tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26910970692059854872024-02-20T19:54:50.479-08:00Wild AlaskaThis web site is dedicated to my adventures while living in Alaska. I'll try to keep the site updated and post pictures after our excursions up here in Wild Alaska!Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-52044908867977824622010-12-05T14:28:00.000-08:002010-12-05T14:35:17.126-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_4866-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 800px; height: 533px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_4866-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_4872.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 800px; height: 533px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_4872.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4482.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 533px; height: 800px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4482.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-36790311411245878882010-12-05T13:30:00.001-08:002010-12-05T14:17:07.512-08:00Fishing in Alaska<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><u><br /></u></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4130.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4130.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4135.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 360px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4135.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4290.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4290.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4220.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 239px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4220.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4233.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4233.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4245.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4245.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4095.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4095.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_4041.jpg"><br /></a></div>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-47210467322773172452010-07-11T13:00:00.000-07:002010-07-11T14:17:31.557-07:00Dall River Pike<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1pxfont-family:verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13;" class="Apple-style-span">Kelsey and I were able to load up the boat and travel north on the Dalton highway / Haul Road (same road in ice road truckers) for the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Yukon</span> river. We've made multiple trips on the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Yukon</span> for bear hunts but this was the first trip that pike were on the menu.<br />The haul road was in good shape but she was able to claim a trailer tire and a throttle cable however we didn't realize the cable was snapped until we arrived at the river. The mud also made the truck look like it had a custom two tone paint job.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3921.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 517px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 343px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3921.jpg" /></a> <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1pxfont-family:verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13;" class="Apple-style-span">Once we arrived at the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Yukon</span> we were pumped but that was short lived because we realized we had snapped our throttle cable. Luckily, we had a spare and were able to fix her up. Once complete, it was a 26 mile run up river. The trip revealed one of the constant struggles for a summer in Alaska...wild fires. The north side of the river was burnt however the south side had lush green grass. </span><br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 558px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 431px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3966.jpg" /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1pxfont-family:verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;" class="Apple-style-span"><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:13;" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal" class="Apple-style-span">Fishing was great because we brought over 30 pike to hand in one day of fishing and all fish were on top water. By the time we were done fishing you couldn't recognize any of the lures/flies because they were just flat out hammered.</span></span></span></b></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3938.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 674px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 397px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3938.jpg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3937.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 589px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 372px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3937.jpg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3961.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 632px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 297px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3961.jpg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3929.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 483px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 285px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3929.jpg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3926.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 568px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 381px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3926.jpg" /></a> fire tail<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3933.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 592px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 409px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3933.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3932.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 439px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 298px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3932.jpg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3954.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 597px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 362px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3954.jpg" /></a> Sunrise on the Yukon River<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3944.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 601px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 367px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3944.jpg" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-28869614057056295682010-03-27T10:20:00.000-07:002010-03-28T15:06:12.408-07:00tag in handMy buddy Bill and I headed north on a three day weekend in hopes of filling our tags before the season ends on April 30th. We packed up the truck on Thursday afternoon and hit the road that evening. We arrived at the Chandalar Shelf around 9:30 that night with the temperature hovering around six below and brisk 15 mph winds.<br /><br />The next morning we were putting stalks on caribou by 7:00 and needless to say we were giving them a free education on what to avoid. When hunting caribou on the north slope its solely spot and stalk and extremely difficult since there is minimal terrain to hide behind. Bill shot a bull at 45 yards and by 9:30 we had him packed up and in the truck. I spotted a lone bull bedded on a hill side and was able to put a stalk on him and close the gap to 42 yards and by 12:30 we were packed up and heading south.<br /><br />This was an amazing hunt. I'm still shocked that we were back in town by Friday evening when we were prepared to stay until Sunday. The description sounds like this is an easy hunt with a high success rate but I couldn't disagree more. It's not uncommon for hunters to travel south with an empty truck bed. This was my fifth time traveling north with a bow in hand and I was finally able to fill my tag...enjoy the pictures.<br /><br /><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3627.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 509px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 342px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3627.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3623.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 621px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 442px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3623.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3628.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 631px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 452px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3628.jpg" /></a> View of the truck from where I shot mine<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3634.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 475px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 322px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3634.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3617.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 517px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 330px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3617.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3618.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 512px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 361px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3618.jpg" /></a> <div>I believe this picture sums up Alaska. <a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3616.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 594px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 491px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3616.jpg" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-8505092456284363452010-03-22T18:10:00.001-07:002010-03-27T10:20:15.820-07:00Spring is around the cornerDad was able to catch a couple flights to Alaska and have some fun in a short weekend. He was able to ride the snow mobile, do some bird hunting and cut/split some firewood. Friday we did some skeet shooting on the Tanana River and grilled some steaks in the nice warm 20 degree weather. Saturday we headed for the mountains in search for some flying snowballs (ptarmigan) which is the Alaska State bird. When saying the name the "P" is silent.<br /><br />There are three species of ptarmigan...Willow, Rock and Whitetail all of which change colors (plumage) depending on the season. All species are excellent flyers however their defense is being able to stay extremely still. The birds are mainly active in the morning and evenings as they feed on willow buds...frozen blueberries from the previous spring and spruce needles only to name a few.<br /><br />The hunting started off rather quick as we spotted two birds right away on a hill side. Despite three shots from Dad's Winchester they were able to live and fly another day. If you ask, he'll say he was too close using a full choke but I'll leave that up to yall to decide...haha. A little bit later into the day Dad was able to get the goose egg off his back as he bagged his first rock ptarmigan! We continued to walk up, down, through snow drifts, around the mountains looking for these birds but came up empty handed. We decided to walk one more part of the mountain and it paid off as we flushed six birds holding tight under a cluster of spruce trees. With extremely sore legs we packed up the truck and headed back to town for some dry clothes and a hot meal. As we were leaving the ptarmigan God's must have been smiling upon us because we spotted a covey of 30 birds feeding along the hill side. We were lucky enough to bag several birds out of this covey and ended the hunt on a high note!<br /><br />Sunday was a day of shopping around town and cutting up some fire wood. Even though the temps are starting to warm up it's still nice to relax at night next to a fire in the wood stove. All in all it was an action packed weekend and we were able to accomplish a lot! I'm almost certain its safe to say that out of all the big game hunting dad and I have done, hunting for ptarmigan ranks up there in one of the toughest hunts.<br /><br />enjoy the pictures<br /><br /><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3560.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 492px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 354px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3560.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3563.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 551px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 445px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3563.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3570.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 549px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 419px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3570.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3580.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 464px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 431px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3580.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3595.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 572px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 503px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3595.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3589.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 530px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 731px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3589.jpg" /></a> This Place is awesome!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3604.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 570px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 449px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3604.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3611.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 492px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 381px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3611.jpg" /></a> Rock Ptarmigan<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3610.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 510px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 455px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3610.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-22877536705066942382009-10-25T01:29:00.000-07:002009-10-25T02:49:55.984-07:00Winter DaysRecently I was able to head north and spend some time on the north slope hunting Caribou. Temps ranged anywhere from 11 to 38 degrees which is extremely warm for this time of year. I was planning to hunt north of Atigun Pass (the contential divide of Northern Alaska's Brook's range) around the Galbraith Lake area. When I stopped in Coldfoot (only stop along the haul road between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay) for a coffee they had announced that a winter advisory was in effect for blowing/drifting snow and to expect delays due to a vehicle that had rolled over blocking the road. Driving in blowing snow is doable as long as the snow is blowing across the road because you can still see the outline of the road, however, with a strong head/tail wind the snow blends in with the road causing for dangerous conditions. With the potential of the winter storm getting worse and rising temps I decided to stay south of the pass and hunt the Chandalar Valley. Pickings were slim and the ones I did see were acting pretty skidish so unfortunately I returned empty handed.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2694.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 634px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 416px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2694.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2723.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 632px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 425px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2723.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2701.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 631px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 361px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2701.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_2753.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 639px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 389px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_2753.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2698.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 636px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 405px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2698.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2757.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 639px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 372px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2757.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2691.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 651px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 396px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2691.jpg" /></a> </div><div>This is the first time we've seen the Aurora this winter<br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_2768.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 655px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 379px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_2768.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_2767.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 665px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 380px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/_MG_2767.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-7608173820362216422009-10-05T16:02:00.000-07:002009-10-05T17:16:28.672-07:00Kenai Mountain Caribou HuntWhile in Iraq I was lucky enough to draw the Kenai Mountain Caribou tag (DC001). Alaska Fish & Game issue 250 permits per year for this area and the success rate is extremely low with 12 caribou taken on average. The Kenai Mountain caribou herd is pretty small, however, if you're lucky enough to locate the herd then chances are you'll have an opportunity of connecting with a trophy bull. The Kenai Mountains also have a high population of both brown and black bear, but unless you draw a permit (we didn't), brown bear were off the menu for this hunt. With half day schedules at work, my buddy and I finally left Ft. Wainwright around noon and headed south after grabbing a cup of coffee for the seven hour drive to the hunting grounds. We parked the truck in Hope, AK and hiked in on Resurrection Trail. The 38 mile trail is well maintained and is a relatively easy hike with forest service cabins scattered along the trail if pitching a tent isn't in your plans. Going into the hunt I had zero expectations besides getting out, testing new gear, and experiencing new country. After camp was established we began glassing the hill sides for caribou. We spotted two moose who thought they were sheep because they were just shy of the snow line on the mountains (approximately 3,500 feet). That evening we spotted one brown bear and two black bear, however, with the sun setting early, we were unable to launch a stalk so we enjoyed watching them through the binos. Friday night came with a lot of rain which made for a messy trail and tough hiking. The rain came to a close around 10 AM Saturday morning and we broke camp and began glassing the hill sides once again in hopes that the bear were still located in the same area as the evening prior. At 11:00 AM we spotted a nice black bear and decided to make a stalk. It took us over 1.5 hrs to make above the tree line since the alders were acting like the mountain's linebackers but after a lot of falling and crawling we broke through the alders and spotted the bear in the same location. With the wind in our favor we had time to put together a solid game plan when all of a sudden the bear took off like Usain Bolt across the mountain only stopping once. The bear looked back in the same direction as if he was spooked then continued running across and over the mountain. At this point the weather started to turn sour so we hiked down the mountain, broke camp and headed into Anchorage for the night. All in all it was a successful trip in the Kenai Mountains and I'm looking forward to my next visit.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2454-1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 533px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 771px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2454-1.jpg" /></a> The trail<br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2452.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 533px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 800px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2452.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2473.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 540px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 489px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2473.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2489-1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 540px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 488px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2489-1.jpg" /></a> Base camp<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2497.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 555px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 485px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2497.jpg" /></a><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 533px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 491px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2476.jpg" /><br /><div>Jason filling up water so we won't have to hike clean water to base camp<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2525.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 550px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 496px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2525.jpg" /></a> The never ending alders<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2521.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 575px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 490px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2521.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2519.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 586px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 504px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2519.jpg" /></a> more pictures of the alders<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2518.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 597px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 503px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2518.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2549-1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 608px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 503px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_2549-1.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-50995039285151442062008-09-10T19:21:00.000-07:002008-09-11T23:14:54.048-07:00August / September<a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/060.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/060.jpg" border="0" /></a> my first bull moose! These animals are incredibly huge! He weighed about 1,000 lbs and I got about 500lbs of meat! Just to give you an idea it took 2 of us to pick up one hine quarter<br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/063.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/063.jpg" border="0" /></a> my moose taking a dirt nap</div><br /><div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/073-1.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/073-1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/203.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/203.jpg" border="0" /></a> dead salmon after the spawn. These fish swim hundreds of miles from the coast to the interior of Alaska to spawn. By this point they are in bad shape and have lost a lot of weight.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/202.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/202.jpg" border="0" /></a> Camping on the Chena River / Tara doing some cooking<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/165.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/165.jpg" border="0" /></a> talking to Tara on the SAT phone<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/162.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/162.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/157.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/157.jpg" border="0" /></a> fishing the Sag river up on the North Slope<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/148.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/148.jpg" border="0" /></a> camping on the North Slope<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/129.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/129.jpg" border="0" /></a> gas station in Deadhorse, Ak<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/074.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/074.jpg" border="0" /></a> The town of Coldfoot, Ak<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/076.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/076.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/072.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/072.jpg" border="0" /></a> Price per gallon in Coldfoot, Ak<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/117.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/117.jpg" border="0" /></a> Musk-ox on the North Slope<br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/121.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/121.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><u><span style="color:#0066cc;"></span></u><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/089.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/089.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Grouse graveling up on the "haul road"<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/096.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/096.jpg" border="0" /></a>Driving thru Atigun Pass<br /><br /><div><a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/108.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/108.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-38186316919376735732008-06-22T21:04:00.001-07:002008-06-22T23:22:58.741-07:00Recent Pictures<div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures659.jpg"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a><br />The following pictures are from our 2 day fishing trip on the Chatanika River<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures659.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures659.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures658.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures658.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I caught this one at 2:00 AM<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures702.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures702.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Tara's first PIKE! The fish taped out at 28"<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures686.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures686.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures676.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures676.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures687.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures687.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>everything tastes better when you're camping!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures681.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures681.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures682.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures682.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>this is the first Sheefish I've seen caught...and you can tell they get pretty big<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures652.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures652.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures651.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures651.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures655.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures655.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>as we came around the bend this moose was taking a bath<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures644.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures644.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures646.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures646.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures648.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures648.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures668.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures668.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures667.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures667.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures675.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures675.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Pictures from the trip down south<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures028-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures028-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures031-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures031-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures239.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures239.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures245.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures245.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Valdez, AK bear hunt 08'<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures264.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures264.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures253-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures253-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures294.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures294.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures292.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures292.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures316.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures316.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures275.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures275.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures096.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures096.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures108-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures108-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures271.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures271.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures137.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures137.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures085.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures085.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures092.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures092.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures105.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures105.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures090.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures090.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures283-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures283-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures286-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures286-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures269.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures269.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures356.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures356.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/DadsBear.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/DadsBear.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-78351765130722803312008-05-24T14:22:00.000-07:002008-05-24T15:05:01.851-07:00my first bearquick update: hey guys I know its been a while since the last post but things are going well up here. Spring is finally here and majority of the ice is starting to melt off the lakes.<br /><br />On 22 May I was lucky enough to harvest a respectable interior black bear. He taped out a little over 5'6 (they measure from the tip of the nose to the tail) and weighed some where around 300+ lbs. I wanted to shoot him with the bow but he sneaked in without me seeing him and when I looked up there he was. I was shaking like a leaf and if I tried to reach for the bow he would of ran off so I grabbed my 44 mag and with a well placed shot he didn't make it 20 yards.<br /><br />I've always heard that you'll see them before you hear them but I can't put into words the rush I felt when I looked up and had a starring competition with a black bear.<br /><br />The rule up here is if you shoot a bear before 1 June you have to harvest all the meat because they are usually eating on blue berries and the meat tastes really good. As long as you harvest the bear before it starts eating fish the meat will taste just fine...if hes eating fish then the meat is oily and doesn't taste as good. Enjoy the pictures<br /><br />Early April with a full load to go build the stand...Its about 4 miles from the truck to the stand<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures373-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures373-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>here is a picture of the stand<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures376.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures376.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures380.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures380.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>you can see how thick the spruce forest is up here. Also check out the moss...thats why you never hear them sneak up on you...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures464.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures464.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>After I shot the bear I made my way back to the truck and called my 1SG to keep a watch out for other bears coming in. When I was field dressing this bear another one came in and was walking around us...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canon_pictures_468.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canon_pictures_468.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures465.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures465.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>full load...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures470.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures470.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>those could do some damage...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures477.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures477.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>he is gonna make a nice rug<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canon_pictures_473.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canon_pictures_473.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-53070478733634393082008-03-30T14:03:00.001-07:002008-03-30T14:05:28.580-07:00aurora<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures334.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures334.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures329.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures329.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures326.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures326.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures310.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures310.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures322.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures322.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-12412223833986717012008-03-23T22:00:00.000-07:002008-03-23T22:32:22.633-07:00latest adventurewell my buddies and I decided to pack up the sleds Thursday night and head down towards Paxson, AK (Tangle Lakes) in high hopes of catching some lake trout. Good thing this wasn't a survival trip where you only eat what you catch because my buddy Bill was the only one to bring a fish to hand and that wasn't enough to go around! Needless to say we still had an awesome time on the sleds. On the 25 mile ride in on the sleds we saw a lynx sun bathing on a frozen river, a heard of Caribou, a lake trout through the ice, and the northern lights.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures286.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures286.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>As we were heading back to camp from the ice shanty the Aurora made an appearance for only a few minutes and I was able to snap off a few shots. Don't be fooled this picture was taken a little after midnight.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures260-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures260-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures283.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures283.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures277-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures277-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Bill with his first Lake Trout. She taped out at 18"<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures248-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures248-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Winston will be 1 yr old this May. This was from our latest rabbit hunt<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures265.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures265.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>picture of Bill on his sled<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures240.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures240.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures268.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures268.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Here is a picture of some caribou we saw on the way in. Most of the bulls have already dropped their antlers<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures231.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures231.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures293.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures293.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>No...thats not the sun its the moon. This picture was taken around midnightRichiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-66648775387988658052008-02-27T22:43:00.000-08:002008-02-27T22:47:42.050-08:00Aurora<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures145.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures145.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures138.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures138.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>not really a great picture but if you look hard enough you'll see both of us<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures131.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures131.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-77449471497855161152008-02-27T18:42:00.000-08:002008-02-27T19:07:40.632-08:00More Pictures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures072.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures072.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>here is a picture of some our our soldiers shooting a 120mm Mortar out of a stryker<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures058.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures058.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is where we do a lot of our training<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures057.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures057.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>waiting on the mortars to show up like usual. Here is a picture of me grabbing some chow before the MTRs show up for the live fire.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures048.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures048.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>here is a picture of what we sleep in when were in the field. Notice the jerry can (tan thing) turned upside down...that actually supplies fuel for the heater inside the tent. Even when its -50 outside the heater inside will keep it nice and toasty.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures032.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>breaking down the shanty. Notice my two little fish...one is an arctic char and the other is a rainbow trout. I know they're small but fish and game encourage catch and keep in some of the lakes due to low oxygen levels during the late ice.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures028.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>never thought I would see my truck parked behind a no wake zone sign<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures026.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>just to give yall an idea on how people ice fish up here. These are personal permanent shanty's and some people go to town on the inside. I mean they have wooden floors, posters on the walls etc.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures023.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Shanty time. Inside you can get away with wearing a t-shirt as long as the heater is roaring. Believe it or not it was -20 outside!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures017.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Yeah thats right....my truck is on a frozen lake! Here is a picture of our first ice fishing trip up here in Alaska. Unfortunately, the ice auger broke after I drilled the first hole so our trip was cut short but we still had a good time.Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-7822506712809759812008-02-15T03:27:00.000-08:002008-02-15T03:30:12.055-08:00The ConversationI was ready to hit the sack after nodding off watching countless episodes Law & Order when I decided to peak out the window to see if the aurora was out, and sure enough they were dancing across the sky. I grabbed my boots, watch cap, gloves, camera and tripod in about 20 seconds while yelling for Tara to get out of bed and come look at the lights and its safe to say she wasn't a happy camper about waking up. Here is what the conversation sounded like<br /><br />Richie: Tara...Tara wake up...come look at the lights<br /><br />Tara: shut up I'm sleeping<br /><br />Richie: no for real...wake up and come look<br /><br />Tara: I don't wanna...(this is what she was humbling as she was walking towards the door) Richie, I'm sleeping...I'm tired...and I'm feeling sick....OMG those are awesome!<br /><br />Richie: I knew you would like it in Alaska<br /><br />Tara: no response, however I did get a stern look as she walked away<br /><br />Once getting all set up and ready to shoot, the lights started to put on a top notch show and if that weren't enough the wolves started howl over by the river for at least 30 mins! At that point I realized this place is awesome and I could do this all night but after being outside for over an hour my fingers and toes started to go numb so I packed up shop and headed back in for the night.Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-20269260585135487602008-02-15T02:46:00.000-08:002008-02-15T03:27:21.399-08:00Northern Lights<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures227.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures227.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures236.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures236.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures228.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures228.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures237.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures237.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures238.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures238.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures252.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures252.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures247.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures247.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures243.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures243.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-18029952421561502152008-02-03T15:10:00.001-08:002008-02-03T15:16:59.877-08:00The Aurora<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures181.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures181.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Finally...the Northern Lights decided to make an appearance last night and I was able to take a couple pictures of em'...this was my first attempt and they didn't turn out too bad but keep in mind these pictures don't do them any justice! They actually dance across the sky which makes them hard to photograph because the images will turn out blurry but they are truly amazing to see!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures179.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures179.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures182.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures182.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-14172551908401211912008-01-21T22:17:00.000-08:002008-02-03T21:27:53.374-08:00Pictures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures119.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures119.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>staring down the ice hole waiting for a bite...its amazing that it can -30 outside the ice shanty but inside you're wearing jeans and a t-shirt...just as long as the heater is running! The ice in the picture doesn't seem to be too thick but its actually about 5 foot of ice...thats enough to dive your truck to your favorite honey hole unload all your gear...and start fishing!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures108.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures108.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/Richies067.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/Richies067.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>here is a pic of my first ruffed grouse.....tasty<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures106.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures129.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures129.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Tara cooking up some fresh Halibut!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures150.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures150.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures158.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures158.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-47171042877057678372008-01-21T21:43:00.000-08:002008-01-21T22:06:47.239-08:00Pictures of Alaska<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/RoadTriptoAlaska5009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/RoadTriptoAlaska5009.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/explore003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/explore003.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/explore119.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/explore119.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This was our view as we were driving into Atigun Pass<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/explore145.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/explore145.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Don't be fooled by the smile...I was feeling horrible after walking 5 miles on the marshy tundra just shy of the Arctic Ocean (Deadhorse, Ak)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/GoodTimesinAlaska145.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/GoodTimesinAlaska145.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/RandomAlaskaPics056.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/RandomAlaskaPics056.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/RandomAlaskaPics092.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/RandomAlaskaPics092.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/Richies003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/Richies003.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures049.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures049.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures174.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures174.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures100.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/canonpictures100.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2o1yMBJ6106RANNxyRVrnfRPmwusF_LRKvApESLrtmfPdZ9bEKG8Baa5rHm-lI3j0jIyxQMjDBdI2xVah56mFoeTEnsszi16OhCXAkVRvWDoAqq6Pltd1AR0x5SvOQguTSvBcuoffybz6/s1600-h/canon+pictures+128.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2o1yMBJ6106RANNxyRVrnfRPmwusF_LRKvApESLrtmfPdZ9bEKG8Baa5rHm-lI3j0jIyxQMjDBdI2xVah56mFoeTEnsszi16OhCXAkVRvWDoAqq6Pltd1AR0x5SvOQguTSvBcuoffybz6/s400/canon+pictures+128.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158174699628645090" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbUdLSp8d8plLaqCE5vTZomRjMXosLm7mk8y8PUyagVS6L6zuxKcy3L9aPlDEm4vZPgAvBqAOQwKb3UdP4GtCN-lq9k8NU2XzfJCouYYHDjlzlhZN1lsChMxUhiMSdHCr5hCw8gF4zq3T/s1600-h/canon+pictures+066.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbUdLSp8d8plLaqCE5vTZomRjMXosLm7mk8y8PUyagVS6L6zuxKcy3L9aPlDEm4vZPgAvBqAOQwKb3UdP4GtCN-lq9k8NU2XzfJCouYYHDjlzlhZN1lsChMxUhiMSdHCr5hCw8gF4zq3T/s400/canon+pictures+066.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158173406843488978" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-68471318602701368802008-01-21T21:38:00.000-08:002008-01-21T21:42:48.912-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCt7sgJz6AxmIyrw3aAfS3_Gd1qYWDrqbi3HfLPWBltiHssu5_L-HkEynencKAKjaxveU3rRTyI8gSedsGp8Ntv4YwsIPH7uhvEbcv-Ev-tVdej1HJN1Mcv-SHIVnGAmFRE7NM76pznOp/s1600-h/canon+pictures+049.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCt7sgJz6AxmIyrw3aAfS3_Gd1qYWDrqbi3HfLPWBltiHssu5_L-HkEynencKAKjaxveU3rRTyI8gSedsGp8Ntv4YwsIPH7uhvEbcv-Ev-tVdej1HJN1Mcv-SHIVnGAmFRE7NM76pznOp/s400/canon+pictures+049.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158172139828136642" border="0" /></a>Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-90029652763831534342007-10-19T17:15:00.000-07:002007-10-19T17:25:20.435-07:00Caribou Burgers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/DSC00695.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/DSC00695.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/DSC00706.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/DSC00706.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/DSC00702.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/DSC00702.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />yeah <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">thats</span> right....those are Richie's famous Caribou Burgers on the grill and they are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">yumi</span> yum yum <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">yumis</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">haha</span>! The snow today has been crazy...I mean its been non stop since yesterday but even with temp's down to 15 degrees Winston can't seem to get enough! He <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">absolutely</span> loves the snow...so I guess Alaska is a good place for him.Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-31272942968294051502007-10-19T14:23:00.000-07:002007-10-19T17:27:50.358-07:00Caribou Fever<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/GoodTimesinAlaska129.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/GoodTimesinAlaska129.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/GoodTimesinAlaska117.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/GoodTimesinAlaska117.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/GoodTimesinAlaska143.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/GoodTimesinAlaska143.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>After 3 long trips up the "Haul Road" aka the Dalton Highway I was able to bag my first big game animal in Alaska....the Caribou. Up on the Arctic Tundra the pipeline runs along the road and if you want to hunt with a firearm you have to do the dreadful 5 mile hike and keep your fingers crossed the Caribou will be there! Well, my buddy and I did the 5 mile hike and later that day after we walked about 10 miles we finally came across some that were in range...so we put the sneak on em' and before they knew it the ole 300 ultra mag was sending one screaming down range! We ended up making two trips before the entire animal was packed out but once we made it back to the truck it was worth it.<br /><br />But if I could change one thing about hunting up on the tundra it would be the "hippy heads" they are clumps of tundra about 10" high which makes every step an ankle twister...I'll post a picture so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about....but one things for sure and thats if I would have came home empty handed the old lady may not of let me go hunting again.....haRichiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-44006026659427335782007-10-12T11:56:00.000-07:002007-10-19T17:13:44.192-07:00Fishing on the Kenai<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/KenaiRussianFishingTrip021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/KenaiRussianFishingTrip021.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Fishing on the Kenai was....DIFFERENT to say the least! Coming from Georgia fishing small creeks where the mountain laurel hangs over the stream acting as both beautiful scenery and the trout's first line of defense because thats where most of my flies end up when the day is done. During the dawg days of summer, the Georgia heat can sometimes feel like Dante's Inferno and the streams only offer creek chubs and horny heads...etc but when the heat breaks its common to catch rainbows, browns and the occasional brook trout.<br /><br />The trip to the Kenai River is one I'll never forget...especially the 30 yard close encounter with a sow(female) grizzly and her two cubs but they left us alone this time and settled for a salmon carcass. My buddies and I caught some tasty Red Salmon that we still have in the freezer awaiting their time to shine on the grill out back. Now that winter is on our door step and the northern lights are making apperances, I can't wait for the summer sun to come along so we can make another trip south for the next salmon run!Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2691097069205985487.post-83152602180110887022007-09-02T18:07:00.000-07:002007-10-12T11:35:12.448-07:00Richiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07504816689901171009noreply@blogger.com1