Fishing with my Grandpa

My granddaughter, Jordan, had just recently taken her first black bear and written a story about her experience on the hunt.  The story was then published in the Alaska Professional Hunter Magazine in the fall of 2003.  Coincidentally, at about the same time, Boston Gravity was searching for a young, Alaskan outdoor enthusiast to do a guest segment for the PBS children's show, Zoom.  Somehow, while completing their search, the Alaska Professional Hunter's Association (APHA) office manager directed them to contact me.  In the end, the Boston Gravity team, Alan Grazioso and Steve Eliopoulos, selected Jordan as the "Alaska Girl" for the project. 

Steve, my granddaughter Jordan, and Alan fishing during the project.

Steve, my granddaughter Jordan, and Alan fishing during the project.

We decided on a red salmon fishing trip on the Kenai River for the third week in July.  Both Alan and Steve were from the East Coast so they had a long flight all the way to Anchorage.  They stayed at our cabin with us while filming the project and also had the opportunity to do some fishing of their own.  They had a true Alaskan experience, it was great fun.  Alan and Steve were great guests and super nice individuals.  Everyone had a blast during the filming and the project was an absolute success.  The final cut is below, check it out!

Cub in the Lake

Cub in the Lake

It was fall of 1994 at our Western Alaska camp. The day started out as one of those beautiful September days. I had been checking spike camps that morning with the Super Cub.  One of the camps had a moose down so I needed to pick up a couple of packers and some supplies.  I landed at my strip, taxied the plane into the tie down location, got out and faced into the wind.  Most of the morning the wind had been blowing about 20 mph and the weather report never indicated anything about strong winds.  It takes me about 10 minutes to tie the plane down and 5 minutes to untie it. Since, I was only going to be at the camp, which was on the other side of the lake for about 30 minutes, I decided to save time and not tie the plane down.  I always leave the plane untied when I land at spike camps so there was no difference. 

Hunting with the Grandkids

Hunting with the Grandkids

I wrote this story in 2005 right after I retired from the guide business. It was published in the 2006 Convention Issue of The Alaska Professional Hunter Magazine.

It Pays to Wait

It Pays to Wait

This was the first story I wrote after Brent & I formed AAA Alaskan Outfitters in December 1983.
It was our first season and a great one.


"lt Pays To Wait"


As Brent Jones and I stood in the air terminal at Cold Bay
waiting for the Reeve Bird to touch down, I thought back to the
last three months of planning, equipment shipping, and camp
setup. Our first brown bear season as partners of AAA Alaskan
Outfitters was about to begin.


We had worked hard getting everything we needed, but I kept
wondering if we had forgotten or overlooked something. It was
too late now, though, for the plane had landed and our very first
clients, George Caswell, of Enid, Oklahoma, and Tim Orton, of
Walker, Minnesota, were standing in front of us. The excitement
of taking a big brown bear was evident on their faces. After quick
introductions, we grabbed the luggage and were on our way.

The 10 Footer - What Does it Take?

The 10 Footer - What Does it Take?

In the spring of 2006, my son-in-law, Sagen Juliussen and I went brown bear hunting on the Alaska Peninsula.  We were in search of a big bear.  As we sat on the spotting hill with the cold wind hitting our faces and chilling us within, I thought to myself, why am I here?  I’m sure, at one time of another, that thought has crossed the minds of many Alaskan professional hunters while brown bear hunting during those long, cold, wet and many times boring days.   And, I’m sure our clients as they sat shivering, were more than likely thinking, and we paid money for this!  I have hunted brown bear in Alaska for 38 years.  I have had some great experiences and some miserable experiences but as we say in the business, “that’s brown bear hunting.” My main thought however is, what is really the most important prerequisite for taking a 10’+ brown bear.  Is it skill, patience or luck?  I have personally guided on eight 10 footers with another 27 being taken by AAA Alaskan Outfitters Inc., in which I was a partner for twenty- one years.