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ALASKA

SPORTING JOURNAL

Volume 8 • Issue 9 www.aksportingjournal.com PUBLISHER James R. Baker ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Dick Openshaw GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Walgamott EDITOR Chris Cocoles ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tom Reale

WRITERS Paul D. Atkins, Carl Battreall, Bjorn Dihle, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Randy King, Jeff Lund, Michael Lunde, Bixler McClure, Krystin McClure, Dennis Musgraves SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Steve Joseph, Garn Kennedy, Aaron Lund, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold PRODUCTION MANAGER Sonjia Kells DESIGNERS Michelle Hatcher, Sam Rockwell, Liz Weickum WEB DEVELOPMENT/INBOUND MARKETING Jon Hines DIGITAL ASSISTANT Samantha Morstan PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Kelly Baker CIRCULATION MANAGER Heidi Belew DISTRIBUTION Tony Sorrentino, Gary Bickford OFFICE MANAGER/ACCOUNTS Audra Higgins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Katie Sauro INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn ADVERTISING INQUIRIES media@media-inc.com ON THE COVER Whether your passion is salmon, trout or halibut, fly casting in small streams or trolling the open ocean, Alaska’s diverse waterways allow many options to plan a dream fishing vacation. (SCOTT HAUGEN) MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP WASHINGTON OFFICE 14240 Interurban Ave South • Suite 190 Tukwila, WA 98168 (206) 382-9220 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com • www.media-inc.com OREGON OFFICE 8116 SW Durham Rd • Tigard, OR 97224 CORRESPONDENCE Twitter @AKSportJourn Facebook.com/alaskasportingjournal Email ccocoles@media-inc.com

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 9

37 HOME ON

THE RANGE

Lower 48 transplant and nature photographer Carl Battreall found his happy place in the majestic terrain of the Alaska Range. His work can be seen in his new book, Alaska Range: Exploring the Last Great Wild, highlighted by some spectacular photos of wildlife, like this grizzly bear cub. As Battreall writes in a book excerpt this issue, “Although sometimes these brushes have been a little too exciting, I would not trade them for an experience void of wildlife.” Join him on a photo safari to save Alaska’s wild heart. (CARL BATTREALL)

FEATURES 20

CHOPPER TO THE RESCUE When new pilot Ryan Skorecki left Colorado to live in Girdwood, Alaska, he envisioned himself making a living as a bush pilot in The Last Frontier, but he eventually fell in love with flying his chopper on heli-skiing excursions. These days, Skorecki has gone abroad to fly in Antarctica and now Nepal, where he’s a search-and-rescue pilot at the Mount Everest Base Camp and one of the subjects of a new Discovery Channel series, Everest Rescue.

harvesting their own cuts of moose, caribou and smaller game. Join Atkins as he refills his freezer the natural way – and one that’s a whole lot more exciting than taking a number at the butcher shop!

149 HAVE SNOWMACHINE – WILL HUNT In the kind of bone-chilling temps only adventurous Alaskans can appreciate, Krystin and Bixler McClure fire up their snowmachines and head out along the unplowed Denali Highway in search of ptarmigan.

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BUSINESS-TRIP ’BOWS When a day unexpectedly opens up for him during a business trip to Alaska, Randy King indulges in a trout angler’s dream trip on the Kenai River, famous for its huge rainbows. Teamed up with a guide and a fly rod, King hits the turquoise waters of the Kenai in search of his bucket list-sized trout.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 87 Interior northern pike tip-up tips 101 Choosing winter jig types 123 Coping with the dark: Surviving winter’s long night 162 The wolf and the fawn

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FEEDING THE FREEZER (AND FAMILY) Yes, there are grocery stores near Paul Atkins’ Kotzebue home, but meat shipped from Lower 48 slaughterhouses is spendy, and many Arctic residents can get more bang for their, er, buck by

DEPARTMENTS 17 The Editor’s Note 55 Outdoor Calendar 75 From Field to Fire: Four Alaskan getaway ideas, plus a fish chowder recipe

Alaska Sporting Journal is published monthly. Call Media Inc. Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Inc. Publishing Group and will not be returned. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues) or $39.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Inc. Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168 or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Inc. Publishing Group, subject to availability, at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Copyright © 2017 Media Inc. Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A. 12

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Ryan Skorecki, seen here transporting skiers, came to the Last Frontier to chase his dream of flying.

(GREG HARMS)

I

recall watching an interview with Steven Spielberg, the man whose filmmaking versatility crosses genres and has created classics – think Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Schindler’s List – that we still cherish today.

During an American Film Institute special that ranked the 100 greatest movies of all time, Spielberg talked about how the epic Lawrence of Arabia inspired him to chase his dream and become arguably our greatest living director (I lean towards Martin Scorsese, but even I can’t dispute the range that Spielberg has shown).

I’ll have to paraphrase, but Spielberg mentioned how he – presumably metaphorically – grabbed a knapsack on a stick and set out for Hollywood.

It’s that spirit that has popped up time and again during conversations I’ve had with those who’ve left the Lower 48 to seek something different – nature, adventure, privacy – in Alaska. This issue I write about Ryan Skorecki, who reached the Last Frontier in 2000 with an eye on flying in Alaska’s vast and spectacular airspace.

Skorecki’s chronicles as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in Nepal are featured in a new Discovery Channel series, Everest Rescue, but he still calls the Girdwood area home and has fond memories of learning to love flying in Alaska.

Along the way, Skorecki befriended a woman who also wanted to be a bush pilot, and they split the cost of renting a Cessna to hone their skills together.

“She went heli-skiing, came back from Valdez and told me, ‘I don’t want to fly airplanes anymore. I want to fly helicopters.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I tried to actively dissuade her,” Skorecki recalled. “Sure enough, maybe two years later she called me and said she was going to flight school to get her helicopter ratings.”

After securing loans, Skorecki himself went to the same school and earned his rating to fly helicopters, and then became an Alaska heli-skiing and firefighting pilot. Now he’s flying in some of the world’s most rugged and spectacular locales, and in many ways he has the magic of Alaska to thank.

Two thumbs-up from the balcony by Spielberg and I. –Chris Cocoles aksportingjournal.com | FEBRUARY 2017

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FLYING ATOP THE WORLD AN ALASKAN SEARCH-AND-RESCUE PILOT TAKES ON MOUNT EVEREST CLIMBERS IN TV ADVENTURE SERIES

A Simrik Air B3 helicopter leaves Lukla Airport helipad headed towards Everest Base Camp in Nepal. At over 29,000 feet, Mount Everest is the world’s tallest peak and the subject of Discovery Channel’s newest show, Everest Rescue. One of the search-and-rescue helicopter pilots, Ryan Skorecki, calls Alaska home. (MARK JOHNSON/DISCOVERY CHANNEL) 20

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BY CHRIS COCOLES

R

yan Skorecki is a long way from Boulder, Colo., a quaint college town full of adventure-seeking weekend warriors. He’s even a world away from the rugged Chugach Mountains of Southcentral Alaska, where he cut his teeth flying commercially.

But flying search-and-rescue missions on Mount Everest, atop the world in Nepal’s Himalayas, is something altogether different and unique.

“I really didn’t know what to expect.

Even though I talked to a lot of people about coming here, nothing anybody mentioned prepared me for this,” Skorecki says in an early episode of a new Discovery Channel series, Everest Rescue. The show follows the chopper pilots who rescue climbers who get caught in the elements and could die without assistance from the air.

“The weather, the altitude – it’s more risky than flying over flat ocean,” says Skorecki, who couldn’t believe what he saw from the steep runway at the airport closest to Everest base camp. “This is a ‘controlled’ place. What are these other spots going to look like?”

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Skorecki, 42, is another Lower 48er who found adventure in Alaska too exhilarating to pass up. Shortly after finishing college and earning his wings, Skorecki flocked to the mountains around Girdwood, where he worked as a heli-skiing and firefighting contract pilot.

“I moved to Alaska in 2000 and for four years I was convinced I’d be flying planes in remote Alaska,” Skorecki says from deep in the Southern Hemisphere.

He spends part of the year in McMurdo, Antarctica, transporting everything from volcanologists and marine biologists to other scientists on research assignments (he’s taking a break from flying commercially in Alaska while he splits time between Nepal and the South Pole). So the chance to fly in remote locations like those were impossible to pass up.

You’d think Skorecki would consider flying in the thin air around the world’s highest point (Everest’s summit reaches 29,029 feet) as dangerous as it gets.

But while you’ll discover that Skorecki respects the Asian environment he performs in, flying in the Last Frontier has its own challenges.

“One of the comforting things about flying in Nepal (compared to Alaska) is, you can be flying around Alaska where you’re the only helicopter within six hours of you, which is the closest (point of) rescue away; that’s a horrifying thought,” Skorecki says. “But you go to Nepal, and yeah you’re remote, but you look down and there are villages everywhere all the way back to base camp.”

That said, the danger in Nepal is unrelenting for these pilots, given the altitude they must navigate in their choppers on the sides of the planet’s tallest natural wonder. Skorecki shared some of his experiences flying around Everest, plus talked about his own rescue from almost certain death during an Alaskan boating trip gone terribly wrong (see sidebar on page 26) in 2008.

Chris Cocoles What the pilots on the show do is pretty intense, but it seems like that’s kind of what you do: a career that’s full of adventure and even danger.

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Skorecki prepares to take off from Lukla helipad in Nepal, the starting point for search-and-rescue missions to Everest base camp. Skorecki’s home base is in Girdwood, Alaska, but he’s recently been a pilot in both the Himalayas and Antarctica. (MARK JOHNSON/DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

Is that who you are?

Ryan Skorecki My friends would laugh if

you that we’re not supposed to take any additional risks.

they heard me described like that; I’m definitely not an adrenaline junkie or risk taker. I would say I’m a conservative flier for sure, but the high-altitude stuff was new to me. The flying that I’ve typically done the last nine or 10 years in Alaska with heli-skiing, that’s super fun. It looks like we’re all crazy (as pilots), but we’re actually not [laughs].

And the firefighting (flying) is managed and overseen by government officials who have us under strict parameters. If you ask the companies and bosses I’ve worked for in Alaska, they would tell

CC Would you say that flying rescue missions to Mount Everest is the most intense job you’ve ever done?

RS [Pauses] The majority of the flying that I’m doing there is similar to (Antarctica), and we fly at high altitude down here as well, though nothing as close to base camp at Everest. But whether I’m going up at 20,000 feet in the Everest region or 15,000 feet here, we load the machine appropriately, based on the weights that we’re carrying. The helicopter doesn’t perform that

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Skorecki flies over the Chugach Mountains in Alaska, where he’s been a contract pilot for both heli-skiing adventures and for local firefighters. He’s also been a mountain climber himself, so he understands what mountaineers are risking on ascents up Everest.

“I took one trip up Denali in 2009 and that proved to me that I was not a high-altitude mountaineer,” he says. “The summit of that mountain is 20,000 feet, and that was a humbling experience.” (GREG HARMS)

much differently if I’m at 15,000 feet here compared to 21,000 feet there.

CC I have so much respect for A) the people who are climbers, and I know you’ve been a climber yourself, and B) the pilots like you who are trying to rescue the ones who get in trouble. But one factor that I’m getting out of this is that you can relate to the climbers since you’ve done a lot in the past. Has that been an advantage for you now?

RS [Laughs] I definitely can say I feel their pain a little bit. I took one trip up Denali in 2009 and that proved to me that I was not a high-altitude mountaineer. The summit of that mountain is 20,000 feet, and that was a humbling experience. I did that with a few friends, and prior to that I still had some aspirations of doing some big peaks around the world, but that experience proved to me that I was not the badass I thought I was. I was up there for (about) a week, and I think about those people at (Everest) base camp who are there for three or four weeks of acclima24

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tizing, and they’re at 17,000 feet. And I think, “Wait a minute: I spent nine days at 17,000 feet on Denali and that just about totaled me.” And all I can think about is about 1,000 people hanging around base camp for a month or more.

It’s pretty remarkable.

CC What was the big attraction for you to take on this challenge in the Himalayas?

RS [Laughs] This will sound kind of funny, but I realized after that Denali climb that I wasn’t going to be a high-altitude mountaineer, but I did acknowledge the fact that I love the big mountains. And when the opportunity presented itself where I could actually fly around those mountains in a magic carpet – i.e., this helicopter – instead of doing it the hard way, which I already established that I was not going to be able to do, I thought about it. The long-story-short version is, down here in McMurdo, 1½ miles away (from the U.S. base) is the Kiwi base; we have five helicopters on the U.S. side, and (New Zealand has) one. They

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keep theirs with us on our pad because we have a hangar and a fuel system. So we interact with the Kiwis every day, and one of their pilots, Jason (Laing), came down here in 2014 and it was my second season here. After meeting him for the first time, he came up to me and said, “Hey, I hear you’re kind of the computer geek.” He asked me to put our base map onto his GPS. So I’m looking at it and I see these waypoints and tracks that are saved from flying around Everest. So, of course, my first question to him is, “Whoa; where did you get this GPS?” It never even occurred to me that it was possible for foreigners to fly over there. So that first put the thought in my mind that, “Oh wow; this was actually possible.”

And then, fast forwarding a couple seasons, the following year (Laing) did not return (to Nepal) because he and (fiancé) Robyn had a baby. But the year after, he did, so I started talking to him again about Nepal. And then the earthquake happened [in April 2015, a massive 7.8 earthquake killed 9,000 and

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RECALLING A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE Ryan Skorecki’s job is rescuing adventure-seeking adrenaline junkies in harm’s way atop mountains, but he’s had his own brush with death during his time living in Alaska.

On March 16, 2008, Skorecki, three friends and a dog were in a 20-foot johnboat crossing Kachemak Bay on the Kenai Peninsula near Homer with the intent of going backcountry skiing on the other side of the bay. But a high wave flooded the vessel, which capsized, sending the four friends and the dog into water a few degrees above the freezing mark.

“I’ve had a few days where I should be dead,” says Skorecki, also referring to some near misses while rock climbing, “and that was like, top of the list.”

With the fear of succumbing to hypothermia while exposed in the chilly water, the group managed to use the hull of the boat as a place to take turns

kneeling atop, thereby limiting how often they’d be fully in the water during the harrowing experience.

They were in the water for about three hours before a passing boater noticed debris in the bay and then the foursome and their four-legged companion.

“Incredibly lucky there, and I still can’t believe it,” Skorecki says now. “I still talk to the guy who pulled us out of the water. I call him every year and thank him.”

After being rescued, Skorecki told the Homer News, “I glanced over to shore and thought, ‘We’re dead.’ There was no chance of us swimming to that shore. We were pretty much in the middle of the bay.

It’s not that I just thought we were dead; I was certain we were dead.”

Luck was on Skorecki’s side that day: the tide was going out and the wind was pushing the boaters west toward the Homer Spit, a strip of land at the tip of the Kenai Peninsula. Now that he flies

into dangerous places with the intent of helping climbers in need, Skorecki understands how circumstances can turn pleasure into tragedy rapidly.

When looking back on the experience, Skorecki saw the irony and learned a valuable lesson from a conversation he once had with a flying instructor named Rick back in Colorado.

“Whenever we’d go flying he’d put on this vest, and it had all this stuff. I remember thinking, ‘It looks so ridiculous,’” Skorecki says. “But he said, ‘It doesn’t matter what kind of survival gear you have with you in the plane, if you don’t have it on you, then you don’t have it.’ And I kept thinking about it sitting on that upside down boat on Kachemak Bay, and all these planes are flying over us but can’t see us. We had all these flares, and where was it? Underwater in an overturned boat. And I remember what Rick told me.” CC

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triggered an avalanche on Everest]. So he did a whole bunch of flying for that.

All of a sudden I started thinking about Nepal again and I just kept messaging him and asking him about it. So when he returned to McMurdo last year, he said, “Hey, I’ve got a friend over there with a company that is looking for some pilots. Are you still interested?” I was like, “Absolutely!” It piqued my interest at first, but it demonstrated to me that it’s possible for foreigners to fly there. And a little persistence from me in asking him over and over again and I thought, “OK, I’d better.”

CC In one of the early episodes, you were given coordinates from a Nepalese GPS tracking where climbers in distress were located, but those coordinates weren’t visible on your GPS. Are those typical of challenges confronting pilots in that search-and-rescue setting?

RS There are lots of variables and the plan changes incredibly frequently. I’m sure in multiple episodes you’ll see different examples of that. It’s very com-

mon there. I mean, I only had one situation that I can recall from last season where I had that GPS confusion, but there are multiple examples of wrong information or plans changing on the fly. That kind of stuff would drive you crazy, and then eventually I started to realize that, “Well, it’s just the way it works over here, and part of my job is accepting there will be unknowns.”

Things will happen that will drive you crazy at first, and on a regular basis I would get someone telling me, “OK: Talk to this group; they’re in this village; you need to go up there and pick up these two people.” And the amount of fuel we’re carrying is a pretty important number, because if they tell me I’m going up to 15,000 feet to pick up two people, I look at the performance chart and figure out that I can take this much weight, assuming the people weigh approximately 80 kilos [176 pounds], and then I base how much fuel to take on how many people. The only fuel that you’re going to have to get back to Kathmandu is what you brought with

Pilot Jason Laing of New Zealand (middle, in the control tower at Lukla Airport), was a colleague of Skorecki’s in Antarctica. He convinced his friend to eventually join him in Nepal. (MARK JOHNSON/DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

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you from Kathmandu … So when you’re told to go to the village and pick up two people, I’ll confirm, “OK, two people; I’ll be there in 12 minutes. Two people, right?” I’ll be on the phone confirming that it’s two people. And then I get there 10 minutes later and (find out that) it’s five. That’s when I’ll have to say, “I can’t take five people; it’s too much. If you would have told me five people 15 minutes ago, I could have fueled the helicopter. But right now I can’t; I’m sorry.”

And that would happen over and over again. It’s very frustrating. But part of the job is accepting that. I remember Jason telling me, more than once, that if I didn’t stop worrying about these certain things, I was going to lose my hair.

CC So it is always about adapting to constant changes in variables and having to change on the fly?

RS Yes and no. In Antarctica, we get some bad weather, but Alaska gets much worse weather than we experience in the summer. But here, the routine is scripted. We have all these

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first Denali ascent April 2016

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the airplanes stop, the helicopters stop.

You go to Nepal, and what happens is, the helicopters and airplanes are all flying, and when the weather gets bad, the airplanes stop flying and the helicopters get really busy. One example why is Lukla (Airport, the base hub for the Everest pilots), that runway is an extreme slope and terminates into a mountainside, and pilots have to be very conservative. And every afternoon like clockwork, the wind is going to start blowing, and the wind is going to change or the cloud cover is going to come down. When either one of those things happen, the airplanes stop.

Comparing the perils of flying in Nepal and the Last Frontier, Skorecki notes that in the latter he might be the only helicopter in a six-hour radius, but in the former at least there are villages all over the mountains, meaning help is much closer. He’d like to fly commercially in other parts of the world someday as well. (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

scientists who are vying for time in the helicopters, so each day is (scheduled).

But you go to Nepal, and the only thing that’s planned is that first takeoff in the

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morning. The rest of the day just unfolds [laughs]. Another big difference is weather. (In Antarctica) when the weather deteriorates we all stop flying;

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CC Tell me about your experiences in Alaska and how you got there. You went to school at CU (University of Colorado) in Boulder, which has an active outdoor sports community. Did that motivate you to experience some of Alaska’s wide-open spaces?

RS When I was young, like everyone else I was going to be an astronaut, and

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I wear glasses. I thought my path was going to be in the military, and I talked to recruiters out of high school and college who took one look at me and each time I was told, “With eyes like that, you’ll never fly anything without a propeller.” So that’s dashing my hopes of being an astronaut. I decided I’ll fly as a hobby or maybe I’d become a bush pilot in Alaska. I finished school in Colorado, got my airplane wings there and decided if I liked the mountains in Colorado, I’ll really like it in Alaska. So I got in my 1985 Toyota pickup and drove up to Alaska in 2000. And I’ve been there since.

CC What’s Alaska been like for you? Are you now a typical Alaskan outdoorsman?

RS I’m one of those weirdos in Alaska who doesn’t eat meat, so no hunting or fishing for me, but I’m happy to go along with friends. I’ve been on multiple trips where they’ve gone fishing, but I haven’t been on any hunting trips.

Most of my trips involve boating, and packrafting is big up there. I love to ski and I worked on the ski patrol up there (around Girdwood).

CC You’ve obviously flown in some of the most spectacular spots in the world, but is there still somewhere on earth you want to experience?

RS Oh man, yeah. Norway, Greenland and Iceland are high up on the list, especially if I can figure out how to fly commercially there. I would just like to visit those places. Coming down (to Antarctica) for the last five seasons, our starting off and ending point is New Zealand, and a few years ago I got my New Zealand license, and somewhere down the road I’d like to fly commercially there. But man, if the planets would align and I can work my way into Norway, Greenland or Iceland, that would be something. ASJ Editor’s note: New episodes of Everest Rescue can be seen this month on Sunday nights on the Discovery Channel (check your local listings). The season finale is scheduled for Feb. 19. Go to discovery.com/ tv-shows/everest-rescue for more info.

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When the author heads out into the field to shoot the flora and fauna of the Alaska Range, “caribou sightings have become a good omen; they are essential representatives of this wild place.” But he also fears the wild creatures of the mountains he loves are going away.

PROTECTING

WILD ALASKA

(CARL BATTREALL)

ALASKA RANGE’S DISAPPEARING SUPERSTARS Editor’s note: Few adventurers have explored the 650 miles of the daunting snow-capped peaks of the Alaska Range more than Carl Battreall, who for the last eight years has ventured into some of the most rugged, beautiful country on the continent. Battreall, a climber who came to Alaska in 2001, has compiled some of his most spectacular shots into a book that features essays by various Alaska writers and adventurers, including Art Davidson, Roman Dial, Jeff Benowitz, Verna Pratt, Bill Sherwonit, Brian Okonek, and Clint Helander. The following is excerpted with permission from Alaska Range: Exploring the Last Great Wild by Carl Battreall (Mountaineers Books, October 2016). Learn more about the publisher at mountaineersbooks.org.

BY CARL BATTREALL

I

t was pouring rain and we were in need of a flat spot to make camp. I looked off the ridgeline and spotted a perfect perch near a rambling creek. A large bull caribou lounged in the tundra.

As we got closer, he refused to acknowledge us. Setting up our tent and unpacking our gear did not seem to upset him. For the next two days we shared a small piece of wilderness with the beautiful bull. We may have been the first humans this caribou had ever seen. He was such a powerful crea-

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A caribou tooth rests in a patch of moss campion in the Delta Mountains. “Unfortunately, the Alaska Range is slowly falling victim to the same human pressures that we have put on other wilderness areas of the world: industrial mining, overhunting, increasing recreational use.”

Battreall writes.

PROTECTING

WILD ALASKA ture, a perfect specimen – polished gray fur over sculpted muscles, with towering, symmetrical antlers. He appeared brave and fearless, irresistible to females, respected by other males.

Healthy and fat, rolls rippled down the bull’s neck, but he was clueless to our power. I felt guilty occupying his space; he had established a rutting hole and was intent on staying there, waiting for females or another rival male to come sniffing up. His natural characteristics made him an obvious target for hunters.

I wanted to chase him, torment him, let him know that humans were not kind, that we were predators. I wanted him to be scared of me. I wanted him to run.

But I also wanted to photograph him, to coexist with him in the wilderness, to simply survive and exist in remote wilderness together.

After two days of sharing this space,

38

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(CARL BATTREALL)

we continued on our journey. As we departed, I looked for a sign, an acknowledgment from the animal that said, “Yeah, you’re cool.” Of course, I got nothing, not even a parting glance. And that was exactly how it should be.

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CARIBOU ARE CURIOUS CREATURES. In the rolling tundra, they are not quick to run when encountering humans. A large group will often split up, with a few caribou coming close to investigate the strange bipeds, while the oth-

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Alaska Range. (MAP COURTESY OF CARTOGRAPHER ANI RUCKI)

PROTECTING

WILD ALASKA ers run around in a panic, waiting for a signal from the investigators. Eventually they will distance themselves but stay in view, keeping track of the humans’ whereabouts. My first encounter with a caribou was in a most unusual place.

We were at the toe of a nameless glacier in the Delta Mountains, putting on our crampons, when the cool glacier breeze delivered a foul smell.

We assumed it must be a carcass, but as we began our ascent up the gentle glacier, we noticed small piles of what looked similar to dark mounds of melting chocolate: scat, the source of the stench. The glacier was covered in it. As we crested a small rise, we saw 60 caribou lounging on the ice. It took a few moments for them to notice us, as we were downwind. Once we were spotted, however, they rose and without much fanfare casually meandered

away to the other side of the glacier.

Caribou spend much of the summer on the glaciers and snowfields of the Alaska Range, because there they can

retreat from the heat and unforgiving bugs of the mountains. Glaciers also provide a great vantage point – there is nowhere for predators to hide.

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SCENES FROM THE ALASKA RANGE The Alaska Range, which dominates the terrain north of Anchorage and includes Denali, is one of the most breathtaking spots in all of North America, and photographer Carl Battreall has photographed the peaks, valleys and wildlife for almost a decade. Here are some of his spectacular shots. (CARL BATTREALL)

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PROTECTING

WILD ALASKA

The north face of Mount Moffit (13,020 feet) is reflected by a small pond, adding to its majestic setting.

(CARL BATTREALL)

For me, caribou sightings have become a good omen; they are essential representatives of this wild place.

When I am in their habitat and don’t encounter them, I feel like there is something wrong, something missing.

Stumbling upon some scat, tracks, or an antler shed – just knowing they exist in the landscape I am passing through – is enough to bring a smile to my face.

THE OTHER RESIDENT OF the Alaska Range that has made a significant impression on me as a wilderness traveler and a photographer are the bears, the main wildlife attraction for visitors to Alaska.

Most Alaska Range brown bears are grizzly bears, meaning they reside in the Interior, away from the food-rich coast and its salmon-choked streams.

They live a tough life, as food is scarce 44

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

and difficult to obtain. Grizzlies can be very protective of even the most meager of food sources. They are more unpredictable than the coastal bears and less tolerant of people. I rarely photograph grizzly bears when traveling in the backcountry. In fact, I prefer never to see one. Encountering a bear changes the trip dynamic. You can’t help wondering where it is and whether it will show up uninvited to dinner.

Most of my photographs of grizzly bears have been taken from the Park Road in Denali National Park and Preserve. This is really the only way to safely photograph Interior bears up close. These bears simply ignore the buses and cars, although their behavior changes when they spot or smell people outside of the buses. I have seen it many times – they get a whiff of a per-

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

son and suddenly they become alert, on the defensive, keeping tabs on the human’s whereabouts, unable to focus on their previous task (usually looking for and consuming as much food as possible). So far, my encounters with grizzly bears have been civil, pleasurable.

I can’t say the same for my meetings with black bears, however.

Like caribou, black bears are curious creatures. One July my father and I visited Shamrock Lake on the edge of the Neacola Mountains. This remote location has seen few visitors. We landed on the shores of Kenibuna Lake, adjacent to Shamrock Lake but larger and not packed with ice like Shamrock. We set up camp along the lake, underneath the large terminal moraine of Shamrock Glacier. On the second day we saw three bears on top of the moraine. One

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PROTECTING

WILD ALASKA

This grizzly bear is protected in Denali National Park, but Battreall cites factors like industrial mining, overhunting and increasing recreational use as concerns for this and other Alaska Range species from sustaining for the long haul. (CARL BATTREALL) 46

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bear was chasing the other two. It was a sow trying to chase off her older cubs.

It was time for them to go on their own.

We would see these bears often.

My dad was a firefighter, with years of experience flying in helicopters. He is also a firearms expert, having shot guns for years. A lifetime of helicopters and guns means that he doesn’t hear too well anymore. We were hanging out at camp when the bears showed up on the ridge. My Dad had his back to them, when suddenly they came crashing our way. I could see the willows shaking as they approached. “Dad, the bears are coming!” I yelled. No response. I called out again, but he did not understand. He heard my third exclamation, but it was too late – one of the bears had arrived.

The black bear and my father did a little dance around a lone willow before Dad made his way to me. We stood together for a few seconds and then slowly walked backward toward our tent, talking firmly to the bear. It appeared the young bear was totally baffled by us and all of our stuff. He showed no aggression or apprehension, just utter curiosity, but he was getting a little too close, so we chased him off with loud words and flying rocks.

Unfortunately, we became the most interesting thing in the area and the bear continued to visit us. He never bothered our food stash or cook area; he focused on our tent and the area where we hung out. I finally pepper sprayed the bear, and we thought that would be the last time we would see him. But that night we were lounging on the lakeshore, photographing Arctic terns, when I heard the unnatural sound of collapsing metal. It took a few seconds to recognize the noise: it was the distinct sound of a tent peg. “Dad, the bear is at the tent!” I yelled and we dashed over to our camp.

The tent was collapsed, completely flat except for a large moving mound in the middle. I yelled, “Bear!” and the mound froze. Claws punctured the tent, tearing a hole big enough for the bear to stick his head through. He looked at us with the most dumbfounded look.

Pistol aimed and ready, Dad said, “I

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PROTECTING

WILD ALASKA don’t want to shoot this bear.” “Don’t,” I said, “just scare him.” My dad shot right next to the bear, to no response.

I resorted to throwing large rocks and pelted the bear right between the eyes. That worked, and he bolted into the willows.

We were never sure if this bear was the one we had chased off before or its sibling. Either way, it left a trail of wreckage in its wake. The tent was destroyed. Our sleeping pads were sliced into claw width strips, sleeping bags in shreds. Our only option was to call the pilot and have him come get us early.

SO MANY OF THE WORLD’S great mountain ranges are losing (or have already lost) their wild residents. My close encounters with wildlife have been one of the most rewarding parts of exploring and photographing the Alaska Range.

The snowcapped peaks of the Alaska Range glisten in sunlight and provide locals and visitors alike with plenty of wild areas to explore. (CARL BATTREALL)

Although sometimes these brushes have been a little too exciting, I would not trade them for an experience void of wildlife.

Unfortunately, the Alaska Range is slowly falling victim to the same human pressures that we have put on other wilderness areas of the world: industrial mining, overhunting, increasing recreational use. These stresses will ultimately lead to the same con-

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clusion: a landscape with few or no wild residents, essentially a pretty place without a soul. ASJ Editor’s note: To order the book, go to mountaineersbooks.org/The-AlaskaRange-P1736.aspx. Check out more of Carl Battreall’s photography at photographalaska.com. Like him at facebook. com/alaskanphotographer and follow on Instagram (@photographalaska).

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OUTDOOR CALENDAR Feb. 1

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Muskox season opens in Game Management Unit (GMU) 18 (Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta) Yukon Quest sled dog race (yukonquest.com) Tier I/II hunting draw results released Start of Iditarod race (iditarod.com) Brown bear spring season opener in GMU 1 (Southeast Mainland) Brown bear season spring opener in GMU 4 (Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof Islands) Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament; homeralaska.org/ visit-homer/events-homer/ winter-king-salmon-tournament Brown bear spring opener on Montague Island in GMU 6D (North Gulf Coast and Prince William Sound)

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A winter muskox season opens on Feb. 1 throughout the game management unit that covers the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

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The waters of the Kenai River, autumn leaves and blue skies provided a colorful backdrop as Randy King fished for giant fall rainbow trout. (RANDY KING)

LIVING THE DREAM A BUSINESS TRIP LEADS TO AN UNEXPECTED CHANCE TO FISH FOR HUGE KENAI TROUT

BY RANDY KING

“T

here. There. There!” Gary Cartwright yelled at me. I glanced up for my now-absent float and set the hook on instinct. As soon as I felt resistance on the other end of the line, I knew it was fight time. My rod danced in my hand, the line flying from the reel as I tried to use my palm to slow it down.

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The Kenai’s claim to fame is Chinook, but the river also has a healthy population of rainbow trout, as well as Dolly Varden and other species. (RANDY KING)

“Use the drag, or you’ll burn your hand!” Gary added. He then started the engine and gently pulled us off our drift and into shore. “You are going to want to be on land for this guy,” he said.

As I fought the fish, I could not keep a sh*t-eating grin off my face. I was on a world-famous river, catching a world-famous species – all while I should have been at work.

You see, I am lucky enough to have a job that gets me to Alaska just about every year. I go up and see my broker, 60

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call on a few customers and maybe man a booth at a trade show. Most times, however, I arrive in Anchorage in April, when the days are certainly getting longer and the snow is usually melting.

Alas, most of Alaska is still a winter wonderland at that point. Ever the opportunistic outdoorsman, I search far and wide for a fishing location. One time, I got a rumor from a sporting goods store that trout were biting on the Kenai. So I decided to try my hand at “melt” fishing on the river. Casting

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between ice and through slush was fun and all, but my chances were slim and I did not catch anything but cold toes.

But this past year I happened to arrive in late September. My meetings were stacked day after day, so it came as a surprise when I had a customer cancel with very little notice. This opened up a whole day to do whatever I wanted. With a less-than-sheepish grin my broker looked at me and said, “Wanna fish the Kenai?”

By 6 a.m. the next day we were on our way to Gary’s boat slip.

Dream. Come. True.

THE KENAI RIVER IS famous for several reasons. For starters, it is a great salmon stream, thanks to huge kings, some silvers and quite a few pinks. But lots of rivers in Alaska have those. I wanted the famous rainbow trout that lurk in its turquoise waters.

The Kenai runs through the Kenai Peninsula in Southcentral Alaska. It is about a two-hour drive from Anchor-

King also hooked a hugehumped male pink salmon.

(RANDY KING)

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age to Kenai Lake, where the river begins. From there it flows down to Skilak Lake, and then out to Cook Inlet. In total, the river is about 82 miles long.

The drive to the Kenai from Anchorage is about all a fisherman could want, too. Pure Alaska wilderness porn from the highway – it is like Ansel Adams pictures everywhere you look. The Kenai Mountains soar into the sky with abandon. I searched the hills for a bear, a moose or anything really. The moose rut was just starting when I arrived, so every medium-sized river had a camper at it, with an air boat in the process of being loaded or unloaded. My neck swelled with the smell of fall in the air.

Kenai ’bows are known to be huge and put up a hell of a fight. They are on many a trout angler’s bucket list, but fishing for them is honestly something I never thought I would do. Gary is a purist when it comes to these fish. All are caught on a fly rod,

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Guide Gary Cartwright navigates the Kenai.

(RANDY KING)

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and all are released.

Catch-and-release fishing goes against my general anti-torture rule for fish, most times: If I catch ’em, I eat ’em. But this was not my boat, my rod or my trip. I was the guest of an expert.

His rules were the rules.

Gary was using a buddy’s cabin to park his boat, just outside of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge right along the river. Winter was fast approaching as September came to an end. Like many Alaskan “cabins,” the owner was preparing for winter when we arrived.

The windows were shuttered and we spoke about flushing the water lines (all a little jarring to me because it was 75 degrees at home in Idaho).

The river water was a unique color of turquoise that I don’t see often in the Lower 48. But the strangest part to me was that the river was full of dead salmon. Every square yard of bank had at least one carcass, with more on the way. Dead fish would float by, their sides a pale pink and covered in sores.

The freakish ones were the salmon that were still alive but looked like Walking Dead zombie extras. They would break the surface, float for a while then dive back below. Even the eagles ignored them.

We transferred gear and met up with Zach, a fellow broker, and one of Gary’s employees. We climbed into the flat-bottomed jet boat and began to haul ass up the river toward the happy fishing grounds.

THE WATER HAD A scattering of other boats on it. Each big hole would have one or two guides doing the same thing we were. “You can tell the guide boats by the big green sticker on the side,” Gary said.

Nearly all the boats had stickers.

“Why are only guides out here?” I asked.

“It’s a Tuesday, Randy. Most people have to work for a living.”

I scanned the water again, spying the bundled-up passengers who’d paid thousands of dollars for a guided fish-

ing trip after flying to Alaska, paying for a rental car and a hotel, and were looking to catch the same fish I was reeling in. And here I was supposed to be at work! I was not sure how the day could get any better.

Gary handed his spare Sage (!)

8-weight rod to me. On the rod was a float (a bobber, really) about 10 feet up on the line and a single “shall not be named” painted ceramic bead on the end, just above the barbless hook.

“This is going to be a pain to cast, for a while,” Gary said. He was not wrong. I struggled mightily to cast with such a long leader, so much so that in good spots Gary would take my rod and cast for me to make sure I got the drift he was after. I was a fish out of water here.

The cast might have been a struggle, but the concept of drift fishing was something I was very familiar with.

Basically, you bounce an egg (bead) on the bottom in an attempt to get a fish to feed on it. The trout in this river

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This was the big trout Randy was looking for.

Mission accomplished.

make their living feeding off the salmon runs, and eggs are a huge source of nutrition for them. Essentially, without the salmon eggs in their diet, the trout would never get as big as they do. Even 30-plus-inchers here are not solely piscivorous and still feed on eggs instead of just fellow fishes. But cold water makes them grow slowly.

When trout are anything more than “shakers,” they are few and far between. That’s why Gary puts them all back; he wants to fish for these lunkers far into the future.

So when my float went under the water for the first time, I all but lost my lunch. I had seen the pictures.

Monsters lived here and I was about to experience that for myself.

(RANDY KING)

A QUICK HOOK SET meant the fight was on. My rod bent under the strain of a decent-sized Dolly Varden, about 16 inches. It was a great fish, but not the target. We kept fishing, Gary could tell the type of fish I had on by the

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bend in my rod. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll know when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a big one,â&#x20AC;? he would say.

Several more ďŹ sh came, all built up, before I hooked my monster. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There.

There. There!â&#x20AC;? Gary yelled at me as my ďŹ&#x201A;oat was gone in a ďŹ&#x201A;ash.

It quickly became clear that this was what we were after.

When we arrived at the bank, I was instructed to hop out and ďŹ ght the ďŹ sh on the downriver side. Gary was right about the level of distinction between the ďŹ sh. The caliber of the one I had on now was more than those Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d previously caught and released.

I was playing a new game too, a patience game. The ďŹ sh tugged and ran, staying below the surface until he was mere feet from the boat. I would reel him in so close I could see color, only to have him shoot off again. As time wore on, the ďŹ shâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tactics changed. I would get him close and then he would roll in the water; I kept anticipating my hook shooting back at my face at any moment. Zach had the net ready.

Eventually the ďŹ sh subsided and swam in close enough to be netted.

He was roughly 26 inches long, not the biggest trout but certainly respectable.

I dipped my hands into the cold water and grabbed the beast. Holding him softly, like a delicate bunch of ďŹ&#x201A;owers, I realized I had just caught a lunker trout on the Kenai.

It was a Tuesday, I should have been at work, I could not wipe the ear-to-ear grin off my face.

A few hours later, as we packed in the rods, the smiles were on all our faces. Gary ďŹ red up the engine and began the ride back to the slip. The cold September air bit through my jacket and turned my cheeks red. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get much better, does it?â&#x20AC;? Gary said as the sun set on the boreal forest behind him, a bald eagle cruising the shoreline. I just smiled. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, sir; no, it does not.â&#x20AC;? ASJ Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: Idaho resident author and chef Randy King also writes regularly for ASJâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s big brother magazine, Northwest Sportsman. For more on Randy, check out chefrandyking.com.

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Basically, the market offers two choices – snowmobiles and full-size trail groomers (snow cats) – and nothing in between.

The lack of options became apparent when the Chassell Snowmobile Club tried to purchase a vehicle to groom a ¼-mile race track for its annual ice festival and found nothing suitable or affordable. A snowmobile cannot pull a heavy enough groomer drag to make a decent trail, it exposes the operator to the cold, and has no storage capacity. A full-size trail groomer is often overkill, weighing in excess of 10,000 pounds and costing over $100,000. Used trail groomers sell for much less, but can easily bankrupt a small operation with constant repair bills.

So, in 2005, American Track Truck was established with a mission to create

light/medium-weight tracked vehicles with heavy-duty capabilities at affordable prices. After several years of research and development, American Track Truck finally opened for business in January of 2008. American Track Truck sells both tracked trucks and track systems. Their Track Trucks come with the track systems already installed and a variety of additional options, including a transmission cooler, hydraulic system, four-way plow, body lift, rear-mounted camera with LCD monitor, caution lights, fog lights and search light. Original tires and wheels are always included so that you can use the vehicle normally, within minutes, if you desire.

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BEST OF ALASKA LODGING (907) 822-3311 www.lakelouiselodge.com Activities for all seasons!

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Authors Scott and Tiffany Haugen had their best king salmon fishing adventure ever on the Nushagak River last June, when they landed and released 115 in one day, keeping these two dandies to take home.

Looking for a fishing getaway for two? Alaska has plenty of possibilities. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

COUPLES THERAPY, ALASKA-STYLE

LOOKING FOR A FISHING GETAWAY FOR TWO? TRY THESE EXCELLENT ADVENTURES

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

T

hink about February in Alaska.

Other than ice fishing, the only other angling that’s happening is in our minds. The dog days of winter are a time for planning, dreaming and envisioning what our spring and summer fishing adventures will look like.

Most of us plan trips close to home, outings that are within our budget and usually on the road system. While there’s great fishing to be had along Alaska’s unique highways, if you want to experience a true Alaskan fishing adventure, hop on a plane and head to more remote waters. Better yet, since Valentine’s Day is this month, plan a fishing getaway for

you and your sweetheart.

Last summer my wife, Tiffany, and I fished multiple waters around the state. Some places I’d been to before, and others we shared for the first time.

Having been fortunate to fish much of remote Alaska over the past 25 years, here are four getaways that you and your honey are sure to enjoy.

aksportingjournal.com | FEBRUARY 2017

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NUSHAGAK RIVER The Nushagak receives the largest run of king salmon in Alaska. During the peak of the June and early July king run, chum salmon, pike, Dolly Varden, rainbow trout and Arctic char can also be caught, making for a truly Alaskan experience.

For more than a decade I’ve been fishing this river, and I never tire of battling hard-fighting kings fresh from the ocean. My wife loved it too. We fished with an exceptional staff at the river’s uppermost camp, a place we keep going back to. Catching kings and other species right from the camp’s shoreline is easy, but being able to cover water in their sleds routinely led to us landing and releasing over 100 fish a day.

The camp is comfortable, the food incredible and you can fish as hard as you like. Want to take a morning off and just sit by the campfire and read?

Or play games and enjoy the wood stove in one of their cozy buildings?

Both are options.

Reaching this camp is easy. Simply

There are many places where couples, parents and kids, even corporate groups, can experience Alaska’s fishing at its best. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

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We only open the “Nush” Camp for a few weeks in June and July, to fish one of the most spectacular displays in nature - thousands of King Salmon returning from their trek to the Pacific.

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get to Dillingham and hop on a floatplane that delivers you right to camp.

Soon you’ll be fishing for kings, enjoying all this remote camp and special river have to offer.

EGEKIK RIVER AND FLYOUTS This is my favorite place to fish for silver salmon in Alaska. I once filmed a series of TV shows on this river, and in one episode I stood on a single rock, showed how to fish for coho using four different techniques, and landed and released just over 70 fish. That’s a good day.

Coho can be fished multiple ways, here. Wade fishing is easy and catching salmon on the fly, even topwater poppers, is unlike anything I’ve seen.

Head upriver to catch Arctic char on a bead or work the shores of Becharof Lake with nymphs.

Flyouts to remote streams are easy from this destination. A commercial flight to King Salmon and then a 30-minute bush plane trip will get you

to camp. The camp is remote, comfy and the hosts and guides are simply wonderful. I’m going back to this place the end of August. If you’d like to join me on a personalized fishing adventure, drop me an email!

THE INSIDE PASSAGE Southeast Alaska is like a whole different state compared to the two aforementioned places. This is a great getaway for two if you want to experience a region that’s rich in wildlife, contains lush forests and features a wide range of fish.

Tiffany and I fished out of Sitka, where we stayed on a boat for five days, fishing the Inside Passage. We trolled for kings and coho in the salt, jigged for halibut and bottomfish, hiked into remote streams for silvers, pinks, chums and trout, dropped shrimp and crab pots, and experienced incredible wildlife viewing – with whales, brown bears and bald eagles abundant.

Staying on and fishing from the boat was relaxing and peaceful, and with no

cell or internet coverage, it felt like a true vacation. You can also stay in Sitka and journey out each day on a boat.

SHEEFISH THROUGH THE ICE If looking to get out soon with your sweetheart, hit the ice, starting in March.

While there’s great ice fishing around Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley, try something totally unique to Alaska. Hop on an Alaska Airlines jet and head to Kotzebue. When the sheefish are in thick ice, you can walk right from the village and start catching them.

Two friends, both longtime residents of Kotz, recently started a guiding operation for sheefish through the ice. They have all the gear and a place to stay; all you have to do is show up and fish. This experience goes beyond the catching, as there’s a great museum and the village is rich in culture.

Being on the remote ice above the Arctic Circle is a peaceful, relaxing way to spend a few days together.

There are plenty of great destina-

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FIELD

RINGING THE CHOWDER BELL

BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

C

howder is one of those soups that can have dozens of variations. Regardless of the style, it’s a comfort food that’s hard to beat on a cold winter day. With Valentine’s Day here, it’s a great treat to snuggle up with your sweetheart and enjoy.

This chowder can also be a “clean the freezer” concoction with additions like salmon, steelhead, clams, shrimp or smoked fish. Take note of what you add and the measurements in case you come up with a winning recipe you want to recreate.

3 cups cooked, smoked fish or seafood Four to six slices bacon, chopped 1 cup diced onion 3 teaspoons minced garlic 1½ cups chopped celery 2 cups cubed sweet potato 2 cups cubed new or Yukon Gold potatoes

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ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

1 cup chopped, packed kale or spinach 1½ teaspoons dill weed ½ teaspoon celery salt 4 cups fish, chicken or vegetable stock ¼ cup flour 2 cups milk Salt and pepper to taste Remove all bones from fish and crumble into bite-sized chunks. In a large pot on medium-high heat, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and sauté onions in bacon grease until soft. Add garlic and celery and continue sautéing for one to two minutes.

Add potatoes, greens, dill, celery salt and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low heat. Simmer 12 to 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, whisk flour and milk until smooth. Add milk/flour mixture to pot and bring to a low boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, add fish or other cooked seafood and stir until

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

Author Tiffany Haugen enjoys the hearty taste of a fish chowder on a bone-chilling winter day. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

chowder reaches desired thickness.

Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with reserved bacon bits.

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Seafood, send a check for $20 (free S&H), to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489. This and other cookbooks can also be ordered at tiffanyhaugen.com.

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After wading into this remote, lush stream in Southeast Alaska, the Haugens doubled on pink and chum salmon. If looking for seclusion and a chance to battle multiple species, this is the place to be. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

tions around the state where a unique fishing adventure can be shared with your sweetheart. Now is the perfect time to plan that fun getaway, where

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ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

catching fish is assured and spending quality time together in some of Alaska’s most breathtaking areas is worth the price of admission. ASJ

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

Editor’s note: To learn more about these great fishing adventures, see videos of the places and book your special trip, visit scotthaugen.com.

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‘TIP’ SHEET FOR PIKE

SIMPLE FISHING SYSTEM A GREAT ONE FOR ICING LOTS OF NORTHERNS

BY DENNIS MUSGRAVES

A

laska’s winter fishing season is a great time to target northerns, with the frozen lids of lakes lit-

Multiple fishing techniques work for pike, but tip-ups are a favorite of the author’s, here with a nice northern. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES) aksportingjournal.com | FEBRUARY 2017

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

87

erally putting anglers right on top of the action for a unique perspective.

Ice fishermen pursuing pike in Alaska can choose between conventional rod-and-reel jigging techniques, deploying tip-up devices, or dark-house spearing with decoys. Some fishermen even try their skills with a bow and arrow. These options are simply unavailable during open-water months.

With all the options available, I still prefer using a good spread of tip-ups.

Dead-baiting a tip-up is my favorite method, and although the format is very passive, the fishing system is deadly effective.

Fishing a tip-up mechanism is not extremely technical; however, there are specific factors involved with knowing how to best deploy and present bait in order to obtain the greatest chances for success at catching a big toothy using this method.

TIP-UP DEVICES A tip-up is a free-standing mechanism

Using tip-ups allows an angler to fish multiple holes, various depths and structures and several types of bait at the same time. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

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A flasher transducer is inserted into the water to send and receive underwater signals. A Vexilar flasher can be a great tool to have for checking depths and marking fish below the frozen top of a lake. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

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ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

used for ice fishing so that an angler can present offerings without holding an actual fishing rod. The components consist of a base, spool (which holds line) and a flag or indicator.

Using a tip-up allows fishermen to work multiple holes at the same time, fish various depths at once and

BEST OF ALASKA LODGING

try various positions on drop-offs or other bottom structure.

Tip-up devices are available in a variety of models and styles, so deciding on one the first time can be a bit confusing.

A basic wooden unit is inexpensive and easy to set up, and really, all you need to get started.

Elaborate units will cost more, but they will include features like insulated covers, spools with handles, lighted indicators (for fishing during limited visibility), and enabled motion (for notouch jigging action).

No matter which model tip-up you decide to use, I suggest spooling the device with a braided or Dacron-type line, with a minimum of 30-pound test for hand-lining these large, aggressive fish to the surface.

DEAD-BAITING Hanging dead bait in the water column is a proven method for icing pike. Hungry fish are naturally attracted to the large stationary sil-

houette, which is unassuming and looks like an easy meal for an opportunistic predator. In addition to being an easy target, bait provides the ideal scent and taste for the fish.

The aroma bleeds into the surrounding water, triggering pike senses and attracting them to the presentation.

Whitefish, herring, hooligan and eel are all popular choices of dead bait.

They can either be harvested during the year to be frozen for later use, or purchased at local grocery stores or sporting goods outlets. I have found that frozen whole herring, which are approximately 6 to 8 inches in length, work very effectively. Keeping the herring slightly frozen allows for easy placement of a hook and keeps the bait on longer as it becomes waterlogged and softens up.

Dead bait can be rigged on hooks using several methods. Simply piercing the bait with a single hook can get the job done. However, using a quick-strike-style rig is my preferred

technique when using a tip-up. Quickstrike rigs can be constructed easily or can be purchased prefabricated.

The advantage of this adjustable rig is that it allows bait to hang in a horizontal presentation while suspended in the water column, plus the ability to set a hook as soon as the fish bites.

Additionally, prior to sending my bait down the hole on a quick strike, I like to cut slits along the sides of the fish. This allows the juices and scent to disperse in the water and attract hungry prowling pike towards my offering.

Make sure you check the Alaska Department of Fish and Game sportfishing regulations before you start hanging bait to catch pike. Rules for some bodies of water do not allow baitfishing for northern pike, may be seasonally controlled, restricted or closed. The types of hooks and amount of lines an angler can tend is also strictly regulated.

LOCATION AND PLACEMENT Pike can be found feeding in basical-

LEARN TO LIKE PIKE The 49th state has a love-hate relationship with northern pike (Esox lucius).

Depending upon which region of Alaska you’re in, the unique resident species is either prized and protected or considered evil and invasive. The conundrum of Alaska’s water wolf can easily be understood due to the vast expanse found within the border of the largest state in the union.

Pike are naturally present in most waterways across Alaska’s 663,000 square miles, and often in very abundant numbers. However, in the southern regions of the state, the toothy fish are not indigenous. Both Southeast and Southcentral have strict no-release regulations for anglers who catch pike because of the adverse effect the species has on both wild and stocked populations of sportfish.

But unlike those areas, pike found swimming in the heart of the state, such as the Seward Peninsula and the southwest Bristol Bay area, normally have 92

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retention limits for both size and total count in a single day. Seasonal opening and closings for pike in regulatory guidance are common in many Interior locations, and in a few fisheries anglers can’t even target pike.

The sharp contrast in Alaska Department of Fish and Game management of northern pike by region is an attempt to keep fish in rivers and lakes where they naturally occur, while trying to aggressively rid waterways of the species in which they don’t belong.

TACKLE BOX ESSENTIALS Winter fishing for northern pike is most commonly done with a conventional heavy-action ice fishing rod combo.

Braided lines are a popular choice for many pike anglers, since the fish have a mouthful of numerous sharp teeth.

However, using a wire leader that’s designed for pike fishing helps to avoid fish biting into the fishing line, also allowing monofilament lines to be just as

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

effective as braided line.

Tip-up devices are another good choice for pike anglers. The free-standing mechanism allows an ice angler to present offerings without holding an actual fishing rod. The components consist of a base, spool (which holds line) and a flag or indicator. Using a tipup allows anglers to fish multiple holes at the same time, fish various depths at once or work different positions on drop-offs or other bottom structure.

Tip-ups are employed often at specially regulated lakes in Southcentral Alaska, where pike are a nuisance species. More than two lines are allowed in an effort to eliminate the fish from a specific body of water.

Whether you target pike with a traditional rod combo or use a tip-up, make sure you bring a mouth-spreader tool.

The device allows you to easily open the jaws to extract your hook or lure and keep the rows of razor-sharp teeth in a pike’s mouth away from your fingers. DM

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ly in two ways: an offensive patrolling pattern, or hunkered close to the bottom in ambush mode, simply waiting for a meal to come by. The sunniest part of the day is when they are the most aggressive.

Finding active ďŹ sh is my initial goal when starting out the day. I like to cover a wide range of possible areas to ďŹ nd feeders by initially drilling holes in varied depths of water, from 5 feet out to 20 feet, and keeping my bait close to the bottom (1 to 2 feet).

Presenting an offering off the bottom in this fashion allows cellar dwellers to see the bait above them, especially in shallower waters. I can position bait very effectively and check depths by using portable fishing electronics. Once I locate actively feeding fish I concentrate my efforts in those places.

Preparation should not be overlooked in setting a good spread of tipups. Ideally you should have a good feel for employing your tip-up and rigging

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The author hoists a giant Alaskan pike.

(DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

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your bait. Make sure you’re familiar with your equipment by practicing actual set-up of the device to ensure your equipment is rigged and ready prior to leaving in order to maximize actual fishing time on the ice.

Also obtain and review a bathymetric map of the lake to help plot a plan of attack for a set-up. Having electronics to assist in confirming water depths will certainly also be very helpful.

The top reason I like fishing tip-ups for pike is the simplicity of the system.

It offers anglers of any skill level a great winter fishing experience. Anticipating a flag going up, running to the hole and feeling the head shakes of a potential trophy-size pike while line slides between your fingers is exhilarating. It’s winter sportfishing fun in Alaska for all ages, and you don’t even need a fishing rod. ASJ Editor’s note: For more of Dennis Musgraves’ fishing adventures in the Last Frontier, check out alaskansalmonslayers.com.

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If you want to catch a lot of fish, northern pike might be a wise choice. Because they are considered an invasive species in Southcentral Alaska, fish are not allowed to be released back into the water, so fish away. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

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ALL ABOUT THE JIG IDENTIFYING THE BEST MATERIALS FOR TYING YOUR OWN ICE FISHING JIGS

Lake trout, like this one caught by professional rod builder and avid angler Scott Lee, devour custom-tied jigs. These chartreuse/white Deceiver jigs are tied with bucktail, flash and saddle hackle to mimic pelagic baitfish and are a favorite of anglers chasing everything from Mackinaw to northern pike to burbot in winter. (SCOTT LEE/MICHAEL LUNDE) aksportingjournal.com | FEBRUARY 2017

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BY MICHAEL LUNDE

T

rends in ice fishing techniques and presentations have remained semistandard over the past 25 years in Alaska.

With the majority of species taken either on setlines, tip-ups, or jigging, it seems rather difficult to brainstorm new techniques or redefine old ones.

Out of all the ice fishing techniques available to utilize on an expedition, it is perhaps vertical jigging that is the most efficient.

Many of Alaska’s freshwater gamefish cruise deep water constantly throughout the hardwater season in search for food. This requires anglers to employ an aggressive approach and drill multiple holes so one can intelligently fish each hole for a given time frame and then switch to the next hole.

Quite often, employing the sit-andwait approach – a deer hunting-like tactic of waiting for fish to strike a presentation – is less effective if fish are

Here’s a bottom view of a Deceiver jig. Manipulating bucktail fly-tying material at various angles maximizes volume and profile of a jig’s body. (MICHAEL LUNDE)

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Deceivers take their name from a famed streamer pattern created by fly-tying expert Lefty Kreh, except they’re tied on a leadhead so they can jigged vertically at depth for actively feeding lakers and other species.

(SCOTT LEE)

constantly moving. This is a common characteristic associated with northern pike, lake trout – also known as Mackinaw in some areas – Arctic char, rainbow trout, and landlocked salmon.

A rather interesting technique not implemented by hardwater anglers is taking the fundamentals of basic fly tying and incorporating them into the construction of custom-tied jigs. Therefore, to expand the effectiveness and versatility of jigs, we provide the ultimate guide to tying various types of ice fishing jigs designated specifically for multiple species of Alaskan gamefish.

REVIEWING JIGHEAD DESIGN Jighead design has been continuously modified over the course of time in order to accommodate multispecies-specific soft plastic options, and match the ongoing development of technique-specific options to trigger fish to strike in pressured situations.

Roundhead jig heads were the traditional standbys for being successful, and they still are to this day. As time 104

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progressed, the development of other jighead styles were experimented with to allow for improved fishing opportunities in harder-to-reach habitats – snags, thick vegetation – and match technique-specific situations and alterations to fish behavior.

In this section, we provide a comprehensive synopsis on jighead design.

Each type is characterized by a specific shape that dictates various movements when jigged, so therefore different movements will be associated with each jighead type. Some swim in a straightforward up-and-down motion, while others will dart erratically. The magnitude of movement is determined by length and intensity of jigging stroke, time of pause, underwater current, and line type. There are other types of jig heads, but they are more catered for holding soft plastics in place. These are more universally known.

A heavy fiberglass rod is perfect for jigging Alaskan waters in winter. (SCOTT LEE)

ROUND HEAD This is a standard and traditional stand-

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by from when jighead design ďŹ rst started before other modiďŹ cations were implemented and experimented with.

During any vertical jigging motion, a roundhead moves simply in an up-anddown fashion. Some manufacturers have a barbed collar located in prox-

A common movement associated with them is an erratic side-to-side thrust. Designed for swimming-retrieve applications, darter heads are typically reeled in on a slow to moderate-slow continuous retrieve. This movement drives ďŹ sh in cold water absolutely

vertical presentations. Anglers typically pair them with soft plastics, including grubs, reapers, worms and, more recently, swimbaits.

Characterized by longer jig hook shanks than other jighead types, it is an excellent candidate for tying custom-

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A RATHER INTERESTING TECHNIQUE NOT IMPLEMENTED

BY HARDWATER ANGLERS IS TAKING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BASIC FLY TYING AND INCORPORATING THEM INTO THE CONSTRUCTION OF CUSTOM-TIED JIGS.â&#x20AC;? imity to the roundhead that allows for soft plastic baits to be held in place. Depending on the size, the jig-hook shank is long enough to accommodate multiple tying space for jig tiers.

bonkers. Furthermore, this style thrives when vertically jigged and often displaying a bit more erratic action than bullet-style jigheads.

BULLET HEAD

DARTER HEAD A darter head is similar in construction to a bullet head but typically a bit longer and narrower than a bullet.

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Designed for both freshwater and saltwater applications, the bullet head is shaped like a conehead, which allows it to be used for both horizontal and

ized hair jigs. Additionally, the longer shank allows a jig tier to incorporate a stinger hook if necessary. When vertically jigged, a bullet head exhibits an occasional convulsed side-to-side motion either during the free-fall or drop.

FOOTBALL HEAD Originally developed for targeting smallmouth bass, the shape of the

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A collection of the author’s hair jigs, which he uses to target toothy pike, giant sheefish and tasty burbot.

(MICHAEL LUNDE)

head is physically shaped like it sounds.

Compared to bullet-shaped heads, these pigskin-looking jigs are designed for targeting fish on the bottom. When jigged, the hook remains in an upright

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position, especially when paired with a soft plastic trailer.

They are most effective when fished on bottom compositions consisting of chunk rocks, rocky transitions, gravel,

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

and sand. They’re disadvantageous on weedy bottoms.

DECEIVER JIGS One of the most productive streamer fly

patterns of all time is Lefty Kreh’s Deceiver. Consisting of a simple streamlined baitfish profile composed of multiple saddle hackles and bucktail hair, it stimulates aggressive responses from freshwater and saltwater gamefish. The popularization of this famed pattern sparked jig tiers’ interest to experiment with other materials.

Multiple modifications to the original Deceiver were incorporated over the course of time as talented tiers nationwide refined tying fundamentals to create specific shapes through maximizing volume without additional bulk.

Of all professional tiers, it was Bob Popovics, a famous East Coast striper angler, who took the original Deceiver and improved the overall design with some substantial tying techniques applied to the bucktail.

Deceivers exhibit multiple characteristics that distinguish and separate them from other traditional baitfish streamers. An advantage to tying Deceivers is that they are relatively easier

to tie compared to traditional flatwing flies and other East Coast striper patterns that once revolutionized the freshwater and saltwater fly fishing scene.

Another advantage is that with minimal materials required to complete the pattern, there is exceptional lifelike movement when jigged through the water column for targeting suspended predator fish. Perhaps the deadliest aesthetic tied on this pattern are several strands of multichromatic flash identical in length of the fly, which simulates the S-like contractions attributed to baitfish swimming motion.

Initial Deceiver tying is focused and centered near the back region of the jig hook. Multiple thread choices suffice, but monofilament or flatwaxed nylon thread types work best for working with bucktail hair and alternative synthetics.

The addition of a stinger hook is recommended, but only in the case where single-hook regulations are not enforced. Deceiver jigs can be tied in

multiple lengths. The final detail to represent pure realism is a pair of 3-D holographic eyeballs. An application of an enhanced quick-drying UV adhesive allows for a clean finish and not messy compared to epoxy.

ARTICULATED JIGS An articulated fly or jig is defined as two regions joined or connected together that formulate a joint. Articulated flies or jigs contain more high-performance movement compared to non-articulated flies or jigs. When retrieved during the presentation, an articulated jig will dart in a given direction, with the back region wiggling in a back-and-forth motion.

As discussed earlier, when baitfish swim, their muscles contract on one side of their body while they rest on the other, resulting in a wave-like shape of their body appearance. This S-shaped movement is unleashed when articulated jigs are vertically jigged. Pelagic predators such as lake trout and

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The addition of a stinger hook makes these Deceivers twice as deadly. (MICHAEL LUNDE)

deeper pike will rely on their sensitive lateral lines to pick up acoustic disturbances in the water column given off by these movements.

Articulated jigs can be tied with

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multiple types of material, but I believe bucktail hair is superior for multiple reasons: it is widely available and affordable, comes with varying levels of hollowness and ďŹ&#x201A;are, and features a high

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

degree of movement.

Additional main body materials worth incorporating into an articulated jig design include ostrich plumes, saddle hackles, rooster saddle hackles,

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and schlappen.

Multiple strands of flash are typically tied on the sides of a jig to allow for enhanced movement.

Color combinations vary by opinion and experimentation, but typically the black/white, blue/white, or olive/white are the dominant schemes for matching the natural morphology of the various types of baitfish.

THE JIG EFFECT Based off a simple jig, anglers across Alaska and nationwide have continuously caught large numbers of trophy-sized fish as a result of simply vertically jigging various zones throughout the water column. While

“BASED OFF A SIMPLE JIG, ANGLERS ACROSS ALASKA AND NATIONWIDE HAVE CONTINUOUSLY CAUGHT LARGE NUMBERS OF TROPHY-SIZED FISH.” other techniques shine at catching fish, the sensation of feeling the fish blast a well-presented lifelike jig skyrockets your adrenaline levels to new heights.

With an endless abundance and variety of fly-tying materials available, ice fishermen can experiment with multiple material types to create the ultimate lifelike jig that represents their preferred forage. This winter, invest into a fly tying vise and spend those cold days at the tying laboratory to unleash your inner creativity. The satisfaction of catching a large predatory gamefish on a custom-made work of art increases your confidence as an angler. ASJ 116

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Darkness settles over Knudson Cove Marina in Ketchikan. Even the southernmost part of Alaska is affected by winter’s early sunsets and late sunrises, with just six hours of daylight around the solstice. (JEFF LUND)

INTO THE DARKNESS THOUGHTS ON SURVIVING ALASKA’S LONG WINTER’S NIGHT

BY JEFF LUND

E

veryone knows it’s dark during winter. In Alaska, it’s darker than dark. It’s a cruel dark, especially up north in the state.

In Southeast Alaska the daylight, like the weather, isn’t as harsh. The longest nights still relent for six or so hours of what qualifies as daylight, but it’s more obligatory than friendly.

You go to work in the dark; you go home in the dark. It’s not super depressing, but it is certainly a sedative.

When I was in high school I’d have practice after school, then dinner, then homework, so the routine took care of the days nicely.

Things are, of course, different now.

I’m a whiney adult, not a whiney kid.

Funny how perspective changes, and

yet doesn’t. Yeah, the days aren’t shorter, but with usable daylight only at seven hours, you can find yourself sitting in front of the TV, thinking that since it’s dark it’s close to bedtime, and it’s just a matter of milking the clock until you can. But you can’t start winding down at 4:45; that’s like taking a knee midway through the third quarter.

I WONDERED HOW PEOPLE who love the outdoors could ever become fidgety or depressed in a place like this. After all, it’s not like up north where the sun sets for weeks and high temperatures are below zero.

The weather here is a piece of cake, and even if you don’t see the sun, at least the day goes from black to grey.

But maybe that’s the problem. It’s grey when you’re at work, and it’s black

when you get home.

You figure, “Well, got nothing else going on, let’s just have an early dinner.”

Then you’re fed and ready for bed at … 6 p.m. Whoops. If you only exercise when it’s sunny and warmish outside, you will say goodnight to any level of athleticism or fitness.

The darkness seems thick, like something you have to fight through.

There can be no snow on the ground, but to get out of the house to go to the gym or to the garage is a chore in itself.

As part of my reintroduction to Alaska – I moved back in 2013 – I deemed it necessary to enjoy winter rather than have it happen to me. Even the crustiest local can tell you something about the beauty of winter, because deep down there has to be at least a little romantic in the heart of someone who calls this

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A hot shore lunch makes winter ďŹ shing outings even more special. (JEFF LUND)

place home. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d think trying to protect yourself from it or watch it from inside would only make it last longer.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a river just outside my hometown of Klawock, so when the teaching day was ďŹ nished, I could make it there for 20 or so minutes of steelhead ďŹ shing before it was too dark to cast. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t much, but just the idea that I would be able to have those precious 20 minutes to get my hands on a steelhead more than got me through the days. A few times I actually did land one and marveled at how crazy it was

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even the crustiest local can tell you something about the beauty of winter,â&#x20AC;? the author writes, â&#x20AC;&#x153;because deep down there has to be at least a little romantic in the heart of someone who calls this place home.â&#x20AC;? (JEFF LUND)

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to live that close to a steelhead river, and catch one after work on a random Tuesday in such a short window of daylight.

On weekends I went to different rivers (roads permitting), and once added a riverside campfire lunch to a day of taking poor-quality steelhead photos with the cell phone. Few things are more fulfilling than that. Isolation. Campfire. Lunch. Steelhead.

Friends. Makes me want to close this laptop and go there now.

Raquelle and Zack Trudeau take advantage of the Panhandle’s scarce daylight to fish for winter steelhead. “A life lived wishing away a six-month section of your life is a sure-fire way to get old quickly,” writes the author. (JEFF LUND)

I’M NOT CLOSE TO living a life that would make a good reality TV show, but I’m OK with that. I’m not out to outdo others when it comes to “hardcoredness,” which I realize isn’t a word but think it encapsulates the idea of wild living.

There has to be something that more than gets you through the slower – and darker – parts of the year. A life lived wishing away a six-month section of your life is a sure-fire way to get old quickly. ASJ Editor’s note: Jeff Lund teaches English in Ketchikan and is the author of Going Home, an essay about fishing in Alaska and California. For more, go to jefflundbooks.com.

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During fall, both of the author’s freezers usually brim with the best nature and the Arctic have to offer. This past season was a tough one for stocking up, but he felt lucky with what he was able to harvest. Compared to buying food at the grocery store, it’s often cheaper to acquire your own meat here. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

GROCERY SHOPPING, ARCTIC STYLE

NORTHWEST ALASKA’S BEST MEAT IS FOUND OUTSIDE, NOT IN THE BUTCHER SHOP

BY PAUL D. ATKINS

B

ouncing along the tundra behind my buddy Lew I saw his hand abruptly raise, signalling for me to stop. The snow was deep in that area, and when my snowmachine did

stop, I sank down about a foot.

I quickly killed the engine, pulled off my goggles and watched my longtime hunting partner stare off into the distance. What was he looking at – a wolf, a fox, or something bigger? He turned and mouthed one word: “Caribou.”

Nothing else needed to be said.

THERE ARE FIVE SHELVES in the stand-up freezer that sits in the breezeway of my home here in Kotzebue, in Northwest Alaska’s Arctic. It’s pretty big and will hold just about everything I’m lucky

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MAN GEAR ALASKA Man Gear Alaska, LLC is a small family run partnership.

We do believe that it is still possible to maintain a manufacturing facility in the U.S, and strive to keep goods made in America; at this time still made in Alaska. We look forward to the idea of creating more jobs for those within our community.

Our goal in manufacturing these holsters is to provide a rugged, high quality, handcrafted product. The design principle of our “The Ultimate” chest holster is one that has been in Alaska for well over 15 years, and we are proud to be able to continue to create a holster with craftsmanship and quality which we believe will serve its purpose in the field for years.

Hundreds, even thousands, of caribou roam the snow-covered tundra in and around Kotzebue during winter. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

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enough to harvest each fall. However, last season was pretty rough. Bad luck and bad weather prevented us from getting to our “secret” hunting grounds.

Unless you had a plane and two weeks to stay, it just wasn’t going to happen. Now I’m really thankful for the muskox I arrowed back in August and the ducks and swans we took in September, plus the few fish we caught. But that seems like a long time ago now.

I don’t know if people in the Lower 48 do it, but here in the Arctic we gauge time by our freezer, and I know many Alaskans who do the same. Field to fork is a way of life for most of us, and the thought of an empty freezer just doesn’t bode very well. A good year can provide plenty, a tough one not so much. It’s reminiscent of what it might have been like if you were a bad hunter back in the early days. You hunt to eat or you die.

Yes, we do have grocery stores spread out thinly across the Arctic, but if you venture in to buy meat, you’ll leave with something that probably cost you at least a month’s rent and won’t last but a couple of meals before you have

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

What lies beneath? Is it just an antler shed or a whole caribou? Winter is a tough time in the Arctic. Conditions are unpredictable and living in the cold extremes can be hazardous to both human and animals alike. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

to return and buy more. That is why the best shopping up here needs to occur outside, not at the butcher shop.

Alaska is known for independence, freedom and the accessible fruits of an incredible land. It’s also known for its ability to take care of Alaskans when it comes to the harvests of its lakes, streams, forests and tundra. I have said for years that this state is still a bestkept secret, even though it really isn’t.

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With big game harder to come by in winter, sheefish are a convenient target, and are delicious on the table, to boot. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

If you don’t believe me, just watch one of those reality shows that viewers are glued to. Alaska provides!

ON ANY GIVEN DAY in the Arctic you can fill your freezer with a variety of edibles that would make even the owner of the finest grocery store blush. Whether you

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want a variety of fish, big game or small, it’s out there, and with the right license, a little hard work and maybe a little frostbite, there for the taking.

I love hunting in the winter as much as I love hunting in the fall, and even though the cold weather can be brutal on most days, it’s still enjoyable. It’s

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true that the wind chill combined with super-cold temperatures can be dangerous and you can die if you’re not careful and properly prepared. But with time, you learn how to dress, how to prepare and how to succeed.

Even in the winter, January, February and March provide, and believe me,

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there is plenty out there for each of us.

For instance, small game is abundant, whether it’s the formidable snowshoe hare that roams the frozen creek banks hiding in the densest willow thickets, or the ptarmigan that disappear with a flash of white wings into alder where the snow is so deep you can’t get to them. Both species are delicacies and there is nothing better than cooking up a few after a cold, hard day of hunting For me, chasing small game has always been a family affair. After years of being here it’s become a tradition. My son Eli and wife Susie venture out each year with me to gather a few rabbits and birds, not necessarily to fill the freezer but to spend time together. Sometimes the harvest is more than just filling the freezer – it’s to fill our lives with happy family memories.

Fish are the same way. Since I’ve been in the Arctic, late winter and early spring have meant ice fishing. You have read my stories about the monster sheefish we pull from the ice, but

A most underrated addition to the freezer is snowshoe hare, especially in winter when big game isn’t as easy to harvest. They taste great and are one of the author’s favorite Alaska meats. They are a fun hunt too, especially with family and friends.

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

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it’s much more than that. Sheefish are one of the best-eating fish you will ever sink your teeth into, and on a good day you can fill many freezers with the fillets that come from them.

It’s a for-sure staple that we depend on throughout the year. Nowhere else on Earth can you do this day in and day out during the cold months.

Paul Atkins and Lew Pagel beam after a great day on the tundra. Not only did they see some country but were able to add to their winter larder, very important in a region where the grocery store or butcher shop is not always so easy to access. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

BIG GAME IS A LITTLE different when it comes to stockpiling meat. Most Alaskans do this or try to do it during the fall, hoping to tag that big bull moose or a couple of caribou to get them through the year.

It usually works, but it’s not always a done deal due to whatever circumstances arise. The weather is the biggest culprit; here in the Arctic it’s even more of a variable. A bad wind on a given weekend has caused more empty freezers than anything else. That may sound weird or dumb, but it’s true. You can’t cross Kotzebue Sound or get across Selawik Lake in a boat if the weather isn’t

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at least decent. You become a weatherman as much as a hunter.

That is what happened to us last fall. I’m not complaining, as we were lucky enough to take a muskox early, but those vacuum-sealed packages are long gone now, which left the freezer a bit empty.

Lucky for us, though, seasons are still open now for certain animals, even though the recent changes in policy concerning different species have brought inconveniences to all involved.

Yet we still have those that we can hunt to provide the nutrition that our family and many others depend on.

Moose are still available through a federal permit, and if taken on federal land it’s perfectly legal. Even though I don’t like to shoot cows, either sex can be harvested during this time frame.

This year I’ll look for a cow if that is what it takes to fill Lew’s shop and our freezers. Winter is a great time to take a moose or any big game animal. Easy access and snow makes the process that

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much cleaner.

Caribou are available too, but in this case only cows are open right now.

Hundreds, even thousands, of caribou roam the snow-covered tundra in and around Kotzebue. With a little work and time they can be had with a few short hours of spot-and-stalk hunting.

There is nothing better than fueling up the snowmachine, attaching a sled and then heading into the unknown in search of these magnificent creatures.

Dressing for the occasion can sometimes be the toughest part. When you’re layered up underneath a heavy parka and then try to get a rifle sling over the top of it all can be frustrating.

Searching the barren landscape for caribou requires a good set of eyes and a good set of binoculars that hopefully won’t frost over. This last hunt we were on required just that.

WITH OUR FREEZERS EMPTYING, Lew and I both needed meat. Granted, we had fish and a variety of small game, but

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

the muskox was long gone and the need for red meat burned in each of us. The news of caribou crossing a nearby peninsula fueled that fire, and even though it was cold at 20 below zero, there was no wind. It was time to go.

Daylight this time of year is a pleasant sight and relief for those who live this far north – Kotz sits just shy of 67 degrees north. The addition of eight minutes a day of light doesn’t sound like much, but over time and a week or two, it makes life here that much more enjoyable.

You can’t see anything on the tundra until the light comes, which occurs around 11 a.m. and lasts until about 4 p.m. this time of year. It’s short window, but it’s a short ride to the hills behind town to hopefully find our quarry. We were about to test that theory.

I met Lew at his house at noon, and we were packed and headed to the tundra soon after. It wasn’t long before Lew spotted dots in the distance to put us in business. We were not the only ones

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In winter, field dressing is done quickly, especially in subzero conditions. Further skinning and cutting will take place back at home, in either the shop or a garage.

out trying to gather meat; many others had been doing the same (or at least had been touring the vicinity), judging by evidence left across the tundra. The caribou were nervous from the sound of snowmachines and the sight of headlights cruising along the hills. They were no different when it came to us.

We inched towards them and like most of the small herds located here, they headed out long before we got to them. You can shoot subsistence caribou from your snowmachine if you like, as it’s perfectly legal here in Game Management Unit 23, especially when you need meat and are trying to fill that freezer. I’ve done it and it has worked well, but the problem is it’s hard to get close.

The herd we were looking at had 40 to 50 animals in it, but when we got close they were gone. We slumped our shoulders and began looking for the next batch. We had rounded a bend into a small narrow ravine when Lew stopped his machine and raised his

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

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hand, mouthing the magic word: caribou. They hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t noticed or heard us coming and were digging through the snow looking for something to eat. We were lucky.

Without wanting to alarm them, we grabbed our riďŹ&#x201A;es and eased off our snowmachines. The dense wall of willows lining the low ravine gave us cover and kept us out of sight of the small herd. The snow was deep and each step was a challenge as we moved forward.

With Lew dressed in his snow camouďŹ&#x201A;age and me right behind we pushed forward without alarm.

Like all moments of truth intersect, we got to a spot where we could go no further. Lew set up and was ready to pull the trigger. Determining a cow from a bull can be tough this time of year. Bulls have lost their antlers, but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re bigger, and with a good set of binoculars you can see their undercarriage pretty easily. Cows usually still have their horns but are much smaller and identiďŹ able. I watched as Lew picked out a cow, and with the boom of his riďŹ&#x201A;e, saw the caribou drop in its tracks. We had meat without having to take a number at the meat counter!

The rest of the animals scattered, as expected, stopping a few hundred yards away to look back in disbelief. I tried to ďŹ nd one in my scope, but the shot would have been iffy and I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to wound an animal. We had freezer supplies, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what we were after.

I knew that tomorrow was another day, and if we needed more, we could venture out and do the same.

The Alaskan Arctic provides all year with an abundance of food for those who live here. Shopping for groceries is boring for some, but for us in the far north, ďŹ nding what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re after is a challenge that it is about as fun as it gets. Bon appĂŠtit! ASJ Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: Paul Atkins is an outdoor writer and author from Kotzebue, Alaska.

He has written hundreds of articles on big game hunting and ďŹ shing throughout North America and Africa, plus surviving in the Arctic. Paul is a monthly contributor to Alaska Sporting Journal.

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RISE OF THE SNOW IN BITTERLY COLD WEATHER, A COUPLE HUNTS MACHINES ALONG THE DENALI HIGHWAY FOR PTARMIGAN

BY KRYSTIN AND BIXLER MCCLURE

On the unplowed Denali Highway, the authors relied on snowmachines to cover ground while hunting for ptarmigan. (BIXLER MCCLURE) aksportingjournal.com | FEBRUARY 2017

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“B

ixler!” I shouted through the willows. “Over here!”

Bixler was post-holing through powder snow, tripping over branches and chasing after ptarmigan while I pursued them in snowshoes. The birds flew off to another ridge and we sweated up a storm in hot pursuit.

Earlier that winter, Bixler and I had had the idea of riding our snowmachines in on the unplowed Denali Highway to the Alpine Creek Lodge, at Mile 68. To sailboaters like us, the Denali Highway, which begins 200 miles north of Anchorage and heads east, is the “Prince William Sound of the Interior” and features endless places to explore. During our annual Tier I Nelchina caribou hunt, we only get a taste of what the highway has to offer, and we have always wanted to visit in winter for some epic snowmachining and ptarmigan hunting.

WE MADE RESERVATIONS AT the lodge and drove up to Cantwell, the western terminus of the highway, and parked where the plowing ends. After a threehour ride into the lodge, which included a few stops to put on extra layers, check the trailer sleds we were towing, and take pictures of scenery, we arrived at our destination. Quickly, the Alpine Creek Lodge (alpinecreeklodge. com) became a second home to us as we befriended the chef and caretaker, Crissy, and the lodge’s owners, Claude and Jennifer Bondy, and their son, Bob. We stayed up late chatting with the owners and decided to hit the trails in the morning.

We woke up to cold weather. Sometime in the middle of the night I’d poked Bixler awake so we could turn our bedding around to get our heads away from the cold seeping in through the window. At sunrise we helped ourselves to coffee and found Claude sitting in his favorite recliner by a window. The thermometer outside said it was 10 below zero.

“It is going to be at least 30 below zero down on the river bed,” Claude said, sipping his coffee.

“I think we’ll wait until it warms up a bit,” I replied as I sat down on the 150

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The Denali Highway cuts across beautiful country between Cantwell, which is north of Anchorage, and Paxson, north of Glenallen and Valdez. (BIXLER MCCLURE)

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The Alpine Creek Lodge, located at roughly the halfway mark on the 134-mile-long Denali Highway, made for a comfortable base for the McClures to explore the backcountry. (BIXLER MCCLURE)

couch. After breakfast, the temperature warmed slightly and Bixler and I hit the trail on our snowmachines.

Claude was right about the riverbed; it was at least 20 degrees colder. We did

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not see much in the way of ptarmigan, so we opted to try another trail that headed out towards a lake.

We followed the trail down onto the lake and skirted its perimeter. By

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

then the temperature had warmed to a balmy zero, or slightly on the plus side of it. The sun was warming the snowy banks, and as we jumped off the lake back onto the trail we saw ptarmigan

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The bone-chilling temperatures didn’t feel as bad to Bixler McClure after bagging a number of tasty ptarmigan. (KRYSTIN MCCLURE)

fly into the willows.

Immediately, Bixler dismounted his sled and jumped into the deep snow after them. I paused to put my snowshoes on and then started to pursue the birds as well. Bixler stumbled upon the flock and shot several as they hid in the snow bank. I bagged a straggler off the other side of the trail and returned to my snowmachine.

“Come grab my birds!” Bixler shouted as he attempted to run through the deep snow.

“You should really put snowshoes on!” I shouted in return as I followed his deep tracks to a pile of birds.

Bixler continued to post-hole after the remaining ptarmigan. I could hear him complaining and he started to peel off his Carhartt snowsuit and underlayers. Even though we had our helmets and gloves off, both of us were 154

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A SNOWMACHINE PRIMER In Alaska, snowmachines are used for more than fun, and you can certainly use them for transportation to new hunting grounds. A couple points to bear in mind: • Be safe! Remember, it is easy to get far fast on a snowmachine, but if it breaks down, help can be a long way off too. We usually travel in pairs with two snowmachines, and carry tools, spark plugs, gas, a satellite phone, extra clothes, spare belts, and a tow strap.

• Snowmachines can ride easily in deep powder. For bird hunting – and also adventuring – bring a pair of snowshoes to use when you reach your hunting grounds to make stalking and retrieving easier.

• Invest in good backpacks, trailers, or other storage gear. It’s easy to lose valuable gear or game from the back of a snowmachine! sweating up a storm.

I paused as I picked up Bixler’s ptarmigan and heard more shots. The birds flew back in my general direction and I shot a few with my .22 when they landed.

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

“Is that all of them in this area?” I shouted to Bixler, who was huffing through the snow with ptarmigan in his hands.

“I think so,” he said in between breaths as he returned and stuffed the

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birds into our backpack. “We should keep going on the trail, though!”

AS WE CRESTED ANOTHER hill, a different huge flock flew downslope. Bixler followed them on foot, still refusing to put on his snowshoes.

I saw the ptarmigan lift up from their hiding place and head far away.

Bixler turned around and came back up to the trail and we agreed to return to the lodge and warm up.

We arrived back at the lodge with an impressive load of ptarmigan and a budding realization that our snowmachines were much more than just toys; they were hunting tools. As we thumbed through the hides of animals on display at the lodge, we began picking Bob’s and Claude’s brains on trapping. Claude gave us a quick rundown on his traps and we changed the subject to new trails to check out. He noted that our snowmachines would be perfect for hauling and setting traps.

We spent our remaining time at the

Krystin McClure looks through the scope of her .22 in anticipation of taking a shot at her quarry. (BIXLER MCCLURE)

lodge exploring hanging valleys and distant trails. The ability to transit vast distances in the wilderness outweighed our lack of ptarmigan hunting success in subsequent days. Happily exhausted from our journeys, we thanked the lodge owners tremendously for the experience, then returned to our truck at

Cantwell.

“Why did we not discover hunting areas only accessible by snowmachines earlier?” I asked jokingly as we started our long drive back to Seward.

“I don’t know! It was so amazing,” Bixler replied. “And just think, now we can get into trapping!” ASJ

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THE WOLF

At first, Bjorn Dihle cursed the wolf whose tracks he’d crossed several times for “killing and wasting a baby deer,” but then the hunter noticed that something didn’t seem quite right with its carcass. (BJORN DIHLE) 162

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& THE FAWN

A LATE HUNT ON A SNOWY PANHANDLE MOUNTAIN LEADS TO WOLF TRACKS AND A DEAD DEER

BY BJORN DIHLE

W

hile looking for deer a few years ago, I stood and listened to trees creaking and moaning in a southeasterly Alaskan gale. Snow fell steadily, illuminating the gloomy forest. I continued up the mountainside I planned to hunt and soon came across fresh wolf tracks.

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The week before I’d passed on three does in this area. I jumped one big deer that was probably a buck. A few minutes after, I spied a big doe traversing a bench below. I watched her in my scope, imagining how good she would taste but refrained from pulling the trigger.

I HAD TAKEN MY rifle for a lot of pleasant walks in the woods that December, but I was growing a little anxious. The season was almost over and I could use one more deer. Between the weather and the wolf, my chance of eating fresh heart and backstrap for dinner seemed pretty low.

Still, I’d hunted this mountainside a number of times and knew all the best benches and open stands of trees. So did the wolf. I half expected to bump into it.

I find encounters with megafauna in the rainforest more intense, intimate and somehow more special than those that occur out in the open. Whenever I see a deer in old growth, it feels like a

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small miracle; my brothers are quick to point out I feel this way because I don’t see that many.

I’ve only seen one wolf – and it was just a fleeting glimpse – while deep in the forest. Another time, when I was kneeling over a freshly killed and partly eaten deer I’d found, wolves began howling nearby. I walked away, glancing over my shoulder. At the parking lot at the base of that trail, after stepping around McDonald’s litter and a dirty diaper, I sat in my car feeling as if I had tainted the kill for the wolves merely by discovering it.

THE ODDS I WOULD run into this wolf were even lower than me shooting a buck.

After half an hour of creeping along the mountainside and constantly running into its tracks I admitted defeat. There was something almost hypnotic about the restless forest and the falling snow.

I hunted in the opposite direction – even though the wind was poor - squinting in the hope of seeing movement or the

FEBRUARY 2017 | aksportingjournal.com

shape of an animal.

At dusk I still hadn’t seen a deer. I began the hunter’s walk of shame, one I know all too well, and headed homewards. But on the way the screeching of ravens and eagles roused me from my doldrums. Soon I came across fresh tracks of the wolf, this time leading towards the avian ruckus. Though there was barely any light left, I circled upwind and began creeping closer. It was brushy and the snow was deep, but the storm masked most of my sound.

A fawn, partly covered in snow, lay fully intact near the base of a large jack pine. I knelt and brushed snow off. The birds must have only recently arrived because her marble eyes were still intact.

I mentally cursed the wolf. It was silly to apply my sense of morality to nature, but killing and wasting a baby deer didn’t sit well with me.

Something seemed odd, though.

The fawn appeared to have died that morning. With how hard the snow was falling, the wolf’s tracks couldn’t have

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been more than an hour old. I rubbed her fur and my hand came away covered in congealed blood. I parted hair on her neck and jabbed my finger into a bullet hole.

The shadows of ravens eyed me greedily and the blurs of eagles screeched with an excitement that bordered on hysteria. They hopped from snowy bough to bough, flapped wildly and glided in circles just above the stunted muskeg trees.

I sat with the fawn for a short while before whispering an apology and getting out my knife. I skinned out a tiny and still warm hindquarter and sliced it free from the spine. I sniffed the flesh, hoping to salvage what I could.

The trees whispered and moaned as I hiked home. Soon even the sounds of the birds fighting and feasting faded into the storm. ASJ Editor’s note: Bjorn Dihle is a Juneau-based writer. Check out the preview of his first book, Haunted Inside Passage, and follow him at facebook.com/BjornDihleauthor.

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Evidence suggested to the author that the fawn had been shot. After he cut away a hindquarter, the remainder would go to feed the scavengers.

(BJORN DIHLE)

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