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FISHING • HUNTING • ADVENTURE AKSPORTINGJOURNAL.COM

GOLD RUSH! ‘Dozer’ Dave Turin On Striking It Rich

HUNTING BIG BIRD Trumpeter Swans & Sandhill Cranes

ALSO INSIDE

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Interior First Ice Hot Spots Disabled Vets Fish Ketchikan

Situk River Steelhead Arctic, Panhandle Bear Hunts

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Experience Alaska!

ALASKA

SPORTING JOURNAL

Volume 8 • Issue 6 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, Brittany Boddington, Tony Ensalaco, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Jeff Lund, Dennis Musgraves SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Steve Joseph, Garn Kennedy, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold

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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 ads@nwsportsmanmag.com ON THE COVER “Dozer Dave” Turin never thought he’d someday chase gold from Alaska to South America, but the former college football player, successful family businessman and diehard outdoorsman in Oregon is a full-time miner now on the hit series Gold Rush.

(DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

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 6

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BACK TO YAKUTAT!

Tony Ensalaco has been a regular guest in fall at the Glacier Bear Lodge in Yakutat since his first check-in 12 years ago, and it’s easy to see why he returns to Southeast Alaska, what with how many steelhead head up the Situk River. It’s not just a spring fishery!

(TONY ENSALACO)

FEATURES 21

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GOLD STANDARD Meet Oregonian Dave Turin, once a promising college football player who went on to help run a successful family paving and rock-quarry business. But when buddy Todd Hoffman recruited Turin to help get a gold-mining operation up and running in Alaska, he jumped at the chance. Get to know the affable Turin – “Dozer Dave” of Discovery Channel’s Gold Rush.

MR. FREEZE ICE FISHES Our Dennis Musgraves, who lives in Alaska’s frigid Interior, embraces rather than dreads winter’s first freeze. Ride along as he tours three top-notch lakes filled with trout, landlocked salmon and Arctic char.

119 WOLF WHISPERER When our Field to Fire columnists Scott and Tiffany Haugen taught in the tiny outpost of Anaktuvuk Pass, they were introduced to a local legend, wolf trapper Ben Hopson Jr. Scott shares his memories of heading out into the cold weather with Hopson in search of what Natives know as the amaguq, while Tiffany pre-

pares jerky from memories of her own.

155 HUNTING BIG BIRDS Most waterfowlers target ducks and geese – Paul Atkins has bigger birds in mind: tundra swans and sandhill cranes. But it’s no easy task downing these flying “fillet mignons” and “porterhouses” during fall’s brief hunt.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 41 Disabled veterans fish in Ketchikan 103 Into the abyss: Challenges of Panhandle deer hunting 111 A family’s love of guns creates a company 129 There’s always next time: When tags go unnotched 139 Alaska pinch hunter: Brittany Boddington’s bear hunt DEPARTMENTS 17 The Editor’s Note 55 Protecting Wild Alaska: Illegal moose hunters charged; Pink salmon numbers out of whack 55 Outdoor Calendar

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 © 2015 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

As we honor our military heroes on Veterans Day this month, Purple Heart Anglers founder Randy Houston reminds us not to forget military doctors, nurses and medics who have helped the sick and wounded in battle. (SUMMER M. ANDERSON/U.S. NAVY)

I

’m really proud of my nieces, both of whom seem like they are focused on pursuing a career in healthcare. One just received a radiology degree and the other is strongly considering nursing as a college major. I don’t think we take our own personal doctors or nurses for granted, but something struck me in chatting with Randy Houston, who runs a California-based nonprofit organization that takes disabled veterans hunting and fishing.

Houston’s Purple Heart Anglers is featured this month after seven veterans were flown from Northern California to Ketchikan for a salmon and halibut trip. Houston has met plenty of servicemen and –women in the last few years, but he made it a point to give a shout out to those angels of the battlefield who have patched up the wounded and the dying from Bunker Hill to Shiloh; from the Argonne to Omaha Beach; from An Loc to Baghdad.

“One of the things that we talked about is the doctors and nurses who take care of these people, and the medics who are out there in the field picking them up and transporting them back to the base hospital,” Houston told me. “Those people are out in the middle of it and the nurses back in the ward are taking care of these torn-up bodies. And they come back with some pretty ugly stuff in their heads. And we don’t think about (military) nurses with PTSD. We see the finished product, but they see the damage to the bodies.”

While we’re at it, even in a year of such tension and conflict in our country, let’s all embrace Veterans Day this Nov. 11. Some of us won’t have a day off from work, but take some time to remember those who have honorably served our country. Thank one who you see at the grocery store; make a small donation to a charity like Houston’s Purple Heart Anglers (purpleheartanglers.org); check out a museum, national battlefield or military cemetery. It doesn’t take much effort to reflect. –Chris Cocoles aksportingjournal.com | NOVEMBER 2016

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HE’S IN A RUSH DAVE TURIN WALKED AWAY FROM A SUCCESSFUL FAMILY BUSINESS TO CHASE RICHES WITH THE MINERS ON TV’S GOLD RUSH

Oregonian Dave Turin helped successfully run a paving and rockquarrying business with his family and brothers, but the urge to take on a challenge convinced him to become a miner. He’s one of the stars of the Discovery Channel hit series, Gold Rush. (DISCOVERY CHANNEL) aksportingjournal.com | NOVEMBER 2016

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Turin (center, with Hoffman miners Freddy Dodge and Derek Dodge) has become his team’s unofficial mentor.

Being the son of a former football coach has rubbed off on Jim Turin’s son. (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

BY CHRIS COCOLES

A

s Dave Turin grew up in a suburb of Portland, Ore., he had plenty of interests, whether it was dominating on the football field or enjoying the Pacific Northwest’s spectacular hunting and fishing.

But little did he know that another love would eventually define who he is today: the passion to take on a challenge.

That would morph into his place as one of the hard-nosed miners obsessed with striking it rich on Discovery Channel’s series, Gold Rush.

Turin, who once starred in football at the junior college level and walked onto Oregon State’s team, would call the

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audible of a lifetime. He and his family started a successful paving and rock-quarrying company that would grow into a Pacific Northwest staples in the business.

But there was something about this stable career that had Turin restless. That brought the ups and downs of living the life of a miner, and it begs the proverbial question, “Do you sometimes ask yourself what you’ve gotten into?”

“Yes, I do; I ask myself that a lot. In our second year of gold mining (one of the early seasons of Gold Rush), Fred Hurt kind of took over our claim and we got bumped out of there,” says Turin, who early on was considered the brains of the operation when it came to mining, even if it hadn’t been for gold.

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Turin (second from right), can relate to his colleagues who mine together in Alaska and beyond, as most are from the same area around Portland, Ore. His boss, Todd Hoffman, is also from Sandy, about 25 miles outside Portland. (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

“So we go to the Yukon Territory and Todd (Hoffman) found some ground. I’ll never forget this: Todd and I walked out to this piece of ground; Todd looks around and says, ‘Here you go, Dave. Get started.’ I had never, never thought

I’d been in over my head more than at that time.”

Turin, like most of the miners on his team, relies heavy on his faith. So he did what comes naturally and prayed.

God, I have no idea how to do this and what I’ve gotten my-

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self into. I’m going to be watched on TV and I have no idea what I’m doing.

“So yeah, there are a lot of times when I think to myself, ‘Why in the world am I doing this?”

Of team leader Hoffman (center, with son Hunter and father Jack), Turin says, “What Todd has taught me – I’ll be honest with you – he’s one of the best business negotiators I’ve ever met.” (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

THE DISCOVERY CHANNELS OF the television world have always been fascinated by Alaska when it comes to programming. While many focus on Alaskans living off the grid and their perceived hardships, Discovery struck – uh – gold with character studies on the obsession men and women have with finding Au 79 (that’s the symbol and element number for gold for those of us who struggled to get through high school chemistry). Hence, the ratings-friendly series Bering Sea Gold and Gold Rush that are still going strong (Gold Rush’s seventh season premiered in mid-October and was cable TV’s top-rated show that night for most younger demographics).

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star became Parker Schnabel, Turin has seen the highs the Alaskan high school bas- – the team once brought ketball player-turned teenage back gold worth $1.28 million from the Klondmining whiz kid (Alaska Sport- ike – and the lowest of ing Journal, December 2014). lows when a project in But arguably the heart and South America almost bankrupted the team. soul of the franchise has been (DISCOVERY CHANNEL) the Todd Hoffman-led Oregon crew that first mined Southeast Alaska’s Porcupine Creek in Season 1.

“We weren’t growing and I was doing the same job for 28 years. I was not being challenged,” Turin says. “And then Todd Hoffman entered my life.”

Turin knew and could relate to Hoffman, who also hailed from Turin’s same Oregon hometown and longed for a career change – Todd and his dad Jack were in the aviation business together – so it became fate they would reunite in the gold game. “(Hoffman) told me I was going to go gold mining in Alaska, and I’ll never forget – he’s all set up and I was there

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on the day they left (Oregon); I helped them pack up and load up,” Turin says. “And my heart was longing and yearning to go to Alaska, which is kind of our last wilderness and

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our last frontier. Think of the allure: You’re going gold mining and you’re in Alaska, in the wilderness! I want to go do that.”

“And he left, and I went back to my job and didn’t think much of it. Then about three months later he calls me and said, ‘You need to come up here and help me set up my wash plant because I can’t get it going.’ And I said, ‘All right, I’ll go.’ That was the first time I went up there and it was pretty cool.”

The next year, Hoffman made a formal offer to his Oregon buddy to join the crew. Initially, Turin juggled mining with Hoffman and continuing to work the paving and rock quarry business with his brothers. But in year three, he became a full-time gold miner, Hoffman’s right-hand man and one of the staples of Gold Rush’s storylines.

“At first I didn’t understand Todd; he’s very ADD (attention deficit disorder) and I’m the guy who loves to plan and stick to a plan. But what Todd has taught me – I’ll be honest with you, he’s one of the best business negotiators I’ve ever met. And he taught me it always has to be win-win.

A lot of what we do is, it has to be good for us but also for them. He doesn’t want to do a deal if it’s not good for the other people.”

Hoffman too has Christian values, so the duo has formed a strong partnership, professionally as well as spiritually.

And they’ve ridden the good times and rough seas together.

As is the norm for an industry that’s the epitome of high risk, high reward, Turin has experienced a carnival

ride of emotions, a rock-based Tilt-A-Whirl that’s seen his crew rack up 803 ounces of Klondike gold – worth a cool $1.28 million – in one season. But also a now-infamous and humiliating fourth-season trip to the jungles of Guyana, where the ill-fated experiment in South America unearthed all of 2 ounces and almost bankrupted Hoffman’s operation. But that’s what these guys signed up for. Gold doesn’t discriminate.

Turin’s also become something of a wily mentor to his fellow miners. It could be argued that no one had the background in geology, the business sense or the experience that Turin, 57, could list on his resume (he also has a civil engineering degree from Portland State).

“That’s one thing I enjoy about this job, teaching younger guys about a profession. I consider myself a professional miner; for whatever reason that’s how my life has gone,” he says. “And I want to instill in the young men that it’s a good job; do your job to the best of your ability. Take the ground and put it back into something useful. We need to extract the natural resources, but we also have the responsibility to put the ground back. And I love teaching the young men to not only be good operators and good miners, but to be good men.”

BEFORE THE FATEFUL MOMENT in 1969, when Jim Turin’s driveway needed paving and he put his young sons to work and triggered the idea for Jim Turin and Sons (now known as Mt. Hood Rock Company, mounthoodrock.com), the Tu-

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rin patriarch was a teacher and high school football coach.

“My dad was a risk taker. He had six kids and he quit teaching and coaching, which is one of the most secure jobs that you can have,” Dave Turin says. “When my dad quit, my oldest brother was 13, so he’s got six kids ranging from 13 to about 4, and he quits the one job he went to college for. So that same thing was instilled in me; I’ve also always been a risk taker. It’s one of the reasons I gold mine, probably one of the riskiest things you can do. But in the

end I love it because it’s so unpredictable.”

And in many ways, Turin is something of a coach on Team Hoffman, and thus his career has come full circle, though he’s already had a headstart on blowing whistles.

“I’ve inherited that trait. I coached my children in sports, and it’s funny that I enjoyed it so much I ended up coaching other people’s children when mine moved past that age and into high school – that’s when I’m like, ‘Let the guys who are good at it (coach them).’ And after I’d stopped coaching

THE GOLD STANDARD

Dave Turin on all the reasons why he does what he does (and drives him crazy in the process): “It’s funny; now that I’m on TV people think I’m smarter than I am. I get to speak a lot and I speak to doing the right things.

Our show is kind of about taking chances, encouraging people to take chances and staying in this business; it’s a good business.

Mining has taken some hits throughout the years, and it’s not the most popular profession. But I want to encourage people that is a good business, we need the natural resources and if we do it responsibly, it’s a great profession.” “(But) gold mining is an extremely difficult business. And one of the things that makes it so difficult is anywhere you go to mine gold, it’s a difficult, harsh climate. We’ve been to Guyana, we’ve been to Chile and we’ve been to the Yukon Territory, where we were 300 miles south of the Arctic Circle. I’ve been to Alaska looking for claims.”

“It’s a very competitive business, because there’s not a lot of ground that has good gold on it. So the prices – what we pay for the fees to the landowner – those percentages are going up. So our percentages are going down and everything’s more and more difficult – the laws, the environmental restrictions are getting tougher and tougher.”

“What makes it difficult for us is the long hours we spend. We’re always away from our families, and that’s the most difficult thing for me. We go for six and sometimes seven months, and all you can do is talk to your family over the phone or by Facetime kinds of things. And that’s OK a couple times, but not for six or seven months.”

“I’ve always been a hunter and a fisherman, and now our season goes through the fall and I never have a chance to hunt or fish anymore, and that stinks.” ASJ

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“It’s funny; now that I’m on TV people think I’m smarter than I am. I get to speak a lot and I speak to doing the right things,” says Turin (middle, with Greg Remsburg and Hoffman). “Our show is kind of about taking chances, encouraging people to take chances and staying in this business; it’s a good business.” (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

them in eighth grade, I enjoyed it so much. It’s not just to win games; it’s teaching kids life principles and I loved that part of it,” he says. “And I still find myself to this day teaching the people I work with.”

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It could have been a much different life for Turin these days. He knows he probably wouldn’t be a pro football player or anything, but he could have remained in Oregon, spending all the family time he’s missed and living well as a

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Visit Us Online! aksportingjournal.com

partner in his family’s company.

“It was the best thing I ever did. I was able to work with my brothers and my mom and dad,” says Turin, who experienced some rocky times in the business world. The family had to borrow money to just make payroll, but Jim Turin had a profound effect on the boys. “The things our dad taught us were such good lessons; you pay your workers first. And the other thing that Dad taught us as a life lesson, if you take something from the ground or your community, you give something back. Be involved in civic things, and I’ve tried to do that, whether it’s church or help at local fundraisers. Give back.”

He grew up in Sandy, a tight-knit community in the shadows of Mount Hood about 25 miles southeast of Portland. It was a place where a young kid could really embrace the outdoors.

“I was always the guy that got my hands dirty. I loved hunting and fishing, and I loved rocks,” Turin says. “I studied engineering and geology and to this day, I’ll drive by a mountain or a unique rock formation and I’ll tell my wife, ‘Hey, look at that cool thing.’ She’ll look at me and say, ‘It looks like a pile of rocks to me.’”

The beauty of rural Oregon was “our playground,” Turin says. He remembers his mom ordering young Dave out of her kitchen and get outside and play. He and his brothers wouldn’t come back until dark, sometimes hiking nearby trails and camping out for the night. “A can of beans and some hot dogs; and we loved it,” says Dave, who hunted and fished whenever he had the opportunities.

He also excelled in sports.

“At one point I thought football was life,” Turin says. “I played two years of junior college football; I was – believe it or not – an all-conference linebacker. And there were eight or nine of us who walked onto Oregon State in 1981 (under coach Joe Avezzano, whose Beavers teams in the early ’80s struggled mightily). We were horrible and I didn’t make the team but walked on, gave it my best shot and realized I was a little bit over my head.”

It’s all worked out in the end. Turin found his calling as a gold miner and serving as a father figure for his colleagues.

And despite the frustration of being away from his actual family for long periods of time (see sidebar below), Turin just knew his destiny was awaiting him in Alaska, South America or wherever those rocks were calling his name to explore and dig.

“I had always had envisioned our company expanding and growing. And that was part of the issue why I left the family business,” he says. “We bought our mother and father out and the four brothers became equal partners. We did all our decision-making on a consensus basis. But it stifled all our growth, and I was the guy who was always pushing to grow the business and try to open new quarries.

I love and live for challenges.” ASJ Editor’s note: New episodes of Gold Rush can be seen on the Discovery Channel on Fridays (check your local listings). For more on Dave Turin, like him at facebook.com/grdozerdave.

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Seven disabled veterans got to experience a “trip of a lifetime” to Ketchikan courtesy of Purple Heart Anglers, a California-based nonprofit organization. (PURPLE HEART ANGLERS)

THANKING THE TROOPS SEVEN DISABLED VETS TAKE FISHING TRIP OF MANY FIRSTS TO KETCHIKAN

BY CHRIS COCOLES

I

t was one of those “trips of a lifetime,” as Randy Houston calls them, but one of the lucky participants called him with some bad news for the most irrelevant of reasons.

“We had one gentleman who is a Vietnam veteran. His health is down a little bit and he’s on his own now. He called me up the day before we were getting ready to leave,” Houston says of a charity fishing getaway to Southeast Alaska for disabled veterans. The man lived in the San Francisco Bay area, about 45 minutes south of the airport the party was flying out of.

“He said, ‘I don’t know if I can go.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ His ride got canceled and he was stuck.”

As innocent as that seems, the man

was typical of many of the servicemen and -women Houston has encountered, proud veterans who have at times struggled to make it all work. For the last seven years, Houston has run a Northern California-based nonprofit organization, Purple Heart Anglers, that arranges for fishing and hunting outings for vets.

Houston and other volunteers had already taken a small group of wounded warriors to Costa Rica and Alaska. So via a random draw, seven vets who’d served in wars from Korea to Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan were chosen for the trip north to Ketchikan in September.

But the fact that the man without a ride was questioning whether or not he’d have the means to make it to San Francisco International Airport didn’t

surprise Houston. Many of the men and women he’s encountered along the way are not just hurting physically but also mentally. Houston immediately assured the man his transport to the airport would be taken care of, and in many ways he epitomized the spirit of Purple Heart Anglers.

“I’m not going to say all of them are by themselves, but there are a lot of them,” Houston says. “Many of these have come back and they’ve divorced, suffered from PTSD, and in many cases their spouses have passed away. Just all kinds of different reasons.”

RANDY HOUSTON DIDN’T FOLLOW in the military path his older brother, Jerry, embarked on. Jerry Houston fought in Vietnam and was wounded twice starting in 1966, once from a sniper’s

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The wounded warriors got to experience Southeast Alaska from the land and from sea.

(PURPLE HEART ANGLERS)

gunshot and, after going back, when a booby trap exploded. He lost some fingers and his body was filled with shrapnel, and Jerry was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for Valor.

Jerry, who was also exposed to Agent Orange during his tour of duty, passed away at 75 on April 21, 2011.

Randy, 12 years younger than his brother, always looked up to Jerry but felt like he didn’t get to know him well enough until he was gone. The seeds of Purple Heart Anglers were planted while Jerry was still alive, but the support of so many volunteers who have assisted Randy along the way has been even more of a posthumous tribute to his big brother.

“I discovered a long time ago through this program that my brother 42

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had a lot of other brothers who I didn’t know about,” says Randy Houston, a retired carpenter. “The military family is part of my brother’s family, and I learn a little bit about who (Jerry) was every time I’m out with these guys. When it gets personal I walk away; I don’t want to intrude on their conversations with other veterans.”

Through all these years of fishing and hunting adventures with the veterans – often daytrips around his home in the San Francisco area – Houston says he considers himself “the youngest brother” to all of his brother’s brothers.

And if one of them strikes up a conversation with him and wants to open up, Houston has heard some of the most too-outrageous-to-be-true-butthey-are stories of both triumph and

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Houston – here with Pennie, his beloved German shorthaired pointer – has no military background except for his late brother, Jerry, who won two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star in Vietnam. “I discovered a long time ago through this program that my brother had a lot of other brothers who I didn’t know about,” he says. (PURPLE HEART ANGLERS)

horror that veterans returned stateside with. It only reinforces that Houston feels like the fundraising work he’s done and the growth of his 501(c)(3) non-

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profit is making an impact – even if it’s just a few hours (or days) of peace in the great outdoors.

“I started this because I wanted to

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do something with my big brother – a simple thing,” Houston says. “And it’s gotten to a point now where if you ask, ‘Why do I do it?’ We’ve had over 1,700

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disabled veterans out (in the field) since this program started. So I have 1,700 good reasons why I do this.”

KETCHIKAN PROVED TO BE everything these American heroes hoped to experience. The group was very competitive on the water – the vets split into teams and fished out of separate boats. This year’s trip surpassed the numbers that were landed from the previous year’s trip to Southeast Alaska. In all, almost 600 pounds of halibut and salmon fillets were packed up. (As per a tradition from the year before, Houston will freeze a lot of the wild salmon and halibut and have it served at a Purple Heart Anglers fundraising banquet next April.)

And the catch rate was high when factoring that the first day of fishing was wiped out by a storm that blew into Ketchikan. But even that day and throughout the trip, the warriors got to take in some sightseeing and wildlife viewing, both on land in the form of

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bald eagles and big game, and on the boat, spotting hundreds of whales.

“They didn’t get any giant fish; they just had a lot of fun. These guys were able to experience the country that they’ve served, in a way that they had never been able to,” Houston says.

“Some of the guys were talking about how they could scratch something off their bucket lists.”

Houston prefers to be in the background and behind the scenes during excursions in California, where he’s been the master of ceremonies for everything from rockfish charters off the Bay Area coast to upland bird hunts in the Central Valley, but the veterans implored him to get in on the action when a silver bit the trolling set-up.

“All the guys on the boat said, ‘You’re up, dude.’ I was the guy who was holding onto the guys who were catching (fish). I’m helping them hold their rod in the chest and helping them stabilize themselves against the railing,” Houston says. “The guys were

NOVEMBER 2016 | aksportingjournal.com

inside the cab on the six-pack boat to get out of the drizzle, and I’m standing at the door waiting for the next guy to come out. The fish hit the rod and I grabbed a hold of it and set the hook, turned around and said, ‘Come on.’

They all said, ‘No! Your turn.’”

But the traveling party, which also included a California fishing guide who helped on the boat, was far more excited when one of the veterans reeled in a silver or halibut. When one salmon was brought to the boat, Houston jokingly asked the man if it was his first from Alaskan waters.

“First salmon ever,” was his reply.

It turned out to be a trip of firsts for almost all of the servicemen: first halibut, first salmon, first bald eagle, first caribou, and first time in Alaska (six of the seven had never fished in the Last Frontier before).

The group, which helped keep the costs down by using Alaska Airlines buddy passes, got the royal treatment in Ketchikan from the historic Gilmore

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Hotel (907-225-9423; gilmorehotel.com). Oasis Alaska Charters (206-909-6126; oasisalaska.com) provided the boat trips for fishing.

“They went completely out of their way to make everyone comfortable and happy,” Houston says.

“When we were ordering rooms, we wanted to do two beds to a room to keep costs down. But the hotel gave everyone their own room and gave us a discount.”

It turned out to be the kind of adventure most will never get to experience, particularly for these guys, many of whom don’t have the means financially or the spirit physically, and even mentally to do a DIY vacation.

What’s been satisfying for Houston over the years that he’s arranged to get disabled vets out for hunts and fishing trips is the mutual trust that’s evolved.

“A lot of these guys haven’t trusted a citizen from the United

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The joy of watching warriors wounded in wars ranging from Korea to Afghanistan makes all the hard work pay off. “Why do I do it? We’ve had over 1,700 disabled veterans out (in the field) since this program started. So I have 1,700 good reasons why I do this,” Houston says.

(PURPLE HEART ANGLERS)

NOVEMBER 2016 | aksportingjournal.com

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States since they got back from Vietnam,” Houston says.

And that lonely vet who thought the worst when his ride bailed on him? He’ll join Houston this month on a salmon fishing trip on California’s Sacramento River and be reunited with his son, who lives a couple hundred miles away in the northern end of the state.

“These guys were treated so well by the public in our program, when they come back it’s truly one of those trips of a lifetime,” Houston says. “They just can’t believe what people do for them because of their service.”

“One of the Vietnam vets told me, ‘I’ve never been told thank you since Vietnam.’

That’s something that he’ll never forget and something that maybe his attitude toward our country has changed.” ASJ Editor’s note: For more information or to donate to Purple Heart Anglers, check out purpleheartanglers.org, and like at facebook.com/Purple-Heart-Anglers-120269434661712.

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PROTECTING

THREE MEN CHARGED WILD ALASKA IN ILLEGAL MOOSE HUNTS

BY CHRIS COCOLES hree Mat-Su-area residents were charged by Alaska Wildlife Troopers in early October for illegally hunting moose.

Two Palmer residents, Ted Justen, 56, and 22-year-old Curtis Justen, and 25-year-old Ray Justen of Wasilla, face various violations for three different moose killings. Ted allegedly harvested a sublegal moose, Curtis shot a cow moose without a proper permit or general-season moose tag and Ray is accused of shooting a sublegal moose and attempting to cover up the crime by altering the antlers as he prepared to leave the hunting area.

“Alaska Wildlife Troopers Palmer Post received an anonymous tip that individual(s) were possibly hunting illegally,” state troopers reported. “Troopers responded and located three moose kill sites in close proximity of each other at the end of East Maud Road in the Butte. One of the moose was determined to be a cow with the other two having undersized, or sublegal antlers.”

All three men were charged with misdemeanor summons for their offenses, and Ted and Ray Justen also face charges of ”unlawfully transporting and possessing the moose,” according to troopers.

The men are all scheduled to appear in court in Palmer at a future date.

T

THINK PINK Just how strong are odd-year pink salmon becoming compared to their even-yeared humpbacked brethren? Consider the commercial harvest in Prince William Sound between 2015 and 2016. According to Undercurrent News, PWS saw over 98 million pinks caught last year, compared with just a shade over 13 million this year. While the Gulf of Alaska’s warm “Blob” may have accounted for some of that, it’s also a hallmark of increasingly wild year-to-year swings being seen in the Pacific’s two stocks.

A cow moose was allegedly shot in the Mat-Su Valley without the hunter possessing a permit or proper tag, one of three related incidents where hunters were charged with illegal kills. (JACOB W. FRANK/NATIONAL PARK SERVICE)

OUTDOOR CALENDAR Nov. 1 Nov. 1 Nov. 1

Nov. 1 Nov. 1-7 Nov. 1-7 Nov. 1-14 Nov. 10 Nov. 15 Nov. 15

Coyote trapping season opens in Southeast Alaska (Units 1-5) Deer season opens in Game Management Unit 5 (Yakutat) Registration brown bear hunt opens in GMU 9E (all drainages into the Pacific from Cape Kumliun to 9D-9E border) Resident draw antlerless moose hunt opens in GMU 14A (Mat-Su Valley) Registration goat hunt GMU 7 (Seward) Registration goat hunts GMU 15 (Kenai) Archery and muzzleloader deer season in GMU 8 (Kodiak/Shelikof) Beaver trapping season opens in Southeast Alaska (Units 1-5) Second elk season opens in GMU 3 (Petersburg-Wrangell) Registration moose season opens in GMU 5A (south of Wrangell-St. Elias NP)

Nov. 16 Nov. 30

Note: Check the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s regulations for more details.

Opening of youth archery and muzzleloader deer season in GMU 8 Deer season ends in GMU 1A (Southeast Mainland)

Several draw goat hunts take place this month in Alaska, including Game Management Unit 7 (Seward). (PAUL D. ATKINS) aksportingjournal.com | NOVEMBER 2016

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Pedro Gonzalez fights a Situk steelhead, while Tom Couston looks on during a trip down the short, fish-rich river outside Yakutat. Author Tony Ensalaco (inset) has been coming back here year after year to get in on the catch-and-release fishing for fall-run steelies. (TONY ENSALACO)

REUNION WITH THE SITUK

AN ANGLER CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF HIS ANNUAL STEELHEAD FISHING TRIPS TO THE YAKUTAT-AREA RIVER

BY TONY ENSALACO

I

was into my third stroke of the oars when my buddy, Pedro Gonzalez, set the hook and a colored-up, 11-pound fall-run steelhead came twisting 3 feet into the air and crashed hard on the tranquil surface of the Situk River.

It hit the water with a full head of steam and ripped 25 yards

of line before reaching the shallow gravel at the back of the hole.

This made the fish change direction 180 degrees, and it came charging toward the aluminum driftboat before corkscrewing 3 feet from the left gunwale. Eventually, Pedro was able to subdue the amped-up male while I eased the boat back to shore, allowing Pedro to beach the fish on the launch ramp.

Tom Couston, the third guy in our crew, removed the hook and sent the fish back to the dark grey hole from where it came. Our first steelhead connection actually took place within 15 feet of the put-in and five seconds of our lures wobbling aksportingjournal.com | NOVEMBER 2016

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in the water.

After the customary high-fives and congratulations, we set up again. Our next fish made us wait a more reasonable 15 seconds before slamming Pedro’s size 35 gold Hot Shot.

He made quick work of the 8-pound female, again landing the steelhead at the ramp.

While we were releasing the fish, another boat was backing down the ramp, so we declared it was good karma to have such a fast start and that it was time to be on our way downstream.

As I navigated the boat around the first of many logjams, I couldn’t quite process how fast things were happening.

But as I performed my rowing duties, I was thrust back into reality by another shout of “Fish on!” Tom was leaning hard on another fall-run male that he had hooked under an overhanging tree. After a few headshakes on the surface, the fish became unbuttoned and threw Tom’s pink jig towards the boat.

After watching the boys hook three fish before I had yet to make a cast, I thought that this spot would be as good as any to begin my six days of fishing on the Situk, which sits just outside Yakutat, at the northern end of Alaska’s Panhandle.

The decision was right, because on my second drift my bobber shot under the surface.

When I reared back on the rod, I felt the heavy headshakes of a large steelhead. The fight wasn’t spectacular, more like two heavyweight boxers going toe to toe, but I didn’t care; I just wanted to land my first fish of the trip.

After a few hard-fought minutes, the fish was sitting in the bottom of the rubber net and we were admiring a slightly blushed, gunmetal spring-run male that was close to 3 feet long. It was a fantastic creature to break the ice.

The rest of the day consisted of several more hook-ups, mostly with darker fish that were lying under the alders or were spawned-out females recuperating in the deeper holes.

The unseasonably warm weather this year caused the steelhead run to arrive weeks early, so bright fish were hard to come by. We did manage to hook a couple of chromers that

Yakutat’s Glacier Bear Lodge has been home base for the author during fishing trips to the Situk. (TONY ENSALACO) 66

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The cool waters of the Situk, northwest of Glacier Bay National Park, also feature annual runs of spring steelhead and silver and sockeye salmon. (TONY ENSALACO)

day, but it was late in the evening at the end of the float.

DAY TWO FOUND US waking up to bluebird skies, which sounds great to the average person but depresses the hardcore metalhead angler. Although the beauty of the river would be phenomenal, we knew the fishing was going to be tough that day.

As we predicted, we came across several fish early, but the middle of the day was less than spectacular. What salvaged the outing was that we found a batch of chromers in one hole that were willing to play. The little spurt of action left us feeling satisfied and we would have been content to call it a day. But as we approached a logjam just within sight of the takeout, there was an explosion of 20 to 25 ocean-bright steelhead.

The eruption resembled the Asian carp problem that takes place on the Illinois River when a motorboat passes over the fish. We decided to delay our dinner plans in order to pick a fight with these recent Situk arrivals.

We soon were on the receiving end of an old-fashioned shellacking, losing all three battles to our dominant opponents. I was almost relieved that the steelhead decided they were done embarrassing us and continued their journey upstream.

That evening, I discussed the tough river conditions with Pete Eades, general manager of Glacier Bear Lodge. He asked the three of us if we were interested in the the lodge’s ocean charter, a custom-built, 28-foot North River boat with twin 225-horse Yamaha outboards. Now, I’m a river rat to the core, someone who doesn’t fish any water over 10 feet deep, but it was difficult for me to decline his offer while looking at the 62-pound king salmon mounted on the wall and remembering the picture of last year’s 405-pound leviathan halibut that was taken on the very same boat that Pete was volunteering.

Ocean fishing in Yakutat takes place April through September and is usually done in less than 100 feet of water, which is much shallower than most locations, and you are allowed to retain two halibut a day – four annually – which indicates a robust fishery.

For the next three days, the fishing remained good, with several hook-ups early in the morning. The afternoons were slow, but it was not impossible to locate fish. Fishing in the

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evening always seemed to pad our fish stats to more reasonable Situk-like numbers.

The amount of fish we came in contact with each day would be astounding for any other river in the world, but not on the Situk, where steelhead encounters can sometimes be measured by the dozens.

THAT LAST EVENING AT the lodge, I talked with Eddie Preciado, Glacier Bear’s head guide, about other fishing opportunities that the Situk has throughout the year. Eddie and his wife, Adriana, have been employed by the lodge for several years and are as gracious of hosts as one can meet.

I had the pleasure of fishing with Eddie in 2015, when the river was flowing five to six times higher than its normal rate and caused the Situk to be well over its banks. Any other river would have been unfishable for the week, but that wasn’t the case for the Situk. Eddie expertly guided my buddy Tom and me to land close to 25 steelhead that day, and we lost many more.

What impressed me as much as Eddie’s knowledge of how to find the fish in adverse conditions was his work ethic and determination to ensure that his clients had a memorable fishing experience.

At dinner, Eddie told me that some years a trickle of sockeye can sometimes overlap a late steelhead run in the beginning of June, while fishable numbers of red salmon usually enter the river around the middle of that month and should

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The Situk produced a lot of steelhead, particularly in the early morning, but the guys’ chance to land a true monster was derailed when the fish tangled the line in the brush, breaking off. (TONY ENSALACO)

peak around the first week of July. The run starts to taper off in the years when pink salmon decide to invade the river in the beginning of August.

The Situk has averaged runs of 60,000 to 118,000 reds the past five years, which doesn’t sound like much compared to other rivers like the Kenai or the Russian. However, when you take into consideration the small confines of a stream that is only 18 to 19 miles long from its start at Situk Lake to where it

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empties into the Gulf of Alaska, those numbers indicate there are plenty of fish in the system. In comparison, the Situk will appear to be stuffed with steelhead when the run averages 5,000 to 15,000 fish, which is spread out over several months.

Eddie also encouraged us to sample some of the fantastic silver fishing the Situk has every fall. Starting in mid-August and peaking around mid-September, the river receives an estimated annual return of upwards of 100,000 coho. I have experienced the silver run with my father, and I can honestly say that the fish are big and feisty, with an average weight between 9 and 13 pounds; larger fish are not uncommon.

When the coho numbers start winding down, the fall-run steelies show up and overwinter in the system. Excellent fishing on the Situk can happen, depending on the weather, every month of the year!

ON OUR FINAL DAY, our group woke up to drizzly weather, which we felt should only help the day’s action, though I believed it made a slight difference. Unfortunately, with very little rain for the previous week and so many steelhead being in the river for a long time, it seemed that most of the fish had been “chewed up” from weeks of fishing pressure, along with the rigors of spawning.

Like any good fishing tale, we did save the best fish for last.

There was a fallen Sitka spruce at the back of a long run lying parallel to the current that we had fished previously. We had nothing to show for our efforts other than a bunch of lost

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Attracted by salmon, bald eagles flock to the river.

(TONY ENSALACO)

jigs stuck under the branches. I was piloting the driftboat and made the executive decision to change tactics and run some plugs alongside the tree.

Within seconds of the lures working, the inside rod tip

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AN ALASKAN EXPERIENCE Less than 12 years ago, I was checking in at Yakutat’s Glacier Bear Lodge, established in 1973. It is one of only two full-service lodges in Yakutat and a place where I’ve been coming every April for the last 10 years. There is an initial sense of excitement – not to mention a feeling of belonging – that comes over me every time I drive up the gravel road and see the light blue façade that adorns the main building.

What I always notice is all of the familiar faces from my previous trips. Whether they are employees, guests or locals who frequent the restaurant and lounge, it’s their annual presence that is a testament to the family atmosphere that the lodge seems to provide.

I believe with all successful businesses, it starts at the top. At GBL the top is the general manager, Pete Eades, an avid outdoors- The Glacier Bear Lodge, one of just two full-service lodges man who understands ďŹ shermen and really knows how to take care in Yakutat, has become a familiar destination for the author in fall. (TONY ENSALACO) of his clients.

Since I had chosen to stay at GBL, Pete, along with his predecessor, Shareese Edwards, have fulďŹ lled every reasonable request immediately, with no questions asked. From my experience, Pete is as ďŹ ne as any manager in the industry and one who really cares about the customer having the best possible experience.

After spending 12 hours oating the river, all I wanted was a warm meal, hot shower and a bed. The prime rib weekly special was the perfect ďŹ nish to a successful ďŹ rst day on the water. From hamburgers to steaks and seafood, Glacier Bear offers something on the menu for everyone. It also has a fully stocked bar, as well as an extensive wine list that makes the dining experience almost as enjoyable as the ďŹ shing.

If you would like to experience for yourself the fantastic ďŹ shing opportunities Yakutat has to offer, I strongly urge you to call Pete at (886) 425-6343, or you can check out the website at glacierbearlodge.com. Pete will make every effort to ensure that your stay will be as comfortable, enjoyable and fulďŹ lling as possible. See you at the Bear! -TE

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Tom Couston and Pedro Gonzalez show off a couple of fall-run steelhead from the Situk. (TONY ENSALACO)

slammed down to the water and locked the rod firmly in its holder. While Tom was attempting to dislodge the rod, the fish screamed downstream and ran under the back of the deadfall.

Assuming the fish had parted company, Tom declared it was gone. When I grabbed the rod and started to retrieve, the line at the other end came to life. What happened next shocked us.

The male steelhead, close to 40 inches or more and as thick of a body as I had ever witnessed, came blowing up 5 feet away

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from the boat and completely cleared the water, enabling us to get a clean look at what we were about to lose.

The massive beast hit the water and proceeded to securely bury itself in the brush, this time breaking the line. Stunned is the only way to describe the mood in our boat, but in a strange way I felt exhilaration after the encounter.

That kind of mayhem is what keeps me coming back to Yakutat every year! ASJ

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FISHING IN THE FREEZE TRY THESE THREE INTERIOR LAKES FOR AWESOME EARLY-WINTER ICE FISHING

BY DENNIS MUSGRAVES

C

onsistent subfreezing temperatures and dwindling sunlight signal the beginning of a new season every year in Alaska. Yeah, it’s winter.

Thankfully, the double-digit negative numbers and lack of daylight don’t bring an end to recreational sportfishing. The cold, dark Arctic conditions are ideal in creating ice-covered bodies of water, making anxious ice anglers in Alaska eager to begin their winter fishing season.

Typically, November marks the start of my ice fishing outings, since Interior region lakes freeze enough for safe walking thicknesses before the middle of the month.

Whether it’s fishing the shallows of a weed line for gorgeous rainbow trout or a deep-water hunt for enormous-sized char, ice fishing is always an exciting pursuit and something that I enjoy experiencing repeatedly. Alaska is certainly a unique place for winter fishing; with almost six months of frozen water fishing available in the majority of the state, there is no excuse not to have time to experience an adventure on ice.

NO SHORTAGE OF OPTIONS Choices on where to go for winter fishing are abundant in Alaska. There are literally hundreds of public-access lakes – many of which are adjacent to the roadside – and a good number of the fisheries are stocked by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Finding a productive lake is not difficult and is usually only limited by how far of a drive you’re willing to make.

Taking the guesswork out of deciding where to go on a first outing in Alaska, my personal recommendations are below. Three lakes have great accessibility from the Alaska road system, are stocked by the ADFG and provide excellent opportunity for catching fish at any skill level.

Not far from Fairbanks, Alaska’s Interior features several lakes that will be frozen already this month, but that just means the trout, salmon and Arctic char will be hungry and active for bundled-up anglers. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

QUARTZ LAKE Quartz Lake is a favorite of mine for specifically targeting large rainbow trout. The payout at this lake is normally worth the long two-hour drive from Fairbanks, as anglers will have a good catch rate and legitimate opportunity for 20-plus-inch trout.

Experience has shown me over the past 15 years that fishing is best early in the season from ice-up through mid-January.

Quartz Lake is located about 90 miles southeast from Fairbanks. You can get there by exiting the Richardson Highway at Milepost 277.8. Visitors drive along a winding 3-mile-long road that ends at a state recreational area and boat launch.

The road is usually plowed and maintained during the winter, aksportingjournal.com | NOVEMBER 2016

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You can access many of these lakes by taking a snowmachine, walking or even driving right onto the lake. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

but during some periods of heavy snow you may want to consider using a four-wheel drive vehicle. When ice conditions allow, access it via the state boat launch by either walking or driving a vehicle easily right onto the lake.

The lake is midsized – about 1,500 acres of surface – and has a maximum depth of about 40 feet, but the majority of the lake is less than 20 feet deep. Restrooms are open for use near the front parking lot of the recreational area en-

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trance. If you do not have your own shelter/hut, reservations can be made through the Alaska State Department of Natural Resources, which rents four hard-sided ice fishing huts that are usually positioned and ready to use on the lake by mid-December.

Although my intention is set on catching big rainbows, Quartz holds a healthy population of Arctic char, coho and Chinook salmon. The landlocked salmon reach average lengths of around 13 inches, while rainbows and Arctic char mostly range from 10 to 18 inches, with fish occasionally reaching 20.

Try fishing the shallow edges of the lake for bigger-sized trout.

CHENA LAKE Chena has a much shorter driving distance from Fairbanks when compared to Quartz. It features great accessibility and dependable fishing, which make this lake very popular for Tanana Valley locals. What makes winter fishing enticing here is a good amount of privately owned hard-sided ice fishing huts, which can be registered with a permit.

I personally have had inconsistent success with large fish caught at Chena; however, I enjoy fishing this location for its sheer numbers of catchable fish. The lake seems to always produce, even during the colder months of winter.

Located 15 miles southeast of Fairbanks off the Richardson Highway, the lake is relatively small, with a surface area of only 259 acres and the deepest spot at 38 feet. Species that

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are present in the lake basically mirror those that can be found in Quartz: healthy amounts of rainbow trout, landlocked salmon and Arctic char. Most fish will be in the 10- to 13-inch range and a few larger fish found from 16 to 18 inches. The state recreational boat ramp permits access via walking or using a vehicle. Fairbanks North Star Borough manages a few publicuse ice huts for a rental fee, which includes a wood-burning stove, firewood and having holes drilled out. Restroom facilities are maintained and located in the parking lot area near the boat ramp.

“Dead sticking” or jigging small spoons or bait (salmon eggs or shrimp) on a light/medium-action ice fishing rod, both off the bottom and close to the surface, will bring in the fish.

Try fishing the natural points and steeper drop-offs. Referencing where the congregations of ice huts are located will assist in knowing where to go. Most veterans of the lake that catch fish are setting up those stationary ice fishing huts in certain locations for a reason: they produce.

Chena Lake is ideal for introducing both children and adults to winter fishing activities, simply because of the better catch rates found there. Most of the fish caught in this lake will not be wall hangers. Still, catching your first hard-water fish – no matter what the size – should be celebrated.

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Using a heat source to melt the snow cover inside portable hut shelters reveals everything you’re fishing over, creating a giant window pane on the lake’s surface. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

access from the roadside, but few compare to the dependability at Finger Lake. Located within easy driving distance from Anchorage, the lake sits in the Mat-Su Valley between Wasilla and Palmer and can be reached from either the Parks Highway

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or the Glenn Highway. Although most of the perimeter of the lake is private land, year-round public access can be found at the Finger Lake State Recreational site just off Bogard Road.

Anglers will find the lake has excellent numbers of catchable

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Chena Lake, a short drive from Fairbanks, features ice huts that can be reserved and rented for a day of ice fishing for trout, landlocked salmon and Arctic char. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

fish thanks to a robust stocking plan.

The lake surface spans 362 acres and reaches depths to 45 feet. The large lake provides ample space to set up and

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not fish on top of other anglers. Good to excellent fishing can be found throughout the winter season with a variety of species, including rainbows, landlocked salmon, char, and a small

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population of Arctic grayling. Fish average 6 to 12 inches, but larger fish can be caught regularly that exceed the 18-inch mark.

The centralized location and the lake’s reliable production for catching fish make it increasingly popular during the winter. Fishermen looking for a challenge or just wanting to socialize with like-minded people can participate in one of the local ice fishing derbies, which are held at the lake by various organizations each season.

Additional consideration for ice fishing any of these lakes should include obtaining a bathymetric map, which will enhance your ability to understand water depth changes and identify terrain below the surface. These maps can also be used as a reference tool for future trips by marking productive areas and patterning fish activity.

ADFG (adfg.alaska.gov) and Alaska State Parks (dnr.alaska.gov/parks) both have maps available of the three lakes at their respective websites.

Author Dennis Musgraves with a Quartz Lake rainbow. A two-hour drive from Fairbanks, Quartz is known for producing plenty of trout in the 20-inch range. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

STAY SAFE No matter what your plans are this winter fishing season, keep

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in mind that safety is above all most important. Avoid weather-related injuries by wearing proper clothing and footwear, follow recommended ice-thickness safety charts for traveling over frozen surfaces, and don’t leave heat sources unattended

APRIL 2015

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ICE FISHING 101

Ice fishing outings in Alaska require little effort and can be accomplished by any beginner with minimal preparation. Success can be had by simply arriving to a lake, drilling a hole through the ice and dropping some bait in the water column.

Taking a random guess on catching a few fish will work sometimes and probably be sufficiently rewarding for most casual fishermen out for a day of winter fishing. But for ice anglers like myself, it’s simply not enough.

Nothing excites me more in the winter than the thrill of catching big fish through the ice, so I don’t like leaving it to chance. Consistently hooking into quality fish takes effort and study. Approaching winter fishing like a science will definitely increase your catch rate and also raise the odds for catching trophies. In addition to understanding various dynamics of winter fishing, modern tools and equipment have played a significant role in my success stories.

If you’re ready to step up your game on the ice, the products listed below will certainly help: UNDERWATER CAMERA Real-time feedback can be had by implementing an underwater set of eyes. Most modern units are no bigger than a smartphone, provide digital HD video images, and allow recording capabilities. It’s a great tool for checking structure of a lake

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and locating the presence of fish.

SONAR/FLASHER ELECTRONICS Being able to see under the ice is made easy with a flasher unit, especially if you’re fishing deep. The device provides an instant display of water depth and fish activity in the water column beyond the capabilities of underwater cameras, which can be limited by cord lengths. Fishing vertically in the winter without one is like fishing blind.

My digital Vexilar unit is simple to operate, has automatic depth detection and provides up to a five-color pallete selection that includes an option for fishermen with color-deficient vision. (vexilar.com) ICE FISHING SHELTER Staying out of the Arctic cold and staying on the fish longer has never been easier with the shelters available on the retail market today. Portable systems come with a variety of features – in many different sizes – all of which transport easily, set up quickly and provide an excellent barrier between anglers and the outside elements.

I use a portable heat source for additional comfort in my thermal quilted model, which reduces condensation. (clamoutdoors.com) DM

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The Susitina Valley also has plenty of fishable frozen lakes as Bob Masher found out after landing this rainbow.

Anglers in Alaska’s Interior don’t mind the coming of winter with opportunities like this. (DENNIS MUSGRAVES)

if you’re using one to warm a shelter.

My plans are set on ice fishing a lot this year and I’m going to do my best to ensure I implement risk assessment and safety on every trip. I want to be able to enjoy as much winter

fishing as Alaska has to offer. ASJ Editor’s note: More of author Dennis Musgraves’ Alaska fishing adventures can be found at alaskansalmonslayers.com.

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INTO THE ABYSS SHOOTING A DEER IS ONLY THE START OF A HUNTER’S JOURNEY

BY JEFF LUND

I

t’s a well-known fact that washing machines and dryers conspire to eat socks. Not both, just one.

As I discovered, mountains do the same.

THE BUCK I saw deer but no horns, so there was no way I was going to move down the slick alpine from the ridge to get within shooting distance of a fat doe. It had been foggy and rainy and was going to do the same. Typical, but it doesn’t make it any more tolerable. For the moment it was clear. It was the fragile clear that happens sometimes half an hour after sunrise, before the mountains say goodbye to each other as the soup rolls in.

I walked down the ridge to another section of mountain that was just as steep, but not as deep.

Deer. Horns. My binocular model is called “Trophy,” which is appropriate because they are so weak that if the rack looks good through them, it has to be massive. I’ve called “doe” on what buddies with real binoculars have seen as small forks.

So in the case of blacktail deer, if I am far away and I can see horns, it’s worth the stalk.

I spotted a deer feeding 500 yards away that had something moving above its ears when it turned its head. It had to be a decent set of horns, and the body was meaty.

The side of the mountain was full of lush alpine with rocky chutes caused by snowmelt eating away at the mountain. By August the snow is almost completely gone, so the chutes are little more than wet rock. I slid slowly down the side of one of the chutes – out of sight. I crawled over a hump, then down another chute. After 100 yards I popped up and spotted horns. I couldn’t make out exactly how many points, but it was

The steep and rocky terrain of Southeast Alaska makes getting to that buck you just shot almost as challenging as finding the darn deer in the first place. (JEFF LUND) aksportingjournal.com | NOVEMBER 2016

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Precipitous in more ways than one, the fog and mist that shroud the Panhandle’s mountains add urgency to getting to your downed buck and back out before dark or the next storm hits. (JEFF LUND)

a shooter buck for a guy like me.

I ducked back out of sight. I figured I could ride this chute to a little hump and shoot from there. Wary of jarring a rock loose, I entered a level of stealth not previously known to me.

It was awesome.

When I rose to my knees, I was 50 yards from … a doe. I had stalked my way down most of the alpine and the buck had fled. I rose to my feet disappointed, but bedded down directly in front of me was a three-point buck that had just shed its velvet, with tines that were red and tall. I raised my rifle as it rose to run, fired and watched. It fell and slid, then gathered speed.

“No, c’mon. Stop.”

It was like the soul of the deer was running away with the lifeless body, dragging it off the mountain. Down it went, off a little ledge, further and further. All I could do was watch.

THE ‘ABYUSUS’ (a-bye-uh-sus) I shot my first deer with my high school basketball coach, Don Busse, who absolutely loves hunting (Alaska Sporting Journal, February 2014). The only thing that comes close to hunting is telling stories about hunting and, in the process, inventing words.

Don hates cliffs, caves, chutes and everything else that tries to hide his taken bucks. A few Thanksgiving ago, he got rolling into a hunting story about how he almost lost a deer to the mountain. Most people know an abyss as a bottom104

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less chasm. For a deer hunter, it’s the malicious formation that swallows deer. Don was talking so fast he fumbled the word abyss and said “abyusus.” We laughed at the new word, but he continued to use it as if the abyss wasn’t fully able to encapsulate the malice a mountain shows when it hides deer.

Another hunting buddy of mine, Bill, takes a practical approach when a deer doesn’t just drop.

“I like to pause and reflect on where I was aiming and how the deer reacted when I shot it,” Bill says. “They act different depending on where you hit them. If you hit them behind the front shoulders, they jump, and if you hit them too far back, they hump up. I like to do figure-eight patterns up and down and side to side to try and recover the animal.”

THE RECOVERY I didn’t have Bill’s practicality; all I had in me was a protein bar and half a Gatorade. The longer it took me to get there and the further the deer slid, the more miserable this day would be.

Once you clear the trees, the typical Southeast Alaska alpine looks like an even carpet of grass. Of course this is not true. Myriad grasses hide holes and smaller chutes filled the landscape. I didn’t see it and couldn’t help but think about Don’s abyusus. What if it took me all day to find it? What if I did find it, but it was off a cliff I couldn’t descend? What if I didn’t find it?

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I took a breath and stood where it had when I shot. I didn’t find my deer as much as I found the path it took to its resting place, and it wasn’t until I was standing directly above it that I saw it in all its beauty: three developed points and an eye guard on each side. This was a solid, solid buck.

It had stopped in a small bush. I grabbed a horn and tried to level it, but as soon as I lifted, the neck twisted and contorted my wrist. I had to let go and the deer slid further off toward the timber.

After re-recovering it, I went to work with frantic enthusiasm.

I like it when my buddies and I get to the kill and talk it over, you know, enjoy the moment. You take in the surroundings, contemplate the gravity of the moment. Not everyone gets to do this, nor live like this.

But by the time I got to my deer, the fog and mist were shrouding the mountain. It put me into such a sense of urgency that I snapped just one picture with my cell phone, and that was it. I had packed an expensive camera with two lenses and ended up not even using it at any point during the trip.

I speedily boned out the deer and looked up. The ridge wasn’t visible and the steep hike would suck. A lot. But I had the deer.

The abyusus had tried, but I had won. ASJ

A happy Jeff Lund with the reward for such a difficult process between connecting on that buck and finding its final resting place. (JEFF LUND)

Editor’s note: Jeff Lund is the author of Going Home, a memoir about fishing and hunting in California and Alaska. For more, check out jefflundbooks.com.

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LOVE OF FIREARMS DRIVES FAMILY INTO BUSINESS D

ennis Tippmann’s company has a diverse product line that includes sewing equipment, die cutting equipment and post driving equipment, but the family’s first love is guns.

After starting out producing airguns and collectible replica machine guns, in 2014, Dennis and his family launched Tippmann Armory (866-286-8046; tippmannarmory.com), which now manufactures .357 Magnum , .44 Magnum and .45-70 hunting rifles with plans for more.

We caught up with Dennis’ son, Brad Tippmann, for a further look into his and the family’s passion for hunting rifles.

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL How did you develop a love for guns?

BRAD TIPPMANN Guns have been a big part of my life. Some of my earliest memories have involved guns. When I was about 4 years old, my dad made Gatling guns. One day, he was making a demonstration video for his Gatling gun and stacked three 55-gallon steel drums full of water on top of each other and blew them to pieces! I could tell stories about guns for hours, like when my dad’s Mini 1919 Browning was

(Top) Company founder Dennis Tippman Tippmann. (TIPPMANN (Above) Tippmann ARMORY) (Above Armory’s huntin hunting rifles include .357 and .44 Mags M and a .4570. (TIPPMANN A ARMORY)

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on the cover of Guns & Ammo and Guns Illustrated in 1986. So I guess you could say my whole life is guns.

ASJ Can you share a memory of younger days hunting or shooting?

BT When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my dad took two of my brothers and I pheasant hunting. We didn’t get anything, but it was the first time I could remember going on a hunting trip.

Growing up in a house surrounded by woods in a life full of guns every day was pretty much a hunting trip.

ASJ Give us a brief history about the origins of the Tippmann business and how it evolved into Tippman Armory.

BT Tippmann Arms Company from 1984 to 1986 built Gatling guns and Mini Brownings until the machine gun ban in 1986 took effect. Then (Dennis Tippmann) started to make paintball guns and soon developed the highest-quality paintball guns in the industry. From 1986 to 2004, Tippmann Pneumatics Inc. started selling guns from eight guns per week to 40,000 per month. In 2004 we sold majority shares of the company to a private investment firm to pursue other business ventures.

Air Ordnance LLC operates Tippmann Armory and was founded in 2010, where we developed, in my personal opinion, the best pellet gun ever made. It is a belt-fed full automatic pellet gun. If you get the chance to shoot one, you will

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notice an ear-to-ear smile on your face.

In 2014 we developed the Modoc air rifle, which is the most powerful air rifle on the market. When we made the Modoc, it resulted in the birth of Tippmann Armory firearms line. Tippmann Armory is currently manufacturing .357 Mag, .44 Mag and .45-70 firearms in the rolling block action.

ASJ What is one of your favorite historical guns?

BT I have always wanted a BAR full auto.

ASJ You’re now in the process of making these vintage rolling back rifles. What can we expect from that project?

BT What I expect from the rolling block line is the manufacturing of a high-quality, single-shot wood rifle where fit and finish is job one.

ASJ What are some of the advantages of your hunting rifles for hunting in Alaska and other wild places?

BT I just spent a week in Wyoming hunting elk with the .4570 rolling block, and the balance of our rifle is probably the best part of the gun that I noticed. I hiked up and down mountains and cliffs all day for several days and it never was a burden to carry. ASJ Editor’s note: Like Tippmann Armory at facebook.com/tippmann-armory.

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ON THE TRAIL OF THE AMAGUQ

FIELD

LEARNING THE TRADE FROM A LEGENDARY ARCTIC WOLF TRAPPER

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

B

ouncing across the moonlike, snow-covered Arctic tundra, our snowmachines sped over the open land. Facing a brisk headwind amid the minus-45-degree temperatures made the ride even more painful and exhausting. Our full sleds fishtailed behind as we crossed frozen rivers and creeks and headed south toward the treeline.

What seemed an eternity took less than three hours. After traveling nearly 50 miles from the village I called home, we reached our starting point for the trapping season.

We knew wolves were near, as evidenced by a large bull caribou that was partially devoured in the snow-stuffed creek bed.

This November day found me in one of the most desolate corners of the state where I used to work as a schoolteacher.

The small Inupiat Eskimo village I taught at is located 69 degrees north of the equator, nestled in the heart of the Brooks Range.

It was in Anaktuvuk Pass on the opening day of wolf trapping season where I stood with the late Ben Hopson, one of the best-known wolf trappers in Alaska.

Born and raised in the village of Wainwright, Ben later moved to Anaktuvuk Pass, where he and his wife Dorothy raised a beautiful family.

Ben’s trapping notoriety came through years of hard work and dedication. He was most in his element when hunting and trapping amid Alaska’s Arctic, especially trapping wolves, which are referred to as amaguq by the Inupiat people.

Ben was a loner – gone for over a month at a time while running traplines extending over 200 miles and living off the land.

Over the next four years, he would teach me how to trap wolves and survive in severe Arctic conditions.

But trying to outsmart one of these massive canines in an environment so

The late la Ben Hopson Jr. with wit a beautiful black wolf hide at his ho home in Anaktuvuk Pass. Ben was regarded as one of regard the be best wolf trappers of all ttime in Alaska and ta taught the author much about outwitting th these cunning canines. Today, Ben’s canin son, B Ben Hopson III, has es established himself as a prominent trapper in Alaska’s trapp Arctic. (SCOTT HAUGEN) Arctic aksportingjournal.com | NOVEMBER 2016

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A diagram shows the leg hold set as described by the author. This was the go-to set when wolf trapping on frozen ground. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

harsh was one of the greatest outdoor challenges I’ve known. Just keeping a set working in the unrelenting Arctic conditions was a formidable task.

While Ben taught me how to snare and use leg-hold traps, it was setting the traps that intrigued me most.

Growing up trapping in Oregon, catching a wolf in such a trap was something I’d always dreamed of.

Surprisingly, little gear is needed when trapping the Arctic. A pickaxe, gloves, scent, moss and traps were all we took. Oh yes, the most important element in the trapping goody bag was hot water. Without hot water, trapping on the open tundra would be difficult.

The remainder of gear on our sleds consisted of survival items for every theoretical situation.

When we came to a trail used by both caribou and wolves, Ben began creating an open tundra set, something that I called a dirt-hole set back home.

First, a 2-foot diameter area was cleared of snow, which exposed the tundra. Next, the pickaxe was used to chisel through 18 inches of ice, sod and rock, the remnants of which were placed on a 120

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garbage bag and later discarded.

After filling the bottom of the hole with a few inches of snow, Ben then broke out the water, which had become cold but not frozen from having been heated over the campfire a couple hours prior.

Pouring enough water into the hole to make a thick slush, Ben then took the trap and placed the end of the elongated, 4-foot chain into the hole.

Stomping it down, Ben compacted the chain into the ice.

Ben covered that layer of ice with another few inches of snow, added more water and coiled another foot of chain into the slush. He then stomped it down again and instantly the hole began to freeze. Coiling up the entire length of trap chain, adding a gallon or so of water along with more snow, and tromping the ice and chain down tightly meant the trap was now secured so well that no wolf could run off with it.

Next, dried moss gathered earlier in the year was placed under the trap pan, which rested securely atop the icy anchor. More dried moss was then placed around the pan and jaws.

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FIELD

BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

JERKY MEMORIES

WITH GRAMPS

O

ne of my best childhood memories is sitting by the fireplace and digging through the burlap bag full of jerky Grandpa always had on hand.

This stuff was made the old-fashioned way – cured only with salt, smoked up in the smokehouse out back using oak and vine maple. You couldn’t just chew on this jerky; it was rock hard and had to be sliced thinly with a pocket knife, but that was part of the fun.

Although my grandpa passed away last year at the age of 103, I still think of him every time I put a batch of jerky in the smoker. Over the years, Grandpa was one of my taste testers and always had something positive to say about With memories of her grandfather wafting in her head, the author enjoys the nostalgia my jerky creations. When my husband, making jerky brings – not to mention the tasty treats themselves. (TIFFANY HAUGEN) Scott, hunted and ran a trapline in the Arctic, homemade jerky was something he always took with large ceramic or glass bowl, whisk brine ingredients until salt him. and sugar dissolve.

Propane smokers and the many available flavors of wood Add meat to brine, mix thoroughly and put a plate on top, chips, chunks and pucks have made smoking easy to do at submerging all meat. Soak eight to 10 hours, stirring occasionally. home or in camp. Jerky flavors are limited only by one’s imagDrain brine and place on smoker racks; do not rinse meat. If ination, but the basics stay the same. For traditional jerky, salt additional seasonings are desired, shake on at this time. Let and sugar are the needed ingredients, with the rest up to permeat air dry up to 1 hour. sonal preference. Almost anything can be sprinkled onto meat Follow smoking directions on your smoker. Cooking times after it has brined. vary greatly and depend on make and model of smoker and Amp up the flavors with a favorite Cajun spice, lemon-pepoutside weather conditions. Try to keep the temperature in per or a sprinkle of brown sugar. Keep the additional flavors the smoker between 150 and 200 degrees. Check for donesalt-free, though, or the resulting jerky will be too salty. ness after three hours. Larger cuts of jerky can be finished on a baking sheet in the oven at 165 degrees.

3 to 4 pounds wild game meat (caribou, deer, moose, When jerky is done, place in a glass bowl and cover with goat or bear) plastic wrap until cool. Keep refrigerat1 quart water ed or vacuum seal and freeze for long-¼ cup Morton Tender Quick or kosher salt term storage. ½ cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce Editor’s note: For 100-plus more big game 1 tablespoon black pepper recipes, signed copies of Tiffany Haugen’s 1 tablespoon granulated garlic and/or onion popular book, Cooking Big Game, can 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional) be ordered by sending a check for $20 Additional spices/flavorings as desired (includes S&H) to Haugen Enterprises, PO Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489, or Cut meat to desired size in strips or cross-grain slices. In a ordered online at scotthaugen.com.

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The Arctic winter air is so dry that the moss itself collects no moisture once it’s dried.

The moss serves its purpose well, preventing snow and ice from surrounding the trap, rendering it useless.

A couple inches of snow is then spread over the set and swept clean by a willow branch.

Set aside when the hole was dug, a rock or hunk of 10-inch-high frozen tundra was added as a backing. Withdrawing a commercial bottle of lure from within his jacket where it would not freeze, Ben dumped a bit onto the scent post to finish off the set.

Though instantly freezing to the scent post, the lure produced enough aroma to draw wolves near for several days. Ben assured me that due to the extreme cold and dry air, human scent was not a concern. The gloves he used were not boiled or treated in any way, and often came into contact with items other than just the trap.

Though it takes nearly 30 minutes to create an open tundra set, they typically remain active for months. Occasionally, wind may expose a trap but that is easily remedied by the trapper or a kind passerby who sees it and covers it.

Open tundra sets may take a while to produce, but patience and maintenance will pay off. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time with Ben and learn so much from him before he passed away.

From watching him work so diligently and seeing him travel thousands of miles by snowmachine in a single trapping season, it was obvious why he consistently caught over 40 wolves a year. His son, Ben Hopson III, is a seasoned wolf trapper and a chip off the old block. The tradition is something that I, and everyone in the village of Anaktuvuk Pass, is very proud of. ASJ Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s best-selling book, Hunting The Alaskan High Arctic, send a check for $38 (free S&H), to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489, or order online at scotthaugen.com.

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THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT TIME A BEAR HUNT DIDN’T GO AS EXPECTED, BUT SUCCESS WASN’T THE ONLY POINT

BY JEFF LUND

I Jesse Knock takes a break from glassing for Panhandle bears to line up a photograph. Even in wild Alaska, hunters understand that the tag they want to fill might have to wait for another day to get notched. (JEFF LUND)

n college, my buddies and I would play on the “B” court at the student rec center because the University of Arizona was a basketball school – even at the rec – and the “A” court was for really good players who were really intense and really needed to let it go.

We ventured onto the A court at times and found the overcompetition a detractor. It was pick-up ball at the rec, not a play-in game for the then-Pac-10 Tournament. Some ballers didn’t get that.

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

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Whether it’s day or night in Southeast Alaska ... (JEFF LUND)

Just like those A-court dudes got a little too intense, überhunters and -anglers do the same and take the fun out of the whole thing.

At some point we are likely all guilty.

I’ve chucked a fly rod after losing a fourth steelhead in a day. I’ve let missing a buck ruin my day.

But there are some who seem determined to have a bad time unless the ground is painted red with the blood of an animal. Even then, there’s no guarantee they’ll go home satisfied.

If the reason people go to the woods is to be refreshed, rejuvenated or get away from the rigors of daily life, then it seems odd that some would go out of their way to find misery.

So you have to watch yourself, and after moving back to Alaska after a decade in California, I’m much better at it.

MY BUDDY JESSE IS all about the experience and has the patience to glass and

NOVEMBER 2016 | aksportingjournal.com

glass. He’s perfectly content saving a tag for another weekend.

Back in early October, he wanted to arrow a bear in the alpine and I tagged along. The weather hadn’t turned too cold and the alpine carpet was covered in berry patches.

I brought my rifle just in case but hadn’t definitively decided on how I’d use it. I wanted a deer, but there was only the occasional story of a fork being taken in those parts.

My second possible use was for a bear that Jesse couldn’t, or wouldn’t take.

Bear meat gets a bad reputation because bruins eat a lot of meat, and so, yeah, the taste is a little different, especially in the fall. It also requires full cooking, so frequently it’s eaten in overcooked, dry form.

But if you need filler meat for stew, chili or “bearizo” – chorizo with bear as a main meat component – it would be ridiculous to take all the time hunting and

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skinning a bear and not to take the meat if it wasn’t rancid, even if the regulations didn’t require salvaging the meat.

We were hunting in an area of pretty high traffic, which is the last thing you want and seems particularly odd considering it was in Alaska. However, it was essentially the backyard of the city, so it was expected on some level.

The mountains weren’t particularly special or severe, and the hiking not particularly technical. The trail led up to a small, brush-filled summit, directly across from two other peaks.

We moved off the trail, down a steep slope, across a flat rock bridge that connected the three mountains, and to the ridge that dipped into a saddle between the opposite peaks.

We set up camp and listened to the yelling of obnoxious hikers across the flat. There is no rule that says if you get to the alpine section of a hike that you should be quiet. Oftentimes, the magnitude and openness induce a yell for echo’s sake. But why crack the beauty?

Why soil an otherwise tranquil scene just to tell nature you’re there?

The report of a rifle isn’t exactly a whisper, but repeated screaming over the course of an hour seemed a little excessive.

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Jesse and I weren’t too put off. As much as we were there for him to arrow a bear, we were also on the mountain to not be at home. Not be in town.

Not be wasteful of a clear, calm weekend. Call that B-court mentality. All the excitement and enjoyment with none of the psychosis.

There were about two hours from when the shouters left until it would be too dark to put a stalk on a bear that was down either side of the ridge. We glassed, then gave up and ate a Jet Boil dinner.

There’s not a lot you can do once the sun goes down. You feel weird because it’s 7:48 and you’re about to head to bed, but what else are you going to do? This wasn’t a sit-around-the-campfire situation. We wanted to be as unnoticed as possible. So we retreated from the cold breeze and into our respective tents.

THE MORNING BROUGHT NOTHING other than beauty and cold stillness. We glassed and for the first time since either of us could remember, we didn’t see a bear.

I wasn’t sure of the exact time when Jesse decided it would be a bearless trip, but it was probably around the time I did. It was Sunday morning and there

Author Jeff Lund takes in the moment.

For Alaska residents with more opportunities down the line to fill the tag, “the goal of hunting is to get the quarry, but that’s not the point,” Lund writes. “The point should be something more.”

(JESSE KNOCK)

were things to tend to that afternoon.

What went unsaid – but I know we probably both decided – was that there wasn’t much urgency at the beginning of the trip, so there was no need to get overly competitive and bloodthirsty.

Jesse and I packed a goat for a buddy – Jesse had shot his own – we had both put deer in the freezer, so the main goal was just to enjoy it. Just be there in the moment, knowing there would be others.

The goal of hunting is to get the quarry, but that’s not the point. The point should be something more.

When you’re a local, there’s always next weekend. ASJ Editor’s note: Jeff Lund is the author of Going Home, a memoir about hunting and fishing in California and Alaska. Check out jefflundbooks.com for more.

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ALASKAN

PINCH HUNTER When a colleague had to bow out of an Alaskan brown bear hunt earlier this year, hunter-journalist Brittany Boddington jumped at the chance to pursue bruins on the tundra. (NEIL COWLEY)

A LAST-MINUTE INVITE TO THE LAST FRONTIER TO CHASE BEARS AND MINGLE WITH FOXES

BY BRITTANY BODDINGTON

I

got a phone call on a Friday morning from a fellow host on Petersen’s Hunting Adventures telling me that due to the wildfires in Northern California, he would not be able to go on his grizzly bear hunt in Alaska. He asked if I could take his place. aksportingjournal.com | NOVEMBER 2016

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To spy out bears on Northwest Alaska’s tundra requires getting to good glassing points above rivers. (NEIL COWLEY)

That sounded great, except that the hunt would start on the following Tuesday. I had no time to think about it, so – with my heart pounding in excitement – I said I would work it out .

And the scramble began.

I didn’t have any of the Alaskan hunting gear on a check list I was sent, and since it was a Friday, there was little chance of ordering anything and getting it before I headed north. However, I was going to visit my friend in Colorado for her birthday that weekend, so I asked her to take me to Cabela’s, since there are none in California. There I bought everything I needed for an adventure in the Last Frontier.

THE FUN PART BEGAN in Kotzebue, Alaska. We flew into a little airport and transferred our things to the flight strip, where a little bush plane picked us up and transferred us to the hunting area. The plane was tiny but had big rubber wheels, which came in handy as we bounced down the gravel bar that they use as a landing strip.

We were camping right next to a river that was supposed to be great for fishing. Our guide was named Allan. He had a very laid-back approach to hunting grizzlies, more along the lines of “let them come to you.’”

We stayed around camp and glassed a lot the first day. The second day we decided to go for an afternoon walk up to a lookout point on a neighboring hill, but we didn’t see anything – no fresh bear tracks, dung or anything. We all agreed that there were probably bears around, just not in our immediate area. We did some fishing and I caught three grayling that we ate for dinner. The fish were delicious, especially after eating dehydrated food for our previous meals. We sat around that evening and told stories, highlighted by Allan talking to us 140

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woke up from the rustling, kicked the bear in the nose and it ran off. I was careful to zip my tent that night.

Crossing ice-cold Alaskan rivers is part of the grind of hunting in the Last Frontier. (NEIL COWLEY)

about some of his encounters with bears. One story that really stuck with me was about one quiet day when he had no hunters in camp and decided to take a nap. While he was dozing a bear came up to his tent. His door was unzipped and his boots were sticking out. The bear tasted the tip of his boot. Allan

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ON DAY THREE WE called for relocation. We got picked up one by one in a Super Cub airplane flown by our outfitter Brad Saalsaa and dropped off in a different camp about a 20-minute flight from the first one.

I was the first to go, and when I landed a new guide met us on the landing strip. Jon would be our guide for the rest of the adventure. We unloaded my things and my tent and Jon informed me that camp was across the river from the landing strip. I put my waders on and we took my stuff across and started setting up camp. Once everyone had arrived and set up their tents we talked about the plan for the hunt. Jon had a different approach to hunting grizzlies. The plan was to get up just at dawn and head out to the river’s edge and glass the mountain across the river, and then to cross the river and get on top of the mountain and stay up there for the day to glass. He warned us to always carry a firearm for safety because there were lots of bears around.

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After relocating to a new camp with a new guide, glassing did turn up some bruins, but they were never close enough to be in shooting range.

(NEIL COWLEY)

We climbed the hill the next day and sat and glassed. We saw seven bears, though none were within reach. I was second in line to shoot; Jason Morton of CZ Firearms was ďŹ rst up, since he had come the year before and was not successful.

The area was beautiful, with big open expanses on all sides

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of our lookout point, and we could see for miles in all directions. The weather was beautiful for the ďŹ rst couple days, until the wind kicked up and never let up. Sitting on the mountain for 14 hours at a time started to get brutal. The wind was cold and the lookout spot had no shelter, save for some bushes on

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When in Alaska and there’s water, you catch some fresh fish for dinner – in this case, a few Arctic grayling. (NEIL COWLEY)

the point.

I managed to squeeze down into the bushes for a nap from time to time. I found a perfect little hollow spot, but I was not the first one to nap there. It smelled like salmon and there

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Sometimes hunting trips are light on shooting, but rich in wildlife viewing, which turned out to be the case for Boddington. (NEIL COWLEY)

The author made friends with some foxes that wandered close to camp.

(NEIL COWLEY)

knowing that help is a long distance away. Dangerous game is called dangerous for a reason, obviously, but in most places where Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve hunted dangerous critters, there was a vehicle within a decent walk or a working phone to get assistance.

Here, we had nothing but our feet to get around out on, and while we had a satellite device for emergencies, those only work if the weather permits. Bears scare me in general, but when you are this far out, they seem like even more of a threat.

I was constantly looking over my shoulder.

Tracks were everywhere and we saw bears every day, but unfortunately neither Jason nor I ever got close enough to close the deal on a bruin. I did make friends with some foxes

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on top of the mountain, though. They were so curious about us that they would come right up and sniff us at around 5 yards.

I could talk softly to them and get them to come right in. They had a cat-like attitude; they were curious and not afraid. They obviously had never seen a human before, nor did they understand what the gun over my shoulder was for.

My fear of bears didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ease up as the trip went on. We saw fresh tracks on our side of the river every morning. There was a big grizzly walking up and down in front of our camp every night. And on one particularly terrifying night, I was sleeping in my tent and awoke to the sound of footsteps on the gravel outside. I listened intently and got ready to grab my gun. I was

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sure this was a grizzly and convinced it was seconds away from being on my tent. I laid there for an hour listening as something moved around in the bushes and the gravel. Whatever it was went away, but I definitely didn’t sleep that night. The next morning I told the guys about my traumatic night and we went to look for tracks by my tent.

Turns out it was a little fox digging for bugs or rodents. They suggested it was probably one from the mountain that had sniffed its way into our camp.

The trip ended with my fox experience being the most exciting moment, but Northwest Alaska is beautiful and now I have a perfect excuse to go back next year and try again! ASJ

She didn’t get a bear, but Boddington vows to get back to Alaska again and make good on the expectations she’d heard about. (NEIL COWLEY)

Editor’s note: Brittany Boddington is a Los Angeles-based journalist, hunter and adventurer and a regular contributor to Alaska Sporting Journal’s sister publication, California Sportsman. For more, check out brittanyboddington.com and facebook.com/brittanyboddington.

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HUNTING BIG BIRDS

TUNDRA SWANS AND SANDHILL CRANES, SOME OF THE HEMISPHERE’S LARGEST FOWL, ARE FAIR GAME IN ALASKA

BY PAUL D. ATKINS

A

s we made our way forward, the river seemed to get narrower and narrower. It was hard to see much from my boat seat, let alone through the willows that lined the banks.

As Lew Pagel inched the boat further along, we were on edge, our eyes filled with excitement in anticipation of what lie ahead. This wasn’t our first trip into this old slough – more like our 1,000th – and we knew anything could happen around the next bend. We were after birds, though, not caribou or moose, and from what we had seen overhead, we weren’t going to be disappointed.

GONNA FLY NOW Late-season hunting can be tough in the Arctic, especially when it comes to finding ducks, or any bird for that matter.

With cold weather usually having arrived, most have packed up and headed south – or at least the smart ones – and really, who can blame them?

However, a hunter’s horn blows constantly for some of us and we do what we must do: We go wherever we can and hunt whatever is available, especially when the rivers to the east prevent you from chasing the big boys because of bad weather.

One of the great things about living in the Arctic are those “best

The sight of sandhill cranes and tundra swans in flight is incredible. Cranes have tremendous wingspans and their loud, musical cries are very recognizable. Tundra swans are numerous in the Arctic. Finding them on lakes is easy, and if you’re lucky and in the right spot, you can catch a few flying low. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

kept secrets,” those “small places” where a hunter can go to just to get away and, if all goes well, maybe get some shooting in. That was what we were doing on this last day of September.

To be honest, I’ve never been much of a waterfowler.

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Though it does take some effort, these birds leave the water with grace and speed, creating havoc on calm Arctic lakes. As soon as one group leaves, another takes its place, offering hunters plenty of shot opportunities. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

came to Alaska many years ago I met several people who did and they all were very good at it. My good friend Lew is one of those people.

Over the years Lew has taken me along on just about every “bird” outing, teaching me the essentials of waterfowl hunting and chasing the different species we have here in Northwest Alaska. During this time I’ve learned plenty, like how to put together a decoy set, build an effective blind and even do some calling, though I’m far from perfect.

We’ve taken a ton of ducks over these long years, and it has been a blast, but it has always been the bigger, more challenging birds that have truly inspired us, as well as cost us several cases of shotgun shells!

I’m talking about the mighty sandhill crane and the always tough, tundra swan.

THE BIG BIRD EFFECT The toughest birds to bring down aren’t always necessarily the smallest, but can sometimes be the biggest. Because they’re smart, getting close enough to shoot or even get a chance at one of them can be as frustrating as hunting any big game animal. I know it has been for me, as I’d been trying for years with zero luck.

Let’s first start with the sandhill crane. These magnificent birds are huge and there have been times while glassing the 156

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tundra for caribou that I have mistaken them for caribou.

It’s not something I tell many people, but from long distances their big bodies, long necks and head look more like a big game animal than a bird. They are Alaska’s largest game bird and can be found on the marshes and swamps located throughout Northwest Alaska and the Yukon Delta.

Sandhills are light brown in color and are blessed with a tremendous wingspan. They’re numerous here in the fall before heading south along the Pacific Flyway.

It is during this time that we try our luck at harvesting a few.

Spot and stalk is one method, but the birds can see well and usually leave once you make your move. Blinds are the most effective, and good concealment – whether in a homemade job or a store-bought blind – will seal their fate, especially if there are numerous birds in the area.

Sometimes called the “Sunday Turkey” in parts of Alaska, cranes are excellent eating and many others refer to them as the “filet mignon” of the sky.

However you choose to hunt sandhills you need to make sure you have enough gun and are using steel shot. A 12-gauge with a minimum of size 2 shot or BB has worked best in my experience, with the latter my preference.

Alaska does have a limit when it comes to cranes, so be sure to check the regulations. For 2016-17, the state set the limit at two per day and six in possession, and you must have

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Swans are numerous in this region and will stay as long as there is open water. These birds decided to stay a while even after the first snow had fallen and ice started to form.

(LEW PAGEL)

a valid hunting license and all the proper stamps.

THE CASE FOR SWANS As far as swans, there are two species in Alaska: the trumpeter and his smaller cousin, the tundra. The former is the largest member of the waterfowl family and cannot be hunted, but the latter variety, which is much smaller – about two-thirds the size of a trumpeter – can be, even though they’re hard to

distinguish at times. Besides size, mature tundra swans have a distinguishable yellow spot on their black bill near their eye, though that’s tough to determine while they’re in flight.

Much like hunting cranes, these birds are big and extremely hard to bring down. They’re smart too and seem to outwit more hunters than any other game bird. They have phenomenal eyesight and can see even the slightest movement or color disfiguration when you’re trying to hide yourself, especially in a blind. Again, concealment with good camouflage is the key in to catching birds that are working the water and moving from place to place.

Swan hunting is not for everyone, and there are some who find it a little taboo. There’s no doubt that these magnificent birds are beautiful, and for some people it isn’t something they want to do or participate in. However, they are great game birds that produce some of the finest table fare in the outdoor world. If the sandhill crane is the filet mignon of the sky, then the tundra swan is the porterhouse!

In my and Lew’s opinion, bringing a swan down is one of the toughest endeavors you’ll experience while sloshing through the delta or on the tundra. It has been our experience that the best chance of harvest is to find a back lake where they’re holding up and then building a blind near that area in hopes of catching a “bevy” making their way to a new location.

Swans have thick skins and, like cranes, you need to make sure you have enough firepower and are proficient at shooting to bring

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one down. They also tend to fly high, and those that don’t are still pretty tough to land on the tundra if you’re not a decent shot.

Again, you’ll need the proper licenses and a federal stamp to hunt these incredible birds. You can’t hunt swans in all units in Alaska, so be sure and check the regulations on the Department of Fish and Game website (adfg.alaska.gov).

Most of the units where you can hunt allow three swans in a season, and you must have a specific swan tag where you

Lay-down blinds work great here in the Arctic. Simply find a place close to water and get low. Lew Pagel has had great success using his, plus he seems to get to rest a bit as the day wears on.

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

need to keep track of your harvest in case you’re checked.

‘CHRISTMAS IN THE ARCTIC’

Setting up decoys, either along a river or adjacent lakes, is essential when it comes to bringing in the big birds. It gives them a sense that all is normal, or at least makes them a little more comfortable. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

As we eased into the area where the willows thinned I turned to Lew and said, “Do you hear that?” “Yes I do,” he replied.

Like an orchestra, we could hear thousands of swans in the distance, mixed with the always-pleasing sound of ducks in all shapes and sizes. It was like Christmas had come to the Arctic, with the adjacent lakes covered in white and the nonstop flyovers our wrapped presents.

We made our way to shore, anchored the boat and glassed

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It sometimes can be tough when you’re waiting for birds to fly and make their way in your direction.

Constantly surveying the sky and waiting for your moment takes patience and persistence.

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

the big lake where all the action was. There were thousands of birds seated on the water and we wanted to get to them as fast as possible. But we knew that before barreling towards the water we needed to have a plan in order to limit the number of trips back to the boat.

We did so by grabbing as much gear possible, including decoys, shotguns, food, water and as many shotgun shell as we could carry. Finally, with waders secured, we bundled up and made our way towards the willow-infested bank that lined the

lake. This was going to be grand!

Lew and I waited for the action – he buried in his lay-down blind and me hidden in a cone of willows. It was slow going at first, but we knew with patience it would eventually happen.

While we waited, I grabbed my binoculars and noticed something across the big lake. It was a bull moose without a care in the world and chasing two cows.

“Do you see that?” I hollered at Lew. He did.

Granted, we both had moose tags, but also more important things to accomplish, and that was to hunt birds. It was moment later that it happened. A group of four left the water and started their ascent in our direction. I’d never killed a swan, even though I’d attempted and missed plenty of times. On the other hand, Lew had, although I could sense his excitement as they made their way towards us.

NOW IS THE TIME The moment of truth is always fun, especially when the sound of an enormous wing flap is approaching your location. Timing is everything, and we both sprung from our hiding places and fired at the same time. The sound of our shotguns echoed across the delta as two large birds hit the tundra, creating a loud and surprising thump.

I was actually amazed at this – and for a quick moment was glad they hadn’t landed on me. Either way, I had just harvested

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(Left) Swans are huge and to get one down took some luck and decent shooting on the part of the author and his friend Lew. (PAUL D. ATKINS) (Right) Swans are a formidable opponent on any outing, but can provide some of the best, most unique hunting in Alaska.

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

my first swan. I walked up to my bird, which was beautiful and surreal at the same time. I just could not believe how big these guys were.

Swans and cranes are abundant here in Alaska, especially in the northwestern part of the state. Hunting them on a cold Arctic day is truly underrated. In my opinion they rival any big

game hunt. Taking them down is a totally different story. ASJ Editor’s note: Paul Atkins is an outdoor writer and author from Kotzebue, Alaska. He has written hundreds of articles on big game hunting and fishing throughout North America and Africa, plus surviving in the Arctic. Paul is a monthly contributor to Alaska Sporting Journal.

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