Annual Elk Hunt

 

Tomorrow I am off on the annual Afognak Elk hunt.  I have gone elk hunting every year since 2002. So I guess this is the 23rd annual hunt - WOW! time flies.

On the elk hunt we do a lot of hiking where there are no trails, and climb up and down mountains.  It is a hard hunt.  So to prepare for the hunt, for the last week I have been trying to climb a mountain every day with the dogs.  These are some photos from those hikes.  

Of course on these hikes I mostly had trails and there was no bushwhacking. I also did not carry a backpack.  On the elk hunt I'll be carrying a heavy pack.  But it'll be beautiful.  It is always one of my favorite weeks of the whole year.

Patrick

Meat Care in the Field

 

On a recent hunt Ray transfers the meat from the lightweight synthetic bags we use hunting to the thick cotton bags we use for drying and cooling off in the meat shelter.

Meat care in the field is a HUGE part of hunting. Taking good care of the meat is the difference between bringing back stinky meat that smells up the whole house when you throw it in the frying pan, and that sublime medium-rare roast that comes without any hint of off-tasting flavors or smells.  And yet, I fear far too many hunters are not doing a very good job.  I actually think this is why 'deer' meat is often expected to be a bit 'gamy'. I contend that 'gamy' is not good, and that if you don't hunt during the rut (no help for a big buck harvested in the rut), and take good care of your meat that you will end up with meat that tastes excellent - far better than anything you can buy at the store.

One of the critical components of meat care in the field is heavy cotton game bags. 20 years ago, or so, the only game bags you could buy were made of cotton.  But, lately good cotton game bags are getting harder and harder to find and I fear they are getting phased out at hunting stores by far lighter game bags made of synthetic material. The new synthetic game bags are amazing - they weigh next to nothing and are easy to clean and dry in the field. They are the only game bags we carry when we are actually hunting.  And yet, the synthetic bags are not good for meat care back in camp.  They do not absorb blood and moisture very well, and if you leave meat in them the meat stays 'wet' and starts to go bad.  It is best to change out bags from synthetic to cotton as quickly as you can.  Once switched over to the new cotton game bag the new bag absorbs all the blood, protects the meat from flies and helps dry it off.  

Even on remote hunts, where every ounce of camp weight is at a premium so that we can fit in the plane, we still take along more than 50 pounds of game bags.  That's close to 15 percent of our total camp and food weight! We use an extra tent as a meat shelter to keep the meat dry.  But it still often gets damp, and if the bags seem a little too 'damp' and bloody we will change the bags again.  While in the field we somewhat clean and dry all the synthetic bags. But we end up with a large dry bag filled with used dirty cotton game bags. We often change to new clean bags more than once.

There is a lot more to caring for meat in the field than just using cotton game bags.  Butchering techniques is another whole story.  But basically keep the meat cool and dry - and err on the side of dry.  I've actually had meat kept dry in trash bags and packed into a hole cut into a snowfield go bad.  It was certainly cold enough in the snow but I fear the plastic bag could not breath and the meat condensated onto the inside of the bag and started to rot.

Anyway, I am worried that cotton game bags have become considered obsolete, and that hunting stores will stop carrying them.  This would be a big shame.  They really are an essential component to good meat care in the field.

Patrick

drying out the washed synthetic 'hunting bags' - they clean up easily and dry quickly

Ray at the thankless job of meat care - the meat in the shelter needs to be constantly monitored and often flipped

Elk quarters hang to dry and stay cool in heavy cotton bags which absorb moisture and dry the meat - if it starts to rain we put up a tarp over the meat

Elk meat in the field cooling off under a tarp (protect from the rain) - there are no flies so the meat is taken out of the synthetic hunting bags to cool and dry off

Meat (and an elk rack) on the pack in the synthetic hunting bags - note how the bags do not absorb much blood at all and become saturated with it.  Long term this is not good for the meat.

Elk meat hanging in cotton bags in the barn back at the house - it's time to take the meat out of the bags and either put on new clean bags (if there are flies) or to leave the quarters  bare and exposed to the cool dry air

Butchering elk meat back at the house - if it has been well taken care of there should be no offending odors

The inside of a meat shelter prior to the addition of meat with wood on the ground to keep the meat dry and cotton game bags to keep it clean

Arriving back at camp with meat in the synthetic game bags - it needs to be transferred to cotton bags and put inside meat shelter immediately

Elk hunt meat shelter with electric fence to keep the bears out - note 'Luci light' hanging from ski pole to maybe help keep the bears away

Bear Mountain

 

On Saturday Stuey and I took the dogs up Bear Mountain.  It was a cloudy day, and I was convinced we'd get some rain.  But the rain held off, and, despite the lack of sunshine, the colors and views were good. 

It is a fairly quick hike, and is a bit off the beaten trail.  I like it because you generally have the trail to yourself.  Also the trail has not been cleared out and beaten in by lots of people using it.  The trail is in the same condition as all the trails used to be on Kodiak 20 years ago before hiking became so popular.  Maybe because so few people use the trail it had the most lingonberries I have seen anywhere this Fall.  

But I did feel a bit badly because on Saturday there were other people on the trail - two guys were up there hunting deer.  As a fellow deer hunter I felt bad about encroaching on their space.  That said, if I was hunting on that trail (and I have in the past) I'd have gone a lot further in than they did.  Actually, with the dogs along I intentionally did not go to where I know the deer like to hang out.  I hope the hunters got to check out those places.

Patrick

More Fall Color

 

Some more pictures highlighting the Fall colors from recent hikes.  The colors somehow seem brighter this Fall, but I think that's what I think every year.  I also think the light has a lot to do with it - the colors are certainly brighter on a sunny day. And we have had pretty good weather this Fall.  In any case, I love Fall light.  The sun is lower in the sky and this makes for warmer colored sunshine that rakes across the landscape at a low angle.  There are more shadows and everything looks lit up by a spotlight.  

And, best of all, Winter is right around the corner!

Patrick

Quick trip to the Alaska Peninsula

 

On Wednesday I got to go on a work related trip to the Alaska Peninsula.  We left Trident Basin at dawn and flew across the Shelikof Strait to Kukak Bay - the land of volcanoes and glaciers.  Molly and I were helping a lodge owner expand their lodge.  Their lodge is built partially on top of a large Alutiiq village.  People lived here until the late 19th century and there was even a Russian Orthodox Church at one end of the village.  So the lodge owner wants our help in defining the site boundaries and showing them what is what and where so that they can expand without damaging the old village.  I actually once visited the village and lodge in the distant past to do the same thing when they last expanded in 2006.

So we spent the day digging test pits and finding all the old house pits.  We even found the old excavation trenches from when archaeologists did some excavations here in the 1950's and early 1960's.  The highlight of my trip was when I walked down to the beach and ran into a bear walking by on the beach.  The trail down to the beach even had a sign on it that said 'bear crossing'.  I should have paid attention!

Patrick