The elk boat

 

On the elk hunt our base camp is the 50 foot seiner Columbia. Including the skipper there are seven of us on board. Normally when fishing a seiner will carry 3 total - so space is a little tight. I'd characterize it as comfortable but crowded. However, on the boat we do eat very well. Every morning I cook up hash browns, scrambled eggs and sausages. And for dinners members of the elk crew bring along specially prepared meals.  Philip's Elk Bourguignon served on mashed potatoes is always a HUGE hit. And then 'there's beer on the boat'. Still things are not so comfortable that we are not disinclined to go onshore 'to rough it' in the teepee.

The best part about having a boat as our base camp is that it can move around. When we are on shore we can go anywhere coastal and when we get there the boat can pick us up. Your typical elk base camp is a fixed place by a beach or on a lake, and your range is limited.

Patrick

Practicing putting on the survival suits - 'Gumby suits'

Life 'on the beach'

 

Here are some 'on shore' pictures from the elk hunt. Our base camp is a big fishing boat the Columbia. And when we go ashore we carry our camp with us. At the end of every day we camp where we end up. We carry one big teepee with a woodstove, a meat shelter, and a smaller teepee for 2. Four hunters sleep in the woodstove tent and two in the 'mother-in-law' tent.

On this trip we went ashore with 3-4 days of food. We had enough food to hike all the way across Afognak if we did not see elk in the first 2 days. But on the second day ashore we found elk near our first camp. And after butchering the elk we took the meat back to the first camp and re set up camp in the same spot.  One of the big chores at every camp is cutting and splitting wood for the stove. And we already had split wood at that camp leftover from the first night.

Then after finding and harvesting the elk the rest of the time on shore is spent ferrying heavy loads of elk meat.  First we carried it all to camp where we set up an electric fence. Then we ferried the meat in 2 loads down to the boat.

Patrick

Post hunt activities

 

Nick with a 'dino' sized elk rib

Thursday evening we got back to town and unloaded the boat. And so began the post hunt activities. The most immediate activity was meat care.  We hung all the elk quarters in my shed and put all the loose 'kibbles and bits' pieces of meat onto dry game bags in a refrigerator to chill.  Philip took all the elk ribs home, cut them up, and started cooking them 'sous vid' style in coolers. He cooks them for something like 36 hours at 150 degrees, and on Saturday night we had the post hunt elk rib feed (see top picture).

Then on Friday we cut up and processed elk meat all day long (no pictures).  My living room was all meat on tables and people cutting. We filled up all my freezers completely with meat.  In the end, including ribs, we ended up with about 550 pounds of packaged elk meat - about 75 pounds per person. 

Ray's wife Julie came down from Anchorage to help cut up the meat and help Ray get his share of meat back to Anchorage (they took back three coolers of elk and fish). And on Saturday she joined Nick and I for a hike up Monashka Mountain with the dogs. Julie likes to come down and visit Kodiak because she worked here in the past and has lots of friends to visit while she is here.

Then on Saturday night we divided up all the elk meat and had the elk rib 'feed'. Philip and Brooks did the ribs and they were amazing. They cut most of them up into manageable sized pieces but kept a few HUGE for laughs.  These were the 'dino-sized', 'Fred Flintstone' portions.

And so ended the elk hunt.

Patrick

unloading the boat

Elk ribs Sous Vid ing away

Looking north to where we were hunting elk

Frost in the yard!

A not very smart spike

Back from Elk Hunt

 

We got back from Afognak Thursday evening, spent all day yesterday cutting up and packaging elk meat, and now the elk hunt is complete. All that remains is divying up and enjoying the elk meat! Tonight we plan on having a group rib roast and getting a first taste of the elk meat.

It was a successful hunt. We got to camp on shore 2 nights, hiked through some spectacular country, and harvested 2 elk. Here are some pictures of the hunt - I'll provide more details in future posts.  But these pictures basically tell the story!

Patrick

Off to hunt Elk

 

My first elk in 2002

I am off on the 24rth annual elk hunt.  Almost a quarter century of elk hunts. Just now I looked back at past elk from my hunts and watched as I get older and older and the elk stay the same (They might even be a little heavier). There is no guarantee that we will get an elk, but I am quite certain that we will get in some hiking and camping and see some beautiful country.

Patrick

2005

2008

2014

2017

2019

2023

2024

Mike's Pictures

 

Just when I was getting tired of my Shuyak pictures Mike got me all his Shuyak pictures. I love looking at his photos because he focused in on different subjects, and looked at things in a slightly different way. He caught a lot that I missed in my photos. In particular, he took a lot of pictures of me.  Since I usually take all the pictures - and I don't take selfies - there are not usually very many of me.  Mike also composed his pictures well.

Anyway here are his pictures of our adventure to North Shuyak.  This is Mike's views of things.

Patrick

Bear 'century' trail - bears stepping in the same spot repeatedly

Mike's side of the tent

my side of the tent

One big hedgehog