Reason for Thanks

For five weeks I've been giving my students reasons to think about and express their thoughts about the Thanksgiving Holiday. I have offered the Plymouth Rock/Pilgrim's and Wompanoag's story to them in the form of an alien invasion, an opportunity for charity and in its traditional form. I even gave them the story in a homeland security threat scenario, but what I didn't do was ask them what makes them feel thankful. At the time, I hadn't thought much about feeling thankful.

Well, the feeling of thankfulness came over me this morning as I ate breakfast and reflected on the holiday weekend. What came to me first was how wonderful my wife is. While I've been off, bombing around the tundra with my buddy Rafe, she has been patient and supportive. In fact, I got blood all over the bathtub and she never made a fuss. But, she doesn't have many opportunities to get out and visit people so I know she must be getting bored. I hope we can change this last part soon. Thanks Pam.

The second reason for my feeling of thanks was the ingredients of my breakfast. It was mostly the usual stuff, coffee, eggs, toast, and caribou back-strap. Did I say CARIBOU BACK-STRAP!? Oh yeah, I did. How did I get caribou back-strap, you ask?

Yesterday, I got a phone call from Rafe. He said "How itchy are you to go caribou hunting?" As a man who has been itching to go caribou hunting since I was 10 years old, I told him that I was ready to go whenever the opportunity came. It seems that he got a phone call from a friend of his about the whereabouts of a nearby caribou herd. So within the hour the two of us and another fella, Dave, were on the trail.

After about an hour of very cold, windy riding we found the herd with no problem. I didn't know it then, but the easy part was over. Caribou hunting is nothing like deer hunting. Everything happens very fast on a caribou hunt. The caribou herd heard us coming long before we saw them so they were ready for us by the time we got there. We pursued the herd over some rough terrain for a little while and we took our best shots. I have often boasted, in the past, about never making a less than perfect shot on deer and never using more than one bullet to kill a whitetail. I will be not be bragging like that about this hunt, because I used three shots to get the job done. My first shot was ugly, but fatal with time. Because I could get close and finish my bull, that's what I did. I rode my snow machine close and shot twice more; no point in letting it suffer.



Yep, it's a bull. The bulls already shed their antlers. One of the things I never understood about caribou was its body size and I guess I still don't. When you see them they look to be small. When you grab hold of one and try to move it, it is big and heavy. It is a hard thing to describe.

Anyhow, Rafe, Dave and I all ended up with bulls. After this compulsory photograph to commemorate my first caribou, we loaded them into sleds and headed for a wind break. The temperature was about 5 degrees with a windchill cold enough to freeze hell over so getting out of the wind was important.

I learned many things on this hunt. Rafe taught me how to quarter a caribou without gutting it and how to cape a bull so the hide has some value. I also learned just how good the knife my brother Craig made for me way back when still is.

With my old knife, I butchered that whole caribou without ever having to touch up the blade. And after I got home I ran the knife over a whetstone a couple of times and finished processing the whole animal. I've carried that knife for about 30 years and the reason is obvious. It works. That is the third thing I feel grateful for.



Old and beat up, but still does the job.

Lastly, none of this would be possible if not for good people. I have to thank Rafe for taking me under his wing and teaching me about trapping, snaring, and hunting Alaska style. Thank you. I look forward to as many more lessons as I can get.

Oh wait, wait, wait, did I mention that Rafe got me pulled over by the cops? That's right, we were putting in his lynx line today when a State Trooper in a Piper Cub (bush plane) on skis landed on the snow near us. The trooper checked our licenses, chit-chatted with us for a little while, and then flew off to keep Alaska safe for all humanity. I never would have imagined that a State Trooper in an airplane would come out of the sky and pull me over while I was riding a snowmobile. How crazy is that? I wish I had brought my camera... maybe next time.

Well, that's all for now kids. Until next time, may you have many things in your life for which you feel thanks.

Tough Fish

So, do you remember in my last letter I mentioned catching pike in a minnow trap that was set to catch mink? Well here we go again PLUS. In another tiny stream that doesn't really freeze, regardless of the temperature, he set another minnow trap, but this time my buddy caught some pike that were almost as long as the trap itself. Two pike, both were probably a little over two feet long. Not only did he catch more pike, but he caught a muskrat in the same trap, as well. Not one to turn down a free meal, my buddy decided to keep these pike, because of their good size.

In the sled they go and about two hours later we returned to the house. We spend about another hour unloading traps and such, when we finally get to the fish. I carried the fish inside the fur shed and I noticed that the fish were only almost frozen, not completely frozen. I put them on the table and noticed, or at least I thought I noticed, something strange. I thought I saw one of the fish move its tail. I mentioned what I thought I saw to my buddy and my he said he saw it too. Then the other one moved. Then they both moved. Those fish, though having been out of the water for two or three hours in near zero temperatures, were still alive!
Even the fish are tougher in Alaska!

Something New

For some people the words snow and cold are synonymous with the words misery and agony. For me and people like me snow and cold mean opportunity, freedom, and joy. For example, if it weren’t for snow and cold I wouldn’t be able to ride my snow machine, I wouldn’t be able to travel the tundra and the river, and I wouldn’t be learning about trapping and snaring.

In fact, I wouldn't have this little story to share if not for the cold. The tiny stream in the photograph is several miles from the river and doesn't seem to go anywhere special. I was with my friend as he checked his mink trap, the submerged minnow trap also shown. When he pulled it from the stream, we both got a shock. Instead of having a mink inside, it had pike. This was shocking because this stream is so tiny and pike are such big fish. Yet, there they were. If you are not familiar with what a pike looks like, then look it up.

I am finally starting to do the things that brought me to Alaska. Today I went out with the same friend as he put in his fox line. We only saw one live animal on the outing, an ermine, but saw some animal tracks that got us pretty excited. We saw moose tracks and wolf tracks and they were real close to the village. Pretty cool, huh?

Unless catastrophe strike again, there will be more to follow. Until then, pray for snow.