Duck Hunt South East Alaska Style

  My text read, "Looks like no rain on Saturday. We should take my son and try to get a duck."
  Matt and I have hunted ducks for several years up here and I don't think we have had an easy hunt yet. I was a tad bit skeptical about taking his nine year old son. Could he make the hike into the lake we usually hunt.
  "New spot. Easy walk," came the next text.
  Ok, now my interest was really on high alert.
  "I've got my zodiac skiff on Mike's boat but we can swing by in the morning and get it," I wrote back.
  "Won't need it. We'll take my big boat. I've got a kayak on top," Matt answered back.
  "Ok, see you at daylight in the morning," I quickly replied.
  Darkness was still heavy on the mountains when I met Matt, his son, and his Father-in-law next door. They were busy getting breakfast... doughnuts and coffee.
  We chatted our way to the end of the road boat ramp and then had to wait our turn as it seemed the entire island had decided the weather was good enough to get out hunting. Most of the others were hunting deer as the rut had began last week.
  Mat piloted the boat in the grey of the morning through the maze of islands and water channels. He did a great job of staying off rocks and sand flats... not an easy task in the area we were to hunt.
  We pulled into a nice sheltered cove and Matt idled the big boat to the shore. As the nose of the boat reached the beach I jumped off to catch the boat and immediately filled both of my boots with cold ocean water.
  "Wow, It's deeper here than it looks!" I exclaimed to the others. "let the boat get in a bit closer before you jump off!"
  The guys unloaded our gear off the boat as I dumped my boots and wrung the water out of my socks.
  Matt pulled the big boat out to the center of the cove and dropped the anchor. You really don't want to return at the end of a days hunt to find your boat high and dry on the beach when the tide ebbs out.
  Matt paddled back to the beach in his kayak and we dragged it high into the trees above tide line. "Just hope the bears leave it alone," our thoughts echoed.
  Now the work begins. We will have to make a hike into the underbrush and up a small mountain to find a little lake Matt had saved onto his phone GPS. None of us had hunted in this area so it can be like looking for the needle in the haystack type of deal.
  Every so often we would stop to let Matt bring up his GPS to see if were on the right course. We were kind of wondering around looking for a muskeg that would lead us to the lake.
  After topping a brush covered hill we made our way down into the muskeg, and from there easily found the lake.
  According to Matt, one of his friends had hiked a little pram skiff into the lake and stashed it out. It did not take us long to find it.
  Mallard ducks flushed off the lake as we neared, a good sign for sure. I tried to build excitement in Matt's son by telling him that all these ducks should try and come back to the lake as the day progressed.
  We turned the skiff over and launched it into the lily pad covered lake. We had carried a paddle from our boat and with the one in the skiff started making our way to a little island in the lake.
  Water began spurting into the skiff.
  "Matt, we are taking on water quickly from under your seat," I quietly informed Matt.
  He stopped paddling to look. Water was gushing in through a hole that looked about like a bullet hole. Hmmm...  It was a race to get to the island before the little skiff filled with water and sank out from under the three of us.  We made it with a little free board to spare.
  We dragged the skiff onto the island and turned it over. The hole was not a bullet hole, but rather, a bite hole from a brown bear. We could see where its ring of teeth had bitten into the aluminum boat.One of its big canine teeth had punched right through the hull. Matt found a stick and jammed it into the hole. Problem solved for now. The hole did not leak enough the rest of the day to warrant any concern.
  Not only had Matt's friend stashed the boat on the lake, but he had a couple dozen duck decoys stashed on the little island as well. A real treat for hunting a hike-in lake. Matt and I usually hike in two duck decoys, one tail vibrating, and one wing spinning decoy. Even that few of decoys can become very heavy on a several mile mountain climb.
  Matt's son had never shot a duck so the order of the day was to see if we could get him his first duck.
  The first flock that came in did not present him a shot. Ok, the old men got jumpy and shot them before he could get his safety off and find a duck.
  The next one was a single duck and Tyler made a great shot and got his first Mallard duck. We were all proud of him. It was so special for him to have his grandpa there to wittness it.
  A few more flocks came in and we managed to get some more, but the day was made when Tyler got his duck.
  Darkness comes so early here that by noon we had to start picking up the decoys and begin the whole process of boating, hiking, boating, and then anchor pulling and back to the beach to load everything.
  We pulled crab pots on the way home to finish off a great day.
  Nothing comes easy in South East Alaska. In the lower 48's a duck hunt is spent mostly in the blind hunting. Here, most of the day is getting to and from the blind and just a small amount of actual hunting.
  To be able to see some of these little out of the way places that even most Alaska residents will never see, is worth all the effort.

              Kayaking from the big boat to the beach

 

setting decoys

A Deer Hunt Turns Into a Fishing Trip

  I often tease my wife, who loves hockey, that she is just watching a fight, and suddenly a hockey game breaks out! I kind of had something like this happen to me this week. 
"You interested in going on an excursion deer hunt on Monday?" A friend asked me.
  With a lead in like that he had me hooked before he paused for me to reply.
  "Let me think... Yes!" I exclaimed, without even trying to get the details.
Jim is one of our local hunting guides. He guides for bear, goats, and deer. A hunting trip with him is a learning experience I will never turn down.
  We loaded a skiff onto Jim's big boat and headed out Monday morning early. We headed South to Redoubt lake and tied to the mooring buoy. We then unloaded the skiff and rowed to the beach. At the beach, we hauled two loads of gear up over a hill to the lake we would be hunting. Jim's Son-in-Law packed the heavy outboard motor as he is the youngest of the bunch. Jim and I lugged the skiff up the muddy, rock piled, tree root infested trail to the lake. We were both puffing as we arrived.
  "Look at the salmon jumping!" Jim said.  Big Coho (Silver) salmon were launching out of the calm water into the early morning air in silvery sheets of spray.
   "I've got a couple of fishing poles and some spinners, if we want to try for some fish," Jim said.
  I'm never one to turn down a good tussle on a fishing pole, and quickly dug into the boat for the poles. Jim dumped water out of the spinner tackle box... hmmmm I thought to myself. He handed me the box and I looked at a rusty mess with a little bit of orange color mixed in. "We call them rusty orange," Jim smiled.
  The first spinner I took out of the box had no hooks at all... rusted clean off! The next one had no color on the spinner blade, just a rusty chunk of metal. The next one had a blade and one very rusty hook of the treble hook.
  "I guess this will have to do," I commented while tying it on.
  My first cast was blasted by a big Silver Salmon. Nothing. I cast back and immediately hooked a big fish. With only one rusty hook of the treble, I eased the big fish to the side of the skiff. "Wow this is going to be tricky," I told Jim. I fought the big fish for a long time to make sure it was very tired, as we had no net, no gaff hook, or any other means of getting a slimy fish over the side of the skiff.
  Jim worked his fingers carefully into the gills of the fish and slid it into the boat! "Wow, look at that beauty!" we both exclaimed, "It is as bright as an ocean silver.
  Once salmon run from the ocean into fresh water their bodies start deteriorating.They grow a huge hook nose and jaw, their flesh turns dark and their skin starts turning dark brown to reds.
  This fish looked like it was still swimming in the ocean.
  Now we were excited. These are eating fish! The deer hunt went quickly onto hold and we blasted the water of the little lake with rusty spinners.
  After a few more fish, Jim suggested we stick to our plan of looking for deer. We ran to a muskeg he had hunted in the past and made a hike through it. No deer but one of the most spectacular places I have witnessed in Alaska. Morning frost laid thick on the muskeg and a haze of fog lifted revealing high mountain peaks capped with snow in the background. It was stunningly beautiful.
  We saw fresh deer tracks in the frost and called a bit on the deer call but they played smart and stayed hidden in the thick forest surrounding the muskeg.
  At about 1:00 pm we decided we had better work our way back to the lower end of the lake and start portaging our gear back to the big boat. Darkness comes early in the winter and non of us wanted to take the big boat through the rock piles back to town in the dark.
  The temptation of the salmon soon overcame our good judgement and we were back to casting for Silvers. We managed to catch a few more before leaving the lake and had a blast doing it.
  We were nearing town when we started spotting whale blow spouts. Jim, being the good guide he is, eased the boat near the whales and cut the engines. We drifted in the beautiful sun setting calm water with whales blowing all around us. There was not a ripple on the water and the whales sounded like huge bulls bellowing their breath's as the enormous spouts of water showered the bay.
  We slid into the harbor at dark and had to agree that this day was nothing short of spectacular!
  Very few places are left in the world where you can go catch salmon as fast as you want, hunt deer, and watch whales, and never see another person! Oh sure, there is some work involved in getting to these places, but the end result is more than worth it.
  Yes, we went on a deer hunt and a fishing trip broke out.

                          One of the dark Silver Salmon Caught on the trip