BuzzH
Well-known member
This hunt started about a year ago when I found out that my buddy Tom and I had drawn some tough to come-by musk ox tags for the Shishmaref area of Alaska.
I remember as a kid reading about guys hunting things like dall sheep, caribou, moose, and of course musk ox. At the time I never thought I would be the one doing those types of hunts, and I still cant believe I have sometimes.
On the unique scale, this hunt is totally unlike any other hunt I've ever done. The logistics of just getting to Shismaref are something. If you're the type of person that cant be flexible on a hunt...and I mean flexible on just about every aspect, I'd not recommend hunting ox.
The first night we arrived in Shishmaref, we spent the night at Clifford Weyiouanna's place. Tom and I quickly struck up a conversation with Cliffords son, John. Its amazing how the common bond of hunting can easily bridge culture gaps. I was in awe of some of the photos that John showed us, in particular the seal and walrus hunting, impressive to say the least. John shared some great hunting stories with us and Tom and I shared a few with him as well.
The next day we prowled around Shishmaref until about 1-2 pm. Three other ox hunters returned with their ox and some pictures to share. But, with only a few hours of daylight, we quickly gathered our gear and headed out with Clifford leading the way to his base camp. To get there, you have to snow-machine across the ocean ice, and with the recent over-flow problems I was glad Clifford was leading the way. We got to "Arctic camp" about 2 hours before dark. We figured we may have enough time to get out for a quick hunt. We headed out and after covering some serious miles on the snowmobiles we found a herd of maybe 20 ox or so. There were 2 bulls in the group, one much better than the other. Tom had agreed to let me take my pick, but I elected to pass on the bull, even though I knew it was a great bull. Tom decided not to pass and made the right decision to take the bull. Tom took the bull with a shot at around 100 yards with my .338. Turned out being a dandy bull that green scores around 106-107. Score means squat on these things, its all about the hair. These ox are much darker caped than most I've seen pictures of.
Tom and I with his bull:
The main reason I passed this bull is that I was hoping for better pictures with more light, had nothing to do with the quality.
The next morning Clifford mixed up some pancake batter from 93 year old sour dough starter. Shortly thereafter, he recieved news via radio that his father had passed during the night. Clifford quickly got his stuff together and made the hour long ride right at daylight to get back home to Shishmaref. Bummer for sure, but Cliffords Dad had lived a very long life...93 years.
Tom and I along with Brian Simpson and Jim finally got our stuff together and headed out looking for ox. We caught some great weather, the best they had seen all month. We rode the snowmobiles to a "high" point. There isnt much topography, but we managed to get high enough to glass the surrounding area. I picked up a herd of ox north of us about 4-5 miles. We rode close and discovered there were 2 good bulls in that bunch. The best bull was a really good bull and I decided to take him. The shot was close, maybe 50 yards and that was that. When Tom and I approached him, we could see he had some great bosses, and most importantly, another really dark cape on this bull as well. I couldnt have asked for a better ox, exceeding any expectations I could have possibly had.
A few pics:
Looking over some country:
A picture of Clifford and I. Despite dealing with his fathers passing, the first thing Clifford said to me when I got back to his house was, "Buzz, did you get a good ox?" Pure hunter...through and through. I'll treasure this picture forever:
Finally, a few pics of the ox...very interesting animals for sure. There are a lot more color patterns and hair color than I realized. The hat I'm wearing is a spotted seal skin hat I bought from one of Cliffords relatives...very neat hats, and I doubt any synthetic material is even half as warm.
Another look:
Skinned ox:
Tom and I back at arctic camp with our ox, couldnt ask for a better hunt or better people to hunt with. For the score guys, Toms bull is 106-107 gross green and mine is 115ish gross green. Both should be B&C candidates.
I remember as a kid reading about guys hunting things like dall sheep, caribou, moose, and of course musk ox. At the time I never thought I would be the one doing those types of hunts, and I still cant believe I have sometimes.
On the unique scale, this hunt is totally unlike any other hunt I've ever done. The logistics of just getting to Shismaref are something. If you're the type of person that cant be flexible on a hunt...and I mean flexible on just about every aspect, I'd not recommend hunting ox.
The first night we arrived in Shishmaref, we spent the night at Clifford Weyiouanna's place. Tom and I quickly struck up a conversation with Cliffords son, John. Its amazing how the common bond of hunting can easily bridge culture gaps. I was in awe of some of the photos that John showed us, in particular the seal and walrus hunting, impressive to say the least. John shared some great hunting stories with us and Tom and I shared a few with him as well.
The next day we prowled around Shishmaref until about 1-2 pm. Three other ox hunters returned with their ox and some pictures to share. But, with only a few hours of daylight, we quickly gathered our gear and headed out with Clifford leading the way to his base camp. To get there, you have to snow-machine across the ocean ice, and with the recent over-flow problems I was glad Clifford was leading the way. We got to "Arctic camp" about 2 hours before dark. We figured we may have enough time to get out for a quick hunt. We headed out and after covering some serious miles on the snowmobiles we found a herd of maybe 20 ox or so. There were 2 bulls in the group, one much better than the other. Tom had agreed to let me take my pick, but I elected to pass on the bull, even though I knew it was a great bull. Tom decided not to pass and made the right decision to take the bull. Tom took the bull with a shot at around 100 yards with my .338. Turned out being a dandy bull that green scores around 106-107. Score means squat on these things, its all about the hair. These ox are much darker caped than most I've seen pictures of.
Tom and I with his bull:
The main reason I passed this bull is that I was hoping for better pictures with more light, had nothing to do with the quality.
The next morning Clifford mixed up some pancake batter from 93 year old sour dough starter. Shortly thereafter, he recieved news via radio that his father had passed during the night. Clifford quickly got his stuff together and made the hour long ride right at daylight to get back home to Shishmaref. Bummer for sure, but Cliffords Dad had lived a very long life...93 years.
Tom and I along with Brian Simpson and Jim finally got our stuff together and headed out looking for ox. We caught some great weather, the best they had seen all month. We rode the snowmobiles to a "high" point. There isnt much topography, but we managed to get high enough to glass the surrounding area. I picked up a herd of ox north of us about 4-5 miles. We rode close and discovered there were 2 good bulls in that bunch. The best bull was a really good bull and I decided to take him. The shot was close, maybe 50 yards and that was that. When Tom and I approached him, we could see he had some great bosses, and most importantly, another really dark cape on this bull as well. I couldnt have asked for a better ox, exceeding any expectations I could have possibly had.
A few pics:
Looking over some country:
A picture of Clifford and I. Despite dealing with his fathers passing, the first thing Clifford said to me when I got back to his house was, "Buzz, did you get a good ox?" Pure hunter...through and through. I'll treasure this picture forever:
Finally, a few pics of the ox...very interesting animals for sure. There are a lot more color patterns and hair color than I realized. The hat I'm wearing is a spotted seal skin hat I bought from one of Cliffords relatives...very neat hats, and I doubt any synthetic material is even half as warm.
Another look:
Skinned ox:
Tom and I back at arctic camp with our ox, couldnt ask for a better hunt or better people to hunt with. For the score guys, Toms bull is 106-107 gross green and mine is 115ish gross green. Both should be B&C candidates.
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