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Hiking, Hunting, Fishing & Foraging

Glitch

DP Veteran
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
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Location
Alaska (61.5°N, -149°W)
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Conservative
I am somewhat surprised that there was no thread for hiking, hunting, fishing, and foraging. They can be considered "Leisure Activities," right? I mean what better way to relax and enjoy the morning than down by the river, fishing for salmon, as the ice-cold waters meet the warm air and begins to steam? I do not spend much time bowling, playing golf, or other forms of leisure activities. I relax and enjoy myself when I'm either hiking, hunting, fishing, or foraging. For me, these are my leisure activities. Surely there are other avid hikers, fisherman, hunters, and forgarers like myself.

This thread is not intended to have anything to do with politics. The sole purpose of this thread is to share hiking, hunting, fishing, and foraging experiences. Maybe learn something, and generally have a good time.

I'll begin...

---------------------------

A little about myself. I'm currently 65 years old and have lived the last 28 years in Alaska. I was born in southern California, and mostly raised there, but I also lived in Minnesota and Nebraska. My father started taking me fishing and hunting when I was 8 years old in Saugus, CA. He bought me my first 12-gauge shotgun on my 10th birthday. I've hunted all over southern California, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and of course Alaska. I have fished in California, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Alaska.

When turning 60 Alaskan residents are entitled to a free hunting and fishing license, for the rest of their lives. Which I have been putting to good use. It varies every season, of course, but I try to catch and process at least 250 pounds of salmon by the first week of August. This season was particularly good. I don't always get a caribou or moose each season. Particularly moose. I need an off-road big-rig to haul them out of the woods whole, because it takes too long to field dress and haul them out a piece at a time.

In Alaska you are prohibited from protecting your game from wolves or other predators, so you need to be fast. It isn't like the lower-48 were you can haul one quarter of your deer out of the field at a time, not having to worry about other predators taking what you temporarily left behind. If you have not dressed and started to haul your meat out of the field within an hour after you started cleaning the critter, you can expect to have company. Some people go to the extreme of using peanut oil instead of bar oil in their chainsaw so they can cut up the game quicker. I prefer to take my time and do it right.

I don't live in a city, town, or village. The closest town to where I live, with a population of ~7,500, is Wasilla about 8 miles down the road. I spend a lot of time hiking around the Palmer Hay-flats, which is a salt-water marsh/estuary next to Knik Arm. It is a great source for sea lovage, chickweed, and other beach greens, but only in the Spring. You want to get them young before they bloom, like Devils Club, Fireweed or Fiddlehead ferns. If you wait too long they become bitter, woody, or otherwise inedible. The best time is early May in south central Alaska.

Hatcher Pass, just east of Wasilla, is my source in the Talkeetna mountains for raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and cranberries in the fall. They are usually best around the middle of September, just before the "termination dust" sprinkles the mountain peaks. Watch out for those bears though. We're competing for the same food.

One of the strangest sights I had ever seen, thus far, was a pod of Beluga whales swimming up the Kenai River in pursuit of salmon. I was fishing two-miles inland from the estuary when they swam past me. You don't see whales swimming up rivers every day.

---------------------------

Tell us about your latest adventure into the wild. What kind of round and/or bait did you use? Was there anything unusual about the trail you hiked? Did you have any unusual encounters? What kind of local herbs and wild vegetables can you harvest this time of year? How do you prepare your catch/game? Do you have any favorite game/fish recipes?
 
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Trout fishing at Silver Creek outside of ShowLow, AZ. It's usually enough to drop a midge off a hopper and haul 'em in. The stream is C&R only over the winter but a average Rainbow is 20".

Dove hunting pretty much anywhere outside of town but it's just too damned hot for that right now.
 
Trout fishing at Silver Creek outside of ShowLow, AZ. It's usually enough to drop a midge off a hopper and haul 'em in. The stream is C&R only over the winter but a average Rainbow is 20".

Dove hunting pretty much anywhere outside of town but it's just too damned hot for that right now.

I never learned how to fly-fish. It is the perfect form of fishing, in my opinion. No technology, just a well-crafted lure and the right touch and feel. Fly-fishing is very popular for trout and grayling in Alaska, not salmon though.

We had a problem with our Rainbow/Steelhead trout runs for a few years. Some idiot had illegally released northern pike into one of the lakes and they got into the rivers and started eating all the trout fry. For several years trout fishing in south central Alaska was strictly catch-and-release. Personally, I prefer the catch-and-keep kind of rivers. I don't mind fishing and not catching anything, but when I do catch something I would like to eat it instead of releasing it.

I did a lot of dove hunting in southern California and Nebraska. Although, it tended to be more pheasant and quail than doves in Nebraska.

I use to be able to handle your kind of heat when I lived in Palmdale, CA, but after 28 years in Alaska I would die without air-conditioning in Arizona. I find anything above 80°F to be uncomfortably hot.
 
I never learned how to fly-fish. It is the perfect form of fishing, in my opinion. No technology, just a well-crafted lure and the right touch and feel. Fly-fishing is very popular for trout and grayling in Alaska, not salmon though.

We had a problem with our Rainbow/Steelhead trout runs for a few years. Some idiot had illegally released northern pike into one of the lakes and they got into the rivers and started eating all the trout fry. For several years trout fishing in south central Alaska was strictly catch-and-release. Personally, I prefer the catch-and-keep kind of rivers. I don't mind fishing and not catching anything, but when I do catch something I would like to eat it instead of releasing it.

I did a lot of dove hunting in southern California and Nebraska. Although, it tended to be more pheasant and quail than doves in Nebraska.

I use to be able to handle your kind of heat when I lived in Palmdale, CA, but after 28 years in Alaska I would die without air-conditioning in Arizona. I find anything above 80°F to be uncomfortably hot.

Oh, I've got plenty of air conditioning but just not standing in a field at sunrise. This morning wasn't really too bad. It was maybe mid 70s at 6am when I went for my walk but by 8 it was pushing 100. Dove hunting tends to be a 90 minute drive, half an hour to bad a few birds and 90 minutes back. I really don't hunt much any more as it's way too much work for the meat I get to keep. The fishing, however, works just fine and there are a few lakes not far from the creek I mentioned that usually produce pretty well. The difference is that pulling a 2 pounder out of Big Lake is like finding a unicorn whereas it's common at the creek.
 
I like hiking, usually I walk under 25 miles / day in Lapland.

Landscape is like:

IMG_0697_p.jpg
IMG_0705_p.jpg

73% of ground area is covered by trees in Finland, but I like to hike where I can't see any of them. So I have to go higher and I end up walking in places without any trails, just lot of rocks and small lakes. If you like trees there's lot of them too in Lapland, just stay lower.. but you need even better orienteering skills when you're middle of those huge forests. I'm not good at orienteering, so for me it's lot safer stay on higher ground.

Edit: it depends on who's with me how long I walk in a day, but I like long walks (25 miles is long for me in that area).
 
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I like hiking, usually I walk under 25 miles / day in Lapland.

Landscape is like:



73% of ground area is covered by trees in Finland, but I like to hike where I can't see any of them. So I have to go higher and I end up walking in places without any trails, just lot of rocks and small lakes. If you like trees there's lot of them too in Lapland, just stay lower.. but you need even better orienteering skills when you're middle of those huge forests. I'm not good at orienteering, so for me it's lot safer stay on higher ground.

You walk 25 miles in a day? That's pretty substantial!

Hiking in thick forest is, for me, more a function of terrain association rather than strict orienteering. I find I have MUCH better luck tracking ridgelines and streams than I do trying to figure out whether I've walked 1/4 mi SSE or not.
 
I like hiking, usually I walk under 25 miles / day in Lapland.

Landscape is like:

73% of ground area is covered by trees in Finland, but I like to hike where I can't see any of them. So I have to go higher and I end up walking in places without any trails, just lot of rocks and small lakes. If you like trees there's lot of them too in Lapland, just stay lower.. but you need even better orienteering skills when you're middle of those huge forests. I'm not good at orienteering, so for me it's lot safer stay on higher ground.

Wow! That looks very similar to Hatcher Pass in Alaska.

Hatch Pass.jpg

The tree-line is about ~5,000 feet (1,500 meters) where I live. Further north it thins out even more, and just south of the Brooks Range the trees stop altogether.

Finland and Alaska have history together that goes back to 1892. We began importing reindeer into Alaska (which are not native to North America) from Siberia at the beginning of the 20th century, and hired Laplanders from Finland to train the Alaskan Natives how to manage their herds. To this day they are a good source of income for the natives, and a delicious treat for breakfast.

It is very easy to get turned around in forests. I've gotten lost several times, even with a GPS. Also, when you are that far north the normal rules don't apply. Moss tends to grow on all sides of the tree (when there are trees) not just the north side. In the Summer the sun never really sets in June, July, or August, so you can't orient yourself by the sun. Also using a magnet compass can be off by several degrees due to magnet north being almost due west in your case, or due east in my case.
 
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You walk 25 miles in a day? That's pretty substantial!

Hiking in thick forest is, for me, more a function of terrain association rather than strict orienteering. I find I have MUCH better luck tracking ridgelines and streams than I do trying to figure out whether I've walked 1/4 mi SSE or not.

I agree. It is very difficult to orient yourself in a dense forest, even with a GPS. Primarily because your visibility is reduced. All you can see in the direction you want to go is another tree a few yards away. So you fixate on that tree, move towards it, then find the next landmark. Only problem is that you have approached that tree from a slightly different angle that you originally started, so now you no longer oriented in the direction you want to go. If I'm not particularly careful in dense forests, I will find myself hiking in a large spiral, and it is always in a clockwise direction for some reason.
 
You walk 25 miles in a day? That's pretty substantial!

It takes all day with multiple stop's, you need to eat a lot.. it's really fun and relaxing. My longest trip so far is 13 nights, and it's kinda max, because I can't carry much more food (dry) with me. Water is amazing, much better than tap water (tap water is safe everywhere in Finland, but taste is not like it is in those lakes/streams).

water.jpg
 
I agree. It is very difficult to orient yourself in a dense forest, even with a GPS. Primarily because your visibility is reduced. All you can see in the direction you want to go is another tree a few yards away. So you fixate on that tree, move towards it, then find the next landmark. Only problem is that you have approached that tree from a slightly different angle that you originally started, so now you no longer oriented in the direction you want to go. If I'm not particularly careful in dense forests, I will find myself hiking in a large spiral, and it is always in a clockwise direction for some reason.

If I'm going to be in a forested area I haven't visited before I'll try to get topographical maps and study them as much as possible before I go. Most of that study goes to hell as soon as I get into the woods but as long as I have an idea of where the streams, lakes and logging roads are I can usually manage.
 
It takes all day with multiple stop's, you need to eat a lot.. it's really fun and relaxing. My longest trip so far is 13 nights, and it's kinda max, because I can't carry much more food (dry) with me. Water is amazing, much better than tap water (tap water is safe everywhere in Finland, but taste is not like it is in those lakes/streams).

View attachment 67262775

That's pretty spectacular! I'd hike 25 mi to see it.
 
Oh, I've got plenty of air conditioning but just not standing in a field at sunrise. This morning wasn't really too bad. It was maybe mid 70s at 6am when I went for my walk but by 8 it was pushing 100. Dove hunting tends to be a 90 minute drive, half an hour to bad a few birds and 90 minutes back. I really don't hunt much any more as it's way too much work for the meat I get to keep. The fishing, however, works just fine and there are a few lakes not far from the creek I mentioned that usually produce pretty well. The difference is that pulling a 2 pounder out of Big Lake is like finding a unicorn whereas it's common at the creek.

It was in the mid-40s this morning in Alaska. In about 3 weeks time we will have the same length of day, but currently our days in Alaska are slightly longer than what you experience in Arizona. The leaves are just starting to turn. Autumn is definitely the prettiest time of the year in Alaska.

I hunt spruce grouse and ptarmigan in the Winter, primarily to get out of the house. Ptarmigan are about the same size as doves. I need two ptarmigan to make a meal, whereas I only need one grouse. I don't ski or do other Winter sports, so my only excuse for getting outside during the Winter is to either hike or hunt. I use to do a lot of ice-fishing in the Winter in Minnesota, but not so much here in Alaska. My fishing experiences in the lower-48 were primarily with ponds and lakes. My fishing experiences in Alaska have been primarily with rivers and the ocean. I had to completely relearn how to fish after moving to Alaska.

You've got some nice big game in Arizona, but I agree it is a lot of work. Taking the shot and spending an hour field dressing your kill is the easy part. Then you have to spend the next two to three weeks breaking down the carcass and preparing the different cuts. Moose pastrami is fantastic, far superior to beef in my opinion, but a lot of hard work goes into making it.
 
If I'm going to be in a forested area I haven't visited before I'll try to get topographical maps and study them as much as possible before I go. Most of that study goes to hell as soon as I get into the woods but as long as I have an idea of where the streams, lakes and logging roads are I can usually manage.

Topo maps do give you an idea of the terrain. Unfortunately, they say nothing about the vegetation. We wait until Winter to do any serious off-road traveling. If you want to bring materials to a site in the wilderness to build a cabin, then Winter is the time to move those materials. Even on perfectly flat terrain it could take you all day just to travel 5 miles in July or August when the vegetation is at its thickest. When you have 20+ hours of sunlight in the Summer, it tends to make the plants grow very quickly.
 
It takes all day with multiple stop's, you need to eat a lot.. it's really fun and relaxing. My longest trip so far is 13 nights, and it's kinda max, because I can't carry much more food (dry) with me. Water is amazing, much better than tap water (tap water is safe everywhere in Finland, but taste is not like it is in those lakes/streams).

View attachment 67262775

You must have a lot of Sisu to hike for so long. Ever run into old Russian equipment up there?
 
It takes all day with multiple stop's, you need to eat a lot.. it's really fun and relaxing. My longest trip so far is 13 nights, and it's kinda max, because I can't carry much more food (dry) with me. Water is amazing, much better than tap water (tap water is safe everywhere in Finland, but taste is not like it is in those lakes/streams).

View attachment 67262775

See! I'm not the only one who thinks hiking is a leisure activity. It is a great way to relieve stress.

I'm pretty old school when I hike. I haven't bought any of those hydration packs they've been selling. The backpack I use is an external frame that I bought in 1976. I just carry around a water filter and filter the water as I need it. Unlike places like Arizona, Alaska has no shortage of water. I can typically find a snow-fed waterfall somewhere within few hundred yards from where I'm located. I carry a couple of quarts of water and that is all.

I can't say I'm a big fan of the dehydrated foods either. I buy my food for hiking/camping in the grocery store. American cured bacon, for example, will last for ~30 days without refrigeration and opened. I do buy pasta and rice for camping, and they could be considered "dehydrated foods." However, I also carry an AR7 that I use to supplement the food I bought. The AR7 is lightweight (it even floats) and compact, the perfect backpack firearm. If I'm going to be flying in, then I always bring along the AR7 (along with other firearms). Because you may not get picked up when scheduled. Weather could cause them a two or three day delay getting to you, and you need to be prepared with extra food, just in case.
 
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You must have a lot of Sisu to hike for so long. Ever run into old Russian equipment up there?

Of course I have lot of Sisu, finnish normalcy :) Nope, but I've seen some (mostly ruins) what German's left behind when they retreated from Lapland.
 
Fall is the best time of the year to hunt mushrooms, in my opinion. Mushrooms pop-up beginning in Spring and early Summer, but many of those early sprouting mushrooms are not particularly good. For example, we have what is called an "Early False Morel" (Verpa bohemica) that can cause an upset stomach and it typically shows up in Spring or early Summer. Compared to the "Grey Fire Morel" (Morchella tomentosa) which is prized in Alaska. The best time to go morel hunting is in the fall, the year after a fire. This year we had just over 2.5 million acres burn, so the Fall of 2020 should be an excellent year for morels.

One of the better tasting fungi that I have found in Alaska are "Chicken-Of-The-Woods" (Laetiporus sulphureus). When sauteed in butter it has a taste similar to Dungeness or Snow crab. We also have some beautiful chanterelle (Cantharellus formosus) mushrooms, and they claim that black truffles (Tuber melanosporum) can also be found in Alaska, but I have yet to find any.
 
I want to go to hunting but I've not bought some special tools for that
 
I've decided to take new scope but still can't choose
 
I am somewhat surprised that there was no thread for hiking, hunting, fishing, and foraging. They can be considered "Leisure Activities," right? I mean what better way to relax and enjoy the morning than down by the river, fishing for salmon, as the ice-cold waters meet the warm air and begins to steam? I do not spend much time bowling, playing golf, or other forms of leisure activities. I relax and enjoy myself when I'm either hiking, hunting, fishing, or foraging. For me, these are my leisure activities. Surely there are other avid hikers, fisherman, hunters, and forgarers like myself.

This thread is not intended to have anything to do with politics. The sole purpose of this thread is to share hiking, hunting, fishing, and foraging experiences. Maybe learn something, and generally have a good time.

I'll begin...

---------------------------

A little about myself. I'm currently 65 years old and have lived the last 28 years in Alaska. I was born in southern California, and mostly raised there, but I also lived in Minnesota and Nebraska. My father started taking me fishing and hunting when I was 8 years old in Saugus, CA. He bought me my first 12-gauge shotgun on my 10th birthday. I've hunted all over southern California, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and of course Alaska. I have fished in California, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Alaska.

When turning 60 Alaskan residents are entitled to a free hunting and fishing license, for the rest of their lives. Which I have been putting to good use. It varies every season, of course, but I try to catch and process at least 250 pounds of salmon by the first week of August. This season was particularly good. I don't always get a caribou or moose each season. Particularly moose. I need an off-road big-rig to haul them out of the woods whole, because it takes too long to field dress and haul them out a piece at a time.

In Alaska you are prohibited from protecting your game from wolves or other predators, so you need to be fast. It isn't like the lower-48 were you can haul one quarter of your deer out of the field at a time, not having to worry about other predators taking what you temporarily left behind. If you have not dressed and started to haul your meat out of the field within an hour after you started cleaning the critter, you can expect to have company. Some people go to the extreme of using peanut oil instead of bar oil in their chainsaw so they can cut up the game quicker. I prefer to take my time and do it right.

I don't live in a city, town, or village. The closest town to where I live, with a population of ~7,500, is Wasilla about 8 miles down the road. I spend a lot of time hiking around the Palmer Hay-flats, which is a salt-water marsh/estuary next to Knik Arm. It is a great source for sea lovage, chickweed, and other beach greens, but only in the Spring. You want to get them young before they bloom, like Devils Club, Fireweed or Fiddlehead ferns. If you wait too long they become bitter, woody, or otherwise inedible. The best time is early May in south central Alaska.

Hatcher Pass, just east of Wasilla, is my source in the Talkeetna mountains for raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and cranberries in the fall. They are usually best around the middle of September, just before the "termination dust" sprinkles the mountain peaks. Watch out for those bears though. We're competing for the same food.

One of the strangest sights I had ever seen, thus far, was a pod of Beluga whales swimming up the Kenai River in pursuit of salmon. I was fishing two-miles inland from the estuary when they swam past me. You don't see whales swimming up rivers every day.

---------------------------

Tell us about your latest adventure into the wild. What kind of round and/or bait did you use? Was there anything unusual about the trail you hiked? Did you have any unusual encounters? What kind of local herbs and wild vegetables can you harvest this time of year? How do you prepare your catch/game? Do you have any favorite game/fish recipes?


You left out trapping...
 
You need to determine what you want to hunt, and where, before buying what you need.
It's wild boar. It's my first hunt on this animal and I've checked a lot of reviews and advices how to do it correctly. I have AR-15 Riffle, good enough and I've already decided to take a scope for my gun. Still choosing and reading reviews https://opticzoo.com/best-scope-for-ar-15-riffle-under-100. If you did this before, what advices can you give me? Thanks a lot
 
It's wild boar. It's my first hunt on this animal and I've checked a lot of reviews and advices how to do it correctly. I have AR-15 Riffle, good enough and I've already decided to take a scope for my gun. Still choosing and reading reviews https://opticzoo.com/best-scope-for-ar-15-riffle-under-100. If you did this before, what advices can you give me? Thanks a lot

My only experience with hunting boar was on Catalina Island in southern California. The terrain and the vegetation made it very difficult to spot them from a distance. I couldn't use a rifle. I used a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 mag. to hunt my boar. I hunted them in the late Autumn, early Winter when they were feeding on acorns, pistachios, and wild onions.

Boar can be very aggressive and they will charge you if you get too close. So be careful.
 
You left out trapping...

If trapping is something you are into, then it is certainly welcome in this thread. For most people trapping tends to be a source of income rather than a leisure activity. Trapping is still very popular in Alaska, although it is not an activity where I've taken part. So I can't really comment on the subject, having no experience.
 
It's wild boar. It's my first hunt on this animal and I've checked a lot of reviews and advices how to do it correctly. I have AR-15 Riffle, good enough and I've already decided to take a scope for my gun. Still choosing and reading reviews https://opticzoo.com/best-scope-for-ar-15-riffle-under-100. If you did this before, what advices can you give me? Thanks a lot

I really don't think you need a 2.5-10 or 3-9 for an AR. You generally won't be using that platform for the distances where that kind of magnification will be necessary. A 3x reflex sight should be plenty for most AR applications.
 
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