Gutless Field Dressing
Story and photo by Scott Haugen Gutelss field dressing big game is an essential part of the hunt. If going after moose or elk, I’ll take a small folding saw to sever the skull cap to cut down on weight. Other than that, a 4-inch bladed knife is plenty to Read More...
Sausage Making
Sausage Making By Tom Claycomb “Why make my own sausage?” you may ask. Here’s how I’d answer: If you shoot an animal and take it to the processor, your hunt is over. Processing it yourself will add another dimension to the experience. Today I hope to encourage you to begin Read More...
Getting It Home
Getting It Back Home By Paul Atkins Whether you’re a resident just completing a successful hunt and want to get your meat and hide to a local processor in Anchorage, or non-resident who wants to take it across the country, you need to have a plan ahead of time. There Read More...
Life on the Ledge: Judging Yardage
Life on the Ledge: Judging Yardage Story and photos by Lon E. Lauber Shooting at Alaska big game presents a unique set of problems for the bowhunter. They live in such diverse terrain; they are frequently hunted in extreme weather and they vary dramatically in size from hundred-pound deer to Read More...
Youth Archery
Youth Archery Story and photos by Melissa Norris Clear! A group of kids ages 6- to 16 walk down the 10-lane, 20-yard indoor archery range at Full Curl Archery on Old Seward Highway in Anchorage to check out the results of their first practice round. It is Youth League tournament Read More...
Mountain Goat
Alaska's Mountain Goat Alaska's other species of all-white, hoofed, large mammal is the mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), inhabiting steep and broken mountain terrain from southeast Alaska to Prince William Sound and the Kenai Peninsula. Goats are found from near sea level to over 10,000 feet, and in Southcentral they are Read More...
Dall Sheep
Alaska's Dall Sheep Alaska's Dall sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) are found in relatively dry alpine country and frequent a special combination of open ridges, meadows and steep slopes with extremely rugged "escape terrain" in the immediate vicinity. Generally known to be high-country animals, they also sometimes occur in rocky gorges Read More...
Sitka Blacktail Deer
The Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) is native to the wet coastal rain forests of southeast Alaska and north-coastal British Columbia. Its range has also been expanded by transplants, and established populations now also exist near Yakutat, in Prince William Sound and on Kodiak and Afognak islands. The Read More...
Moose
The moose (Alces alces) is the world's largest member of the deer family, and the Alaska subspecies (Alces alces gigas) is the largest of all the moose. In prime condition, a mature male might weigh from 1,200 to 1,600 pounds, with adult females weighing between 800 and 1,300 pounds. Read More...
Caribou
Distributed across Alaska in 32 different herds, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) are the only member of the deer family (Cervidae) in which both sexes grow antlers. Antlers of adult bulls are large and massive, while those of adult cows are much shorter and are usually more slender and irregular. Adult Read More...