What does it take to create a new habit- a healthy habit- a life-altering habit? Those kinds of habits are hard. Going on a daily run or to the club to work out is much harder than, say, having ice cream every night before bed. Working out is more difficult NOW, but leads to a higher quality of life. Indulging our appetites is more fun NOW, but leads to a lower quality of life. In order to develop...  Read More

Building the buck and pole fence was one thing, getting the trees down the mountain was quite another. The mountainside was extremely steep. Using a chainsaw and axes we would knock down, limb and gather a half dozen trees and then put the end of a lasso around the tips. Then, riding a good mountain horse, I would lunge the horse up the mountainside, grab the end of the lasso and wrap it around th...  Read More

Lodgepole pines hold their diameter a long way up the trunk, and that without branches. They were our raw material the summer three of us built about a mile of 'buck and pole' fence. Off the thick end of the tree we would cut two 6' bucks. Those were notched and stood in an 'x' shape on the ground. Three poles, the skinny ends of the tree, were placed between each two bucks forming the fence. Our ...  Read More

As much as I hated to do it, I had been wanting to sell my cabin for a couple of years. It was 200 miles from home, and I was using it less and less. I was skinning out the bear's paws and skull on my porch when a man and his wife came to look at the cabin. It turned out he was a taxidermist, and his wife said, "He'll rug that bear for you for free." He bought the cabin and he 'rugged' my bear. Be...  Read More

It was hours before I had the bear skinned and the meat out of the mountains. The next morning I was sitting on a stump on the porch of my cabin skinning out the paws and skull. That's when I noticed that the bear's nose was bigger than my foot. This was a big bear. Everything is harder with one set of hands, but sometimes we need to 'make do' with what we have, don't we? Single parenting is like ...  Read More

My bear was down, but now what do I do with him? I was by myself, and it's impossible to lift a leg, run a skinning knife and peel hide at the same time. Worse, he died under a spruce tree and the ground was covered with needles. This meant I had to be extremely careful to keep the meat off the ground. There was only one thing I could do. I tied off both legs to the tree with 550 cord to hold them...  Read More

Suddenly there he was- a BIG interior grizzly. He was close and coming closer, heading straight for a small opening where i'd have a clear shot. I held my breath and was amazingly calm as my heart pounded. I settled my rifle scope on the opening. My senses were on high alert. This was the opportunity I'd been waiting for. And then... just like that... he jumped into the heavy brush and was crashin...  Read More

Just a quick flash of color- gone in an instant- but it told me two things: first, it was a grizzly and not a black bear; and, second, it was coming my way. Soon I could hear it breathing and was seeing continual flashes of color through the brush. I still had no idea if I would be fortunate enough to get a clear shot, but I eased my rifle to my shoulder and put my finger on the trigger. I knew th...  Read More

I heard a 'huff' off in the distance and knew it was a big bear. I was in the foothills of the mountains in spruce and birch forest, and the 'huff' sounded like it was no more than 100 yards away. For the past hour the woods had been almost completely silent. This sudden noise was a reminder that in the Alaska wilderness you are never really alone.God sent me another reminder last night that he so...  Read More

Still climbing in the snow. Still need my crampons. This is not like climbing mountains in Arizona. Each place has its own distinctive beauty. Each has its pros and cons. Arizona has blistering heat for months, while central Alaska has 6-7 months of winter. What do they share in common? Many things, but none so important as this- they are both filled with men and women and children who were create...  Read More

There are many things in life that we 'don't like' that we've never actually tried. I'm like this when it comes to food. The look, the smell, even the 'idea' of eating some things is distasteful to me. If I shoot something, I want to eat it. For years in Alaska's interior I 'passed' on grizzly bears because I didn't want to eat one. I heard the meat was no good. Then a friend of mine served me a g...  Read More

'Wing shooting' is one of the most exciting ways to put food on the table. Ducks and geese, ptarmigan and grouse, (and for those of you outside) pheasant and quail- there's nothing quite like it. I had an opportunity to hunt ducks and geese for the first time in many years in January. As enjoyable as it was, nothing stirred me like the beauty of the sunrise. I am continuously in awe off God's crea...  Read More