Lessons Learned.......You can pass to fellow forum members

[AGL4now]

Lets list some lesson we have each learned, the might help a fellow member.......

Something I have done.......And that I have had five or six clients do. Just before you crest a ridge you bend over and quietly creep the last little bit. This is when I want the client close to my right. Your bent-over and you slowly rise to peek over, expecting to see game quite some distance away. But there not 10 feet or ten yards is 5 Rams or 8 nice Caribou, that you never expected to ever see that close.

I whisper to the client, "Second one from the right". My heart is racing, clients heart is racing. The animals are all frozen looking straight at us.

There is a massive explosion, moss and tundra and rocks explode into the sky. I am shell shocked, I look to see if the hunter rifle exploded. A mill'a-second and I realize what happened. We race forward..........and sometime the hunter gets the animal sometimes NOT. Sometime they run away, and sometimes they just fast walk away.

Anybody been there and done that. The scope view is clear of the ground. Sadly the bore line is below the top of the mountain.

[hoose35]

If solo hunting in the mountains, always bring two containers for water. I didn't happen to me, but a friend told me a story. He dropped his water bottle down a cliff where it could not be recovered without risking life. He used a mountain House bag and his water tasted like stroganoff. I carry a back up container of some sort now

[AGL4now]

Fresh water shrimp. My hunting partner and I were on a month long hunt in the upper Noatak Country in the early seventies. most of my clothes were all bloody so I took them down to the lake and tied a rope on them and threw them out to soak over night.

When I pulled them in the next day to wash them they were totally covered with fresh water shrimp. So I tried brushing them off, and the shrimp would not come off. The clothes ended up covered with smeared shrimp paste, and stunk awful. we still had weeks to go and I have few clothes.

This also happened on that trip

Brooks Range, Alaska. Near the head waters of the Noatak River & the Ambler River. We are on a private six week hunt, just my hunting partner and myself. 1970 or 1971 we had a base camp on a large lake in the main valley. And we would do three or four day trips back different valleys, sometimes together and some times go our separate ways and report back at base in four days. We had shot several wolves, and one Dall Sheep.

We decided to go together back this one interesting valley for three or four days. But we saw no shoot-able game. We did get to watch two huge wolves pull down three sheep. Dejected we are returning to camp, which was out of fresh meat. Having seen nearly nothing for days, about a mile out of base camp is one caribou. I shoot the caribou, and we back most of it into base camp.

It was a very hot and sweaty day, and we had most likely logged 12 to 15 miles, plus packed the caribou in. We get to base camp exhausted, and hot, and stinky, and bloody. So I proclaim I am going to the lake and bathe, my hunting partner wants to clean he's gear and eat.

So I am naked at the lake washing in ice cold water, and I see movement to my right, which just happens to be a good size interior Grizzly Bear. The bear is about 40 yards away, I did not take a rifle, just soap & a Towel. The bear is not charging but is walking quickly toward me, and I do mean Quickly.

I look up toward base camp and see my hunting partner studying the bear for size, and color through his binoculars and spotting scope.

Now the bear has stopped maybe thirty feet away from me. It is watching me, and does not see my hunting partner who is evaluating the bear for harvest. I look up expecting to see my buddy with rifle in hand, but NO he is looking at the bear still studying it. The Bear slowly walks toward me, I am buck naked, head covered in soap, the bear is about 15 feet away. And I am looking back and forth between the bear and my friend. The bear moves closer to about to feet, I look up and my hunting partner now has his rifle, but is not aiming at the bear.

So I said are you going to shoot......? He said, No it is the wrong color. Now mind you while we are talking the Grizzly Bear is just standing there on all four feet watching me ten feet away. It never looked up toward base camp or at Bill.

Bill yelled, "Go on, get out of here". and to my good fortune it did a 180 and left the way it came. We later figured it followed the bloody trail of the blood dripping off the Caribou meat we packed it and hour earlier.

[BrownBear]

My favorite lesson-

Take a nap for an hour or two.

Can't tell you how many times I go to sleep while watching empty country, but wake up to game in sight. I have to guess that the hour or two without me clod-footing through the hills leaves it quiet enough for the game to come out of cover. Any time I'm not seeing game where I should, I slow down rather than speed up. Nap is the best "slow down" tactic in the books.

[AK-HUNT]

Remain vigilant
Was skinning black bear which I had done dozens of times. Something felt odd. Turned around and grizz head looking at me < 10 yards away. Obviously he was being very sneaky not just fumbling along (prob smelled dinner and with wind rattling alders we never heard him). Rifle looks about 1.5 miles away (probably 15 feet). Anyway thought for a second-dove for rifle and yelled at same time. He split so fast I never got a shot but re-learned a lesson.
Having never been accosted significantly (been around quite a few bears) in years of guiding and alot of hunting my guard was let down. That situation could have gotten ugly.

Now- guns within reach and loaded while cutting game and I look around alot more. Whatever your technique- have one…..Skin 99 animals uneventfully and the 100th gets exciting.
Buddy's of mine in lwr 48 that guide are more educated at this. Grizz where they guide have no real fear of man and walk right in on elk kill etc. Some wild encounters.

[tdelarm]

1) Always check for current game regulation updates yourself (you personally) the day before heading out. Its your responsibility. Not your hunting partners.

2) Invest in a satellite phone. Never hit remote bush Alaska without a means of 'reliable' communication. And, don't assume your outdoor partner has that handled i.e. satellite phone is current, has minutes and reliable batteries. AND, have those emergency #s stored in the phone and KNOW how to use the phone or your chosen communicating device.

3) Be prepared for the worst to happen. Hopefully it doesn't but if you've at least thought about it you will be able to react quicker to manage the situation.

There's a TON of field tips one could use to successfully enjoy Alaska's backcountry but maybe the one high on my list is; enjoy your time afield and live it like its your last day! Everyday.

[sayak]

The most important thing I can pass on to any outdoorsman is to listen to the little voice that tells you to bring something. Don't deny that voice, bring it! If you end up not needing the item, no big deal, but if you heard that voice and don't obey it, no doubt you will end up needing that item, and you will kick your own ass all the way home.

[4merguide]

Remain vigilant
Was skinning black bear which I had done dozens of times. Something felt odd. Turned around and grizz head looking at me < 10 yards away. Obviously he was being very sneaky not just fumbling along (prob smelled dinner and with wind rattling alders we never heard him). Rifle looks about 1.5 miles away (probably 15 feet). Anyway thought for a second-dove for rifle and yelled at same time. He split so fast I never got a shot but re-learned a lesson.
Having never been accosted significantly (been around quite a few bears) in years of guiding and alot of hunting my guard was let down. That situation could have gotten ugly.

Now- guns within reach and loaded while cutting game and I look around alot more. Whatever your technique- have one…..Skin 99 animals uneventfully and the 100th gets exciting.
Buddy's of mine in lwr 48 that guide are more educated at this. Grizz where they guide have no real fear of man and walk right in on elk kill etc. Some wild encounters.

Had the snot scared outta me once after my hunter killed a big bull moose. We had just got done with the photos and I had started to dig in. All of a sudden I see in my peripheral vision a flash of brown, and at the same time hear the bushes move. I lunge for my rifle while looking back over my shoulder just to see the horns of a little bull coming to look for his buddy. Nothing like a quick little adrenalin rush to keep you on your toes.

That's interesting about the grizz in the L48 not having any fear of man, as you'd think that down there bear would have more encounters with people. I actually think that those grizzlies are more like our interior grizzlies and are more aggressive because they have to rely on eating more meat than fish....

[AGL4now]

If you harvest an animal late in the day, and figure to process the next day. Put your stinky sweaty T'shirt over the eyes and nose. If you have other spare stinky clothes or a rain gear also wrap that over the face. The first thing the birds will peck at is the eyes, the exposed wound, nose & lips.

[stid2677]

If you harvest an animal late in the day, and figure to process the next day. Put your stinky sweaty T'shirt over the eyes and nose. If you have other spare stinky clothes or a rain gear also wrap that over the face. The first thing the birds will peck at is the eyes, the exposed wound, nose & lips.

I will add, to leave them in a position so they can be skinned once rigor sets in.

[gunner]

be **** careful when dropping your pack to execute a final stalk on caribou. mark it with gps ,flagging etc. Learned this the hard way many years ago.

[Antleridge]

Something akin to gunner's tip - put some orange duct tape on your small electronics, knives, etc - makes it much easier to locate when mislaid. Once looked for hours for a hand-held radio.

[J in AK]

Don't be one of "those" guys and hunt with a round in the chamber.....






....sorry, couldn't resist :nyanya:

[Moose30]

Carry Sat Phone a small Road Flare nothing to stop you now!!!

[Roland on the River]

I've had a few friends that stutted. well, this was so funny it has to be told. I arrived at base camp to start a spring job assisting guiding for Kodiak Bear.We were at the dinner table and everyone was telling stories. well the master guide finally opened up. The year before he had this assistant that stuttered, I just happen to know him well. They were on a final stalk on this Bear and the client had already been told to be QUITE. the guide stops and whispers "shus, shus shus, and the client is just being so quite he even stopped breathing when in a LOUD YELL THE GUIDE HOLLERS "DECK THE MOTHER " evidently he couldn't say shoot, only shuss