People sometimes ask me, "Have you ever had a close bear encounter?" I had one climb the tree I was sitting in, and another was panting with his nose pressed against my mosquito screen tent door. I had a huge sow grizzly with two 'football sized' cubs pass about 15 feet from me when I was sitting on the ground. Why do bear stories interest people? Because bears are dangerous. They could kill you.S...  Read More

I won't have an untrained dog. "Come," "Sit," and, "Stay" are non-negotiable. And I don't mean, "Come if you feel like it," or, "Come when you get around to it." When I say, "Come!" I expect to see a dog running for me. This requires time and intentional training. But the payoff is huge. I NEVER have a dog who runs off. I NEVER have to be concerned about hiking with my dogs off-leash. And I NEVER ...  Read More

I had looked at this climb for several years, but was too intimidated to start. It wasn't that I couldn't carry my pack and rifle to the top, it was the thought of packing a moose back. Hunting solo offers its challenges. While I have no idea how many moose I've harvested in my life (and it's a lot), I know exactly how many I've cut up and packed out by myself- seven. Some jobs are so big that you...  Read More

I can't really explain it. It took a lot of preparation and a whole day to get to where I wanted to start hunting. I was deep in the mountains in a place I've gone for years. I was uneasy as I set up my tent. This was strange for me as I am accustomed to being in the wilderness by myself. A little over an hour before dark, a sense of foreboding almost overwhelmed me. For some reason I knew that I ...  Read More

When I tell you that I like climbing mountains, what exactly am I saying? It's a battle both mentally and physically. In the dry heat and sunshine of our southern mountain states, I love every part of it. Climbing on packed trails in the sunshine with no bugs- I can spend days- even weeks- pushing my body to the limit. Now let's talk about Alaska. Sunny summer days on good trails are few and far b...  Read More

When it comes to success, many people want to BE where few people are willing to GO. Vision, focus, hard work, sacrifice and endurance are all essential ingredients. Some have learned the satisfaction of pouring years into a difficult project and reaping the rewards. Others tend to quit when things get hard. To always choose the path of least resistance is a recipe for disappointment. Many battles...  Read More

It was a short pack in, a little over an hour. We were carrying packrafts to float a short stretch of the Eagle River. Though it was May, we were still walking on patches of snow and ice. When we reached our launch point, we inflated our rafts and slid off an ice shelf into the river. And just like that- in a moment in time- everything got peaceful. The sound of flowing water is soothing. Somethin...  Read More

My dad was not accustomed to packing meat, so I gave him a big front shoulder and those giant antlers to pack. I had 2 hind quarters, a front, the backstrap and all of the boned out meat in mine. I'd done this many times, but I was pleased that my dad had the 'full' Alaska experience of packing meat a long distance. He left those antlers with me in Alaska, and years later a friend of mine offered ...  Read More

After climbing the wrong mountain, my dad and I were only 20 feet from cresting the flat top of mountain number 2. We knew that there were several cow caribou and that they would be in easy shooting range. Just as we were cresting, a cow caribou spotted us and the small herd took off running. At the same time, I noticed enormous tines from a bull's antlers. He was laying down, so I couldn't even s...  Read More

We had a decision to make. This was the last day of our hunt and we were standing on top of a mountain... the wrong mountain. We could see the caribou, but they were still one 'small' mountain away. There was a high valley between us, which meant we would only lose about half of our elevation. We decided to go for it. We made a quick hike down into the valley and began to climb again. We knew that...  Read More

Other than a few grayling, this hunting trip had been a bust. It was my dad's one and only hunting trip to Alaska, and I was trying to get him a caribou. On day four, we finally spotted a few cows on the very top of a distant mountain. 30 years ago my dad was used to hunting hard all day, but he wasn't used to climbing in tundra. I was very surprised when he said, "Let's go try to get one."It was ...  Read More

How many times can you get back up? Life will trip you up. Sometimes it will knock you down. Sometimes the burden weighs you down. At other times you fall because of your own sin. Come to Jesus. Confess your sin, pour out your troubles. Lift up your hands and worship. HE will lift you up. Proverbs 24:16 "A righteous man may fall seven times, yet he will rise again." James 4:10 says, "Humble yourse...  Read More