Alaska DIY

Steve Opat is an 8-year veteran of hunting in Alaska and has been involved in 40+ successful big game hunts in Alaska including over a dozen trips up the Haul Road for caribou.  He has also successfully hunted Moose, Dall Sheep, Mtn Goat, Muskox, Black Bear, Grizzly Bear and more. In this episode Steve and I swap stories about one of Steve's favorite hunts in all of Alaska, the Haul Road Caribou hunt.  Steve refers to this hunt as "iconic Alaska" due to its combination of a harsh, but beautiful landscape, an epic road trip, a large caribou herd and the relatively low cost and easy access for the average hunter. Listen in as we discuss where the Haul Road is, what its like to venture north on the most remote stretch of highway in the United States, and what awaits the opportunistic hunter on the Arctic Tundra of the North Slope.   Steve with the bull he refers to as "The Blob" Steve with a solid caribou from the Haul Road "The Blob" before he was killed by Steve.  This pic was taken by another hunter who passed on this bull while looking for a bull with big tops

I sit down with Micah Ness from Silverline Films and my buddy Dustin Coy from Washington State and we recap our Adak Island caribou hunting adventure.  We tell stories from the hunt plus behind the scenes explanations of what went down while filming Adak: The Winds Of Homecoming. Abe and Dustin glass for caribou on Adak Island Dustin and Abe paddle gear and Dustin's caribou back to town in their Alapacka Rafts Setting up camp on the last night of the hunt  

Cory Herendeen is the owner of Aleutian Outfitters specializing in transported caribou hunts and guided fishing and duck hunting trips on Adak Island. Cory has been hunting and fishing on Adak Island for the past 12 years.   Cory Herendeen holds a large octupus caught near Adak Island in the Bering Sea  

Allen Bolen is the CEO of AMP SMART, part owner of Bolen Lewis Guiding Co., and accomplished bowhunter.  Allen has harvested 4 Boone & Crockett class caribou species with a bow including the new #3 Pope and Young Central Barren Ground caribou. Allen Bolen with the new #3 Pope & Young Central Barren Ground Caribou Allen Bolen with an archery harvested B&C class Quebec Labrador Caribou Allen Bolen with an archery harvested B&C class Barren Ground Caribou Allen Bolen with an archery harvested B&C class Woodland Caribou  

  Dusting Coy is a builder, hunter, husband and father of many children.  You can find Dustin on IG @coydustin and @cascades_hunting Micah Ness is a photographer and film maker.  He can be found at www.silverlinefilm.com and on IG @silverlinefilms and @wildernesspro Together, we sit down in Anchorage after a flight delay and discuss our upcoming hunt on Adak Island. If this hunt sounds interesting, check out the Adak Island Caribou Guide at www.huntalaskadiy.com  It goes through every detail of planning a hunt on Adak Island and is now available for pre-order.  

The whole Henderson family is driving home from some real good fishing' on the Russian River.  We are passing through Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula, talking about flossing reds and fighting strong fish in the current.  There is a cooler full of sockeye fillets in the back of Juno, our green Ford Excursion and we are headed north to our next adventure. This episode was recorded on June 28th, 2018.  I'm a bit late getting it out but I hope you enjoy some of our family shenanigans :-) Cheers!

Mark Huelsing is a husband to one very patient and understanding woman, a father to two amazing kids, a hunter, an explorer, a wanderer, a thinker and a writer. Mark loves to share his passion for the outdoors with others through stories of success and failure. He has written for various publications including Field & Stream, Petersen’s BOWHUNTING Magazine, Extreme Elk, Bowhunting.com, Wired to Hunt, Rokslide, and many others. Mark is the host of the Hunt Backcountry Podcast. You can find Mark at https://exomountaingear.com/podcast/ and  http://soleadventure.com Mark Huelsing is taller than he sounds :- )

Bjørn Olson has made an art of wilderness bikepacking in Alaska. He envisions coastal shorelines, frozen rivers, game trails, and tundra as opportunities to explore ambitious new routes to cycle in all seasons. Combining packrafts with fatbikes, Bjørn and partners have pedaled and paddled their ways through long wilderness adventures with their “go-light, go-far” ethic. Bjørn is a renaissance Alaskan adventurer. The son of a hunting guide, he is an accomplished sea kayaker, he plays in rock gardens, surfs winter shore break, and has circumnavigated the rugged coast of southcentral Alaska to Kodiak.  He embraces mountaineering, back-country snowboarding, and even rough terrain unicycling as ways to experience the Alaskan wilds. Bjorn can be found at http://www.mjolnirofbjorn.com Kim McNett is a lifelong naturalist, and has been sharing and interpreting Alaska's natural beauty through art, education, and guiding since she transplanted from her home state of Washington in 2009. Diversity of wildlife, ecosystems, and native cultures fuels her curiosity and inquiry of the natural world, and her illustrations document its detail and intricacy. Through guiding, educating youth, and interpretive artwork, Kim encourages a sense of awareness and stewardship for our remaining wild places. From sea kayak touring to winter fatbiking, Kim and Bjorn are either on a wild adventure, or in the midst of preparing for one. Kim and her artwork can be found at https://www.kimsnaturedrawings.com

The whole Henderson family (Abe, Jess, Malachi, Josiah, Hazel, Hadley and Adelaide) sit down and tell stories about their recent adventures in Seldovia, Alaska on June 26th, 2018.

Bretwood “Hig” Higman has a PhD in Geology and his partner Erin McKittrick has a Masters Degree in Molecular Biology.  Together Hig and Erin are known for trekking long distances in Alaska by foot and packraft, including a one-year trek from Seattle, Washington to the end of the Alaska Peninsula, approximately 4,000 miles.  In 2013, Hig and Erin journeyed approximately 800 miles around the Cook Inlet with their two children, Katmai (4) and Lituya (2).  Katmai walked every step of the journey. Erin has authored four books about their adventures including Mud Flats And Fish Camps.  Together they run the non-profit, Ground Truth Trekking.  They can be found at www.groundtruthtrekking.org If you or anyone you know is interested in volunteering on the the trail building crew this summer in Alaska with Hig and Erin, you can contact Hig at hig314@gmail.com.   NOTE: I'm currently behind on podcast episodes (SURPRISE) due to living an awesome life in Alaska far away from computers and WIFI!   As a result, I'm going to be streamlining my podcast release process which, unfortunately, means that I will be including less information in the show notes.  Please let me know if you miss the show notes terribly.  Otherwise the next several episode descriptions will look very similar to this one. I hope that you continue to enjoy my conversations with the interesting and awesome folks who I am fortunate to meet in my journeys. Cheers, Abe.

Ryan Lampers is an accomplished backcountry mountain hunter and co-host of the Hunt Harvest Health podcast with his wife and Naturopathic Dr., Hillary Lampers.  The Lampers can be found on Instagram @huntharvesthealth, @sthealthyhunter and @dochillary and on the web at www.huntharvesthealth.com Jeff Lusk is a self proclaimed "manly man" and a member of the Hunt Wild crew based out of Washington State.  Jeff enjoys all aspects of a hunting adventure from start to finish.  Jeff can be found on Instagram @jefflusky and @hunt_wild   NOTE: I'm currently behind on podcast episodes (SURPRISE) due to living an awesome life in Alaska far away from computers and WIFI!   As a result, I'm going to be streamlining my podcast release process which, unfortunately, means that I will be including less information in the show notes.  Please let me know if you miss the show notes terribly.  Otherwise the next several episode descriptions will look very similar to this one. I hope that you continue to enjoy my conversations with the interesting and awesome folks that I am fortunate to meet in my travels. Cheers, Abe.  

***CUSS WORDS*** This episode is a bit of a party!  If you aren’t in the mood for silliness sprinkled with cuss words, you might not like this episode.  If you do choose to listen, I’m warning you, you might giggle once or twice. Kenton, Kenton, Kenton Clairmont, Marshmallow the Lone Survivor, Knee inflammation and Ego, CAT scans for your joints, The Carnivore Diet, Kale cravings, How much peanut butter I take into the backcountry, Brand New Heather’s Choice meals - still in R&D, Heather’s Choice new Dehydrated Kodiak Sitka Blacktail Ribs, Kraft Mac n Cheese, Purple dehydrated mashed potatoes, Cold water rehydration of Heather’s Choice meals, Planning a caribou hunt in Alaska, Money as an exchange of energy.   You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SEHQ96/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Train To Hunt http://www.traintohunt.com/ Mind Pump Media - Dr. Shawn Baker https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/p/ep-712-Dr--Shawn-Baker-Carnivore-Diet-Advocate The Carnivore Diet - Meat Heals http://meatheals.com/ Backcountry Hunters & Anglers https://www.backcountryhunters.org/ Seek Outside 16 man tipi https://seekoutside.com/16-person-tipi-build-to-order/ 60th Parallel https://www.60thparallel.com/ Heathers Choice https://www.heatherschoice.com/ USDA https://www.usda.gov/ Hilleberg tents http://us.hilleberg.com/EN/ REI Half Dome https://www.rei.com/s/rei-co-op-half-dome-tents?origin=web&ir=collection%3Arei-co-op-half-dome-tents&page=1 Beau Martonik - Big Bow Outdoors: A Variation on the Navy SEAL Rewarming Drill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SebBbFKVy-4 Enlightened Equipment https://enlightenedequipment.com/  

Meeting Roman Dial, Thor’s 700 mile trek across Alaska, The birth of Alpaca Raft, The contrast of hunting and other outdoor sports, The most generous game warden in the world, Black sands of the southern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, Caribou packraft hunting in Alaska, The perfect solo packraft for Alaskan hunting, and the crazy sport of Zorbing.   Links: Backcountry Hunters & Anglers https://www.backcountryhunters.org/ Bretwood Higman and Erin McKittrick - Mud Flats and Fish Camps http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/ Bjorn Olsen videographer, bike packing and packrafting caribou trip http://www.mjolnirofbjorn.com/ Roman Dial http://packrafting.blogspot.com/ Ritt Kellog Memorial Fund - Grant at Colorado College https://www.coloradocollege.edu/other/rittkelloggfund/ Sevylor Raft https://www.coleman.com/sevylor/ One Man’s Wilderness - Richard Proeneke https://www.amazon.com/One-Mans-Wilderness-Alaskan-Odyssey/dp/0882405136 New Zealand Hunter Magazine - Greg Duley http://www.nzhunter.co.nz/ Alpaca Raft https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/ Zorbing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorbing Alpacka Raft Alpacka series https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/product/alpacka-series/ Aqua Bound Manta Ray Hybrid Paddle https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/product/aqua-bound-manta-ray-hybrid/ Astral V-Eight https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/product/astral-v-eight-pfd-2018/ Luc Mehl’s Logan Traverse https://thingstolucat.com/logan-traverse/ Luc Mehl’s Stickers for Conservation https://thingstolucat.com/art-sticker-conservation-campaign/    

Tea Wisdom, Tackling bears and fears, Salmon Slam 2018, The two names of the five Pacific Salmon, Moving a family of seven into a travel trailer, The odds of getting charged by a bear, Grocery shopping for five kids, Mountain therapy, Life with infant twins, Our deepest wound, How I became a guide in Alaska, Meeting Greg Springer, Choose fuel not baggage, The best of 2017, Hadley’s fire, How Abe lost his job, The moving plan, Homer spit campground, Parting Wisdom.   Five species of Pacific salmon http://spsseg.org/meet-the-7-species-of-pacific-salmon/ Greg Springer - Springer Sportfishing http://www.springersportfishing.com/ BHA https://www.backcountryhunters.org/ Seek Outside https://seekoutside.com/ Kon Mari - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up http://konmari.com/ Rogue Expeditions  http://www.rogueexpeditions.com/ The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-invitation-by-oriah-mountain-dreamer  

  The coolest slam in self-guided hunting, Black bear ribs as a culinary treasure, Wanton waste in Alaska, Don't you hike 30 miles one-way to go hunting?, Sheep hunting stories, Even more sheep hunting stories, How to judge a legal ram, Scotts recommendation for the best game species for your first hunt in AK,   Skamania Lodge  https://www.destinationhotels.com/skamania Proving Trails Adventures https://www.provingtrailadventures.com/ Lace ‘em Up https://www.provingtrailadventures.com/hunting-videos/lace-em-up.html Alaska Sheep Slam Banner https://www.provingtrailadventures.com/images/downloads/Walk-in_Slam_Banner.pdf BHA https://www.backcountryhunters.org/