THE ALASKAN ADVENTURE
Aug. 2006
Tom Lindner and I flew to Fairbanks and provisioned there. We had sent our camping gear to Alaska earlier but had to purchase food and some other supplies. Bryan Pettet drove up from Anchorage and met us at the motel and Tom Peterson flew in that night and we picked him up at the airport. The next day we loaded the trailer and set out for Circle.
On the road to Circle:
At Circle we loaded the boat. Below is Tom Lindner in the boat:
We headed North once the boat was loaded and eventually found a spot that looked promising. There were fresh bear and wolf tracks on the banks so we found a spot to pitch camp.
We mainly hunted the drainages. The brush is so thick that once you step off into it you cannot see 10 feet in most places. And it is never-ending. We found drainages that the bears were crossing and set up in them. We tried calling with predator calls but never got a response .. that we could see. The brush was so thick that you could have a bear within feet of you of not know it unless it decided to let you know.
We also tried picking a spot and just sitting and waiting. I would set and wait until the mosquitoes, no-see-ums, gnats, black flies and whatnot got so thick that I could not see my hunting partner and then I would move. 100% Deet was the deodorant of the day. That and pulling your face mask on, wearing gloves and closing the fasteners on the pants and arms of your rain suit so the critters could not crawl in.
It was common to find tracks over top our tracks. Below is a photo of where a large wolf walked over top of my bootprint after I had gone through.
It rained most every day. Usually it would rain for less than 2 or 3 hours and then let up and clear. We hunted rain or shine, unless we happened to be in camp and it got real heavy.
The Yukon River at 11:00 PM at night after a rainstorm.
Below: Bryan Pettet - he carried a Ruger 77 in .458 Lott and a Bowen-built Ruger Bisley in .500 Linebaugh.
While we never got on any bears or wolves the trip was wonderful adventure and I enjoyed it immensely. We saw country that few people ever get to see, hunted places where not many humans have ever walked. Outside of Tom Peterson, Tom Lindner and Bryan Pettet I only talked to one other person that week, a Native named Dennis. He came up the river in his boat and saw me in camp by myself. (One of us stayed to guard the camp each time the others were hunting) He stopped to see if everything was OK since he did not see a boat. He had about 10 really nice Silver Salmon he had caught and said he was looking for a moose. I told him where we had busted one out of a drainage and he thanked me and headed off to see if he could find it.
We heard no sounds of civilization for a week and it was WONDERFUL! I would do it again in a heartbeat.