Sunday, September 5, 2021

 Sunday, September 5, 2021

What a great day! The first sleep of camp was a little chilly, but I kept relatively warm with my long underwear, thick socks, t-shirt, sweatshirt and stocking cap.  Last night Ryan and Ryan didn’t come back to camp. They were going out to do the five mile hike so they could use a gun, but they didn’t return. Everyone was a little worried because they didn’t take proper gear to stay warm. They didn’t take a tent, or food, or the proper boots.  The only thing they had was a space blanket. 

Jeff made breakfast of eggs,  bacon, pancakes and sausage and we were enjoying our meal when the Ryan’s came back to camp.  Ryan Dunbar had gotten a caribou, but they couldn’t finish the trek out last night and ended up “sleeping” outside.  They used what very little kindling leaves and twigs they could find in the wet tundra to stay semi warm.  Needless to say, they were exhausted when they returned to camp.  

After a bit of talking with them and hearing their story Jeff, Taunie, Dad and I headed out to look for ptarmigan and to go fishing. We headed north toward Prudhoe Bay. Along the way we say many caribou in the distance, but could not find any ptarmigan—they sure camouflaged well. Taunie saw a white bird flying as we were driving, and sure enough, they were ptarmigan.  So our hunt for ptarmigan began. 

The ground of the tundra is mushy and has little bush like plants all over. We spotted them near the service road which was probably 50 yards away.  We started as a group of four but quickly split into two and two.  In practicing, I knew I could do up to 29 yards,  it nothing further than that.  At one point when we were walking through some thicker brush I would have had a shot, however I had tripped and fallen and was now facing the wrong direction in the brush.  

These ptarmigan were so easily spooked. We could not get within 60 yards of them.  We followed them for a few hundred yards back and forth over the service road, but could not get within range.  I couldn’t figure out my range finder and was getting frustrated.  As we decided to finish up Dad and I started walking back toward the truck which was parked on the side of the highway. We got relatively close to some ptarmigan that we didn’t see and spooked them. They flew about 50 yards and sat again.  We got about 36 yards away and I attempted a shot (remember I can’t shoot over 29) and missed. Dad then took his turn and hit the ptarmigan. 

After we returned to the truck we headed again toward Prudhoe Bay seeing all sorts of ducks, geese and caribou along the way.  The town of Deadhorse is incredibly industrial. There are only dorm type style housing for the workers who come two weeks on, two weeks off.  There is a little Deadhorse sign that we stopped by with a convenience store. I got a couple stickers, but their selection on tshirts were slim.  After that we filled up with gas and headed back south. 

As we were heading south we saw a muskox and her baby.  Taunie and I stopped and got out to get a closer look.  Muskox can be aggressive and we knew not to get too close.  As we approached the mama stood up and looked at us.  Taunie kindly talked to her to say we just wanted a picture and then would be on our way.  She shook, nestled her baby and laid back down.  

Fishing and to get water was our next stop. We pulled off the highway and walked to the Sag River.  The area we were fishing had an eddy; this is where the water backflows to fill a back area. So the water back fills into a pocket area and the fish hang out in the pocket because they don’t have to fight the speed of the current. They wait for food to come down the current, jet out and grab it, then return to the calmer waters. It looks neat because it looks like the water is traveling in opposite directions right next to each other.  We stood out on the big rocks to fish.  Jeff filled up the water and Dad got a fish on his first cast.  We spent about two hours fishing.  Taunie and I didn’t catch any,  but we sure had fun.  We would move up the river and try different spots.  At one spot, Dad had the couple fish that he and Jeff had caught on the stringer.  When we went to move the stringer and big fish was coming up and about to eat our fish.  We had no idea what it was!Taunie spotted wolf prints in the mud and we continued to cast and reel in.  The catch of the day was done by Dad.  He caught an Arctic Char.  The others were all greyling.  We would be eating well night.  6 total fish were caught.  As we left we saw all sorts of fresh footprints, birds, geese, ducks, caribou and wolf.  It was a popular area.

We then headed back toward camp.  It was starting to mist and rain.  When we got back we huddled around the fire while Jeff and Dad cleaned the ptarmigan and fish.  Jeff put the fish in aluminum foil with pineapple and potatoes on the fire.  

While dinner was cooking a truck pulled up.  We thought it was someone to look at Ryan’s caribou, but it was two guys asking if they could camp up a bit from us.  We enjoyed dinner in the tent because it was raining. Dinner was Arctic char, grayling, beans and mashed potatoes. It was really good. I liked the Arctic char more than they greyling. We then invited our new friends down for our left over fish.  

Sam and Seth are very nice.  Sam is a taxidermist from South Dakota and Seth is a veteran who now lives in Fairbanks.  We had a great time talking with them. Everyone, minus me, was swapping hunting stories,  but I thoroughly enjoyed just sitting and listening, sipping on my cold red wine.  They enjoyed cigars, which got a little stinky and smoky in the tent, but it was all fun.

We went to bed at about midnight to get some rest for tomorrow! Tomorrow we do kore ptarmigan hunting, fishing and our tour of the Arctic Ocean! I may jump in—we’ll see!