Remote Alaska DIY moose drop-hunts and more...

[Anello]

This is an outstanding thread. Thanks for sharing. Given what is going on right now, this was pretty cool to read/see. Thanks again.

 

[Sourdough]

"WILDERNESS Can CHANGE a MAN"

There is a real transformation that can metamorphose within a man who is alone in the wilderness. He can exit the wilderness fragile, very fragile, he is no longer sure where that which is himself ends and that which is not himself starts.

Everything is kind of fuzzy, and has a softness about it, all things appear slightly blurred to the eye, like after one has been crying, and it can be hard to distinguish where one object stops and another object starts.

He feels weak and vulnerable, but centered. In fact he is stronger, but the feeling of weakness, and vulnerability comes from the loss of arrogance.

There is a clarity about the perfection of everything. Sounds are crisper, colors are different, there are so many more (new) colors now.

He feels as if he is looking through things and through people, this is a very uncomfortable experience, he tries to focus, but he just looks through everything.

Part of him wants to go back to the way it was, before being alone in the wilderness. But he also enjoys the bliss of how it is now. He wants to weep for no reason, but for the perfection of everything.

He has change, and can not change back to that which he was before, being alone in the wilderness.

I know not of drugs, but being alone in the wilderness, for long periods will change your perception of the universe. The universe is the same, but you have shifted to a place where you can see, with new eyes, a new heart, and a new empathy for all life. You have been born a second time, and are a child of the wilderness.

There was a time long ago, that a man was encouraged to go into the wilderness alone for a extended period, so that he might find wisdom about life. Sad it is discouraged today. Welcome home....welcome home. Home from the wilderness, for he is free to return at any time to your true nature.

 

[jswayze1]

Living it well, sir!

 

[AKDoc]

Thanks for the kind comments guys...I'm happy you enjoyed the new pictures that I posted yesterday.

That picture of my son and I with his first brown bear is on my list of life-time personal top favorites, which is my reason for not including it when originally starting the thread, but I'm glad I changed my mind.

 

[as.ks.ak]

Hey guys...I'm adding a few more pictures to the thread I started a couple months ago. Something to help a balanced perspective right now from the current events...

Looking down-river, below is a picture of our camp on day-1 when we were on our 7-day, hundred-mile remote float in western Alaska the first week of September last year...

View attachment 165055

About an hour later, if you stood at that camera point, turned, and looked up-river behind you, you would see this...


View attachment 165056

You'll remember that picture from earlier in my posts within this thread...it was a beautiful old bear with pure white front claws. It was also a same-day airborn, no-shoot bear.

A few days later my son got his first brown bear (as I mentioned earlier). You'll recall I didn't post that picture because it's special to me, and I wanted to keep it to myself. Given all that is going on, I changed my mind. It squared 8'10" (I'm calling it 9ft.), and ADFG aged it between 9-12 yo. My son made an excellent 30+/-yd shot with his 338-06. I handloaded some of those wonderful Barnes TSX's (210's), and he took it with one shot through the heart. It only went about 30+/-yds into the brush along the river and died wedged between two trees.

View attachment 165068

Thanks for including this picture! Love it!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ReinsuranceShooter]

Absolutely great thread. I shared it with my wife to really drive home that it is about the memories. She was not from a hunting family, but was from a military family... so while she is a pro gun rights person, she still hadn’t really embraced the notion of what hunting can mean for multigenerational bonding. Way to go AKDoc!

 

[VernAK]

Doc,

That's a very nice grizzly........a great trip for father and son!

Did you get any age results for that one?

 

[AKDoc]

Absolutely great thread. I shared it with my wife to really drive home that it is about the memories. She was not from a hunting family, but was from a military family... so while she is a pro gun rights person, she still hadn’t really embraced the notion of what hunting can mean for multigenerational bonding. Way to go AKDoc!

Thank you sir. Hunting with my children is my first choice always...it's just not always possible when they grow-up and have busy jobs and their own families. You definitely don't want to miss the opportunity when they are young.

Both my son and my daughter grew-up enjoying 1:1 hunting trips with dad...and they still enjoy hunting with me today! My son went on his first black bear hunt with me at age 10...it involved a canoe trip for several days...he still remembers me getting him into his sleeping bag in the tent to warm-up while I went back outside in the blowing rain to heat him a hot meal! He got his first black bear a trip or two later. We also have moose hunted, and he took his first mountain goat with me. My daughter has also black bear hunted with me, but she doesn't want to take one. She is the best spotter of the two...really, really good. She got her first moose with me, and her first mountain goat. She almost got her first ram with me after several years of trying together, but we both felt it was just shy of full-curl...although it was probably legal...I'm just super cautious!

Doc,

That's a very nice grizzly........a great trip for father and son!

Did you get any age results for that one?

Thanks Vern. I've not yet checked with the ADFG. They did the standard SOP and pulled a tooth when they sealed it, but I think it takes about a year for the analytical to come back. The biologist who sealed it is very experienced, and I know him. I asked him to estimate, and he said that he would be pretty sure at putting the age between 9-12.

I'll PM you when I get the results.

 

[Voyageur]

Thank you sir. Hunting with my children is my first choice always...it's just not always possible when they grow-up and have busy jobs and their own families. You definitely don't want to miss the opportunity when they are young.

You nailed it, Doc. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

You just made my little girls evening. They wanted me to read all ur posts and click on all the pictures.

Thanks for sharing grandpa!

 

[AKDoc]

You just made my little girls evening. They wanted me to read all ur posts and click on all the pictures.

Thanks for sharing grandpa!

I'm very happy to hear that your girls enjoyed the stories and pictures, and I AM a grandpa, just this past year!

You made my day sir!