Bambistew
Well-known member
Good luck! I've known a few people with that tag, it was either pretty easy or challenge to even find one.
2019 Alaska Bison Hunt - Start date November 2nd
- Thread starter npaden
- Start date
Sterling Archer
Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2018
- Messages
- 42
Congrats an good luck. Looking forward to following along.
npaden
Well-known member
Thanks for the well wishes. I am getting down to the wire on getting everything lined up and ready to go. I have a work trip to South Carolina the first part of next week so only about a day and a half at home before I leave out.
I did get a PM from a somewhat local there that let me know that I most likely won't have cell phone service while I'm up there and that the Silver Fox Roadhouse does not have WiFi so it looks like my updates may not be exactly live updates. I will try to keep a day by day journal and will update the thread when I can though.
I do think I may have the taxidermy question figured out though. My wife is usually very understanding of that kind of thing but as we are sitting in the livingroom last night I mentioned that I am now thinking about possibly getting a shoulder mount and she said that is fine but it won't be in the house if I do. She thinks they are ugly. She's been very understanding with a life sized mountain goat, 2 elk shoulder mounts, bear rug, deer and pronghorn shoulder mounts and a half dozen european mounts and dozens of shed antlers but she just thinks buffalo are ugly. I showed her some pictures of some nice mounts but she is pretty firm. I really don't want a Bison shoulder mount in my office at work and she has said we can put the tanned bison hide on the guest bed so I think I will be going with the european mount and the full hide tan. I need to think up a good way to have a field photo accompanying the european mount or something. I think that would be cool.
I did get a PM from a somewhat local there that let me know that I most likely won't have cell phone service while I'm up there and that the Silver Fox Roadhouse does not have WiFi so it looks like my updates may not be exactly live updates. I will try to keep a day by day journal and will update the thread when I can though.
I do think I may have the taxidermy question figured out though. My wife is usually very understanding of that kind of thing but as we are sitting in the livingroom last night I mentioned that I am now thinking about possibly getting a shoulder mount and she said that is fine but it won't be in the house if I do. She thinks they are ugly. She's been very understanding with a life sized mountain goat, 2 elk shoulder mounts, bear rug, deer and pronghorn shoulder mounts and a half dozen european mounts and dozens of shed antlers but she just thinks buffalo are ugly. I showed her some pictures of some nice mounts but she is pretty firm. I really don't want a Bison shoulder mount in my office at work and she has said we can put the tanned bison hide on the guest bed so I think I will be going with the european mount and the full hide tan. I need to think up a good way to have a field photo accompanying the european mount or something. I think that would be cool.
npaden
Well-known member
Yeah. The 51% success rate from 2016 considering that nearly all of them were residents that logistically would be more likely to be able to time things out based on when the bison were around gave me pause. That's why I don't feel bad about going ahead and paying the trespass fee. If I felt like I could make a couple different trips based on if the bison were on public or not I probably would try to go that route but this is a one time thing for me. If I don't make it happen the week of November 2nd, I don't think I will be able to make it back up there again.
npaden
Well-known member
Well hopefully the early bumps in the road are not indicative of the future on this hunt.
Went to check into my flight yesterday and they had changed it dramatically. Instead of leaving Lubbock to fly to Denver at noon, then fly to Anchorage at 3 getting in at 7 pm local time, my new scheduled had me leaving Lubbock at 9 am to fly to Houston to change planes and fly to Denver to sit for a 5 hour layover and not get into Anchorage until 10:30 local time (1:30 AM the next day central time). Leaving 3 hours earlier and getting there 3 1/2 hours later did not sound fun.
Ended up running around like a mad hatter yesterday getting everything ready to go and doing some last minute winterizing around the property since we were getting our first real hard freeze of the year (20 degrees last night).
Got a text this morning that said that the 9:05 flight was delayed until 11:30, I would miss my connection in Houston and not make the flight from Denver to Anchorage today. Click around a bit looking for options and there is a flight from Amarillo to Denver at 2:15 today that I could make pretty easy that still gets into Denver in plenty of time for the late flight to Anchorage. Ended up booking a 1 way rental to Amarillo (120 miles) and will be leaving here in a little over an hour to rent a car at the airport and drive to Amarillo.
$80 out of my pocket but 2 hours to actually check on some things around the property in the daylight this morning (I was replumbing my pond in the dark last night via headlamp to make an alternative to the normal waterfall that was going to freeze and make a big mess overnight) so really not that bad. I still have a 4 hour layover in Denver and I had already planned to try to get some work done there so that is still on tap.
Actually pretty surprising that I was able to make things work out as well as they are looking to. Still end up getting into Anchorage at 10:30 pm instead of 7:00 pm like I was originally expecting, but that wasn't going to happen anyway with the change in United's schedule.
Got everything packed and ready to go. Only tough decision was whether I needed to even bring my newly purchased Cabelas pac boots. The weather forecast for Delta Junction really isn't much different than I've hunted in Montana and Wyoming many times so I am going to be traveling wearing my normal hiking boots and I did throw the pac boots in the bag.
Have a RTIC 40 soft cooler in my suitcase, all my winter gear and my knives in there. Have my Stone Glacier Solo backpack as my carryon with some stuff in it and have my "running bag" (a small backpack that I normally keep my running gear in) ready as my personal item. It weighs more than the SG Solo backpack with all the electronics I have stuffed in it.
Think I have everything, including the most important items, my permit and my locking tag. Pretty much anything else could be bought in Anchorage.
I really didn't expect to be getting so pumped about this trip but the anticipation is killing me.
Hopefully no more snags from here on!
Went to check into my flight yesterday and they had changed it dramatically. Instead of leaving Lubbock to fly to Denver at noon, then fly to Anchorage at 3 getting in at 7 pm local time, my new scheduled had me leaving Lubbock at 9 am to fly to Houston to change planes and fly to Denver to sit for a 5 hour layover and not get into Anchorage until 10:30 local time (1:30 AM the next day central time). Leaving 3 hours earlier and getting there 3 1/2 hours later did not sound fun.
Ended up running around like a mad hatter yesterday getting everything ready to go and doing some last minute winterizing around the property since we were getting our first real hard freeze of the year (20 degrees last night).
Got a text this morning that said that the 9:05 flight was delayed until 11:30, I would miss my connection in Houston and not make the flight from Denver to Anchorage today. Click around a bit looking for options and there is a flight from Amarillo to Denver at 2:15 today that I could make pretty easy that still gets into Denver in plenty of time for the late flight to Anchorage. Ended up booking a 1 way rental to Amarillo (120 miles) and will be leaving here in a little over an hour to rent a car at the airport and drive to Amarillo.
$80 out of my pocket but 2 hours to actually check on some things around the property in the daylight this morning (I was replumbing my pond in the dark last night via headlamp to make an alternative to the normal waterfall that was going to freeze and make a big mess overnight) so really not that bad. I still have a 4 hour layover in Denver and I had already planned to try to get some work done there so that is still on tap.
Actually pretty surprising that I was able to make things work out as well as they are looking to. Still end up getting into Anchorage at 10:30 pm instead of 7:00 pm like I was originally expecting, but that wasn't going to happen anyway with the change in United's schedule.
Got everything packed and ready to go. Only tough decision was whether I needed to even bring my newly purchased Cabelas pac boots. The weather forecast for Delta Junction really isn't much different than I've hunted in Montana and Wyoming many times so I am going to be traveling wearing my normal hiking boots and I did throw the pac boots in the bag.
Have a RTIC 40 soft cooler in my suitcase, all my winter gear and my knives in there. Have my Stone Glacier Solo backpack as my carryon with some stuff in it and have my "running bag" (a small backpack that I normally keep my running gear in) ready as my personal item. It weighs more than the SG Solo backpack with all the electronics I have stuffed in it.
Think I have everything, including the most important items, my permit and my locking tag. Pretty much anything else could be bought in Anchorage.
I really didn't expect to be getting so pumped about this trip but the anticipation is killing me.
Hopefully no more snags from here on!
dirtclod Az.
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2018
- Messages
- 2,766
Slow down,the Buffs are not gonna wander off because your flight was delayed.
Enjoy this once in a lifetime experience.This is your time to make good things happen.
Good times ahead!
Enjoy this once in a lifetime experience.This is your time to make good things happen.
Good times ahead!
npaden
Well-known member
Yes, the delay will only affect my amount of sleep and whether I will be in Anchorage when stores are open or not.
I’m actually more impressed that it looks like I’m going to be able to get this all worked out with just a little snag like renting a car and driving to a different airport to make my connection.
Current plan is to leave out at 6:00 am tomorrow to make it there in time to meet with the landowners before dark.
I’m actually more impressed that it looks like I’m going to be able to get this all worked out with just a little snag like renting a car and driving to a different airport to make my connection.
Current plan is to leave out at 6:00 am tomorrow to make it there in time to meet with the landowners before dark.
npaden
Well-known member
On the ground in Anchorage!
duckhunt
Well-known member
Good luck
Hunting Wife
Well-known member
Good luck! Looking forward to pics and stories.
Mudranger1
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2010
- Messages
- 3,046
Good luck!
elkrchr
Well-known member
This should be a grand adventure to follow. Good luck!
ashersdad
Well-known member
Good luck. Looking forward to your report.
dirtclod Az.
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2018
- Messages
- 2,766
IF I ever make it to Alaska I'm never leaving!Taking my Roadrunner/Bird dog too!
npaden
Well-known member
Not a terrible lot to report today other than I actually do have WiFi here at the Silver Fox Lodge!
Left Anchorage at 6:00 am this morning and got through the Chugiak mountains mostly in the dark but could see the shapes and even that looked spectacular. No pictures though. a bit of snow going over one of the passes and icy roads so we didn’t do any stopping along the way for pictures, hopefully the return trip will be in the daylight and I will get some pictures.
I have a DSLR camera with an extra lens and a video camera along with a GoPro and my cell phone and I only got 2 pictures all day. I hope I get better from here out at that!
Checked in with Fish and Game in Delta and they said I was in the last round of the start dates, everyone with a tag was officially eligible to hunt starting tomorrow. I also found out that there were another 35 or 40 either sex tags that were also going on so there were more hunters than I thought. They said that they had about 30 bison checked in so far and said that was pretty normal.
Made it out to the place where I paid my trespass fee to check in with them and the man was there and he is a big old dude probably 6’5” and at least 80 years old. His wife was in town so we talked with him maybe 20 minutes. They have had 5 hunters in their place already this year and the first 2 tagged out quickly and the 3rd had some opportunities but wasn’t able to connect and it sounded like the last 2 hadn’t even seen any but both of them hunted 2 days or less. Not the most promising news for someone who has traveled close to 4,000 miles to get here but hoping to make the most of it.
Probably the highlight of the days was seeing a wolf at about 50 yards right as we were getting to the property that I paid the trespass fee on. Nice gray almost brown wolf. We saw it run across the road in front of us and when we got to where it had crossed we looked and sure enough there it was about 50 yards away.
We mentioned it to the landowner and he said it was kind of their new pet, his wife thinks that the wolf is protecting her sheep from the coyotes. He asked us not to shoot it if we saw it but mentioned that he has seen some tracks from a pack of about 5 or 6 wolves and we were welcome to shoot any of those. Oh yeah, they have an indoor duck. Yes, a duck! It doesn’t use a litter box. Think about that a while. They don’t ask you to talk your boots off when you come inside.
Hoping for some luck in the morning and going to get after it.
Shot my friends .338 Magnum this afternoon and it was a good thing. It has a pretty heavy trigger (he said 6 pounds) and somehow the way I look though the scope must be a little different because it shoots a little higher for me. He has it sighted in at 1.5” high at 100 yards but it was shooting almost 3” high for me. Well within “MOB” Minute Of Bison, but good to know for sure.
Pretty sad that these were my only pictures of the day. I will try to do better tomorrow whether I end up shooting a bison or not.
My target from a little over 100 yards.
The gravel pit that we used for a shooting range. There was about 4” of snow on the ground with a good chance for some more overnight or in the morning. Should be good for finding fresh tracks!
Left Anchorage at 6:00 am this morning and got through the Chugiak mountains mostly in the dark but could see the shapes and even that looked spectacular. No pictures though. a bit of snow going over one of the passes and icy roads so we didn’t do any stopping along the way for pictures, hopefully the return trip will be in the daylight and I will get some pictures.
I have a DSLR camera with an extra lens and a video camera along with a GoPro and my cell phone and I only got 2 pictures all day. I hope I get better from here out at that!
Checked in with Fish and Game in Delta and they said I was in the last round of the start dates, everyone with a tag was officially eligible to hunt starting tomorrow. I also found out that there were another 35 or 40 either sex tags that were also going on so there were more hunters than I thought. They said that they had about 30 bison checked in so far and said that was pretty normal.
Made it out to the place where I paid my trespass fee to check in with them and the man was there and he is a big old dude probably 6’5” and at least 80 years old. His wife was in town so we talked with him maybe 20 minutes. They have had 5 hunters in their place already this year and the first 2 tagged out quickly and the 3rd had some opportunities but wasn’t able to connect and it sounded like the last 2 hadn’t even seen any but both of them hunted 2 days or less. Not the most promising news for someone who has traveled close to 4,000 miles to get here but hoping to make the most of it.
Probably the highlight of the days was seeing a wolf at about 50 yards right as we were getting to the property that I paid the trespass fee on. Nice gray almost brown wolf. We saw it run across the road in front of us and when we got to where it had crossed we looked and sure enough there it was about 50 yards away.
We mentioned it to the landowner and he said it was kind of their new pet, his wife thinks that the wolf is protecting her sheep from the coyotes. He asked us not to shoot it if we saw it but mentioned that he has seen some tracks from a pack of about 5 or 6 wolves and we were welcome to shoot any of those. Oh yeah, they have an indoor duck. Yes, a duck! It doesn’t use a litter box. Think about that a while. They don’t ask you to talk your boots off when you come inside.
Hoping for some luck in the morning and going to get after it.
Shot my friends .338 Magnum this afternoon and it was a good thing. It has a pretty heavy trigger (he said 6 pounds) and somehow the way I look though the scope must be a little different because it shoots a little higher for me. He has it sighted in at 1.5” high at 100 yards but it was shooting almost 3” high for me. Well within “MOB” Minute Of Bison, but good to know for sure.
Pretty sad that these were my only pictures of the day. I will try to do better tomorrow whether I end up shooting a bison or not.
My target from a little over 100 yards.
The gravel pit that we used for a shooting range. There was about 4” of snow on the ground with a good chance for some more overnight or in the morning. Should be good for finding fresh tracks!
Last edited:
I always enjoy the drive out of Anchorage. Really beautiful after spending time on an airplane. Heading north through Wasilla getting to Willow where Denali pops out is another good spot, weather permitting a view of course. You went right past my cabin! If you have a taste for BBQ be sure to hit Big Daddy's in Fairbanks. Killer burnt ends.
