Alaska hunt 2011
So, I began my journey with a 12:30 drop off @ SLC airport to have a delayed then canceled flight. Didn’t leave SLC till 9:50p.m. followed by a 1a.m. pickup at the Anchorage airport. With a short stop to pick up a friend and trailer with supplies we headed on or trip north to the Dalton Highway. I napped a little in the back of the truck for a few hours while my brother drove and was woke to the first caribou sighting just south of Fairbanks. It was a small male but nothing to brag about. About 10 miles north of Fairbanks you lose cell reception and you start to see what a horrible roads Alaska can produce due to frost. Alaska is a never ending road construction project. The Dalton Highway is the same road that is seen in Ice Road Truckers. Some is paved, some dirt, but very poor condition. I can say that there are some scary grades even when dry, I can’t imagine having to drive it with a 50 ton load and ice! Hats off to those guys! We must have seen several hundred dall sheep along the road with binoculars and a spotting scope. We were lucky enough to have spotted a full curl ram with a slightly smaller one and my brother made a fantastic stock on the two rams that were bedded below a small cliff. He ranged them at 23 yards but was not able to distinguish between the two before it was too late and they skipped the country… The two rams ended up on another mountain range so far in the cliffs that they were not accessible. The Dalton highway has a 5 mile corridor that you can’t use a rifle, so this area is archery only and at that point we decided to move on to the caribou. All of the caribou we bagged were spotted from the road and stocked from up to three miles. We had to wade, or float across several braids of river that dump into the Arctic ocean, at that time the word Arctic really hit pretty hard (COLD and ba!!s deep). Apparently normally at this time of year there are thousands of caribou on the road and are easy to get at, however the state troopers told us that this is the worst they had ever seen and that the warm weather conditions has prevented them from migrating that far yet! Sad for most of the other less aggressive hunters in the area for many had no luck and our willingness to hike and pack paid off. We twice had to make it all the way up to Deadhorse for supplies and gas. Deadhorse is on Prudhoe bay and is the furthest north you can drive, It’s really a very dreary little oil town with two hotels that looked as though they were a series of manufactured homes, a general store, Napa, gas station and a lot of oil rig equipment. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the large selection of adult magazines the general store had to offer when the native lady said without joking that between that and cigarettes they stay in business. I also grew a new appreciation for the Utah winter when we were told that in the winter the workers have to work fast enough to keep warm, but slow enough that they can’t break a sweat, for if they break a sweat it can instantly freeze and cause hypothermia. After 9 days and 2100 miles we are back in Anchorage.
So far this Alaska has been a great experience and great trip. We have spent all day processing the game, and will spend tomorrow and the next day gearing up for another hunt going after moose and grizzlys. We did happen upon two huge Griz on the Dalton but for the sake of safety we chose not to pursue them with bows!
We have no internet where I’m staying so all reporting will be done @ the morning coffee stop.
tried to upload photo but wouldn't work.."security key missing" ???
