on my "Beamer"
So in closing, if you sounded girlish or rambling I for one sure as hell like that !!!.

Ps. Of the hundreds of fond memorys I have tucked away
One that always sticks with me is , the smell of woodsmoke, mixed with the sound of crackling wood that has created it, being tempered by rain softly druming, on the roof of an old canvas tent............. And just about as your starting to fall off to sleep, those sounds are broken by the howl of a distant timber wolf, out on the ridge, calling to his pack.
For those that do not know these things and feel the measure of a man is the vehicle he drives or the size of his swimming pool , I am very sorry for him

 

[Vince]

Jamila,

I too think your post are fantastic. One day I'd like to get over to Africa to hear the sounds of the African night and shoot, even if only with a camera, the varied wildlife of the Dark Continent.

Vince


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[SJB358]

That is a fantastic post Jamila! I enjoyed that immensely! I love it one of you girls had to shoot super. Thats pretty darn cool. I could not agree more with you on the kids of today and hanging around the malls...... I have a nephew that has degree from Boston University. He could not tie a simple overhand knot for me one nite i had him help me securing
The airplane just before a storm hit........ I was dumb founded when I checked his work and relized he knows nothing of knots..... Nothing at all. I have come to realize that also includes, building fires in the rain, what it means when smokes comes to the ground ,or owls hooting at mid day. He would have zero concept what the leaves where trying to tell him,when they show their backside, he would be lost on how to boil coffee over an open fire ;without having it foam up, and out over the sides putting his fire out.... How to load a canoe to travel upstream vs downstream, I doubt he would know how to locate Polaris at nite, or how it could help him. I would certainly bet my life he would not know how to find out where the sun is on an overcast day with only your knife blade.....
He would have no idea how pack a bearhide, or get it and his hunter safely off the mountain and back to the tent if a
Fast moving storm over took them......
In todays world of baggy pants hanging down to the crack of ones a*s and your hat round backwards those are not things they teach down at the malls. They learn important stuff like who has best deal on Crack , where to "hang with the cool dudes" and what is a reasonable payment for my parents to expect to pay on my "Beamer"
So in closing, if you sounded girlish or rambling I for one sure as hell like that !!!.

Ps. Of the hundreds of fond memorys I have tucked away
One that always sticks with me is , the smell of woodsmoke, mixed with the sound of crackling wood that has created it, being tempered by rain softly druming, on the roof of an old canvas tent............. And just about as your starting to fall off to sleep, those sounds are broken by the howl of a distant timber wolf, out on the ridge, calling to his pack.
For those that do not know these things and feel the measure of a man is the vehicle he drives or the size of his swimming pool , I am very sorry for him

Great write up buddy. I really dig that.

 

[pre6422hornet]

This has been a great way to start my Monday by reading all of these. Being the first "hunter" in my immediate family I can only hope my girls will one day sit around and recall memories of dad (me) teaching them the outdoors.

 

[pre6422hornet]

And to give my 2 cents.

Back when I was in my mid 20's all I wanted to do was hunt grizzlies. Over time that has faded a bit and if I was now asked that question of " what is your dream hunt?".

1. I think Alaska Yukon Moose with a little snow on the ground. Me, a lone bull track, and my .348.
2. New Zealand. Beautiful country ( from what I have seen in pics). Red Stag.

 

[Thankful Otter]

Pat, excellent choice of weapons for your moose hunt and I hope you find your way to your dream hunt very soon.

Earle, Jamila,----Gil and I were taught at an early age that we are PART of nature and have a responsibility to it, we are not separate from it or superior to it. I can not remember when I was not being taught about living, sometimes surviving in the mountains, on the water and/or ice.

Earle, when I read your comment about canoe's , I said to myself, "or how to build them" When time permits we still teach young boys and girls all the things you mentioned plus things like building a canoe, how to trap, how to read the weather, etc etc etc.

Jerry ( Jamila's father ) had four daughters, Pat ( pre6222hornet ) I think also has four daughters and Tom ( tddeangelo) has three daughters. and it might be unrealistic to believe every one of them will chose hunting and shooting and the outdoors, as I did. I just want to mention that whatever they choose even if it is ballet, you need to attend as many practices, recitals, performances, as possible. Support them, love them, spend time with them, even if it is in a ballet theatre. You wont regret it. Obviously this is true for sons as well. I will never forget a picture of one of Pat.s daughter,s, when she was very young shooting from their living room window with a toy rifle

I might also mention that those men who have that much estrogen in their home must occasionally take some kind of medication in order to stay sane LOL

 

[35 Whelen]

Good point Cheyenne,
Since I am right in the center of canoe building country, what you and I take for granted, is a mystery to most folks,
How to bend a cedar rib, or how to taper a white Oak strip for a stem or keel, or even rebating an outside gun whale
That is now only for a few still interested.............
Sawing out a pattern for a paddle from a piece of good straight grained white ash, So you could work the blade down with just a plane, and working the shaft with a crooked knife and spoke shave; isn't likely discussed down at the malls.............
Pounding out a brown ash, to get strips to weave a pack basket????? How to bend the frames for a set of snowshoes? So they won't split on the tips when they dry out?? Or even the simplest things from not long ago.... Who would still know how to get a set of 56" boot laces from a. piece of leather 1/8' thick but only one foot square.....
Could they cut across a lake in the fog with no compass, simply using the bubbles from the stern to stay straight.
Would they know what time the moon will rise tonite and where? All these things we take for granted, when you are brought up in the woods .Are all things now lost to most folks, from places where they have never even seen an outhouse..........


.

 

[truck driver]

Thanks Earle, Cheyenne, Jamilia and Gil for bringing back forgot memories. I can relate to some of what you say but not all since I never had the opportunity to learn being the youngest of a large family and Dad was always looking for ways to put food on the table or working most of the time .When he did allow me to follow him hunting and fishing I learned my lessons well and by the time I was 10 I could do more than some of my brothers and provide meat for the table hunting and fishing. My Mom taught me how to skin my first squirrel and dress my first rabbit and she only showed me once which is all it took. My play ground was the woods and fields around my home and I could travel for miles undisturbed by anyone back in the 1960s. There was no malls and you had to walk 6 miles to get to town to see a movie on Saturday mourning.
How I miss those days gone by. Now you have to struggle to find some place to hunt since most farms have been developed for housing, but I can still fish where I please to a point.

 

[Vince]

Pat, excellent choice of weapons for your moose hunt and I hope you find your way to your dream hunt very soon.

Earle, Jamila,----Gil and I were taught at an early age that we are PART of nature and have a responsibility to it, we are not separate from it or superior to it. I can not remember when I was not being taught about living, sometimes surviving in the mountains, on the water and/or ice.

Earle, when I read your comment about canoe's , I said to myself, "or how to build them" When time permits we still teach young boys and girls all the things you mentioned plus things like building a canoe, how to trap, how to read the weather, etc etc etc.

Jerry ( Jamila's father ) had four daughters, Pat ( pre6222hornet ) I think also has four daughters and Tom ( tddeangelo) has three daughters. and it might be unrealistic to believe every one of them will chose hunting and shooting and the outdoors, as I did. I just want to mention that whatever they choose even if it is ballet, you need to attend as many practices, recitals, performances, as possible. Support them, love them, spend time with them, even if it is in a ballet theatre. You wont regret it. Obviously this is true for sons as well. I will never forget a picture of one of Pat.s daughter,s, when she was very young shooting from their living room window with a toy rifle

I might also mention that those men who have that much estrogen in their home must occasionally take some kind of medication in order to stay sane LOL

THIS ^^^^^^


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[Blkram]

While it was Grandpa that taught me to shoot and clean a rifle, it was Grandma that taught me to hunt and clean rabbits and grouse in the field, and to butcher chickens, turkeys and beef on the family farm. And it was Mom who taught me how fish, clean and cook them on a stick over a fire beside the lake or stream. My summers were spent picking berries for jams, jellies, syrup, pies and eating throughout the long winters. I'll never forget Grandma's freezer jam on fresh out of the oven homemade bread, buns or bannock (very similar to the soda biscuits that are being discussed in another thread right now)!

Other great memories are of me and our Norwegian Elkhound wading local creeks all day, finding new fishing holes and coming home at the end of the day with a bunch of rainbows on a stick. Never carried a rifle as a kid, as I wasn't 10 yet, but never had the need with our dog Elsa along, as she took care of any bears that came too close.

My favourite memories in the bush are sitting between the fire and the lake as the stars come out, listening to the crackle of the fire behind me, the water lapping on the shore, fish jumping, and the sounds of the loons calling on the lake.