Pics from the area the boy and I are camping

[Rick P]

My son and I are spending a month hunting for mammoth and fossil walrus ivory this summer. ON the coast of the Beaufort sea and along private sections of the colville river. This is the culmination of a childhood dream for me! Paleontology has always fascinated me and north American mega-fauna in particular. I have freinds in the village of Nuiqsut and that will be our resupply stop. The village is 1.5 miles long and .75 miles wide including the dump and air strip!

I have been looking at lots of maps and photos of the area and thought I would share a few. These are not mine. I LOVE the far north and have lots of pics of the north slope of my own but not of this area.

 

[Rick P]

The coast of the Beaufort sea is lined with small barrier islands. The natives use these islands as whaling stations. This one is about 6 miles off sore from where we will be.

 

[Haynie]

Looks like a good supply of Whale bone if the polar bears will agree to let you have it.

I am jealous.

 

[Rick P]

Gunther and I plan on feeding mostly off the land and sea. Caribou summer in this area and moose are available about three days run up the colville river. Arctic char and grayling are abundant in the area as well. We will be running up and down the colville looking for ivory on private land we have permission for. This is about a mile inland on the colville.

 

[Rick P]

New bone or ivory is illegal to gather in fact only fossil bone that was stockpiled before 1972 can be sold at all! Besides I dont want to be the one asking the bears to step aside for me. As long as there is no ice for them to hunt from they will hang near that island.

I have always been jealous when I herd of trips like this. Cant believe how lucky I am. My wife has agreed to keep folks posted while I am away so if you guys want he could drop in and post pics with an update?

 

[D.Oliver]

New bone or ivory is illegal to gather in fact only fossil bone that was stockpiled before 1972 can be sold at all! Besides I dont want to be the one asking the bears to step aside for me. As long as there is no ice for them to hunt from they will hang near that island.

I have always been jealous when I herd of trips like this. Cant believe how lucky I am. My wife has agreed to keep folks posted while I am away so if you guys want he could drop in and post pics with an update?

You might want to add an "s" especially if she might see this post.:biggrin:

 

[Haynie]

Maybe Alaska has gotten more liberal.:biggrin:

 

[Rick P]

No Tracy is a she........like I said in my reason for edit line. "dyslexic and I cant spell"

 

[tomas]

No Tracy is a she........like I said in my reason for edit line. "dyslexic and I cant spell"

Did you hear about the dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac who lay awake at night wondering if there was a dog?

Enjoy your trek!

Tomas

 

[Rick P]

You ever see on of those jumbled up letter things that says "if you can read this"? They usually have an explanation that goes something like...."as long as the first and last letter is right your mind will read it".


Tracy had to explain what was so special about the one I got, looked perfectly fine to me!

PS thanks Tomas, I am sure Gunther and I will have a great time.

 

[Rick P]

The open tundra of the far north has no trees, in fact no vegetation taller than about 14 inches so distance shots when hunting caribou are not uncommon. Normally I would turn to my Encore but it's heavy....I mean HEAVY, a single shot and the second most expensive purchase I have ever made next to the truck! Bangin around the bottom of the canoe on a working trip is not where I want to see it.

So I picked up a slope special. The stock was broken at the throat intentionally! Some of the natives shoot from a moving snogo or boat and they like a shorty. Why not just buy a small caliber rifle with a folding stock is beyond me but the far north is littered with rifles someone broke just like this to make it easier to carry on a sled! Most look horrible but have great riffling! The owner found .270 too me a bit much to shoot as it is and left it in the shed, garage or where ever so they have only been fired a few times. I'm restoring it to bring north, should be an excellent working rifle! The bore looks brand new.

 

[Rick P]

This is not my gun. It's the same model, stock and stock color and I will have similar optics for it. Just ordered the stock and thought I'd add to the thread a bit. The logistics of shipping our gear and food to our jump off point and resupply area has been interesting!

 

[ctubbs]

That is a beauty of a stock. You make?
Charles

 

[Rick P]

Charles:

That was the plan but the trip north altered that a bit. It's a Boyd's featherweight thumb hole, It should be more pleasant to carry on alpine hunts than the Encore as well.

Guess some stats on the rifle might be nice, lol. Remington model 700 L.A. BDL. Oct of 1983, .270 win/mag. Been wanting one of these since this rifle was new!

 

[Rick P]

Because the sun dosen't fully set in late summer you get hours of this kind of light!

 

[randyrls]

Rick; I "wintered over" in the military about 60 miles from Point Barrow. I remember that the sun set on Oct 16th and wasn't visible again for about 2 months. Looked exactly like your photo most of the time, Ranged from that way to deep twilight.

 

[boxerman]

Because the sun dosen't fully set in late summer you get hours of this kind of light!

Looks beautiful.

 

[Lucky2]

Rick, whatever you do make sure that you keep your rifle at the ready, we got a little to careless and were just lucky that there was another person in the area with his. People don't realize how quiet and quick the polar bear is, or can be, we knew, but were so involved in what we were doing that we got careless. And by doing so we almost paid for it with our lives, so keep your eyes open. We were on the east coast, but I imagine the bears are the same where you are.
Len

 

[Rick P]

Randy
This will be about as dark as it ever gets so instead of 20 hours of dark and 4 like this we will have 20 hours of sun and 4 like this.........

Boxerman
I'll be taken a ton of my own pics during the trip and sending memory cards back to Tracy....you guys get to tag along, sorta.

Len
I have had some very spooky and close encounters with Browns, we are well practiced in bear safety. Thing is Polar bears are a very diferent breed! They don't run when they catch wind of you, half the time they go looking for you! Polar bears are the last predator that will actively hunt a human being!!!!! I carry a big ole side arm, rifles get leaned against the tent while your getting dinner going, side arms dont!

I will be doing a side trip to a whaling island specifically to see and photograph these stunning animals..........you can bet yer butt we will be doing it as a team! While I shoot pics, Isaac will scan for the bears I dont see!

 

[Lucky2]

Rick, their beautiful animals to look at, but their also one of the most dangerous animals that you'll ever see also. In one of the villages that I worked in years ago in the far north, had an awful problem with them. It had gotten so bad that you didn't go outside without your rifle or with someone else who had one. We were there doing carpentry work on the houses in the village, and the bear problem was so bad that the company that we worked for hired two guides or hunters to be with us at all times just for our protection. It was in Clyde River Iqualuit, and it was back in 1993. I have a few nice souvineers from the north, the nicest is a 9'3" Narwhale tusk. Man have I ever had a lot of chances to sell it also, and one of the biggest problems with it, was getting the paperwork to bring it out of the far north. Good luck with your treasure hunt and I hope you find lots of walrus tusks, and get lots of beautiful pictures. It's a wilderness that not many people get to enjoy, and it definately sounds like your enjoying it. I wish I was there.
Len