2021 Alaska remote hunt: what worked, what didn't

[Gunnersdad49]

Stoves: I used a MSR Windburner, he used a Jetboil Minimo. Both worked great, he liked the ignitor on his Jetboil but agreed that the MSR was a better built product. I had the MSR skillet, which was great for making some Caribou Tenderloin Medallions seared in butter.

Fuel: We had to go to 3 different stores (Fred Meyer's, Sportsman's Warehouse, and Walmart) to find enough fuel. We each wanted 2 cans. I had planned on a medium and a small. They come in 4, 8, and 16 ounce sizes. All we could find were the Jetboil brand cans in 8 ounce and an MSR can in 16. We ended up with three 8 ounce cans and a 16. Neither of us used a whole 8 ounce can during our 12 day trip. We made coffee in the morning by setting our Toaks Titanium mug (5 stars, highly recommend) filled with water on the Seek Outside wood stove to heat up. Worked great and saved fuel.

 

[Gamehearse]

Very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share. Congrats on your success!

 

[Panhandler80]

Thanks

 

[camelcluch]

Just to add some thoughts on gear that I wouldn’t bring again:
Benchmade Altitude, couldn’t stay sharp through one quarter.
Crispi Summits, just don’t get along with my feet.
10 power binos, this is more of area thing but 12’s would have been much better.
I also had way too many clothes. I would pack a lot less if I went again.

 

[AKDoc]

Helinox Chairs: His was newer with teardrop shaped feet. Mine was older with the sort of larger cross shaped feet. Both of us struggled with the feet sinking down into the soft tundra. Mine lost 2 of the 4 feet deep into the tundra where I could not find them to put them back on. We each put a log under the legs (nestled into the V made by the front and back legs, running beyond the width of the chairs, which helped with not settling too far into the ground).

I ended up cutting discs of a pine tree, and carving a notch into them as a 3" Tundra Foot for my chair and duct taping them into place, which worked out ok.

I think the Helinox Ground Sheet or even Rocking Feet would be a good fix here.

I hear you! I own two Helinox chairs...the original short one and the next larger size up. Those feet are definitely not designed for tundra!

For the short one, I adapted those narrow feet at first look right out of the box for the first trip...plastic rebar end-caps work great on that little guy...they're lite weight and fit into the chair's bag!

For the bigger guy, my hunting partner stuck a sliced tennis ball on the end of each leg over the footer, and that held surface real well. I'm still thinking about it.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Calling: We had a Bull Magnet call and used it for most of our calling. I've heard about using it for raking as well. The Bull Magnet worked great for calling, and redirecting a little trickle of water to fill our water filter bag. The sound when raking was pretty tinny and synthetic sounding though. We ended up battling with shed caribou antlers we found. Yes, I said battling, not rattling. We had a fencing session in the tundra. It was fun as hell and really seemed effective. (Note: I am hesitant to use the term "swordfight" and don't want any of you internet weirdos getting the wrong idea. LOL)

 

[Shraggs]

Great info

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Clothes-

Rain Gear: Kuiu Yukon for both of us. No complaints. It is a little heavy, but keeps the water out, breathes a little, and has pit zips. I never wore the rain pants, opting for my waist waders with Simms Guide Boots if it was really going to be a wet day.

Puffy/insulation: We both had the Kifaru LPP, and my buddy wore his quite a bit. I wore the Uncomphagre almost exclusively except a couple of cold nights. My buddy had the Kuiu Superdown in his pack when we were afield and left the LPP in camp. I put my Uncomphagre in the pack while hiking, wearing it for glassing. All performed great. I had considered the Kuiu Kenai instead of the Uncomphagre, but it doesn't block the wind as well. The wind was definitely a factor.

Pants: We both had the new First Lite Corrugate Foundry pants. I wore mine the entire trip, he wore his half the trip and Sitka the other half. I think the Sitka were the Timberline, but I'm not positive. He said the Sitkas were warmer, but liked the features and fit of the FLs better. He said the hip vents on the FL pants were a game changer when we were hiking. I loved the FL pants. We both noticed they were already starting to fray/show wear on the inside seam between the lower legs. Neither of us wore gaitors most days. Mine had one of the kneepads sort of delaminate. I noticed this when removing the kneepads to wash. This didn't effect performance, and the kneepads were great when kneeling in wet tundra.

Shirts: We both wore cotton flannels. OMG! Cotton Kills! Ok, I get it. Everything else was wool or synthetic, but who can argue with results of a lucky flannel?

Base layers: were Smartwool or Black Ovis merino, and I added my Kuiu Kenai pants for cold mornings. No complaints, but the zip off bottoms are key for me to keeping dry socks when getting warm in the mornings.

Socks: Darn Tough, Smartwool, and Scheel's store brand wool socks. Tough to screw up socks. All worked great.

Gloves: I had an old pair of leather palmed Mechanix style gloves I wore most days to keep the chill off. They were great for brushbusting, but sucked for warmth once they got a drop of water on them. I also had the First Lite glassing mitts. Super light and warm. They ripped literally the first time I wore them to gather sticks for firewood. Tenacious tape got them back into working order and not shedding feathers like a hen in a blender.

His gloves were some high speed Sitka deals with a fleece liner that he loved, and what he dubbed his "Bum Fighters". The fingerless wool gloves from First Lite. The Bum Fighters were on him every day, with the Sitkas only on the coldest mornings. I'm ordering my own set of Bum Fighters (not the actual name, but I love it and think they should change the name to that).



Gloves: