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Hunting & Fishing Alaska Article Comment thread with more images.

Lowlight

HMFIC of this Shit
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Minuteman
  • Apr 12, 2001
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    Base of the Rockies
    www.snipershide.com
    The article is not letting you comment so I will put it here

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    I have been to Alaska twice.. pics will never do it justice. I see the sky in the pics and I am reminded . I have seen Denali on coverd.. what a place go just go.
     
    ever try and do a little gold panning while there ?
     
    Frank,

    Thank you for taking the time to post this, awesome read.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: RMB
    Glad you had an awesome adventure! I've fished Alaska, but never hunted. Maybe one day!
     
    Beautiful and unforgiving country. We lost the better part of 3 caribou in 04 while hunting on the tundra. Wolves or bear got what we didn’t pack out on the first trip. Looks like a fun trip.
     
    Frank,

    Thanks for sharing. That looks like an awesome adventure!

    Being in the wild, floating a river, seeing wildlife, camping, or even a cold Saturday morning sit in a tree stand close to home is good for the soul.
    That trip is something you will always remember. Karin is a really cool gal too.

    I look forward to a podcast or 2 about the trip. Try to get Karin on.

    MBanning
     
    Co-worker just went on a caribou hunt up there above the Arctic circle.

    Plane dropped him and his Army buddy off by a river and they hiked across the tundra to set up camp.

    While doing so he spied a caribou on a ridge and began the stalk.

    He said it was the most fucked up thing walking across Tundra as its broken, disturbed or "tussock-ed" like walking on bowling balls. Everything took extra time.

    Within an hour he tagged out his caribou and spent the next six days rotating the meat and trying to keep it viable.

    His buddy got skunked. They said when the sun came through the clouds enough to raise temps, they were under 24 hour light, the Mosquitos were like kamikaze's. They just dont fly around and "alight" on your skin. They dive bomb into your face and and being totally covered to avoid their bites it sounded like rain pelting off their gear.

    Only movie they had to watch was "Broke Back Mountain" by my guess. Had that have happened to you at least it wasnt a Marine Battle Buddy you were stuck with.
     
    Excellent!
    I was with you guys every minute as I read your adventures!

    I spent 5 days in the bush by my self in the early 90's and it's every bit what you wrote.
    There is life and death and adventure around every turn up there!

    Very cleansing for the soul
     
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    Reactions: rope
    Great story and an experience of a lifetime. If that won’t clear your head nothing will !
     
    Very nice, Frank. Sounds like an wonderful time and once in a lifetime trip.

    Thanks for the article and the pics.
     
    Solid read Frank.

    Sounds like a perfect vacation/hunt to me!

    A shower and a pizza from Mtn High Pizza Pie in Talkeetna after would perfect it for me.
    My old buddy Todd owns that place, we worked together back in 01-02 there in town.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: rope
    Moose’s Tooth is great!
    taking my kid there for pizza next summer when we head up fishing.

    Glacier Brewhouse downtown used to have one of my favorite oatmeal stouts if you enjoy a good beer.
    They used to make a special Pick Axe Pale Ale that was 9% and pretty good too.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: rope
    Co-worker just went on a caribou hunt up there above the Arctic circle.

    Plane dropped him and his Army buddy off by a river and they hiked across the tundra to set up camp.

    While doing so he spied a caribou on a ridge and began the stalk.

    He said it was the most fucked up thing walking across Tundra as its broken, disturbed or "tussock-ed" like walking on bowling balls. Everything took extra time.

    Within an hour he tagged out his caribou and spent the next six days rotating the meat and trying to keep it viable.

    His buddy got skunked. They said when the sun came through the clouds enough to raise temps, they were under 24 hour light, the Mosquitos were like kamikaze's. They just dont fly around and "alight" on your skin. They dive bomb into your face and and being totally covered to avoid their bites it sounded like rain pelting off their gear.

    Only movie they had to watch was "Broke Back Mountain" by my guess. Had that have happened to you at least it wasnt a Marine Battle Buddy you were stuck with.
    We drove up from anchorage and walked out 5 miles. We stopped about 50 miles south of prudhoe bay. We spent 7 days up there in the tundra. The ground is called “hippy head” grass if I remember correctly. It is tough to walk on for sure. Stalking animals in it takes forever. We all 3 got a caribou by the end of our trip and had a great time. Long walks to get all the stuff back to the truck after we were done though. It took us two trips so, all in all we walked over 25 miles including actually hunting. For me it was probably a once in a lifetime experience. Had we not just come home from Afghanistan and had some time over there to plan out the trip, we probably would not have done it.
     
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    We drove up from anchorage and walked out 5 miles. We stopped about 50 miles south of prudhoe bay. We spent 7 days up there in the tundra. The ground is called “hippy head” grass if I remember correctly. It is tough to walk on for sure. Stalking animals in it takes forever. We all 3 got a caribou by the end of our trip and had a great time. Long walks to get all the stuff back to the truck after we were done though. It took us two trips so, all in all we walked over 25 miles including actually hunting. For me it was probably a once in a lifetime experience. Had we not just come home from Afghanistan and had some time over there to plan out the trip, we probably would not have done it.
    Great reply. Thanks for sharing. Good to see some people still adventure.
     
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    Reactions: roostercogburn98
    I am about half way through it… and so far all I can say is brilliant.

    I’ll finish tonite. Thanks for writing up. Now I am more determined than ever to motorcycle Alaska!!!

    Cheers. Sirhr

    You should certainly do it, I did it with a couple friends five years ago. Had a great time, three weeks from Central Calif to Alaska and back.
     
    That’s awesome Frank, glad you finally got a break to enjoy some Alaskan shit up here! Chasing dinosaurs, grumpy bear encounter and all.

    I like your comments on weapon systems and the bush here. One thing I’ve been wanting to talk about with you is; precision oriented vs packable system or long gun vs carbine, and what the balance is. It’ll change per hunter, per hunt, but it would be an interesting discussion.

    Bryson
     
    That’s awesome Frank, glad you finally got a break to enjoy some Alaskan shit up here! Chasing dinosaurs, grumpy bear encounter and all.

    I like your comments on weapon systems and the bush here. One thing I’ve been wanting to talk about with you is; precision oriented vs packable system or long gun vs carbine, and what the balance is. It’ll change per hunter, per hunt, but it would be an interesting discussion.

    Bryson


    Ten or so years ago on here someone posted a story about a hiker in AK that was out doing his hike in Bear country and his firearm of choice was an AK.

    He ended up having a big Brown or Cinnamon or some other mean ass bear charge him and he killed it with the AK.

    A debate ensued regards the choice of bear protection.

    Neat thing was the shooter ended up joining the conversation and had pictures pictures dressing out this big bastard bear.

    Some continued to give him shit for some reason.

    My opinion was "Well doen, well done. You have the Bears skin not the other way around"
     
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    Reactions: BJames
    That’s not the only story along those lines. Charging bears have been 1 shot stopped with 9mm’s, more than once, don’t recommend it but it’s been done.

    What I was more wanting to explore isn’t necessarily the bear thing, but weight/length/balance, day hunts from camp/boat/wheeler vs living out of a backpack for a week or 2, type of terrain, etc.. Needing both a long gun and a carbine but only have enough energy to carry one. I also don’t carry a side arm if I have a long gun. Stuff along those lines
     
    • Like
    Reactions: rope
    thinking about the trip prior to all the details or showing up, I was considering a Semi auto 308. The Parks guys up here carry Rock River 308s, and in my mind a 16” - 18” 308 shooting 185s would be perfect for higher volume.

    The 10mm with dangerous game loads is a proven killer, no drama there. In fact I pretty sure Karin’s April Moose kill was with that, about 40 yards out, put him down pretty quickly and removed the threat.

    I honestly think a 300PRC style caliber is plenty but you really only need 22” for a barrel especially if you run a Proof. The pencil thin barrels while accurate heat up too fast to get good with. You need a lot of discipline to limit your round count in order not to heat it up. think the opportunities that a set up like this opens up is far better.

    you definitely have to look at your terrain, how open it might be, the threats in the area, bears, your intended game, Caribou vs Moose, etc, as a Caribou can be taken with a 6.5 even a creedmor.

    As I noted in Jacob’s podcast, I think the closest percentage wise to a one cailber solution we have is the 6.5PRC. That caliber will take any game, you need a bit more speed for Moose, you want about 3k fps, but I would suspect 2950fps would be fine. (Haven’t run the numbers). But a 300PRC is definitely an Alaskan Caliber and will take anything. I think this idea we need 8LBS rifles vs say a 12LBS one is nuts. If you are quibbling about 4LBS when you consider what you can do with it, you have no clue and need to get stronger. Even as small as I am, I have no issue moving around with a little heavier set up. It’s part of it.

    The 1800s Carbine is past it’s prime unless you are hunting bigger game in thick, really thick, brush. I want options and I can easily snap shot a different caliber. The Lever action needs to be paired with a Red Dot and not much else, beyond maybe a 1x- X. Either 6x or 8x for identification when you get the drop on something.

    Also for backcountry hunts, especially when you have a options, you want a suppressed .22… we certainly had the ability to hunt and eat grouse. Other stuff too, a suppressed .22 would be a nice addition.

    It’s really no different than picking your clothes to wear. I put more thought into my dress than my firearms, and it Mattered. The weather was a mix of warm and cold, with the potential to get wet in the river or have it rain constantly on us. We watched the snow decent from the mountain tops to the base by the end of the Week. The 10mm was plenty to be honest, nothing will keep marching towards me if i start pumping solids into your head.

    Being comfortable is super important if you ask me, keeps the mind clear and attitude positive, so we’ll focus on our clothes then say, give me a big gun regardless of it’s actual capabilities. The gun choices needs-to be more dynamic.

    She did her homework with regards to her Browning. That was the most common advice she received, why because people think success is measured by the pound. If you go out and regardless of the story you get something you are considered the guy to ask. Heck the woods are full of animals, success is really about location. But now let’s talk identification and Angles. I need to identify the right combination of details, Antler size, tines, etc, but at the same time I want to increase my possibilities by reaching out further. I saw a lot of stuff around the 350 - 450 Yard mark and honestly none of them have any real clue I am there. At 225 the Moose saw me when I went to retrieve my camera, but at 450 when I had a Cow across the river she had no clue and didn’t care. Same with the bison, at 100 yards they stare you down, at 300 they can careless. I even see it on my range with the Antelope, they will hang out around 500 or more yards away, but inside 300 they run. We can be shooting and they will wait for us at 500. Even on the range in AK, Moose cross beyond 600 yards all the time. They just lumber across the range without a care in the world.

    Look at the weapon system like we look at our clothes, to me that the bet comparison.
     
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    Frank, really awesome threads and podcast with Jacob. I was on my way to to the range to meet up with Mike Casselton for a great morning of shooting when I stumbled on the podcast. Had extreme difficulty to leave my vehicle when arriving at the range, you just started talking about the 2 grizzly’s coming at you….stuff to feed my dreams for sure! Thank you for doing this, Torsten
     
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    Greg and I were in your first Alaskan PR1 pretty sure he came to PR2 also. We both had GAP’s in the 6.5 saum, we have accounted for 14 or 15 moose between us plus grizzlies and caribou. Greg uses 140 Bergers (I believe), I use 127 LRX. My 24” launches them at 3222 fps and 22” is 3030 fps (less then 50 rounds). You are correct with the 6.5 killing like Thirs hammer.

    Glad to see you on a adventure, was a cool trip and I really enjoyed hearing about it. If you want to do moose or caribou using a side by side Marc knows how to get in touch with me.
     
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    Reactions: Schütze
    All I could think about while reading this was how to get a trip like this together for my 12y/o son and I to go on. This sounds awesome.

    T
     
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    Reactions: rope and Schütze
    Really interesting perspective from a non-hunter rifleman. I went to AK in 2002 and have always wanted to go back, but alas, life gets in the way. Glad you enjoyed yourself and got to see one of the last best places on the planet.
     
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    I used to work with a guy who also guided sheep hunts in the Brooks Range. I asked him what he thought was a good sheep cartridge, he said hell, a 243 will kill a sheep, but you're hunting in bear country so I carry a 338 Win Mag.
     
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    Reactions: rope
    Rifle with scope is 6.5 SAUM, Mac Bros EVO Ti, 22” Bartlien carbon fiber wrapped, TT primary, Manners 6a, APA DBM. Just back from the FFL retrieving a version of what @lowlight suggested for Alaska. A 300 Win Mag 1-10.0, GA Precision Templer, Bartlien 22” carbon fiber wrapped, Manners 6A, APA DBM, TT primary. I choose the 300 Win Mag for Alaska because of being able to find ammo (when it’s available) compared to other calibers.
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