Permit hunts of the past

By now, you have probably surmised that I failed to draw a drawing hunt permit. I applied for only two hunting permits this time, the first an antlerless moose permit and the second a Delta bison permit. I used all six of my applications per species for a single hunt, hoping that might increase my odds. It didn’t!

Over the years, I’ve not been really successful at drawing a hunt permit every year. I’ve probably drawn my share, but there are times when it didn’t seem like it! I’ve drawn Delta bison (after 33 years of applying), Nelchina and Talkeetna Mountains caribou, a couple of antlerless moose permits, an archery brown bear permit, and an archery Dall sheep permit.

I’ve had success using the bison permit and if you count the so-called “hot spot” winter antlerless moose hunt (which I am here), on that hunt also. I missed participating on one of the antlerless moose hunts because of my left ankle acting up. I was able to actively hunt using the other permits.

The one permit I still wonder about is the brown bear hunt around the Eklutna Lake area several years ago. My friend, Gnarly Dan was an avid bowhunter then and dearly wanted to try for a brown bear with his bow. I submitted my application more for “moral support” than really wanting the permit. As things turned out, I was the one drawing the permit. Being a good sport, Gnarly accompanied me when we went. I still remember thinking, as we were walking into the area that first morning, who in their right mind would chase a brown bear with only a sharp stick!

We made an expedition of it going on the Nelchina caribou hunt. Five of us made the trip with Gnarly being the only one without a permit. Again, even though Gnarly didn’t draw a permit, he went along to help and hunt moose and bear. We saw nothing legal during our trip.

The Talkeetna Mountains caribou hunt was a fly-in where Gnarly and I both drew party hunting permits. On this hunt, Gnarly scored on a young bull caribou. I was glad he finally got some “action.” I never got a shot opportunity since my ankle gave out while we were packing Dan’s caribou back to camp. Such is life!

The sheep hunt happened in the Eklutna area north of the lake. I had recently gotten back into archery and decided to try for a permit. After being drawn, I spent a fair amount of time in Fletcher’s Archery shop, getting advice, upgrading my gear, and talking with Jerry to learn what I could. On one of those visits, I ran into Keith Wieland, whom I had worked with at a remote hatchery location.

We got caught up on life and when I mentioned I had drawn the sheep permit, Keith chimed in that he had also. We compared notes and realized neither of us had a partner to go with, so we teamed up for the hunt and the planning began.

We went in a couple of days early and set up a camp maybe four miles in from the Eklutna Lake road. The hike in was a not so gradual uphill climb but, other than the boulder field we had to get through, wasn’t too bad using the trail that ran along the river. We woke up opening morning to around six inches of fresh snow.

Other than dealing with water soaked and frozen boots from the snow and Keith having a close encounter with a black bear with cubs while attempting to get within range of some sheep, it was a fun trip. After coming out and visiting Fletcher’s Archery to tell Jerry about the trip, I met a guy who had followed our tracks in and went maybe a mile or so beyond where we had camped.

His story differed from our ending of no sheep. He had gone about a mile beyond where we had camped and was taking a break resting against a row of boulders the size of houses. He could hear something walking on the other side of the line of boulders and when he eased around to look, saw a line of rams walking in single file. He harvested a full-curl ram at an estimated 12 yards from where he took his shot.

I haven’t drawn that many permits and I’ve been unsuccessful on most of the hunts, but I always had a good time!