Return to Afognak

Meg flies to Kodiak tomorrow to see old friends over the weekend. In fact, she'll be spending time at a lodge on Afognak Island's Seal Bay. The bay faces the Alaska Current and may offer good beachcombing opportunities. This is her second time to Afognak after a summer trip in '09. I am excited for her to get out and see more of the island. In the meantime, here are a few shots from last month's elk hunt. Hopefully Meg will have pics to share when she gets back.

The Columbia anchored in Paramanof Bay

Patrick and the Shelikof Strait

Ray glassing for a herd

There is a rotting elk head in my raised garden bed. As I write this, I realize that such a pronouncement might not raise any eyebrows here in our adopted State. Bruce carried the massive head, trailing tendons and furry flesh, out of the mountains of Afognak—a hard won trophy.

The head has assumed quite a presence in our lives. We take people out into the garden to see it, and they remark on it – its size and smell. Surprisingly dark antlers erupting from the bed’s weedy soil. Everyone is politely interested. They ask Bruce to uncover it, so they can see the skull, which is now brown and stained with earth. Bruce tells his stories and everyone pays their respects.

I worked in the garden this weekend, digging up giant roots and ripping out stubborn raspberries. I worry that each of these recent beautiful weekends will be the last of the fall. Turning over the soil I wonder how old it is, and who brought it to the garden. The head reeks. Its odor mixes with the smell of a crock pot roast from someplace nearby. I think about the head, and develop allegories for it, what it symbolizes in my life, our life.

A friend who visited with the head last weekend writes this morning, telling Bruce that he can buy brain-eating worms from a taxidermist.

Pack animal

Take lots of rest breaks

Aim for high tide at pickup

Hang meat to allow for air circulation

Last night we hosted half a dozen friends for dinner to enjoy some of last week's elk harvest. Master hunter Patrick, who was in town for a conference, even stopped by to help Meg with the roast and joined us for dinner. It was quite remarkable to see our quarry feeding so many people and it got me thinking about all the energy required to bring the delicious roast to the table. On Afognak after successfully downing the animal the real work soon began processing and packing out the pieces. For instance, it took three of us about three hours to process, pack up, and hang the remaining parts in a nearby tree (the animal was too heavy to carry out in one trip). With each of us carrying well over 100 lbs. our progress was slow and we decided to camp at the valley floor. We encountered a sow brown bear earlier on the hike and were a bit anxious about having to keep so much game in camp. Normally, an electric fence would be used to protect us from any opportunistic bruins. However, our fence was wrapped around the remaining meat near the kill site. After an uneventful night we set out to the bay to rendezvous with the fishing boat that served as our base camp. For five hours we bushwhacked our way to the bay, following game trails and an old logging road voraciously overgrown by alders. We arrived to find the water at high tide - perfect for an easy pickup via fishing skiff. Once on board we were happy to unload our packs and enjoy a cold beer. Yet we knew that a full day of hiking awaited us the next day as we had to return to the kill site to pack out the rest of the quarry.

Afognak elk hunt: success

Last week I was lucky enough to join a group of veteran hunters for a week-long hunting trip (watch) on Afognak Island. Located north of Kodiak, Afognak Island is remote and relatively wild - a logging camp is its lone settlement. Unlike other hunters, who fly in on a float plane and hunt near larger lakes on the island, we traveled to the island on a 50' commercial fishing boat. The boat allows us to explore several different areas during the trip. We pack enough gear to camp for three days and get dropped off on shore, striking out on land to scope hillsides and valleys for groups of roosevelt elk that live on the island. And when not hunting, we try our luck fishing for halibut and cod.

While hunting we found a group of about 25 elk on the morning of our second day. We approached the herd from a peak above as the animals grazed near a lake. I was able to get within 100 yards of the herd when a large bull singled himself out from the rest of the group. Luckily, my rifle shot true and we soon had a large animal to process and carry five miles back to the boat. More pictures and descriptions of the hunt coming soon.