Hello everyone! We were fortunate enough to see some of you during our trip back to Iowa, if we missed ya this time, we'll be back in December again! The weekend after our trip, we took our first Alaskan hunt together (Adam has been out numerous times w/o me--during the school year). ......we went for black bear and it was successful!!! :)
**A Section of this blog post was moved to the end**
Now for the Iowa trip
My brother, niece, Adam and Gunner out hunting black birds and starlings---the pests of mom's bird feeders. My niece proved to be a great shot!
Adam and his faithful hunting partner
This is Ariel....my horse's philly from 8 years ago. We sold her and got her back after Gibby passed unexpectantly. She acts JUST like Gibby and has the same body build. :) Pretty fun!
Catfishing w/ daddio at the creek..... not even a bite- the creek was too high from rain.
My brother and his family raise chickens, both egg layers and meat. We got to eat some fresh chicken and brought some back to Alaska too! :)
My brother trying to teach Adam how to rope.....I believe "I'm too tall and my arms are too long" were his excuses! ;)
My college roomie, Jenny, Adam and I going for a ride. This was my first time on Ariel-- I was impressed and happy! :)
EEEEKKKKK What is that bear doing w/ the gun?!?!? Adam and my brother, Brandon, being silly!!
Had an awesome time w/ the Kucera and Harris families--- fish fry, volleyball, and a fire. Couldn't have asked for better weather or more fun! We fried the spoonbill and bass that we snagged and caught in Ottumwa the first weekend. Oh- and halibut cheeks.... yes, the cheeks of a halibut--- suppose to be the best part of the fish. and....it's.... TRUE! Halibut is awesome but the cheeks tasted like crab! :)
Adam and Teddy going for a walk.... trying to get our niece to want to ride in the backpack-- it worked! I think Teddy was sad to get out though!
And what is a trip back to the midwest without fishing for monsters?
My brother with a MASSIVE fish on the line. He played it for about 45 minutes only for it snag him into a brush pile. He actually fought this guy through a hail storm, not even joking!!
The days catch (at least the fish we were trying to catch). They tasted pretty good at the fish fry too! I actually had two of these spoonbills at one point (both bigger than all three of these combined), but they both ended up breaking my line in the current :(
My 10lb catfish!
My 22lb big head carp
This is Adam's personal best bass. It is a wiper/striper hybrid and weighed over 12 pounds! He is probably going to get a replica mount of the fish.
Me and Jeanette showing the guys how to snag.
I was trying to find a baby bunny to catch all week. Well I finally got one and it calmed down enough to let Emma pet it. She was scared at first but then couldn't leave it alone.
My brother, niece, Adam and Gunner out hunting black birds and starlings---the pests of mom's bird feeders. My niece proved to be a great shot!
Adam and his faithful hunting partner
This is Ariel....my horse's philly from 8 years ago. We sold her and got her back after Gibby passed unexpectantly. She acts JUST like Gibby and has the same body build. :) Pretty fun!
Catfishing w/ daddio at the creek..... not even a bite- the creek was too high from rain.
My brother and his family raise chickens, both egg layers and meat. We got to eat some fresh chicken and brought some back to Alaska too! :)
My brother trying to teach Adam how to rope.....I believe "I'm too tall and my arms are too long" were his excuses! ;)
My college roomie, Jenny, Adam and I going for a ride. This was my first time on Ariel-- I was impressed and happy! :)
EEEEKKKKK What is that bear doing w/ the gun?!?!? Adam and my brother, Brandon, being silly!!
Had an awesome time w/ the Kucera and Harris families--- fish fry, volleyball, and a fire. Couldn't have asked for better weather or more fun! We fried the spoonbill and bass that we snagged and caught in Ottumwa the first weekend. Oh- and halibut cheeks.... yes, the cheeks of a halibut--- suppose to be the best part of the fish. and....it's.... TRUE! Halibut is awesome but the cheeks tasted like crab! :)
Adam and Teddy going for a walk.... trying to get our niece to want to ride in the backpack-- it worked! I think Teddy was sad to get out though!And what is a trip back to the midwest without fishing for monsters?
My brother with a MASSIVE fish on the line. He played it for about 45 minutes only for it snag him into a brush pile. He actually fought this guy through a hail storm, not even joking!!
The days catch (at least the fish we were trying to catch). They tasted pretty good at the fish fry too! I actually had two of these spoonbills at one point (both bigger than all three of these combined), but they both ended up breaking my line in the current :(
My 10lb catfish!
My 22lb big head carp
This is Adam's personal best bass. It is a wiper/striper hybrid and weighed over 12 pounds! He is probably going to get a replica mount of the fish.
Me and Jeanette showing the guys how to snag.
I was trying to find a baby bunny to catch all week. Well I finally got one and it calmed down enough to let Emma pet it. She was scared at first but then couldn't leave it alone.So.... I will hopefully be posting lots more pics onto facebook soon. ....hopefully! I'm pretty far behind!
AND now for the bear hunting trip!
We hunted at a cabin near Talkeetna. The cabin, outhouse, and SAUNA were hand built by one of Adam's co-workers and her husband. Absoultely amazing place! We went out for a fun weekend trip with them, so they could show us around and give us the run-down of the cabin. 3 weeks later, Adam, Tundra, and I went out for our bear hunt.
Loading up!
Family pic! 3 weeks ago, there wasn't anything green and still snow on the ground!
The paw/claws of Adam's bear!!!
Adam's first black bear! :) :) :)
I'm so proud of him!
It measured 75" squared (this measurement is calculated by adding the front paw distance plus the nose to tail distance and dividing by 2) with a skull size just shy of 17". Meaning a bigger than average bear for the area.
So, when we arrived at the cabin on Friday, 3 of the 4 corners of the house had fresh bear claw marks (new since we were there 3 weeks ago) and the bear had torn down some of the plastic sheeting from their wood shed. So we were like......oooooooooookay..........game oooooooooon! :) That day we hiked up the mountain in search of a clear, flat area to spot some bears in. After 3 hours of hiking and only half way up the mountain... we hand't seen anything. All we found were alders, devil's club, and little green worms that fell out of some tree/bush and were all over our shoulders! The flat areas (as shown by our GPS) were thick with vegetation and no good for finding bears in.
We hunted at a cabin near Talkeetna. The cabin, outhouse, and SAUNA were hand built by one of Adam's co-workers and her husband. Absoultely amazing place! We went out for a fun weekend trip with them, so they could show us around and give us the run-down of the cabin. 3 weeks later, Adam, Tundra, and I went out for our bear hunt.
Loading up!
Family pic! 3 weeks ago, there wasn't anything green and still snow on the ground!
The paw/claws of Adam's bear!!!
Adam's first black bear! :) :) :)
I'm so proud of him!
It measured 75" squared (this measurement is calculated by adding the front paw distance plus the nose to tail distance and dividing by 2) with a skull size just shy of 17". Meaning a bigger than average bear for the area.
So, when we arrived at the cabin on Friday, 3 of the 4 corners of the house had fresh bear claw marks (new since we were there 3 weeks ago) and the bear had torn down some of the plastic sheeting from their wood shed. So we were like......oooooooooookay..........game oooooooooon! :) That day we hiked up the mountain in search of a clear, flat area to spot some bears in. After 3 hours of hiking and only half way up the mountain... we hand't seen anything. All we found were alders, devil's club, and little green worms that fell out of some tree/bush and were all over our shoulders! The flat areas (as shown by our GPS) were thick with vegetation and no good for finding bears in.
So then we decided to check out a field we spotted from the train that wasn't far from the cabin. Might as well, right?!?! Well holy moly we ran into a bear right away, I don't know who was more surprised, the bear or us! So we sat and watched awhile. Saw three bears total, a mama and her 2nd year cub plus another that I watched cross the train tracks and had an excellent shot at but had to pass to see if there were any cubs with it. NO cubs, but I wasn't sure on the size and didn't have a good shot after that. We were surprised to see another bear wonder into the same field- since there was a sow and cub on the other side. Adam was positioned at the other end and explains the situation in a video below. Keep in mind, from my position--- I saw the bear walk across the tracks and into the field about an hour after we got there.
The second day we headed out and WAAABOOOOOOM there was a nice blackie walking along the train tracks, right towards us! Again, we had to watch it for cubs and size it up. After deciding it was a go and getting into position--Adam didn't have a good shot and it disappeared into thick brush. We tried to stalk this one for awhile and barely saw it only once more before it disappeared again. So we went back to the magical field, not far away. This time, I sat at the far end, thinking the bear we had seen earlier might emerge in range of me. Adam went to the other end of the field. After about an hour and a half-- BANG, I heard his shot. I grabbed the pack and moved as quickly/quietly as I could to him. He kissed his bullet case and said "Got him!" with the biggest smile ever. We waited a little while to make sure the bullet did it's job and it was safe for us to approach. Sure enough-- a shot through the heart! It was an older female and definitely w/o cubs from the condition of her nipples....whew! Adam watched it for an hour to be sure no cubs were following but it was a relief to see the extra evidence! Adam had gone to a class on bear hunting and did A LOT of research online which meant he did a superb job of gutting, skinning, and quartering the bear. I was impressed! :) It took the rest of the day to take care of the meat and hide. We went out again that night for my chance and didn't see anything.
The 3rd day, we went out again that morning in hopes I would have something line up for me. Nada-- but we watched a little bull moose for awhile!
We feel very fortunate to have such a great first bear hunt, heck- we thought we were gonna end up with 2 by the way things were going! After all of Adam's research and asking of advice, it truly paid off! However, after the bear was down was when the hard part began. We (mostly he) have spent hours on the hide and meat. We are getting a rug made!!!! And like I said, we harvested the meat and are excited to try it. Tundra was an excellent guard dog over the weekend-- he ran out of the cabin barking once, we're pretty sure he chased off a bear as he had the same bark when he smelled my hands and saw/smelled the hide. He went NUTSO, especially when either of us would get close to it. It will be interesting to see how he reacts when it is hanging on our wall in a couple months!
turn up your volume... he couldn't talk loud for fear of giving his position away.
(more videos to be added soon)
Tundra loves my classroom pet frog, Kelso. He can be entertained for quite awhile. The smart pup figured out how to knock the top off with his nose though.....eeeeek! AND I swear that frog taunts Tundra--it's pretty funny!
Tundra and his other retriever friend, Porter. Porter is a week younger than Tundra. Quite the difference in color 'eh? They get along pretty well!
These two do NOT get along---this is the first time I caught them laying next to each other and probably the last time!
turn up your volume... he couldn't talk loud for fear of giving his position away.
(more videos to be added soon)
** These were moved to the end of the blog entry by Adam... who keeps telling Danielle that not everyone is as obsessed with the dog as she is!**
But first--- a few Tundra pics! ;) Just for Adam and Daddio
But first--- a few Tundra pics! ;) Just for Adam and Daddio
Tundra loves my classroom pet frog, Kelso. He can be entertained for quite awhile. The smart pup figured out how to knock the top off with his nose though.....eeeeek! AND I swear that frog taunts Tundra--it's pretty funny!
Tundra and his other retriever friend, Porter. Porter is a week younger than Tundra. Quite the difference in color 'eh? They get along pretty well!
These two do NOT get along---this is the first time I caught them laying next to each other and probably the last time!
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