This season was both awesome and overwhelming. Back in November I had encouraged a few family members and friends to apply for a drawing tag that would require me flying them in. I’m always looking for an excuse to spend more time in the woods, so win-win, right? When my son, nephew, father, and two friend all drew the same tag, well…wow! Helping to fill five tags in a 40 day season when I’m a weekend warrior and can only take one passenger at a time seemed like a tall order, but we sure were going to try.
Trip #1 was with my youngest, who was hunting my father’s tag on a proxy. First of all - August 20th and snow?! What the heck! Yes, I live in Alaska, but that’s a bit early. We had to change where we planned to hunt, as the intended strip was invisible under the snow. Anyhow, I couldn’t have been more proud of how hard he worked - we climbed many ridges, hiked many miles, and had several close calls and blown stalks, but on that first trip we came home with an unfilled tag. One of those blown stalks was definitely my fault, but my kid had a great attitude and couldn’t wait to get back out to try again!
Trip #1 was with my youngest, who was hunting my father’s tag on a proxy. First of all - August 20th and snow?! What the heck! Yes, I live in Alaska, but that’s a bit early. We had to change where we planned to hunt, as the intended strip was invisible under the snow. Anyhow, I couldn’t have been more proud of how hard he worked - we climbed many ridges, hiked many miles, and had several close calls and blown stalks, but on that first trip we came home with an unfilled tag. One of those blown stalks was definitely my fault, but my kid had a great attitude and couldn’t wait to get back out to try again!