My Hunting Stories
My first trip to Kodiak was in the spring of 1968. That was the year that the Kodiak Wildlife Refuge manager implemented a permit system for brown bear on Kodiak Island. I wrote about that trip in the post “My Quest For A Brown Bear.” That story details all of my brown bear hunts before I finally harvested my bear. He squared 9’2” and I decided then that my next bear would be a 10-footer and that I would use my bow to accomplish that feat.
It has been four years since I started writing my blog. I have posted 83 stories, had 112 countries and over 2200 cities check out the site so I think it has been a success. This is my last scheduled story. I will continue to write stories on my up coming hunts and a few in between but not on any set time frame. Hope you all have enjoyed my stories enough that you have shared them with some of your family and friends. Have a wonderful 2020 enjoying the great outdoors. Good hunting!!
Weather is one of the major factors for a successful hunt. Even more so on planned short hunts or hunts with specific dates that can’t be changed. Short seasons with bad weather can blow the entire season and there’s nothing you can do. In fact, this past sheep season I wanted to celebrate my 75th birthday in sheep country but because it had rained hard every day in the area that I planned to hunt the week before opening day, I started thinking it was a no go. It was also supposed to rain some during the first week of our hunt dates. There were reported mudslides in the area and all the creeks were swollen. We chose not to attempt accessing the area. A friend who had hunted the area for the previous five years tried going in that area but got stuck in the first mudslide about 100 yards up the trail and there was no way to proceed with the creek out of its bank. They cancelled their hunt. Our decision not to go was apparently a wise one.
I wish all of my subscribers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for subscribing. Hope you enjoy the story.
I met Matt Caldwell in August 1985 when he came on a combination hunt in the Wrangell mountains with AAA. My partner Brent guided him on that hunt. Matt is a large animal veterinarian from Mt. Carroll, IL. Mt. Carroll is a small farming community in northwestern Illinois where Matt was born and raised. After college he was hired by a local veterinary clinic where he later became a partner. The two elder partners instilled in Matt a true work ethic. His hard work paid off and afforded him opportunities to hunt all over the world.
Around Christmas time five or six years ago, I received a letter from an old client, Tom Heller, from Midland, TX. His letter was just a paragraph or so but with it was a check for $500. He thanked me and apologized for not giving me a proper tip. He said his tip more than likely was $50. He was correct. He told me it was one of his first guided big game hunts. It was August 1985, when I guided Tom, the flatlander, as he called himself, up a steep 1500’ mountain face and on to a knife ridge to get above a group of rams. We dropped down on the backside of them where Tom harvested the largest of the group, a 36 ½ incher. He was amazed that he was able to accomplish that feat. I think it’s funny that after all these years, he felt he hadn’t properly tipped me. I never gave it a second thought as back then many clients only tipped $50 to $100 dollars. In the early to mid-80’s, a $250 tip was rare. Hunt prices back then were $3k to $10k. Prices now go up to $30K so I assume the tips have followed suit.
Back in 2005 when I retired from the guide business, the Mulchatna caribou herd was crashing. I had guided for them through the peak which topped out at about 250,000 caribou. It dropped to an estimated 80,000 or so and finally dropped on down to about 60,000. Those caribou hunts were by far the most fun hunting experiences that I have ever had and I have always wanted all of my grandchildren to have that experience.
Well another August has passed and I didn’t make it into those majestic Alaska mountains to hunt sheep and to celebrate my 75th birthday which was August 10, the opening day of sheep season. The rains and mudslides kept us out. Hopefully next year. Hope you enjoy another special sheep hunting story.
I wrote this story back 2001 for the Alaska Professional Hunter’s Magazine. Since I wrote the article there have been many new types of hunting clothing added to the market, all being somewhat expensive. Many people swear by them so I wouldn’t tell you not to try them. I personally know what works best for me and I still wear the same items that I wore when I retired in 2006. I’m sure at two and three times the price some of these items may even work better. I’m just not willing to waste my money to see.
Hope you find the article of interest. Good hunting!!
If you have been following my blog, you know that the first animal that I harvested in Alaska was a mountain goat. After that I was hooked on hunting the rugged but gorgeous mountains of Alaska for both goat and sheep. I went on more goat than sheep hunts and before I started guiding, my friends and I had taken a total of 28 goats all in the Kenai Mountains.
In the fall of ’83, I worked for Rich Guthrie both in the Brooks Range guiding sheep, moose and caribou hunters and on the Alaska Peninsula guiding both caribou and brown bear hunters. When I was in the Brooks, Rich asked me how much experience I had with small boats. I told him that small boats were about all that I had experience with. I told him about using Folboats and a couple of small inflatables in rivers, lakes and even the ocean. He said that was great because he had bought a 15’ Grumman Freighter square stern canoe that he needed to get from Cold Bay to the Joshua Green River.
I have added a new photo page to the blog titled AAA Outfitters Guides and Packers to highlight the many outstanding guides and packers that worked for us over the years. They are mainly the ones before my retirement. Also, AAA’s marketing video is back on the blog so if you haven’t watched it you may find it interesting. Hope you enjoy the story, video and photos of our staff.
When Brent and I formed AAA Alaskan Outfitters we had more combined sheep hunting experience than any other guide operation in Alaska. Pair that with our newly acquired Wrangell Mountain sheep area and we had just the right recipe for success. During our first season Brent and I were 100% successful guiding six sheep hunters with the first two hunters taking a 40 ¼” and a 39 incher. We had an overall average of 38”. Over the next twenty-one years we harvested 106 rams with an average horn length of 37”. Fourteen of those rams were over 40” and another thirteen over 39” which was just a little over 25% of our rams. There was no other guide operation in Alaska with a record like that. I doubt if anyone nowadays could take an average of 5 rams and have a 37” average horn length.
