Author Topic: Tired of wolves bears and politics...  (Read 922 times)

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Offline corbanzo

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Tired of wolves bears and politics...
« on: January 27, 2008, 06:03:32 PM »
So thought I would bring up some hunting!! 

Was up in Wasilla couple of days ago, just got back.  Tookthe girls dog out looking for some rabbits, we saw some tracks that were fresh from the morning, but never did see any bunnies.  With that dog you have to bring a shot gun... he can't heel worth crap when something is running from him!!  But it was ok.. cause he didn't spook anything up anyways.

Me and a buddy are gonna go up to the far side of lost lake towards ascencion on the peninsula in the next couple of days looking for ptarmigan... it can be spotty at times, but when you find them... you usually find a lot of them.  Just depends on how much gas you wanna waste roaring around up there.  Just bought a whole case of #8 shot, so there better be some damn birds around. 

So I went to sportsmans warehouse cause I broke the rod tip on one of the ice fishing rigs....  left with a rod and reel setup, a case of shells, new snow socks, a headlamp, sun glasses (for the glare, you AK guys know about snow blindness) and I wanted to put a bunch of other stuff in the basket... damn I hate that place. 

But at least you can all rest assured and the ptarmigan and the trout are not safe. 

How's the small game in the rest of the state?  Any wolves or coyotes around?  We don't see many on my side of the peninsula...  maybe when I get up high...  Lots of moose, always lots of moose when the snow is high.  I'll try and get some snow berm pictures up when I get a chance.  Too bad you can't hunt them when they are running the snow funnels... hahaha
"At least with a gun that big, if you miss and hit the rocks in front of him it'll stone him to death..."

Offline Sourdough

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Re: Tired of wolves bears and politics...
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2008, 09:55:26 PM »
Went for a ride tonight on the snow machine.  Took my calls and tried to do some calling.  No luck nothing came in that i saw.  As I was returning home after dark had several bunnies run across the trail in front of me.  Then had a Red Fox try and get across in front of me, didn't make it.  I ran completely over it.  Busted it up a lot, and it was just lying there, thought it was dead.  Touched it with the toe of my boot and it grabbed my boot with it's teeth.  While it was chewing on my boot, I stepped on it's chest till it expired.  Threw it into the sled and brought it home.  Wife said at least I brought something home, the evening was not a total loss.
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Offline Daveinthebush

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Re: Tired of wolves bears and politics...
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2008, 04:46:29 AM »
10 degrees with winds o 75 mph on Sat.
Sunday they calmed to 35-45 mph.
Clean and organized gear and watch hunting shows.
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Offline Dand

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Re: Tired of wolves bears and politics...
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2008, 11:31:10 PM »
Me too Corb- thanks for something new.  And thanks Sourdough too.  Now when my snogo gets fixed I hope to share some ptarmigan hunting stories.  Hopefully how my 9 and 6 yr olds shot their first birds.  Figures, the snogo is broke and the weather is nice here in Dillingham. Not too cold and we got about a foot of new snow on top of a 2 day melt that should have firmed up and filled up some holes.

Guess I'll keep building my sled.  Heck, even my pick up is broke and in the shop. All my spark plug toys seem to be going on strike! I thought I was treating them well too.

Corb - I have had poor luck with 8's on ptarmigan. I'm not a great shot (well I'm a poor shot) but one day I had two different birds, seemingly well hit but fly away.  One bird didn't even hit the tundra, he dropped within 2 feet of the ground and regained flight! I was really suprised.  Of the birds I did get it seemed the feathers had stopped quite a few pellets. I stay with 6's now.
NRA Life

liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA

Offline corbanzo

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Re: Tired of wolves bears and politics...
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2008, 09:50:23 AM »
Yeah, I shoot 6 a lot when hunting rabbits and spruce chickens, for the smaller rock ptarmagins we were hunting, the 8's seem to work pretty well.  One problem though - didn't see any damn birds!!  We looked all over too.  Might of been cause of the wind.  The temp recently dropped down here and the snow was all wind blown, rough ride, wind still kickin.  Birds may have been huddled down.  We saw a group of three other riders, they said the spotted a couple on a hillside, but that was it.  We did see a lot of lynx tracks, more of those than anything else, not a good sign when you are hunting birds... 

The sled started leaking gas out of the carb drain... stupid plug keeps coming loose...  had it taped on, that didn't work as it turns out, so gotta get me a couple good hose clamps, and hopefully that'll fix the problem. 

We did get some good snow blow pictures I think.... I'll try and get them up later.
"At least with a gun that big, if you miss and hit the rocks in front of him it'll stone him to death..."

Offline Dand

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no birds today.
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2008, 10:58:03 PM »
Picked up my snogo today with $600+ repairs ouch!!!  But it is a comfort that a good mechanic went over it completely.  I had a bad shaft bearing, broken speedo cable, and most of my wheels had shot bearings.  Guess I better keep the grease gun busier.  My oldest fiddled with homework too long and we couldn't get out for long today.  Grabbed my little sled and the chainsaw hoping to get a little wood.  I turned into a real workout.  We've had a lot of cold, some snow and its all very fluffy. And with the cold and cost of gas it appears folks aren't getting out much.  Even some of the main trails weren't well packed. I did see a fair amount of fox tracks.

Found some standing dead to cut - turned out to be a bit junky but decided to take some anyway as not enough light to find better. Tried making a trail close to the stumps and thought I had it pretty well packed.  Loaded up the sled then got stuck 3 times trying to climb out of the trees onto the tundra.  I was doing some serious huffing and puffing - too much time in front of the computer. And the unconsolidated snow is tough.  At about 0 or so the snow seemed to really drag on my sled.  I always thought my sled pulled easy but today I could barely push it - even when near empty.  Gotta turn it over tomorrow. Had to unload the sled twice and have my kids help dig and push me out.  Then when reloaded had 1 boy push the sled from behind to get moving - the snow is deep and soft - even on semi packed trails my track was just digging down through it.  Finally home about 6:45, getting dark and temp dropping like a rock to -10 or below. Was getting worried about my 6 yr old getting cold and worn out.  He toughed it out and did ok -just wish he could learn to not fill at least one boot with snow - at these temps that could be dangerous.  My 9 yr old is already tougher than me - hot, happy and really could make a difference helping push the sled. So a dab of wood and a lot of exercise today. Probably watch the game and let the snow settle tomorrow. Sure am enjoying more daylight and the sunshine even at -10.

Well maybe another day. Sure was glad I had snowshoes along or we would have had a real headache.

Maybe I'll go unarmed - that way I'll be sure to see lots of game.

NRA Life

liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA

Offline corbanzo

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Re: Tired of wolves bears and politics...
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2008, 01:13:28 PM »
Hide a single six under the coat....  always see game out there when I don't show my shotgun...  ;D

We climbed mount alice yesterday down here...  didn't see anything but tracks.  Lots of rabbit tracks and moose tracks.  We are gonna try and find an old trail that we dont think has been sledded in years...  I tried to find it a week ago or so with no luck... but the area looked passable, so why not just go for it?  We are trying to find a little lake that is up there...  don't think there is much, but just for a good reference point.  I've been spoiled since I got this gps.....  takes the time out of "exploration"  ;D

"At least with a gun that big, if you miss and hit the rocks in front of him it'll stone him to death..."

Offline corbanzo

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Re: Tired of wolves bears and politics...
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2008, 06:42:51 PM »
All we found was a bunch of stuck..... 
"At least with a gun that big, if you miss and hit the rocks in front of him it'll stone him to death..."