Alaska Sporting Journal Oct 2019

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Volume 11 • Issue 5 www.aksportingjournal.com PUBLISHER James R. Baker GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Walgamott EDITOR Chris Cocoles WRITERS Paul D. Atkins, Bryce Dole, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Tom Walker SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold DESIGNERS Celina Martin, Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper WEB DEVELOPMENT/INBOUND MARKETING Jon Hines PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Kelly Baker ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Katie Aumann INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn ADVERTISING INQUIRIES media@media-inc.com ON THE COVER Fall colors burns bright as an Alaska hunter searches the landscape for big game.

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP WASHINGTON OFFICE 14240 Interurban Ave South • Suite 190 Tukwila, WA 98168 (206) 382-9220 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com www.media-inc.com CORRESPONDENCE Twitter @AKSportJourn Facebook.com/alaskasportingjournal Email ccocoles@media-inc.com

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 5

61

THE BEAR HUNTING ADVOCATE

Our Arctic adventurer Paul Atkins takes some online heat from the anti-hunting crowd – and in some instances, criticism from fellow sportsmen – about his passion for pursuing brown bears.

Granted, it’s probably not for everyone. But for Atkins it’s equal parts conservation of other big game critters he likes to hunt and the challenge of harvesting a big bear. Join he and partner Lew on another unforgettable excursion!

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

FEATURES 20 PICTURE THIS Growing up in urban southern California, Tom Walker felt a connection to the wilderness anytime he left the congestion and chaos of Los Angeles to fish or explore. So more than 50 years ago he fled to Alaska where he’s been chronicling his adventures through wildlife photography and books ever since. Check out an excerpt from Walker’s newest title, Wild Shots, plus our Q&A with the author.

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TO KEEP OR NOT TO KEEP YOUR CATCH Alaska’s productive saltwaters provide anglers with tasty fillets, but some worry how sustainable the fisheries are and they’re reconsidering whether to harvest their fish.

University of Oregon journalism students Bryce Dole and Denise Silfee heard the argument for catch-and-release fishing on a trip with a Cordova charter boat captain.

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END OF AN ERA, BEGINNING OF A NEW ONE For 34 years, anglers from inside and outside Alaska have flocked to Homer for its annual Jackpot Halibut Derby. The city’s chamber of commerce has put on a fantastic event, but the summer-long derby has become quite a financial burden, prompting this year’s to be the last in its current format. But fear not: the “Halibut Capital of the World” still plans a condensed early-season event starting in 2020.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 17 35 73

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The Editor’s Note Outdoor Calendar From Field to Fire: High-country black bear hunting; pressure cooker venison recipe The Gear Guy: Top rifles on the market

Alaska Sporting Journal is published monthly. Call Media Inc. Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Inc. Publishing Group and will not be returned. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues) or $49.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Inc. Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168 or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Inc. Publishing Group, subject to availability, at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Copyright © 2019 Media Inc. Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A. 12

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To keep or release in a state like Alaska, which relies heavily on its fisheries, makes for a fascinating debate. (DENISE SILFEE)

EDITOR’S NOTE

A

family friend was a hard-core outdoorsman who I kind of idolized as a little kid. When we used to join him and another friend at a lakeside home in northern California over the Memorial Day holiday, I was always fascinated when we’d go to bed at night and he’d cast out a rod baited with a stinky catfish lure.

The next day he’d reel in the line and often there would be a channel cat on the hook. I remember asking my dad what the point was, considering what really thrilled me about fishing was the anticipation of seeing that rod tip vibrate, setting the hook and then reeling in a still-fighting fish.

“He’s doing that for the meat,” I was told.

OK, that made sense. But I was also a dedicated fan of those Saturday afternoon fishing shows hosted by jovial fellows like Roland Martin, Orlando Wilson, Jimmy Houston and Bill Dance. And for the life of me, knowing what that family friend did to ensure he had some fish for dinner, I couldn’t comprehend why in the world Roland and Jimmy would catch these beautiful bass. Rather than throw them in the livewell or put them on a stringer – the latter something that I geeked out about whenever I was lucky enough to catch a fish – they’d carefully drop the fish back in the water.

“We’ll catch this beauty again someday,” the host would proclaim.

The contrasts intrigued me equally.

Which brings us to this month’s story by University of Oregon journalism student Bryce Dole, who headed to Alaska to fish out of Cordova’s Orca Lodge (page 43). The boat’s captain, Steve Ranney, is an advocate for catch-and-release fishing and while aboard, Dole, along with photographer Denise Silfee, debated releasing versus keeping what you catch.

Some people want to take home fresh fillets. But others want to ensure that these waters will remain a productive fishery when overfishing is always a concern.

Whatever side of the fence you’re on, enjoy what Alaska still has to offer anglers. -Chris Cocoles

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WHERE BEARS AND SALMON ROAM LONGTIME PHOTOGRAPHER SHARES MEMORIES OF LIFE IN THE ALASKAN WILDERNESS WITH NEW BOOK

Editor’s note: “I’d pined for a home like this my entire youth, visions of a life lived close to nature and wildlife,” author Tom Walker writes in his new book about living in Alaska as a photographer. Walker grew up in Los Angeles, and in his urban youth some of his best days were spent trout fishing with his dad in the eastern Sierra Nevada Range. Now having lived for more than half a century adjacent to Denali National Park, Walker shares the connection with the Last Frontier’s fauna he’s captured with a camera over years of interactions with everything from bears to salmon to moose. The following is excerpted with permission from Wild Shots: A Photographer’s Life in Alaska (Mountaineers Books, September 2019) by Tom Walker.

A brown bear feasts on a late-run silver salmon.

It’s the kind of interaction that has fascinated author Tom Walker in his more than 50 years observing wildlife in Alaska. (TOM WALKER)

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BY TOM WALKER

I

anchored the boat in a bay at the mouth of a pristine coastal stream in Prince William Sound. Leaden clouds covered the valley, masking the serrated, glacier-clad peaks of the coastal range.

Under the lichen-draped spruce and hemlock canopy skirting the slopes lay a carpet of moss and thickets of spiny devil’s club, alder, ferns, and blueberry bushes. Rufous hummingbirds flitted through the trees while high overhead, marbled murrelets, a small seabird, nested on the mossy limbs of 400-year-old evergreens, some with a basal diameter of nine feet. Tiny birds atop forest monarchs, a scene as if envisioned by Tolkien.

Ashore, standing on limpet- and barnacle-encrusted cobbles and the shards of countless clamshells, I in-

haled the scents of the forest and a vibrant spawning stream. Damp salt air mingled with the smell of dead and dying pink salmon, a rich, pungent aroma more of life than death.

Gulls feuded and fussed over fish scraps, their ubiquitous cries filling the air. Two bald eagles perched on the rocks at the stream’s edge, another soared over the tidal flat, scattering the gulls, while just down the bay two juvenile eagles waited high in their enormous nest for a parent to bring food.

Mergansers, trailed by their broods, bobbed in the swift current searching for salmon eggs. Small numbers of silver salmon mixed with large schools of pink salmon now forcing their way upstream against the ebbing tide. Just offshore silvers jumped and twisted in the light, eluding harbor seals lurking below.

EVERY TWO YEARS, PINK salmon return

to these natal waters to spawn and die.

Over the winter, their eggs, nurtured in the gravel by the nutrient-rich, icy water, mature and hatch. The young, called fry, pulse in spring downstream to continue their lifecycle far out at sea. A magnetic map and chemical clues will guide the mature fish back to this exact spot.

Abundant protein lures meat eaters of all kinds. Twice I had seen coyotes here, once a wolf, and river otters many times.

Ravens and crows searched for scraps, stealing from the eagles and gulls alike.

At times the stream seemed so packed with salmon that it looked as if I could have stepped across on their backs.

I’ll never forget the first time I came here, by small rented skiff, motoring the calm, gray-green waters of the sound, the distant spouts of humpback whales on the horizon. My companion and I passed a luminous waterfall where a bald eagle perched on a nearby spruce,

Walker searches for wolves along Sunset Pass in the Brooks Range. (TOM WALKER) aksportingjournal.com | OCTOBER 2019

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only the second I’d ever seen. “Look! A bald eagle!” I shouted. My companion scarcely looked. He’d lived here a long time, seen plenty of eagles.

On this day, years later, I came here for the bears. Both black and brown bears lived on this stream and gorged on salmon. A few feet up from the tideline, I saw the first tracks, huge brown

bear prints engraved in the sand.

Salmon heads, tails and bones littered the shore, leftovers of feasting carnivores. When I crossed the shallow stream, hordes of fish panicked and pushed ahead; some flipped right onto the bank. Each sandbar, every patch of mud, was engraved with tracks: gulls, crows, black bears, brown bears.

After dreaming of being closer to the outdoors in his youth, Walker’s life now includes catching the aurora borealis light show from his cabin near Denali National Park. (TOM WALKER)

In the upper part of the tidal flat, colored green and gold with moss and seaweed, and near what appeared to be a favored fishing site, I sat down to wait.

Within minutes, a shadow detached from the forest and sauntered into the creek. A brief lunge, a snap of jaws, and like that, the black bear waded out, a pink salmon struggling in its jaws. In a soft, feathery rain, the bear unhurriedly carried its catch into the timber.

Another black bear, smaller and more animated, rushed from the far tree line, ran across the flats, and plunged into the river, salmon escaping in all directions. The young bear charged, left and right, back and forth, pouncing and pawing at every fish but without success. Then, on the bank, it spied a salmon hurtled ashore by the initial panic.

The bear charged forward and seized it with its teeth and front paws.

Like a robber fleeing a bank, the bear raced off across the flats for the safety of the woods. I was reminded that not all bears are good fishers.

Over the next two hours, I watched the fishing techniques of a half-dozen black bears of various sizes and ages.

Some wandered in, grabbed a fish and departed; others plunged in and bucked the current. All of them got fish; a few settled for spawned-out carcasses.

Once, near the head of the tidal flat, where the creek emerged from the forest, a female with a small cub made a brief foray from cover but retreated when another bear appeared close by.

Not one single black bear ate its catch on the bank; they all carried their catch into the safety of the woods. It was telling behavior; something dominant and dangerous lurked there.

A LULL IN THE action descended at mid-

day. Hours dragged by without a single bear in view. Eagles wheeled and called; crows yammered from the stream bank; increasing rain beat a steady tattoo. I watched a pair of otters slide over the rocks and panic a shoal of fish. An uneasy tension pervaded the glowering mists, and I fidgeted with anticipation.

Then, there, across the flats, stalked a giant – a brown bear, one of the undisputed masters of this realm.

The bear was deep chocolate brown,

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almost black. No mistaking this hulk for a black bear, for it was at least three times the size of any other bear I had seen that day. The big humped shoulders, the keg-sized head, the long whitish claws identified the species and signified its status: 1,000 pounds of fur, muscle and power. A thought ran through my head: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil since I’m the biggest, baddest bear in the valley.

The brown bear ambled to the riverbank, scarcely glancing right or left, then wandered upstream, pausing to sniff at scraps and carcasses along the way. He was literally waddling fat, the beneficiary of nature’s munificence. In a pool below a fast riffle that slowed the salmon’s upstream struggle, he waded into massed fish, lowered his head, and in slow motion snapped up a big male pink salmon. He gave the humpbacked

fish a slight shake, seemed to study it, and then dropped it back into the water, uninterested. He made another grab and pulled out a fresh, bright female.

Back on the bank the bear used its front paws to pin the salmon to the ground, then ripped the egg sack from the body, sending a scatter of bright red eggs across the rocks. The bear lapped up the nutritious roe, stripped off the skin, then abandoned the rest to the gulls. In early summer it would have eaten the entire fish. Now, having gained tremendous bulk, the bear was picky, stripping the eggs, skin, eyes, and brain, leaving the rest. Others ignored live fish, preferring instead the putrid remains dredged up from the bottom. It was disturbing to watch fish being torn apart, left twitching on the sand, their struggle to spawn ruined, a vivid reminder of the sometimes brutal cycle of life, a macabre dance of predator and prey.

I ENDED MY VIGIL in late afternoon and

walked back to the skiff in pounding rain. Before shoving off, I turned for one last look at the mists drifting across the slopes and over the flats.

I listened to the birds and watched salmon forging their way upstream, pleased that this remote stream still supported an abundance and variety of life unmatched elsewhere.

All of it harkened to a time when Alaska was wild and pure – solely the kingdom of the great bear, a place where all else gave way to its passage. ASJ

Editor’s note: For more on Tom Walker’s book Wild Shots: A Photographer’s Life in Alaska and info about how to order a copy, go to mountaineers.org/books/ books/wild-shots-a-photographers-lifein-alaska. The book is also available on several retail online outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

An Alaska Peninsula brown bear makes for quite a photogenic subject for Walker. “A brown bear” he writes, is “one of the undisputed masters of this realm.” (TOM WALKER) 26

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Q&A WITH AUTHOR

TOM WALKER

A

laska Sporting Journal editor Chris Cocoles caught up with Wild Shots author and photographer Tom Walker to learn more about his love of wildlife photography and his experiences in Alaska.

Chris Cocoles Congratulations on this

latest book. It’s fantastic. Was Wild Shots maybe more sentimental for you than some of your previous work?

Tom Walker I would not say sentimental at all. Maybe reflective would be a better term. At this point in my life, my goal was to record what I think were some fairly unique incidents and insights.

Previous works have been how-to, biographies and natural histories, with this work in the latter category.

“The outdoors was salvation,” Tom Walker says of his early connection to nature. He grew up in Los Angeles before finding a life in Alaska. “Once I could wander freely into undeveloped spaces, hails, desert, shores, and mountains, did I find a measure of peace.” (TOM WALKER)

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CC You’ve been in Alaska for 50 years

now. What was your early experience like in the Last Frontier?

TW Fifty-four years now. In a word, the experience was invigorating. With so

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much new and so much of intense interest, I could not soak it all in. Wishing for a few years, I had a must-do list of places to see and experience. The list is longer today.

CC I’m pretty envious of you that Denali

National Park is almost your backyard.

What’s that been like for you?

TW Heartbreaking. To love some terrain so much and see it change so much in a negative way, it has been difficult. Climate change is very real and to watch the effects on the wildlife and plants that have evolved over millennia is difficult. Here in the Far North, the concept is not abstract but a real ongoing process that people who look to nature can

Walker hopes the Alaska that he’s experienced will be there for future generations to enjoy. (TOM WALKER)

readily see and experience.

CC Tell me about growing up around Los

Angeles and how the outdoors shaped your life.

TW The outdoors was salvation. I think some people are just cast into places they are not geared for or supposed to be. At heart I was a country boy and living in the city was for me the proverbial square peg. Once I could wander freely into undeveloped spaces, deserts, shores, and mountains, did I find a measure of peace.

CC You write about your dad’s love of

trout fishing and the trips you took in your California days. Can you share a memory of fishing with your dad?

TW Hiking to an alpine lake with my dad, just he and I, to fish for golden trout was a memorable trip complete with a close look at two big mule deer bucks. Fishing a shoreline of a crystalline lake with no one else around was a peerless memory.

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CC What’s the biggest challenge about

photographing wildlife?

TW Not drowning, dying of hypothermia, falling off a cliff, or crashing in a small plane. The wildlife, if you have studied your critters, poses the least risk. Alaska – and it’s true of northern Canada as well – is difficult country with challenges of weather and remoteness.

CC Do you have a favorite species of an-

imal that you’ve really savored interacting with and taking photos of?

TW Dall sheep. I love the high mountains where they live, the vista they savor every day, and their ability to thrive in such inhospitable (to humans) terrain.

Imagine living where the wind shrieks, the thermometer drops to minus 60 or more, and the night can be 24 hours long in winter. They are tough but gorgeous creatures.

CC What has been your fishing experience like since moving to Alaska?

TW Mostly salmon in both saltwater and fresh. Silver salmon and red salmon

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offer great freshwater fishing. The best sportfishing has been for sheefish, the so-called “tarpon of the north,” which are great fighters and wonderful eating.

It may be my weird thinking, but I never fish for king salmon. I worked on a rehab project for this species and don’t want to kill one.

CC You have a chapter about polarizing grizzly bear personality Timothy Treadwell and the relationship you had with him. Can you sum up what his legacy will be?

TW He did more harm than good. He had a true gift in reaching out to children and giving a conservation lesson.

But in the end, when he died it was all undone.

CC Obviously, hunting is such a huge

part of the fabric of Alaskans. What’s your take on hunting in the state and how it can be better or more effective in terms of conservation?

TW All I will say on this topic is Alaskan wildlife resources are finite and there

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will never be enough to meet the demand. Overharvest has been a problem in the past and as the population grows, careful management will be needed to guard against future depletions.

CC Salmon in both Alaska and your na-

tive state of California are under siege for various reasons. Do you have a hunch on what might happen to these remarkable fish in the future?

TW That’s beyond my expertise. (But) here we have a proposed Pebble Mine that will threaten the greatest wild salmon runs in the world. Imaging risking a pristine food source that feeds thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, for copper. Crazy.

CC You’ve seen a lot in the wilderness in

your time exploring. Is there something you haven’t seen that you hope to accomplish someday?

TW Anything to do with wolverines. I have seen about a dozen but would like a closer, longer observation. It’s perhaps our least understood critter. ASJ

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OUTDOOR CALENDAR

Christine Ives of Fairbanks (right) caught this 285-pound, 6-ounce fish early in this year’s Valdez Halibut Derby, a catch that held up for first place in the event that ended last month. Ives won $10,000.

(VALDEZ FISH DERBIES)

Oct. 1 Oct. 1 Oct. 1 Oct. 1 Oct. 1 Oct. 1 Oct. 15 Oct. 15 Oct. 20 Oct. 21 Oct. 23 Oct. 25 Oct. 25

Goat season opens in Game Management Unit 1C (Southeast Mainland) Elk season opens in GMU 2 (Etolin Island) Archery deer season opens in GMU 3 (Petersburg Management Area) Brown bear season opens in GMU 10 (Unimak Island) Resident sheep season opens in GMU 19C (McGrath) Bison season opens in GMU 20 (Fairbanks-Central Tanana) Youth deer season opens in GMU 5 (Yakutat) Brown/grizzly bear season opens in GMU 6 (North Gulf Coast and Prince William Sound) Anterless moose season opens in GMU 15 (Kenai) Resident caribou season opens in GMU 13 (NelchinaUpper Susitna) Elk season opens in GMU 8 (Kodiak-Shelikof) Fall brown bear season opens in GMU 8 Moose season opens in GMU 14C (Ship Creek drainage above Joint Base Elmendorf/Richardson Management Area)

Editor’s note: For more specific regulations, check out the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s hunting regulations handbook.

Download it at adfg.alaska.gov. aksportingjournal.com | OCTOBER 2019

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FOR ONE CHARTER SKIPPER, CATCH AND RELEASE IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF FISH CONSERVATION CONVERSATION

BY BRYCE DOLE

A

thick layer of fog blankets the glassy waters of Orca Bay, where Steve Ranney’s vessel bobs gently in the early-morning wake.

It’s just past 5:30 a.m., our scheduled departure time, when I clamber aboard, nearly slipping off the moist ramp that leads down to the boat. Steve, his 22-yearold son Carl and a small group of seasoned fishermen welcome me along with the smell of brewing coffee mixed with the odor of yesterday’s haul. More fishermen arrive, so I step to the front of the boat, finding a seat in a small lawn chair to Steve’s left facing the stern.

I ask him exactly where we’re headed.

“No Tell ’Em Reef,” he responds with a grin. After decades trolling the waters near his home in Cordova, Steve has amassed a deep knowledge of the prime spots to angle vast bounties of halibut, lingcod and rockfish. As any captain would, he doesn’t wish for others to know the same.

Steve has graciously invited me and photojournalist Denise Silfee aboard to document a story that he described in an email months ago as “Unamerican at best and criminal at worst.”

Catch-and-release fishing.

ONCE A CONTROVERSIAL PRACTICE that many anglers called “playing with your food,” catch and release is becoming a more accepted practice in small Alaskan fishing communities such as Cordova, which rely almost entirely on the fishing industry. Overfishing in the Lower 48 has played a major role.

But when I ask Steve who aboard will be doing catch and release today, he and the others chuckle. “You’re not here to give up your catch, are you?” Steve says to Sean and Ron Newton, a father and son clad in matching red rain jackets.

TO

KEEP OR

NOT

TO

KEEP?

Steve Ranney releases a yelloweye rockfish back into the waters of Orca Bay near Cordova. A deep-water release mechanism with weights is attached to the fish’s jaw to speed its return to the depths. (DENISE SILFEE) aksportingjournal.com | OCTOBER 2019

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Only one fisherman replies in the affirmative: Thomas Danenhower.

An endearing angler with decades of experience (the kind of salt-of-the-earth guy who includes your first name in every sentence he says to you), Danenhower worked in the commercial rockfishing industry for years off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, near the Channel Islands.

But as rockfish were harvested more voraciously in the area, populations began to dwindle before his very eyes. Many of his coworkers lost their jobs.

Then, in 2002, federal officials banned commercial fishing for rockfish throughout California due to overfishing. Communities reliant on fisheries across that state were decimated as thousands of residents lost their jobs. Scientists predicted most species of California rockfish would take over a century to recover.

But nearly two decades later, rockfish have made a remarkable comeback.

Catch limits on some species have now

boosted over 100 percent. Officials say the regulations should bring back over 900 jobs in commercial fisheries and generate over $54 million in annual revenue across West Coast states.

AS WE SET OUT to deeper waters, I spend the first hour bragging to Danenhower, Carl and the rest of the passengers about my past experiences on commercial tuna fishing vessels off the coast of Oregon. I spend the following two hours with my head in my hands, spiraling into a dizzying seasickness on the choppy waters, which, on this warm summer morning, are relatively mild.

After swallowing three pieces of ginger and my pride, we reach our destination.

Lines are immediately cast out into the dark depths of the sea.

Within minutes, a rod dips toward the water. Fish on. It’s a yelloweye rockfish, its scales glimmering with every shade of the sunset. Another one hits moments later. And then another. Some are kept, but many others are tossed back. The rapid-fire action continues for about an hour.

Things settle down. “When it gets quieter, that’s when you know the halibut are around,” Danenhower says.

An angler’s rod is ready for the telltale tug of a fish on the line. On this day halibut and rockfish bit. (DENISE SILFEE)

Another rod dips. Fish on. This time it’s bigger than the rest. As the fish nears the boat, it suddenly bolts back down toward the sea floor – a sure sign that it’s a halibut.

Eventually, the thrashing flounder is wrestled aboard. About a half-hour later, two more hit back to back, and the lines nearly become tangled. It’s a rush – almost chaotic. But Steve and the crew are calm and composed. All are keepers.

Then Danenhower hooks a big one.

He struggles hard for what feels like an hour, but is only a few minutes. The fish nears the surface. A long, serpentine figure comes slowly into focus. It’s a massive lingcod. At just over 4 feet long, its dark

The angling in and around Prince William Sound is world-renowned. Awareness of how overfishing could harm populations of halibut and rockfish the way it has in other waters has led to increased discussion about catchand-release fishing in Alaska. (DENISE SILFEE)

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Ranney, who operates Orca Adventure Lodge in Cordova, grew up in Alaska and wants to see good stewardship of wildlife and the environment.

(DENISE SILFEE)

scales of black, brown and purple make it nearly invisible in the calm, black water.

With a gaping, oval-shaped mouth and 18 fanglike teeth, it couldeasily swallow my head in a single gulp – a true leviathan of the Alaskan deep.

Carl steps to the back of the boat, grabs the massive ling, removes the hook from its mouth and tosses it back into the water. “What a rodeo,” Danenhower says.

“That’s why you come to Alaska.”

ON THIS DAY, DANENHOWER lets all his big-

ger fish go. He calls the larger Pacific halibut “treasures of the sea,” because, when over 60 pounds, they are almost always females. Those that reach 250 pounds can produce up to four million eggs and are essential for the balance of the Alaskan ecosystem. Danenhower dreams of a day when Steve’s Orca Adventure Lodge does only catch-and-release trips.

“The idea is to take some of these places that haven’t been impacted as much and keep them more pristine,” Steve, a catch-and-release advocate, says. For over 30 years he and the Orca Adventure Lodge have maintained fishing encampments that are among the best in the region, and it’s because they have remained solely catch and release.

“There are plenty of places around the state that have been overfished,” Steve says. “You take major ports like Sitka, Seward, Palmer – they’ve fished out all the major areas, even with pretty strict regulations.”

While Orca Bay has not shown direct signs of overfishing, Steve has watched as members of the local fishing community have started to adopt catch-and-release practices to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries.

“Coming up with more methods to release the bigger fish safely makes catch and release more of a choice rather than a regulation,” says Steve.

THESE DAYS, MORE GROUPS come to Orca

Capt. Ranney helps bring in a yelloweye rockfish caught by Sean Newton. (DENISE SILFEE)

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Lodge for catch-and-release trips than ever before. But it wasn’t always like this and many remain hesitant to accept the practice. Studies have shown that fish taken completely out of the water for periods of up to 30 or 60 seconds undergo extreme stress and pain – much like a person running as fast as they can for a half-hour

The skipper’s son Carl Ranney holds the lingcod that John Murphy reeled in and kept during a week of sportfishing in Cordova. (DENISE SILFEE)

and then being submerged underwater for a minute.

Others are concerned for the mortality rate of releasing fish with a swim bladder – an organ used to control buoyancy. When brought to the surface, a fish’s swim bladder inflates dramatically due to the change in pressure, which can lead to barotrauma.

In barotrauma, the eyes of a fish bulge out of its socket and the stomach out of its mouth. Rockfish that suffer from barotrauma are also much more susceptible to predation, which often proves fatal.

Almost all the rockfish caught on Steve’s 48

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boat displayed signs of barotrauma.

Brittany Blain, an Anchorage-based assistant area manager with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, has been studying catch-and-release practices for years. During her master’s program, Blain conducted a study on the mortality and reproductive rate of releasing rockfish with deep-water release mechanisms.

Her results were surprising.

By placing a weighted hook through the lower soft jaw of a rockfish and allowing the fish to fall to the depth where it was hooked, Blain found that over 65 percent of rockfish would survive through

The swim bladder of a yelloweye rockfish (left) swells as the fish is brought to the surface. The challenge in catch-and-release fishing for the species is how to return them to the depths and avoid barotrauma. Tom Danenhower, far right, practiced C&R on this day (right) in July, while friends and fellow anglers kept their legal halibut, lingcod and rockfish. It’s all about personal preference. (DENISE SILFEE)

barotrauma as opposed to the 22 percent released at the surface.

The surviving fish also proved to be highly reproductive for up to two years after being caught. One healthy fish tagged in the study was even recaught over eight years later.

“We had no idea that these tools could be so successful,” Blain said.

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ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Because of studies like Blain’s, all Alaskan sportfishing boats must have a deep-water release mechanism on board starting in 2020. All rockfish released must be dropped either to the depth they were caught or to over 100 feet.

Blain, an ex-Cordova resident who spent years on sport and commercial fishing vessels in the Prince William Sound,

OCTOBER 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

has also seen the attitudes of locals change toward catch and release.

“Some people sport fish for fun while others are just looking to put fish in the freezer,” she said. “In a place like Cordova, more people want to just put it in the freezer. But they’re still mindful people.

They’ve enjoyed these fish for so long and they just want to keep it that way.” ASJ

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ONE FINAL

JACKPOT AFTER 34 YEARS, HOMER RETIRES ITS POPULAR HALIBUT DERBY

A

ll good things must come to an end, and so it is with the sentimental closing chapter of a popular fishing event held out of Homer.

In mid-September, final awards were handed out in the 34th annual Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby, an event that was staged every summer until the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center Board of Directors decided to retire the derby at the conclusion of the 2019 event.

“The Inaugural Homer JackpotDerby began on Memorial Day, May 26, 1986. The winner that year was a local fisherman, Tony DeMichelle, who won $5,000 for his 312-pound fish,” a press release stated. “While the Chamber has always celebrated the largest fish weighed, the tournament was diversified by awarding prizes for both tagged fish and released fish.”

This year’s tournament winner was

The gorgeous harbor in Homer has been home to one of Alaska’s most popular annual fishing competitions, the halibut Jackpot Derby, but the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center decided to retire it after this year. Jason Schuler (inset, left) won over $13,000 for his winning 221.4-pounder in the finale. (HOMER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE)

Getting hitched with a halibut was also a thing during the derby.

(HOMER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE)

Above: Don Hanks’ 2004 winning fish, a 352-plus-pound monster.

“Fishermen know Homer has great halibut fishing, and we don’t need the derby as a draw anymore to bring people to the ‘Halibut Capital of the World,’” says Homer Chamber of Commerce marketing director Amy Woodruff. Left: Homer took pride in attracting anglers from both inside and outside the state for its popular derby. (HOMER CHAMBER OF

This has been a popular tournament for kids as well as adults trying to land the biggest fish.

COMMERCE, BOTH)

(HOMER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE)

Jason Schuler, who fished in July with Capt. Daniel Donich on the Optimist.

Schuler’s 221.4-pound halibut won him $13,160.50.

“The Chamber is grateful to all the sponsors and volunteers who have supported and made the Derby successful for so many years.” the press release stated. “Don’t despair; Homer is still the ‘Halibut Capital of the World,’ and the Chamber plans to premiere a two-day halibut tournament in June 2020.”

Amy Woodruff, marketing director for the Homer Chamber of Commerce, expects her city to continue being a destination spot for halibut anglers.

“Ticket sales have declined over the past few years, and a four-month derby is expensive to run. Fishermen know Homer has great halibut fishing, and we don’t need the derby as a draw anymore to bring people to (the port),” she said.

“We’re excited for a two-day tournament to kick off the halibut season and get folks out on the water in early June.” ASJ 56

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

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For author and longtime Alaska hunter Paul Atkins, searching Arctic rivers for bears has become a passion.

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

IT’S HIS

PASSION

BEAR HUNTING CAN BE CONTROVERSIAL, BUT THIS SPORTSMAN LOVES IT

BY PAUL D. ATKINS

P

eople think I’m crazy; even friends of mine have told me so. Strangers.

Family members. They all believe I’ve lost my mind.

When I get back home to Oklahoma each summer, I hear things like, “Are you nuts?” and “Man, you’re crazy doing all that stuff.”

You’d think it would have something to do with living up here, and roughing it out in the Arctic, where cold and darkness are a normal way of life. It’s all stuff you’re likely to see on TV, but it isn’t reality. The thing they really can’t comprehend is my infatuation with bears and the fact that I like hunting them.

It hasn’t always been that way, but over the 20-plus years I’ve been here it has become so – even more this year – and it’s not only me. My best bud Lew has the fe-

ver as well. We just absolutely love it!

Yeah, it’s crazy and there’s really no simple reason why. I’ve tried to explain it, but can’t. Not really. I guess the passion came from a combination of time and places, and even certain circumstances that brought us to this serious addiction with bears.

IN THE OLD DAYS, spotting a grizzly was like seeing a ghost or some kind of alien being, especially during the spring months, when searching the hills and snow-covered tundra was the order of the day. Fall was a little different, as seeing a bear was a little more common, especially along the rivers and streams where the fish came to die.

Sometimes you’d see a bruin on a hill through binoculars, a brown spot on the orange and brown landscape. I remember how amazing it was for me personal-

ly to see a bear. It was usually from far off in the distance, but still notable.

Things started to change several years ago. Our trips each fall for moose and caribou instead became bear sightseeing tours. Most of those sightings occurred in places where we hadn’t seen bears before, which we thought at the time was very cool.

Those weekends were epic: Lew and I boating north across the sound, navigating the river past the sand bars, and making our way through the canyons into what was once legendary country for caribou and moose.

We stayed at “base camp” – a name we gave a spot in the middle of what 20 years ago was a game-rich environment.

Base camp was nothing but an old abandoned park service cabin that had been left to rot over the years.

It sat deep in the willows right off the

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61

river and was severely dilapidated. Its foundation had slipped, leaving it on an angle, and the roof leaked profusely. But it had four walls with a table and shelves built into the walls, plus a couple of wood slabs for bunks.

We fixed it up a bit, adding a wood-burning stove and a reclining chair Lew had brought from home. It wasn’t the Hilton, but it was comfortable and worked for us.

We used that cabin for years while chasing bears up and down the riverbank. At the same time we were always looking for moose, and we did take a couple of caribou during those years, but the bears were the main event. Even though we never took one in that area, we did see more and more as time went by. It wasn’t until we started venturing a little further upriver that we actually figured things out. We haven’t stayed at base camp in some time.

The Eli River sits about another 40 miles upriver. If you’ve read my stuff recently, then you know how fortunate, lucky and persistent we’ve been hunting bears up there.

It’s almost become second nature to us.

It’s not “if” we get one; instead it has turned into more like, “How many do you think we’ll see and are you going to fill both of your tags, Lew?” Or, “Are you going to save one for spring?” I know that it’s crazy, but honestly there are bears everywhere.

This year was no different.

One of the highlights of any hunting trip is camp. Atkins and his longtime hunting pal Lew Pagel have had plenty of great ones, but bear camp and what it entails has become their favorite. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

IF YOU READ LAST month’s edition of Alas-

ka Sporting Journal, then you saw where we went early and were successful on both fish and bears. Lew filled one of his tags on the last evening, and even though it was a bit tricky getting back in the dark through some dense fog, it was an enjoyable trip. Our next outing was even more so.

We usually plan our trips a month or so in advance, depending on what we have going on during that month. Because weather dictates a lot of what we do, having to boat to where we want to go isn’t always easy. Depending on direction, any amount of wind makes getting across the sound difficult at times. Labor Day, however, is always booked and is when you’ll find us heading north for

bears and hopefully to hook a few fish.

This one was no different.

With a boat full of gas and gear we made it across to the mouth of the Noatak River. It wasn’t long before we pulled into camp, which was in a different area this year, even newer than our trip a couple weeks before.

A gravel bar that sits higher than others and has a deep pool thick with fish out front would be our home for the extended weekend. It was almost dark –

Mornings in the Arctic are some of the best to experience. The sunrises are incredible, fish break the silence and, if you’re lucky, maybe a big bear will make his way toward you. (PAUL D. ATKINS) 62

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not to mention windy – and we already had seen two bears on the ride in, so we knew we were in a prime location. The big chums stirred more than usual and we were excited for what was to come.

We quickly got our tent up and had just sat down to a delicious MRE when we saw the first bear show up close to camp. We sat, ate and watched. Then two more. Before the end of the evening we had counted nine in all.

With all the activity going on, we knew the night would be a long one for the both of us. Like new tenants, we had moved into someone else’s house, took over their table and disturbed their eating arrangements.

We had bears coming in all night. Lew sat and watch and I slept. He had many encounters during the early-morning hours close to our tent. One of those was with a bear he described as the biggest he’d ever seen. I saw the track the next day and confirmed he was right. There

were big bears here.

EARLY THE NEXT MORNING we heard the

all-too-familiar noise of splashing water outside. It wasn’t salmon; it was a bear.

I peeked out the tent window and could see the bruin feeding down the bank without a care in the world.

I carefully slipped on my boots, grabbed the rifle and exited the tent. I was hoping to make a stalk without being heard. So far so good as I inched my way as close as possible. The .300 WSM was light in my hands and I quickly set up the Bog Pod for position.

The bear never noticed and the recoil from the shot was never felt. It was a clean shot – quick and precise. The bear swirled and went into the willows, leaving a blood trail 2 feet wide.

You never know what to expect when you follow a bear into places where you can’t see, but it’s all part of the process.

With two loaded rifles, Lew and I inched

Bears are typically more active early and late in the day, leaving lots of midday downtime that can be filled casting for chums. These salmon can be hard to catch this time of year, but eventually some bite. (PAUL D. ATKINS) 64

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Many hunters these days take the latest and greatest dried food or prepackaged meals to camp, and that’s fine. But the guys believe in enjoying themselves with meals that really taste good after a long day of hunting and fishing. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

HATERS GONNA HATE

There is always an abundance of tracks along the river around camp, but this one comes from the bear Pagel saw in the dark the first night of this adventure. The grizzly was 30 yards from the tent when it decided that it didn’t like the look of the Glock 10mm Pagel was holding. (PAUL D. ATKINS) Poised and ready, just in case a big boy steps out. It’s never boring at bear-30!

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

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When I returned from this trip, I got my first real taste of haters, death threats and pure jealousy. It wasn’t just from anti-hunters, but Alaskans too – and some of those were even hunters.

Being in the public eye as a writer and appearing on radio, TV and various types of social media, including my own pages, I expect some naysayers and have had it in the past.

But never as much as I did when I posted a pic of my bear on a couple Alaskan pages.

Some of it was done in jest, while other commenters were downright mean and complete jerks. That doesn’t bother me – it really doesn’t. I expect it on certain pages and in certain forums, but to have other hunters say things that they have no clue about does bother me.

It goes to show that anyone can pull out their phone and punch a keypad, typing what they want, but when we start attacking each other as hunters for whatever reason, then we’re doing nothing but creating division.

I know bear hunting isn’t for everybody, but I like it. Just because you don’t or don’t like how we pose in a photo or agree with our conservation methods, or think that bears are not the moose’s problem and hunters are, then keep that to yourself or go to fish and game and complain there.

We need to start being nice, complimenting hunters on great hunts and cherishing their success. If we do this, it will create a better world for all of us. PA

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Pagel managed to get this bruin with his 7mm along the river.

“Luckily, he fell where he stood in a place where the mosquitoes were almost nonexistent,” Atkins says. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

our way into the thick willow. There, laying camouflaged in the dirt, was my bear. And what a great bear he turned out to be!

It took a couple hours to get the hide off and both of us to carry it out. It was a big bear, my biggest to date, the skull of

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which we later measured as 24 9/16 inches. I was happy, lucky and thankful.

With two days left on the trip, Lew and I fished, ate like kings, told stories and had a great time burning the daylight hours.

If you don’t know, bears seem to like

OCTOBER 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

the river best either early in the morning or late in the evening. They’re hungry and searching for fish in order to fatten up for the long winter ahead. For us it’s time to watch and wait, knowing it won’t be long before things get serious.

There are occasionally times when you’ll catch a bear out during the day, but it’s pretty rare. Also, if you spend enough time where fish congregate, you’ll notice that the salmon are more active during morning and evening than other times.

It may just be me, but during certain periods the fish like to – or tend to be – more active in the water, splashing, jumping, etc. I’m not a biologist, but I’ve noticed it and the bears absolutely are drawn to this food source during those times.

The next morning Lew woke me again. Out of grog he told me there was a bear outside. It was Lew’s turn and besides, I was completely happy with the previous day’s results. Lew exited the tent and was on the move, while I was still trying to get my shoes on.

Finally, I got out and watch as Lew moved down river and into position.

Lew’s 7mm is loud, especially with a

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The author has been attacked online by hunters and those who are opposed to killing animals, but he won’t be intimidated. “One of the highlights of my hunting career,” Atkins says of this bear. (LEW PAGEL)

muzzle brake attached to the end of it. I knew better than to watch without covering my ears, but I was almost too late. I heard the boom and watched as the bear went down. Lew made a great shot that wasn’t easy; another bear down and another moose saved.

IT WAS A GREAT trip. We hunted the last evening hoping to fill my last tag, but I think the bears had finally figured us out and our gig was up. Maybe they decided to find a new place to live. I kind of doubt this. If we were to head up there tomorrow, I bet they would be there waiting for us.

The ride home wasn’t fun. We knew it would be rough with wind gusts coming at us at 30 mph, but we made it home safe and sound, soaked and happy. ASJ Editor’s note: Paul Atkins is an outdoor writer and author from Kotzebue, Alaska. He has written hundreds of articles on big game hunting and fishing throughout North America and Africa, plus surviving in the Arctic. Paul is a monthly contributor to Alaska Sporting Journal.

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CHASING HIGHELEVATION BRUINS

ALASKA’S HEIGHTS HOME TO MORE THAN SHEEP AND GOATS – BLACK BEARS TOO

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

I

’ve hunted black bears in many places, but this was my first time in the heart of Alaska, where the conditions were more like a Dall sheep hunt than for any bear I’d ever chased.

Flying a Super Cub into spike camp – the runway barely longer than my driveway – I was relieved that we had found flat ground, not only on which to set the plane but also to pitch our tents.

It was early fall with no shortage of daylight, so racking up the hunting hours wasn’t a problem. But calling in a black bear for my buddy Tom Munson and me was going to be.

I was intent on trying to call in one of these mountain dwellers with the use of predator calls, but I had a source of

competition that proved too overbearing: blueberries.

TOM HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED a black bear coming to a predator call, but no matter how hard I tried, I just wasn’t good enough to pull the bruins off of their guaranteed food source.

I’ve found this to be the case in other bear hunts I’ve been on around the country – in both the spring and fall – when I’ve never been able to pull one off a favored food source.

The locals warned me of the bumpercrop blueberry patches ripening in the hills, and also that it would be next to impossible to pull the bears off of them.

They were right, but this also meant the meat would be fantastic.

If you’ve never tried eating black bear

meat, it’s delicious. Those that have been gorging themselves on plump, wild blueberries for days are about as good as they get.

With bears set on devouring wild blueberries, crowberries and cranberries, I knew our tags would have to be filled via spot and stalk. This was actually Tom’s first time in Alaska and his first bear hunt ever, which made it all the more enjoyable for me and took the pressure off failing to call in a bear.

We glassed bears each day from elevated, open hillsides, but they either weren’t quite what we were looking for, or were in unreachable terrain. We also watched grizzlies – their silver coats shimmering in the sun – as they frolicked in the berry patches. We watched one big boar grizzly stay in the same spot for

Glassing for fall black bears in Alaska’s Interior mountains is an experience any big game hunter would appreciate. (SCOTT HAUGEN) aksportingjournal.com | OCTOBER 2019

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FIELD

PUT SOME PRESSURE ON YOUR VENISON

BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

any traditional slow and pressure-cooked beef recipes work well with venison, and this is one of them. Cooking wild game meat with these moist-heat methods keeps them tender and juicy.

While we typically prefer to remove shank meat from the bones for easier butchering in our house, occasionally we will use a bone saw to cut up the shanks for a more traditional osso bucco-style preparation. This recipe can also be prepared in a slow cooker, but for best results, sear the meat and caramelize the onions before adding to the pot.

M

2 to 3 pounds bone-in venison shanks (deer, caribou, moose) 2 tablespoons flour 74

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4 tablespoons olive oil Two onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced One carrot Two stalks celery Two 14½-ounce cans diced tomatoes Four bay leaves One sprig rosemary, optional 1½ cups dry white wine 1 tablespoon beef bouillon 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon pepper Dredge shanks in flour. In a heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium-high heat. Add shanks and brown on each side for two to three minutes. Remove shanks from skillet and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet and sauté onions until caramelized. Add garlic and continue to sauté, two minutes.

OCTOBER 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

Using a slow cooker or pressure cooker for your venison meat provides a burst of flavors to that big game you harvested. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

Add browned shanks, onions and garlic to pressure cooker or Instant-Pot. Add remaining ingredients. Pressure-cook at high pressure on the stovetop 30 minutes or set Instant-Pot for 40 minutes at high pressure. Let pressure release naturally. Serve over noodles, potatoes or rice if desired.

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Big Game, visit tiffanyhaugen.com.

Follow Tiffany on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and watch for her on the online series Cook With Cabela’s and The Sporting Chef TV show.

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Author Scott Haugen took this black bear on the western slopes of the Alaska Range. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

eight straight hours, so it was going to be a long day.

FINALLY, WE FOUND THE black bear Tom was looking for. It would require a hike of nearly 1,000 vertical feet to reach, but that didn’t matter. Just as Tom got into shooting position, the bear winded us and took off.

To witness a bear running up a shale cliff gives you another level of respect for these predators. These animals can cover a football field’s length of steep, rocky ground faster than any human can on flat ground.

We kept climbing since we were intent on seeing what was on the other side of the mountain. Once on top, we found Tom’s bear, now over a mile away.

As we watched, another bear joined it and they began walking in our direction.

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to the berry patch, so we sat, watched and waited. Nearly an hour passed and the bears were now within a half-mile and still moving our way. Often they’d stop, eat some grass, wrestle, spar on their hind legs and chase one another. But they kept moving toward us, albeit slowly.

When the two black bears disappeared into a valley below us, we lost sight of them for several minutes. Then, suddenly, movement less than 40 yards to the side of us caught our eyes. Seemingly from nowhere, both bears materialized from the rolling tundra.

They walked down the same trail on which we sat. There was no brush to hide behind and we dared not move for fear of spooking the bears. We hadn’t planned it coming together this way; it just happened.

Quickly, Tom cranked up the power on his scope; I did the same. Suddenly

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Haugen’s hunting partner Tom Munson with his first black bear, taken on his first trip ever to Alaska. Tom vowed to return to the state following this wonderful experience, which he later did. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

both bears simultaneously spotted us, but they had no idea what we were. We were both sitting down – elbows on our knees – in shooting position.

Tom took the lead bear straight on and hit it squarely in the chest. As soon as I could, I followed with a shot at the second bear. Unfortunately, my bear whirled at Tom’s shot and I missed, but my second shot dropped the bruin on the spot.

THERE WE SAT ATOP a remote Alaskan

mountain and admired one of the most spectacular views on the planet. There were also two bears only a few yards apart from one another.

The skinning job was easy and the breathtaking hike off the mountain is one that I’ll never forget. We gave thanks to these great predators for bringing us together to this part of the Last Frontier.

And then and there Tom vowed to return someday.

That’s what Alaska does to first-time hunters; it keeps calling them back for years to come. ASJ

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s best-selling book, Hunting The Alaskan High Arctic, visit scotthaugen .com. Follow Scott on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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ADVERTORIAL

WHEN THINGS GO BAD!

BY DARRELL HOLLAND

T

his article calls for a moment of reflection for all hunters. While we all enjoy making “dead right there” shots at long range – TV and YouTube footage shows some extreme shots on animals from 800 to 1,500 yards under field conditions – and there are some hunters/shooters who can perform such tasks with a high degree of consistency, I’ve yet to see anyone who can do it 100 percent of the time, and this is when things go bad!

There is no magic formula for caliber selection that will guarantee results all the time. Our experience shows 7-08s, .308s, 6.5 Creedmoors, .280s and .30-06s kill just as well as .300 Mags, .28 Noslers and Ultra Mag cartridges. These cartridge comparisons are based on shooting animals to 650 yards and sometimes as far as 875 yards.

DETERMINING FACTORS 1. Bullet Selection/Performance. This is more important than cartridge choice. A magnum round using a poor bullet is not as effective as a less potent (7-08, .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor) one using a Nosler AccuBond.

Penetration, expansion and shot placement are keys to success. Examine damaged vital organs – it is nearly impossible to see the difference between standard calibers and magnum-based cartridges. The importance of pass-through shots and a good blood trail cannot be stressed enough.

2. Shot Angle. I’m convinced rifle hunters should hunt like bow hunters with regards to shot angles. Heart and lungs are the areas we need to target, and if those vitals are hidden or difficult to hit, we should wait for the opportunity or pass on the shot.

Anytime shot angle is quartering to or away from us, we increase the odds of wounding the animal by 25 percent. Quartering shots are often deflected by ribs; hits between shoulder and body cavity create a threelegged animal and the, oops, paunch shot!

3. Range Estimation Errors. Once we get on the back side of the trajectory curve, we increase the risk of wounding the animal. Yes, every cartridge has a back side to its trajectory curve, some just a bit farther out. When ranges start to exceed 500 yards, missing the exact range by as little as 20 to 25 yards can result in a wounded animal. If your hold is a bit low, or you jump on the trigger, your point of impact can vary dramatically. On flat ground I recommend lasering the animal several times. On hillsides, range at its feet to get a more accurate/consistent range. If your laser is “flat-lining,” get closer!

4. Wind Hiccups. Seldom do we see windless days in the field. More often than not, there is wind to consider. When the

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wind is up, say, 8 to 15 mph, how accurately can you gauge conditions? Hills, valleys and flats all have variables to correct for. I can call wind in the field as well as anybody, and I still get bit from time to time when I exceed common sense. Terrain is often such that you cannot determine wind speed/direction beyond the shooter’s location. To visualize the difficulty, let’s assume a kill zone of 10 inches on our animal. This equates to a 5-inch radius with a perfect dead-center hold. Use your ballistic software and convert minute of angle to inches with a 10 mph wind. Determine additional drift caused by missing the wind by 2 mph, then change the direction by 30 degrees. You’ll see how easy it is throw a shot outside our 10-inch circle.

5. My Gun Is Super Accurate! Yes, from the bench it is, but we are not shooting from one in the field. If you are, I want the name of the guide who packs your bench for you. Your accuracy is rated on what you can do from field positions, not from the bench. What is your group size when sitting or kneeling, or shooting off sticks, rocks, bipods, packs, etc., at 400 to 600 yards?

6. One-step Blunders. This applies more to African herd animals than most North American game, though mule deer, antelope, caribou and elk can all take a step as a shot breaks. We’ve experienced it many times in Africa. By the time the herd stops and the hunter lines up on the 22nd animal from the left, the lead animal may decide it’s time to go and the herd starts to walk or run as the shot breaks. That perfect heart/ lung shot is now a gut or brisket shot and the chase is on. The ground we hunt is rather open, allowing tracking and follow-up shots, but think of a heavily timbered hillside and the uncertainty of where the animal was standing after you forded the creek and climbed 600 feet up the other hill.

Things get difficult under those conditions.

7) Marking The Location. With adreneline levels high, it’s easy to fail to note the exact location where the animal was when shot. Yep, he was standing next to that green tree with the dead limb. You walk downhill over and around rocks, creek beds, ravines and other obstacles to that green tree and, hmm, all the trees are green and many have dead limbs. You look back and now you can’t really determine exactly where you were when you shot. Now what?

Well, lots of failures are now working against you and finding the animal has taken a turn for the worse. The sun is going down and coyotes can be heard howling in the distance. For future use, here are a few suggestions to keep in mind.

If hunting with a partner, take a few

OCTOBER 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

deep breaths and calm down. Both of you note the tree/rock/stump where the animal stood. Leave your partner behind and head toward it. You’ll probably notice you underestimated walking 600 yards and come up short of the spot. Radios and/or hand signals can be exchanged to get you to it. Look for blood, hair or tracks to be certain you have found it. Once you find blood, mark the spot with your hat, nature paper, scarf, etc.

Only then have your partner join you.

If hunting solo, note the exact range to the animal, mark your shot location with high-viz ribbon or nature paper. Hike to the supposed spot and laser back to your ribbon/nature paper. Are you short, or have you gone too far? Once you confirm yardage, look for that green tree with the dead limb.

REALISTIC LIMITATIONS (Darrell’s 5 Tips For Success)

Given the stats of the last four years and adding to that my 40 years of hunting experience around the world, I feel the following recommendations will provide respect for the animals we hunt and minimize any sorrow experienced from wounding and losing an animal in the field.

1. Know your limitations and do not allow ego or peers to convince you to take a shot.

2. Use Nosler AccuBonds or a good bonded bullet with a proven track record.

3. Avoid shots that deviate considerably from broadside unless the animal has been hit and you need to get more lead into him.

4. If winds exceed 10 mph on shots over 400 yards, get closer.

5. No matter how good you think you are, limit shots to 650 yards under good conditions. If it’s windy, you’re breathing hard, have buck fever or can’t get steady, get closer!

Following this advice will put trophies on the wall, meat in the freezer, and, more importantly, allow you to sleep well at night!

Following author Darrell Holland’s advice on long-range shooting should lead to more “dead right there” kills, as with this mule deer, than lost game.

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RULES FOR RIFLES

BY PAUL D. ATKINS • ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH FRUEAUF

T

hey say a rifle is only as good as its scope, but my father never used a scope, did fine and still does fine after all these years. So perhaps choosing a rifle for big game in Alaska, or anywhere else, is really a just matter of choice.

I don’t pretend to be a rifle expert and don’t want to be. I just know that after spending 20-plus years in the Arctic and successfully hunting pretty much everything that walks the tundra up here, I know what works and has worked for me. So take my observations for what they're worth.

CALIBER SIZE FIRST First of all, it isn’t so much about the rifle brand itself, even though that has a lot to do with quality of any gun. More specifically, it's about the round or caliber you choose to hunt with.

I know many guys and gals who hunt with a variety of calibers and have had tremendous success. I know hunters who take a .375 on every trip, as well as many who hunt with the newer 6.5 Creedmores. If you live in the Arctic, the .223 is the standard. All are different and all have their strong points.

As long as you can shoot it well and it

performs to your specifications and requirements, then all the better.

FINDING THE RIGHT FIT When I first came to Alaska, I bought a .300 Winchester Model 70. It was the rifle to have, all the locals told me, and overall it is probably the best caliber for anything that Alaska can throw at you.

I took a lot of great animals with that rifle, but eventually, like all gun enthusiasts, I wanted something new.

I soon found the Sako brand to my liking, but only after a mule deer hunt in Montana, where I used a friend’s rifle to

When you head afield, you want to have confidence in your rifle. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

Remington has been around forever and is probably one of the more popular models amongst all hunters. It has a great trigger, combined with an incredible stock for a feel like no other. These rifles are dead-on accurate. (REMINGTON)

Sako has been around a while. When it comes to dropping bruisers, these Finnish bolt-action rifles aim to please. Full aluminum bedded composite stock and 24½-inch stainless-steel fluted barrel with target crown deliver precision, accuracy and superior durability. (SAKO)

Winchester. The name says it all. This brand has been a choice for generations and comes in a variety of calibers. Their free-floating, fluted stainless-steel barrels shoot lights out, giving the hunter a feel of confidence. (WINCHESTER)

take a great buck.

I had to have one, so I bought a Sako 75 Finnlite in 7mm. It was the rifle for me. It was light, and had an easy trigger and a detachable box, which I liked even more. The 7mm round performed flawlessly on every hunt, and for the next 15 years it was the only rifle I used.

Eventually I put it away in favor of a new caliber but with an old, familiar name. I picked up a .300 WSM in Model 70. I topped it with a Swarovski scope and it has been my choice since. It is a bit heavier than the Sako and even my .300, but I shoot it well and hit where

I’m aiming. So maybe a scope does make the difference.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW My advice for choosing a rifle is based on: • What are you planning to do with it?

If you’re solely hunting big game, then pick a caliber that will get the job done.

One shot, one kill.

• Choose a rifle that can handle the environment you’re hunting in. I hunt near saltwater and it plays heck on rifle barrels. That’s why I like stainless. Also, if it’s going to get banged around, then maybe a cheaper version might be best.

Gear Guy Paul Atkins has been very fortunate to hunt and take a lot of animals over the years.

“My choice of rifle hasn’t wavered much," he says, "but a flat-shooting rifle that performs under all circumstances has made things much easier. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

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• Choose a rifle/caliber that you can shoot accurately. Nothing is worse than not hitting what you’re aiming at.

• Choose a rifle that is fun for you to shoot. I have a friend who believes that bigger is better, even if it gives him a bruised shoulder afterwards.

Like I said, when choosing a rifle or any piece of hunting gear, find what works best for you, the hunter, and for what you plan to do with it. Stay safe and good shooting! ASJ Editor’s note: Follow Paul Atkins on Twitter (@AkTrophyHunter).

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