Moose hunt

I started off the day pretty early, around 6 am, to get the house and animals all settled for the day. After getting all the plants and animals watered and feed, I fired up the oil stove and would leave it going to heat the cabin for the day. At 8 am I started up the snowmachine, finished loading it up and then made my way up river to Ralf's cabin. There I met up with Ralf, Bill, Luke and Jim. After they finished loading up their machines we all hit the trail.

Since Ralf and I like to go fast on our machines we took the lead and shot down the river. Every so often we'd stop and let the other 3 catch up, we all would regroup, make sure every ones machines were ok, then continue on down river.

After an hour or so we ran into our first obstacle, major over flow covering the whole width of the river. The over flow is caused by the hill sides and creeks shedding water onto the frozen river ice. At this point Ralf and I were still by our selves and Ralf decided to take a chance and attempt to fight his way through it to the nearest shore line, hoping to find a trail through the woods that would go around the over flow. Well, his attempt failed as you can see by the first pic.

I had stayed back to see if he was going to make it and when he didn't I back tracked to a narrow part of the over flow, got up some speed on the machine and skimmed to the shore line.

At this point the other 3 guys showed up, along with a 4th person, who told them about a trail off the river that went through the woods and around all the overflow.

At the same time they were back tracking and going on the trail in the woods, Ralf and I were able to link up with some rope and a tow strap. At this point Ralf was only about 50 feet from the shore and with my snow machine I was easily able to pull him out of the over flow onto the shore line. There we were able to link up with the other guys and continue on.

Ralf did end up getting some water in his boots. He said it was not too much water and would just leave everything, as far as his feet were concerned, the same. This is something you can get away with when you are wearing Bunny boots. He would spend the remainder of the day with damp feet but he said they were always warm.

That chunk of over flow was the only one we ran into going down the river and made it safely to the Minto flats by noon. We had stopped where Goldstream creek feed into the Chatanika and decided this would be our rendezvous and where we would all meet and head back together.

After a little lunch, Ralf and I paired up again and made our way up Goldstreak creek. As we were traveling up the creek whenever we saw fresh moose tracks crossing the creek we would get off our machines, each take a side, walk up over the banks and look around for moose. We made several stops doing this until we came to a point where we could drive our machines out of the creek bed and onto one of the many lakes of the Minto Flats.

From that point we followed the perimeter of the lake stopping once and a while to stand on our machines and look over the tall brush for moose. Eventually I spotted a couple moose back in the brush, jumped up and down on my machine trying to signal Ralf and when I couldn't get his attention I took off on the lake waving my arms in the air until he got the picture. We made our way back to the area where I had seen the moose, got off our machines and began our stalk through the tall brush. I forgot to mention, I spotted one moose by seeing the steam of it's breath rising over the trees, which were about 6 or 7 feet tall and then zeroed in on its head which was well above the trees.

Ralf and I separated a little walking through the brush each following fresh moose tracks until we met up together at another clearing where we saw a large calf and cow making there way across the clearing about 100 yards away. The calf was large enough that Ralf thought it was ok to take the cow but couldn't get a good angle on the cow. We then began to pursue the cow and Ralf indicated that I should have my handgun ready in case it charged us. We eventually lost track of both the calf and cow in the brush and decided to head back to the machines to continue looking a moose.

The tall brush is very disorienting and we split up. Ralf was going to head in direction of what he thought was the lake shore and I angled to where I figured the machines were. Ralf said if he reached the lake shore he would fire off a shot and if I found the machines that I should fire off a shot. Before I found the machines I heard Ralf shoot his gun so I figured he found the shore line and a few moments later I stumbled onto the machines so I fired off my handgun. I waited for a few minutes and didn't see Ralf so I walked out towards the lake and in the direction of his shot and finally saw him coming. When he got close enough he yelled, "I got one!"

We jumped on our machines and made our way over to where he shot the moose. He had me stop a ways back so he could approach it slowly and make sure it was dead. When he was satisfied it was dead he signaled me to close in.

Ralf had mad a perfect shot right over the shoulder blade and the moose must of died instantly because in pretty much sat down right on it's hind legs.

One of the ways we were going to communicate with the other 3 guys that we had got a moose was to leave something at the creek where we had driven off and they would do the same. When Ralf and I had driven out of the creek bed he had left his big sled that he was towing and needed to go pick it up so we could haul the moose. When he picked up his sled he left a small paris sled to indicate we had a moose.

The moose Ralf shot was a beautiful 800 pound cow and the way it sat down made field dressing a little difficult. With an animal that big you can't just flip it over so Ralf had to be a little creative when cutting it up. The second pic is of Ralf and the moose. It doesn't really show the true size of the moose but believe me it was big!

After we got the moose quartered, actually it ended up in five pieces, we got it loaded on the sled and prepared to make our way back to the creek. The third pick is of the sled and my machine all loaded up.

The machine I was using (Doug's machine) is much more suited for hauling big loads so Ralf asked if would pull the sled out to the creek.

While we were cutting up the moose I had heard a shot, somewhere farther up the creek, so when we got back to the creek bed I dropped the sled and Ralf and I went looking for the other guys to see if they needed any help. We looked and looked for the other crew for almost an hour and without any luck we made our way back to the rendezvous point to wait for them. We decided that I would continue to pull the sled just to avoid any potential problems that Ralf's machine might have pulling it.

After making a fire and waiting for an hour Ralf and I decided it was time to head back so Ralf made a couple arrows with logs on the trail indicating we headed back and we prepared to head out. The only problem was I couldn't get my machine started.

After messing around with my machine for about an hour the other 3 finally showed up. And just then I got the machine going, funny how that worked out. By that time is was completely dark and we all left together to make the 30 mile trek back up the river.

The trip back went without any major problems except for one of the hind quarters worked its way off the sled I was pulling and one of the guys behind me had to stop, pick it up and put it on his sled.

We all made it back to the entrance to Doug's trail off the Chatanika, where I dropped Ralf's sled so he could pull it the remaining few miles to his cabin. I split off from the group and made my way back up to Doug's cabin. I did a quick check on the cabin and animals, which were fine, then left right away and drove up to Ralf's for dinner.

Whew, what a long day! I think I got to Ralf's at 9 pm. We had left at about 9 am making it a long but super fun day!

Work, work and a little more work

I have been so busy the last week preparing to take off for a day on a moose hunt that I haven't had the time to put up a new post. I spent most of my time cutting wood but I also had to make sure the animal pens were good and clean, clean the oil and wood stoves, melt enough snow for a couple days, make sure the snowmachine was a 100% and clean the cabin. Unlike my previous 2 hunts this one was a success and I hope it will be a great story for you. To preface the story, 5 of us took off on snowmachines down the Chatanika River, 30 miles to the Minto Flats area, then split up and I paired up with my friend Ralf. From there we made our way up Goldstream creek, which feeds into the Chatanika, peeking over the banks wherever we saw fresh moose tracks. Until we were able to drive our machines out of the creek bed onto one of the many lakes of the flats. There Ralf and I spotted several moose and he was able to harvest a beautiful 800 pound cow. It was a long day, but a great day! That story coming up next.

Chores cont.

I have a few more pics of some of the things that have to be done pretty much every day to get by. The first photo was taken looking into the atrium entry, where the big wood stove is located, showing how much snow I melt every day. I use the melted snow to water the animals, water the plants, for dish washing, bathing and up til last night to flush the toilet. The temperature has dropped off the last couple days and now the drain pipes are frozen. According to Doug this is the longest the pipes have ever stayed open during the winter season. With a little more work to the plumbing during the summer season I think Doug is hoping to keep the pipes open all year long.

The other two pics are of the snowmachine and sled I use to haul loads up the hill. On the machine and in the sled is a typical wood load that will usually last about two days. When the temp really drops off I also fire up the cook stove on the kitchen, using wood scraps from the saw mill, to help heat the cabin.

When the temperature is 25 below, as it was this morning, you can't expect the snowmachine just to start right up. To get the machine started I have to pre-heat it for at least an hour by putting a 300 watt heat lamp under the hood and covering it with a blanket to keep in the heat. And while it's getting warmed up I also turn over the engine a few different times, with the ignition off, to help circulate the warmth. Down at the river level today it was almost 40 below and when it's that cold I won't turn off the machine, once it's started, for fear of not getting it started again.

I spend most of the day light hours doing chores like this, not just to keep myself busy, but because it is required to keep the plants, animals and myself alive.

Daily Chores

Here's a quick little video showing where the geese and chickens spend most of the winter. When the temp is above 20 degrees the geese get to come outside for a little while. This pen is right under the TV room so I can hear the animals quite clearly. There are a couple heat lamps to warm the pen and are on when the generator is running, right now that's about nine and half hours.

The photos are of the front step loaded with fuel barrels, the atrium entry and a stack of wood that lasts about 2 to 3 days, and finally a look at the atrium and all the nice green plants I get to enjoy even with the lack of sun.

As you can see from the photo a lot of fuel is requried to run a generator during the winter months. The generator is used to charge the battery bank and also runs the 1000 watt plant light in the atrium.

In the pic of the atrium you can also see the ferret pen Doug constructed out of a plastic shelving unit.

Doug gone, on my own!!

I'm sorry to say I'll have to skip the vids about hauling wood by hand at 40 below. While battling some software issues with my computer something happened to the vids and they won't play. I also apologize for not putting up a post for a while but there is a good reason for that. While I was staying at the lake cabin, waiting for Doug to leave on his trip, I spent very little time up at his place on the hill. And any time I did spend up there I was usually getting lots of info on how to manage his place during the winter. At this point I have now moved up to the hill side cabin for the rest of winter, or at least until Doug gets back from his trip. I am starting to get into a rhythm, as far as everyday chores go, and I will have a lot more time to work on the blog from here on out.

I've only taken a handful of pics the last few weeks but now that I know what I'm doing I will start using the camera a lot more.

Winter lifestyle is quite a bit different than summer months and one of the main changes is how you haul loads and get around. I have a couple pics of the snowmachine I get to use. One shows it by itself and the other was taken while I was hauling 2 sleds of wood from the lake shore. You will notice that on the front of the machine Doug built a rack for additional space to haul stuff. The rack also has another purpose. When loaded it helps keep the front of the machine down while hill climbing, forcing more of the track to make contact with the snow, giving you additional traction to prevent from the track from slipping and tearing up the trail. It sure is nice to haul wood with this machine versus pulling a few chunks on a sled by hand.

I have already started shooting some videos of my daily routine and as long as I don't destroy them in the editing process I should have lots of material pretty quick for ya.