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A last minute move found my daughter, Renee, and I in a new location at the start of hunting season for the second year in a row. With winter setting in up here on the North Slope and my snow machine and cold weather clothing stuck in shipping limbo I began to worry that we wouldn’t get out to hunt this Fall. Worst of all we were just about out of meat. I decided to see if I might be able to put together a last minute Sitka Blacktail on Prince of Wales Island. My first call was to Thorne Bay Lodge and I found that they had an opening for mid November which is right at the peak of the rut. Thorne Bay Lodge offers comfortable accommodations and furnishes hunters with a 4 wheel drive truck to access the island’s road system. The hunts are unguided so Renee and I would get in a lot of quality father/daughter bonding time. I booked the hunt and arranged travel. Renee is only ten years old but she is my hunting partner in just about every hunt I make. Because of the realities of hunting where we live in the Arctic, Renee did not get to hunt with me last Winter so she and I were both looking forward to this trip. This was to be a meat hunt and with a bag limit of four bucks I planned to take any mature buck that presented itself. After a rough 24 hours of travel to get to POW island we were picked up at the ferry and driven to the lodge. The weather was decent all week, but decent on the island means that the rain is only falling in one direction! We spent a lot of time in the rain and wind but Renee was a trooper through it all. On day two we got a nice meat buck. We ate heart and tenderloins for dinner and our spirits were high. The following day things slowed down. The island is so thick that if the deer are’t moving you simply won’t see them. And due to a pre rut lull the deer just weren’t moving. Over the course of the week I missed three decent opportunities at deer that I would have liked to have put in the freezer. On our second to last day our luck changed and a rut crazed buck jumped into an opening and took too long deciding if he wanted to fight us or head to the hills. I was able to get off a shot as Renee exclaimed, “buck dad! BIG BUCK!!!” She was right! Even though we were only looking for meat, we got a deer that had a beautiful rack. We couldn’t have been happier! This guy was a fighter. His cape was a mess with fresh wounds and old scars.  Prince of Wales Island is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. When we were hunting on our last day Renee said, “I’m going to miss this place...” I knew just what she meant. We had one heck of a good time. All told we left with 130 pounds of meat which will get us through the winter. Now that my snow machine has arrived I can go chase the local caribou, but there is no pressure so I will pick the days with favorable weather. I might even take Renee along.... Jason "You're not hard-core, unless you live hard-core." _______________________ Hunting in Africa is an adventure. The number of variables involved preclude the possibility of a perfect hunt. Some problems will arise. How you decide to handle them will determine how much you enjoy your hunt. Just tell yourself, "it's all part of the adventure." Remember, if Robert Ruark had gotten upset every time problems with Harry Selby's flat bed truck delayed the safari, Horn of the Hunter would have read like an indictment of Selby. But Ruark rolled with the punches, poured some gin, and enjoyed the adventure. -Jason Brown | ||
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Congrats - great buck and wonderful time spent with your daughter. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Beautiful buck, congrats! POW is on my bucket list! | |||
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Glad to see your little girl is enjoying the hunt. You're a cool dad! ~Ann   | |||
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Congrats to you and your pard!!!  | |||
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Enjoyed the post JB. Many more ahead. Very nice trophy buck. Was that a fly-in Lodge? Thanks. CB Life itself is a gift. Live it up if you can. | |||
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Nice hunt. Looks like it’s time to give her a rifle of her own. All We Know Is All We Are | |||
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Outstanding! Precious memories for sure. Ski+3 Whitefish, MT | |||
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Well done! | |||
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Really nice, glad for you, and proud of your daughter. Great times! | |||
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Excellent! | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting Prince of Wales Island blacktail hunt
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