Winter has always been part of my life. When I say 'winter' I don't mean, "It's chilly outside. Let's grab a jacket."  I mean long periods of everything covered with snow. As strange as it may seem to you, I love winter. But that's because I'm not battling to survive. Because I know that my hardship is temporary, it is much easier to endure. In fact, one of my favorite things is to come into my ca...  Read More

There is something I love about being the first one to make tracks on a fresh blanket of snow. It isn't the trail I've left behind me, it's the untouched landscape before me. It somehow feels like the world in front of me has endless possibilities. It's true that a thousand different things that could trip me up are buried several feet beneath the snow, but I'm living above all of that. In the hig...  Read More

When I say that I've spent hundreds of days on long Alaskan snowshoes, I am not exaggerating. I wore out one pair and patched them up again and again with 550 cord and various lashings. Except for possibly my friend Roger Huntington, I don't know anyone who's spent more time or walked more miles. Snowmachines changed winter travel, didn't they? I love my snowmachine, but there is something beautif...  Read More

'Tuck-A-Duck-Away' (Tuck) was an exceptional bird dog. He loved the water, was utterly immune to cold, and often hunted at temperatures of −30°. After hours of working the willow brush for birds, plunging through deep snow, the only evidence that he was a normal dog was that even he could get tired. When we were between willow patches and traveling rather than hunting, I would break trail for him....  Read More

Every winter hundreds of Alaskans excitedly buy their first snowshoes. Then, they go up into the mountains, spend five minutes plunging through the snow to their crotch and trying to pull their snowshoe up out of the hole, go back to their cars and never go again. Why? Because those cute little and midsize snowshoes need dense snow- the kind you get in states with warm daytime temperatures- the ki...  Read More

After Laura and I got married, I began picking up one good piece of hunting equipment each year. The first year was a Hoyt bow, then a Bibler tent, Sequel raingear, and a Feathered Friends lightweight goose down sleeping bag. The better that I was equipped, the better I was able to endure Alaska's harsh conditions. Are you 'well equipped' for adversity? It isn't hard to get there. Attend a strong,...  Read More

One of the hard things about Alaska is that our hunting and fishing seasons are so short that you are forced to choose between good options. This is why I don't fish Coho (Silver) salmon or hunt ducks in September. Getting a moose or caribou has always been higher priority. But one year when my parents were visiting us in Copper River, I had all of my meat in the freezer early enough to fish. My d...  Read More

This was my first and only attempt to get a Dall sheep with my bow. As a young man I was an avid bow hunter, and had already taken elk, antelope, whitetail deer, black bear, moose and caribou with a bow. I knew what I was doing... but you can't plan the weather. It was August 10th, I was in the Brooks Range above the Arctic Circle, and it was snowing sideways. Everything was perfect except for the...  Read More

When I said that my assistant wrestling coach Tim Hand is the strongest man pound for pound I've ever known, let me brag on him for a moment. At our very first wrestling practice, I was stunned by his cat-like quickness and obvious power. At 5' 7" and well over 200 pounds, I didn't expect this. After practice, I asked Tim how much weight he could bench press. He is truly a very humble guy and said...  Read More

Dall sheep hunting in Alaska is extreme. There is a certain willingness to embrace suffering that is an absolute necessity. Carrying a heavy load up a mountain is crushing. Carrying a ram down a mountain is even worse. You must be prepared to sweat profusely as you climb, to be wet for days on end, and to be shivering cold when you stop to glass. The payoff for those fortunate few is a beautiful r...  Read More

While Laura's climb ended with disappointment after she missed a trophy Dall sheep, she continued to venture into the wilderness with me.  On our next trip, I made sure that she had all of the right gear, and she took her first caribou. On our first trip, she had intended to relax at camp with a good book while my partner and I hunted moose. Of course any smart (physically fit) hunter heading into...  Read More

There was a time in my life when I was pretty much the worst hunting guide ever. The Alaskan wilderness was all new to me. My rain jacket and pants came in plastic envelopes and cost .99 cents each. It can be no surprise, then, that when I took Laura into the wilderness to go moose hunting, I didn't buy her boots. In fact, she didn't have any hunting clothing at all. I had not yet learned the crit...  Read More