Live Hunt

Beach Blacktail on Afognak Island

Alex Robinson — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:11:58 -0500

With only one day left on my December hunt in Afognak, the weather finally turned in our favor and that night the snow began to fall. When it snows on Afognak, the deer hunting is incredible. Because their food in the forest gets iced over, many of the deer make their way down to the beaches to feed on kelp. Even though it only snowed a couple inches, we went out the next morning with high hopes knowing there would be a lot of bucks about.

Once the deer settle on the beach, some sort of strange mental disconnect occurs. The bigger bucks are still fairly spooky, but as you can see in the video, many deer flat out ignore hunters. Does and fawns will let you walk right up to them on the beach, but in timber they spook with the snap of a branch.

Still Hunt When the Weather Gets Nasty

Alex Robinson — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:30:45 -0500

After ending his December Afognak blacktail deer hunt on a beautiful day, my new hunting buddy Frank was lucky to get out of camp just before the storm hit. Trading spots with him was Wayne Farnsworth, and even though the weather was turning fast, we took it in stride. The north end of Afognak is covered in big timber, looking much like coastal Washington or Oregon. When the weather gets bad, the deer head for the thick forest, and hunting can still be good if you get in there after them.

Wayne came to finish his Super Slam (taking every big-game animal in North America), and wanted to do it with a bow. So that afternoon we started pushing peninsulas and choke points, hoping to nudge a buck within bow range for Wayne.

Hunting In Brown Bear Country: How Not to Get Mauled

Alex Robinson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:36:39 -0500

In my last post I wrote about what sort of calibers are sufficient for brown bear hunting. In this post I'll give you some tips on how to avoid getting mauled while hunting among these critters. Here's the story behind my latest bear run-in, which came about last month while I was deer hunting Afognak Island.

The Right Caliber for Brown Bears

Alex Robinson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:35:46 -0500

I’ve heard a lot of opinions on what it takes to kill a brown bear, and most of the cartridges I hear guys talking about would dislocate my shoulder.

During my week at Afognak Wilderness Lodge, I had plenty of time to talk about all kinds of stuff like that with guide Luke Randall. And if anyone knows what kind of firepower is necessary to kill a brown bear, it's Luke.

Live Hunt: Return to Afognak Island

OL Editor — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:07:26 -0500

Upon stepping onto the dock at Afognak Wilderness Lodge last month, I was presented with quite a problem. “Do you wanna go fishing and maybe shoot a deer, or do you want to go shoot some ducks, or do you want to set some traps?”

This was a problem I could live with. My first attempt to go to Afognak earlier this year was shut down by a huge snowstorm, so I was chomping at the bit by the time I got there.

An Honest Look at the Wolf: What the Nature Shows Don't Tell You

Alex Robinson — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:47:02 -0500

For most people, all they know about wolves is what they see on TV. They learn that wolves are majestic, dominant predators with unmatched intelligence in their domain (which is true). Unfortunately they are also told that wolves are compassionate to one another, they kill only to survive, and they kill only weak and sick animals. They’re also told wolves never attack humans.

It churns my stomach every time I see one of these shows because I can see that it portrays wolves from a specific angle and doesn’t tell the whole story. By spending days on end in the bush, hunting and trapping, I’ve seen both sides of the wolf. So, here are a few hard truths that you won’t get from a nature show.

Trapping Alaska: First Wolf of the Season

Alex Robinson — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:44:20 -0500

Well, in the last post where I was getting my wolf traps set in preparation for a pack that has been using my trail, I said I would keep you updated. I just didn’t realize things would happen this quickly.

As I rode my snowmachine up my trapline last week, I was very excited when I saw the narrow band of wolf tracks, a telltale sign of a pack walking single file. As I closed the next half-mile to where my traps were set, my stomach churned and mind raced.

By the time I actually got close to my traps, my heart was pounding but my excitement turned to sickness as I saw a wolf had stepped on the jaw of one of my blind sets, one inch from hitting the pan.

Strike one.

Live Hunt: How to Trap a Wolf in Alaska

Alex Robinson — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:33:13 -0500

I’ve been trapping hard in Alaska for the last several years, focusing mostly on marten. I’ve done very well on marten each year, but not much else. This year, my goal is to take a wolf.

I’ve always had wolves come through occasionally, but this year the 40-mile caribou herd is a lot closer, and I have a pack of wolves running my trail every few weeks. They’ve marked my trail as part of their territory and second to finding a moose that they’ve killed, this is one of the best ways to catch them.

Why Every Outdoorsman Should Support Trapping

Alex Robinson — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:17:01 -0500

Why a Midwestern whitetail deer hunter or a Southern bass fisherman should give a hoot about the fate of trapping is probably lost on most people, but it is more important than most of us realize.

For some time trapping has been the black sheep of the outdoor community. Less people are trapping. Yet while trappers are becoming more and more of a minority, the future of hunting and fishing might well depend on them.

It is no big secret that there are a lot of anti-hunting people and organizations that are devoted to ending our way of life. And they spend a lot of money to do so. They are constantly on the attack and trappers are the first group they go after. Trappers are the outdoorsman’s first line of defense. Trapping can be a controversial subject for some, and with the ever more urbanized mentality in society, it is often portrayed as inhumane or unfair. I’ll spare you 10,000 words of arguments on the sound ethics of trapping, but I will say that most trappers I know are also avid hunters and fishermen.

Woodsmanship Basics: 10 Things Technology Won't Do For You

Alex Robinson — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:47:16 -0500

The argument between“tech” and “savvy” in the woodsmanship department seems to be come up more and more every year. It inevitably turns into an “old dog/young dog” argument and for the most part, I feel each side has some good points to be made.

Now I would agree that a lot of young guys depend on a GPS way too much, but I know just as many “old hand” 40 or 50 year olds who can’t navigate worth a damn either. Blood trailing seems to be another skill that isn’t being learned or taught as much as it should, but it’s hard to learn how to blood trail if you hardly ever shoot anything, so we can’t really blame that one on the younger generation either.

So after spending three days in a blind with a long time friend who happens to be 64 years old, we came up with list of skills that are essential to the backcountry hunter, young and old.