Maybe Facebook isn’t your thing (too many cute puppies and baby pictures) but it seems my friends in Alaska are posting lots of wildlife: dead or alive.
While fall can mean the changing of seasons, and time to hurry and wrap up all those things on the to-do list you’ve been putting off, for some, there is a different call of the wild: the hunt.
Yes, it is hunting season. One of my North Slope guests was sharing with me the good news that her village had just harvested their first whale for the season. This apparently is great reason for rejoicing in the village as it will be shared by all. Some other guests hire guides to take them out to parts unknown to see their trophy. My brother-in-law posted “Clear Creek or bust” on his facebook page before heading north to Fairbanks to hunt a moose. And even my newest niece posted her “prize” catch of a moose.
First moose
My husband isn’t fond of hunting for moose, but he made two trips to Chitina to try to catch some red salmon. Two trips, because the first was a total bust: he and a couple of fellow employees got skunked and came back empty handed. (Water was too high, they claimed.) The second time was slightly more successful with a few fish, but he certainly didn’t limit out. Wouldn’t you know, a cheechako friend (that’s Alaskan for a newcomer) just posted on FB today that he and a couple other guys netted (no pun intended) 60 red salmon!
Fall moose crossing road
Then there are those who post other kinds of pictures of wildlife, like my brother; a picture of “traffic”–a moose crossing the road on the way to work. Or the same niece with pictures of dahl sheep in Denali Park. Fall is holding on tenaciously–fortunately for those who hunt. And those of us who procrastinate. Beautiful yellows on the birch trees that line the roadways. We are enjoying no frost here yet; very unusual for the third week in September, as we usually experience frost by the Equinox run.
H auling equipment
U nknown parts
N ot knowing what
T rials and tribulations await
Posted by elawn 
AllAboutAlaska 