Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Hunt

I know that I have been home for a month now, sorry this is late. So this is Alaska. We weren't up in the mountains too far and those were the closest trees. Firewood was a lot of work to gather. The best way to describe the terrain in the tundra is by imagining a field scattered with basketballs no more than a foot apart. Now cover those basketballs with wet, slimy grass, moss and blue berries. If you weren't in the trees or on the mountains you were in this "musk egg" and it was very difficult walking.

Wow Dad, that is a big moose you got a hold of there! Sorry, Pop did not shoot this. Some other hunters got it and we ran into them on the tarmack waiting to leave Kotzebue.

This is my caribou. I swear it was bigger when I shot it. Everyone else had shot theirs on the first day. So I was hunting by myself on the second day and shot this little guy. I needed someone there to tell me to wait for a bigger one. I thought he was huge. I watched his group come in from a mile or so away. The whole time I was watching him and I was sure he was bigger than anyone elses in camp. It turned out that it was not the case. But I am happy with him, it was a very fun and rewarding hunt.

This is Blair's trophy. A bunch of camp robbers were looting us of our bounty so mighty Blair protected the camp from the unruly intruders. At least he was able to shoot something with his bow. Blair also shot a ptarmigan with my rifle on the way back to camp one night. He is quite the hunter. He is also quite the taxidermist. Blair was the only one in camp who knew how to cape the hides for mounting. We would have made royal messes if he wouldn't have been there.

Brent, Bryant, Dad, Me, Blair. Now mine looks even smaller. Everyone else shot very nice caribou. They were the biggest that we had seen come out. The dehydrated food that we packed in was not nearly as good as the caribou we ate every night. One night we had caribou, ptarmigan, mashed potatoes, and gravy for dinner.

Since we had killed our caribou within the first two days we resorted to other recreational activities. Blair and I went out fishing on our fourth day and caught a bunch of greyling. This was the biggest one we caught. We thought we were going to be nice and we brought a bunch back to camp to eat for dinner. They tasted like crap, so Blair used them as bait for the camp robbers. The next day Pop was sad that he had not caught a fish, so we took him to a couple of good holes and he caught a couple of greyling. Later I hooked a big char and broke our pole, that meant it was time to go back to camp and catch our plane back to Kotzebue. I had a great time. I am so lucky to have gone to Alaska with my dad and brother. Next time Reagan will have to go so all the boys can get together. I also am very lucky to such a nice wife that is always home alone but still was happy for me to go. Thanks baby, I love you!

9 comments:

Shelli said...

Great pictures Greg, my favorite is the one of all of you holding your trophy's. Even if it is the smallest it still looks big to me!! You really are lucky to have such a sweet understanding wife, I guess it's because she loves you too, and wants you to be happy!! I know when you are home you are great so that helps make up for the times you are gone. Love you all.

Amber said...

Hey Greg....love all the pics!! Looks like you guys made some good memories. And yes Ann is the best wife to you. But I know your a good husband to her too. We'll see you at Thanksgiving.

Greg & Andrea said...

Yes honey you are gone ALL THE TIME! But I knew that going on a hunting trip to Alaska isn't something people get do all the time so I'm so glad you got to go. My biggest fear besides you getting eaten by a bear was that you would go all the way there and not get a caribou. I'm so glad that you all got one. And who cares if your caribou was a little smaller it tasted soooo good.

Jonathan said...

Those are some awesome pictures! It looks like you had a great time. Just think you can check the "Kill a Caribou" of the to do list. That's awesome you guys had the opportunity to go.

You said that you flew out of Kotzebue. I thought I had heard of it before and sure enough I have a DVD "Goo Goo Dolls - Live in Alaska" and shows them playing a song in Kotzebue. It looks like a cool place. I didn't realize how north you guys went - all I can say is that is awesome.

Take care now and post other pictures of cool stuff so I can vicariously live an interesting life through your blog. :)

Dave said...

Congrats on a successful hunt. It looks like you all had great weather and a safe trip. I'm sure it was great to be up there with your dad and brother. Definately a trip of a life time and yes, you do have a beautiful and understanding wife!

Tom & Michelle said...

Nice pictures!! lookes like you guys had fun. And I agree with everone about how Andi is a pretty awsome wife.. but your a pretty good hubby to her. So im glad that you had fun!

Rachel B said...

I would love to go to Alaska some day! Looks beautiful. And nice job on the hunting!

And Andi, you are the wife most guys dream about having. You are very lucky Greg!

Shamae (Ghost written by Loren her hubby) said...

It looks like a really fun trip!

Cody Gochnour said...

Who goes Caribou hunting in Alaska without me? Honestly!

Congratulations though, that's pretty cool.