Big Game hunting off the list this year

I got close, but I am not entirely ready to go yet, and up here in AK I really don't want to take the first big step out being less than 100%.

So I will spend the next year and more $ investing in gear, recon, stamina, and networking. One thing I got worked out, I have recruited a couple naïve young men (a co-worker and my son in law) who are all gung ho but broke. I have the income to pay for what they can't, so it makes a good combination. Also, I have lots of practice dressing animals, them not so much. So I can cut the animal down, and their strong backs can pack it out. Ah, those were the days, long before my knees and lumbar started to complain.

Meanwhile, I put up 36 pints of ground beef today. Next weekend I will work on chicken breast, and this fall I will be putting up beef stew, corned beef hash, chili, and Turkey soup. If by chance someone is willing to share their game with me, I might put some of that in jars as well. You never know.

God, I love it up here. The wife and I can hardly wait for the snow to come again. We do enjoy the holidays.

Nice! What do you plan to hunt? I've long dreamed of getting the chance to hike, camp, hunt and fish in Alaska.

Ben, if I may make a suggestion. Stamina and skeleton (knees) will both be helped if you totally give up the tobacco. (I assume that's what I see in your avatar.) Smoking drives up the amount of carbon monoxide in your blood. That binds more or less permanently to hemoglobin in the red blood cells, rendering those blood cells incapable of carrying oxygen to the tissues. Bone is living tissue and has to have oxygen; but it's not as well vascularized as other tissues in the body. Blood with incapacitated RBC's can't deliver as much oxygen to your tissues. So cutting out the tobacco will make a difference in your stamina and post exercise recovery as well.

I might have a chance at some waterfowl here this year. Next year I would like to plan a moose hunt and maybe some caribou. There's all sorts of small game up here, like grouse, ptarmigan, squirrel, and various varmints and furbearers. Next year I will be able to get my resident license, and my tags will be a lot cheaper as well. There might be a chance at a local black bear hunt, but that will just depend on what opportunity comes up.

I got up here taking a job that was supposed to be a bit of a step down from my regular work. Funny how when folks find out what you can do they keep asking for more. Now I have to come in two weekends a month to meet deadlines, and that is going to end next February, one way or another. I am averaging about 60 hours a week, and I have done that too much of my life. Now that I am here and my kids are grown, I don't need to keep pushing such a big rock anymore.

My real vice is good eating. I smoke on average one cigar or a pipeful of tobacco about once every couple months. I gave up smoking cigarettes about 23 years ago. My guts can't take tobacco or hard liquor anyhow. I enjoy a beer every couple weeks, but I like to eat, and up till about 3 years ago that wasn't such a problem. But 50 years of hard playing are catching up to me. I've broke bones in my feet and hands that have never healed up proper, and I am looking at MANDATORY neck surgery before too long. I asked the doctor when I would have to have it, and he gave me a flat look and said "You will know when it is time". That wasn't too comforting. For most of last year I was taking massive anti-inflammatory doses, and at one point they put me on fentanyl patchs. Those laid me out on a slab so bad I quit after the 2nd one.

I try to manage the pain nowadays using ergonomics, and paying attention to the warning signs. The nsaids are bad ju ju on the stomach and the heart. When things get wonky it is 3 or 4 nights of limited sleep while I sit erect in a chair with my head in a neutral position.

I enjoy a good chew on the trail sometimes. I use Smoky mountain tobaccoless chew, usually in wintergreen packets, though occasionally their tea leaf I think is close to Copenhagen in flavor. Sometimes I can enjoy that flavor, sometimes it turns my stomach.

I tore the inner meniscus in my right knee a couple years ago, bad enough that it hasn't really healed up. I suspect because I haven't treated it properly it hasn't healed right. The doc said it was a moderate tear.

Then there's the osteoarthritis in my hands. Every year it aches a little more. When they get real cold, I tell people it feels like an ice cream headache in my hands. They get stiff in the mornings sometimes.

So with all that I've had to cut back on the physical stuff a bit, and unfortunately my appetite is still healthy. So I have packed on a few more pounds than I would care for. 30 lbs in fact. That is not a good thing to take with you into the bush for a hunt, though it might have a few benefits in a survival situation.

So I am going to work on that. I may get that knee looked at again and see if they can do anything with that. The neck and the feet and hands will just have to find a way to deal with I guess. The arthritis is already starting to mess up my shooting a bit.

Sorry to hear of your arthritis and other problems. One thing both I and my son have found useful is supplements of omega-3 fatty acids; the kind found in fatty fish like salmon and tuna, and vegetable sources like flaxseed. I have "arthritic changes" in both hands and I've found 4 grams of fish-oil supplements and a couple of tablespoons of milled flaxseed daily help the pain and stiffness quite a bit. My son has knee and shoulder problems related to high-school football and he relies on 6 grams of fish-oil daily. As far as I know, the most worrisome side effect to watch for is bleeding under the skin. That's a sign you're getting too much and need to back off some. Also it's wise to stop taking the supplements two weeks or so before scheduled surgery. fish-oil has a marked effect on blood platelets, making them less reactive so you may not heal as quickly after an operation. I had a small carcinoma taken from my chest a couple years ago and when the dermatologist removed the stitches, the wound opened. She was quite shaken. Next time I had scheduled surgery I stopped the fish-oil 2 weeks before and healed normally.

We mourn with you the passing of your youth, colleague: you have paid the price of an active life, and of insisting upon walking on your hind legs. Now is the time to pass along accumulated wisdom to younger fellows, known in some settings as mentoring; in others, as hazing.

Pain related to spinal issues is tough, but you have borne it well. Beware the transition to numbness in the affected part: I failed to do so, and have areas on my left arm and leg that have no sensation, no proprioception, and considerable muscle wasting.

We wish you well.

I take 2 megared pills daily. I don't think it is as much as you are taking. However, in the past I have experienced nosebleeds if I increase it much more than that, combined with the vitamin E I take.

I incurred a brachial plexus traction injury in 1992 and lost most of the feeling and use of my left hand for about a year. With therapy I was able to recover most of the use, including typing, though at a markedly slower rate. I have trouble sensing temperature and pressure in that hand still. If I am not watching what I am doing, I tend to drop some things. Other times the wife will tell me I am squeezing her hand too hard when I hold it on our walks and such. It took them the better part of that year to finally diagnose it. I had to have a nerve probe done from the base of my skull down my left shoulder, which made me want to peel my skin off before they were done. After that, my indifference to needles diminished greatly.

My whiskers and temples are turning white more and more. I guess my youth is pretty much used up, so time to just go with whatever smarts I learnt on the way here. I can still cook a tasty pot of grub, though. We had a young couple over this weekend and I put 40 lbs of moose meat through the grinder from hell that I bought for them. Took us about 15 minutes to process it all; we couldn't keep it fed as fast as it was grinding it. When we were done, they said I could keep 5 lbs. So I made a batch of moose meat stroganoff and a loaf of bread, and we feasted.

I reckon I have earned the title "Cookie" by now. Maybe I can back off a string bean or so and let the young pups do the harder work.

Sounds like a good plan. It's always better to be the brains of an outfit rather than the brawn!
-Blast

Neurologists are fun folk: After some needles and electrons work, I asked one if she had pulled the wings off flies as a child-we were not amused.

"Cookie", huh? Brings to mind a number of westerns with Gabby Hayes manning the chuckwagon-I believe that there was usually a bottle of whiskey tucked in there, somewhere.

My wife was diagnosed with "thoracic duct outlet syndrome" when a teenager. Years after we married, I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and had a tunnel release. My wife noticed my symptoms were the same she had complained about two decades earlier. She had permanent damage to the ulnar nerve by this point so when she visited the neurologist, the evoked potential test showed no response. The tech had never seen that so she called in the physician and they proceeded to ramp up the voltage till my wife, tears in her eyes, began begging them to stop.

Yep, one doctor did that to me with an electrode above my collar bone and one on my wrist. He let the one on my neck slip, and I got agitated. This was a small indian man (Dr. Lahiri, funny I have no problem remembering him), maybe 5'6" or so. I am a big fellow (6'5" and about 240 lbs at the time), and when he realized what he was doing was irritating me, you should've seen the big nervous grin that sprouted across his face. He was apologizing so fast I couldn't understand one word he said through his accent, but I knew what he was trying to say anyways, so I unclenched my fists and sat back down.

Running that two inch needle in and out of my neck trying to find the nerve plexus was trying my patience. I asked him afterwards why he did that, and he said it was because the readings he was getting on the scope weren't what he expected, so he had to keep probing. I asked him if he ever found the place where the readings were right, and he said he didn't so he finally gave up. In a slightly raised voice, I asked him if the wonky readings might be because something in my neck is messed up, and he gave me that look like the lightbulb suddenly popped on, then he says "Oh". I was just glad enough it was over with that I didn't have anything more to say, other than "Thanks".

My guts can take whiskey only in small doses. So I sip a bit. I have an apron I wear at hunting camp that says "Mr. Camp [censored]" across the front of it. That's to remind everyone that even though I am the cook, I am still the biggest SOB in camp. I do enjoy cooking at camp, though. I think everything tastes better with a little wood smoke and the smell of rain in the air, while sitting on a stump watching the flames flicker about.

Benjamin .. you're outlook sounds good to me.
also, I agree that it's good to have a couple of brawny fella's to carry out the meat.

I am planning to do some hunting myself. I will be bowhunting. right now I am starting to work on making my own arrows - I thought that would be fun. I am hoping to go after wild pig and deer. but I have a lot of preparation to do to get ready. the general advice is to be able to consistently shoot arrows at a quarter positioned 20 yards away. so that will take time - to get that accuracy.

you are way ahead of me with dressing large game. I will be starting from scratch. do you wear rubber gloves when doing the skinning and gutting?

and BTW, I am getting to be an old fart myself. but you know how it is - gotta' keep getting out there :-)

Pete2

A quarter at 20 yards is quite a feat. I hope you make it.

I have never worn gloves while dressing any game. I was cut once dressing an elk by an old grandpa that was struggling to hold up a hind leg while I was working on the paunch. So I gave him my knife and grabbed the leg, and wouldn't you know it, he drug the edge across my thumb knuckle and opened me up. So I have elk blood running in my veins. Doesn't seem to have made much difference.

For things like tularemia, there's an effective method for opening up the paunch on a rabbit and spinning him round in a manner that causes all his innards to expel away in a balled up mass. Thus removed, the carcass is fairly safe to handle, though I would still exercise caution with open wound exposure and quick cleanup after further dressing.

I won't handle sick critters. If they don't act proper beforehand, I won't shoot them for harvest. I might pop a peculiar varmint if they look loco. Likely as not they are rabid. I don't go after prarie dog or marmot because they have are a known vector for the plague, and who needs that? Tree squirrels are fairly easy to figure if they are safe or not. Either they act squirrely, as they should, or they act noticeably impaired. You can put them out of their misery, but give the corpse a wide berth afterwards.

In short, I am not too worried about exposure. As far as I know, no one has yet contracted chronic wasting disease. In the case of getting my thumb slit, a rubber glove wouldn't have helped me in the least.

I can shoot at a quarter! Now hitting it on the other hand...

Maybe with my USP45 Tactical. But not with a bow.

If you can consistently hit a quarter at 20 yards with a handgun, my hat, sir, is off to you. I feel accomplished if at that range I can see a quarter.

CWD is a form of transmissable spongeform encephalopsy found in cervids such as deer and elk. The CDC recommends not consuming the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes of deer and other game animals. An outbreak of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob (vCJD) disease in residents of Kentucky in 1997 was linked to consumption of squirrel brains, though not conclusively. Since CJD is always fatal and untreatable, it seems prudent to not eat deer brains.

a quarter at 20 yards is a feat. I hope I make it too! I think part of the value is in "the process" ... striving for high accuracy. the target area for an arrow against a wild pig is not easy .... it's best to take them through the heart. this requires a shot when the animal is quartering away, and the heart is pretty low in the chest. so I think that's the reason why experienced guides want bowhunters to be accurate ... a good shot drops an animal very fast. a bad shot is a real problem.

I do appreciate the comments about various diseases affecting wild game. I am taking note.

I came across a story from AZ where a wild javelina was tested and found to have rabies. the animal had been behaving strangely. it's highly unusual, but not impossible. some good care needs to be taken to work out if an animal is healthy before eating the meat.

Pete2

Well, I didn't say it was a sure bet! Just a better bet than doing the same with a bow. That said, my USP45 Tactical is capable of accuracy in that general range. Although I'm usually not!

I do burn between 200-500 rounds a week, rimfire through centerfire. In my youth I shot rifle and pistol steel and some pinshooting. Overall I'm pretty handy with a rifle or pistol but you won't see me winning Top Shot anytime soon.

here's a couple of web links I thought were interesting.

the first is to the hunting guide who is telling would-be hunters to go home and improve their accuracy. although he doesn't say it, I'm pretty sure he doesn't really require people to hit a quarter at 20 yards with a bow & arrows. but I think his point is that if people can get really accurate on a stationary target, then in a real situation they should be pretty good for hitting something the size of a saucer. which would give them a heart shot, or worst-case a lung shot. so the animal is coming down, and the amount of tracking is not too big. I'm just guessing this is his real rationale, because he doesn't spell it out completely. most of his article is about the virtues of using heavier arrows on wild boar (750 grain arrows, or thereabouts).

http://www.boar-hunter.com/articles/article/7379302/138283.htm

the second link is a very interesting set of articles on blood trailing wounded game. it is set up as an interactive experience, so you can match your own judgment against the authors.

http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/bloodtrails/

Pete2

I know some archery guys who can probably outshoot me and my handguns with their bows. The accuracy of a skilled archer is very impressive. As a kid I got into archery a bit but abandoned it around age ten; that's when my dad lost his right eye in a construction accident. He was an avid bowhunter (shot a Bear compound) but after losing the eye his depth perception was too poor to continue shooting his bow. So he switched to handguns and muzzleloaders and sold his bow. I got into guns more and forgot all about archery. Now I wish I'd have tried to master it better.

Striving to hit such a small target is time well spent. The smaller the target, the harder you work on fundamental marksmanship skills. It forces you to get better. Even if you don't think you ever will be able to, it is worth trying.

i'll tell you one thing about a bow. I got my 50-pound recurve bow a while back. naturally I strung it (had to learn how to do that), and then pulled back the bow string. it's a LOT of force. you really can't imagine how much force is behind a powerful bow until you pull it to maximum extension.

I thought about firing a sharp arrow with that amount of power. I decided that if ever I got wounded, I would rather be shot with a handgun than somebody putting an arrow through my body with a 50-pound bow. that is a bad way to go.

these days we sort of write off what the early explorers and adventurers went through during the colonization of America. anybody who got shot with an arrow from a strong bow - that person suffered terribly.

Pete2

The pictures I've seen of arrow wounds suggest an arrow through the center of mass will cut a hole 1 to 1-1/2 inches diameter and pretty well through and through. A pistol bullet wound probably is much smaller and has less penetration. I think it's likely a victim could survive a single bullet wound, assuming nothing vital was hit.(brain, heart, major vessel) An arrow wound could easily bleed out before effective hemostasis could be achieved.

I too would much rather be hit with a handgun round than an arrow! Modern compound bows are extremely lethal. A multi-bladed broadhead does an amazing amount of damage.

anyway benjammin ...

what exactly do you plan to do with "that thar critter" after you hunt it? are you going to grind up the meat and make 100 steak-and-kidney pies? are you going to skin it, tan the hide, and put a rug on the floor of your great room? do you plan to whack its head off with a machete, take it to a taxidermist, and mount it on your wall over the fireplace? what's the goal here :-)

Pete2

Well, I am definitely not a trophy hunter, but if I do get one worthy of it, I will get it mounted and put it on the wall.

My interest is the meat. I think wild game is generally healthier eating, and in some cases tastes better than regular store bought beef or poultry. I'll grind some of it and can it or make it into sausage, some I will fillet into steaks or roasts, some will become soup bones, and some will be for Doug to chew on (our Viszlah).

I'll take the hide to a processer here and get it tanned. Since I don't much care for the taste of bear I am not inclined to hunt them, but if I have to shoot one, I would make a rug at least, and if I can't find anyone who wants the meat, Doug will eat well.

Not much left after that. I am an organ meat eater, though not as gung ho as most. I like liver and heart and kidney, the rest usually stays in the gut pile out in the woods. I never really developed a taste for sweetbreads (the thymus gland) like Grandad did, but then he came from a different background. I suppose I could find a way to incorporate more of that in my sausage making, but if it is salvageable, it most likely goes in the dog bowl instead.

Benjamin-

As I recall you have indicated that you have only recently moved to Alaska, so you may not be familiar with our laws/regulations regarding shooting a bear in defense. You should review those before heading afield. To summarize, you may shoot a bear to protect yourself. However if you do shoot a bear in self defense the bear becomes the property of the state. You must report it immediatly to ADFG or AST, surrender the skull, and hide with claws attached, and fill out a report of the circumstances.

If you were to shoot a bear in defense and keep the hide it would be considered poaching. The only exception might be if you were in a unit with an open bear season. Note that in many game units, bear hunting is by drawing permit. Alaska is a very big place, and fish and game regs vary quite a bit depending on which unit you are hunting in.

See http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=livingwithbears.conflicts:

"You may kill a bear in defense of your life or property if you did not provoke an attack or cause a problem by negligently leaving human or pet food or garbage in a manner that attracts bears and if you have done everything else you can to protect your life and property (5 AAC 92.410)."

"Property means your dwelling, means of travel, pets or livestock, fish drying racks, or other valuable property necessary for your livelihood or survival. While game meat is considered your property, you may not kill a bear to protect it unless the meat is critical for your survival. Even in this situation you still must do everything possible to protect the meat (i.e. proper storage, scaring the scavenger, etc. See Safely in Bear Country) before you may kill the bear."

"If you have to shoot a bear, be sure you shoot to kill - wounded bears are potentially more dangerous than healthy bears. Also be very careful of what lies beyond your intended target - stray bullets can travel over a mile and still be deadly."

"Bears killed in defense of life or property belong to the state. If you kill a bear you must remove the hide. If it is a brown bear you must also salvage the skull. You must give both the hide, with claws attached, and the skull to ADF&G. You must also notify your local ADF&G Wildlife Conservation office or Alaska State Troopers Bureau of Wildlife enforcement immediately. You are required to fill out and submit a Defense of Life or Property Report Form (PDF 172 kB) questionnaire concerning the circumstances within 15 days."

Well, certainly I would only keep the bear if I had a tag and it were in season. I guess I should've qualified that first. But if I had to shoot a bear in any other situation, you can be certain it would be a qualified self defense act. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I wonder how many bears they let you shoot up here a year in self defense? Hey, as long as they can't prove I baited it, there should be no limit, right? I didn't see one specified in the law anyways. A tore up coat should be enough to show I was in the process of being attacked when I popped him. Well, I might've been wearing it at the time, who can say otherwise?

Generally speaking, from what I have seen "Defense of Life and Property" bear shootings are investigated. However, the authorities virtually always give people the benefit of the doubt. Unless you did something really egregious in front of witnessess you are very unlikely to get into trouble over a DLP bear shooting incident, so long as you report it, and make a good faith effort to surrender hide, claws, and skull etc. I know of at least one incident where the shooter was unable to recover the hide due to some extunuating circustances. ADFG wasn't pleased, but after some discussion they accepted his story and didn't hassle the guy further.

Obviously the reason for the DLP regs is that otherwise anyone who wanted a bear trophy but didn't want to bother with silly things like seasons, tags, etc could just go shoot any bear they see (threatening or not), then concoct some BS story about self defense, and get a nice bear rug to hang in their den. It is just a means of making sure people don't kill bears for no reason and then claim defense.

Actually, unless I am out doing a legitimate hunt for bear, I hope never to encounter one such that I would feel the need to shoot. I have bear spray; the best I could find, but have little faith it will protect me, so I carry a 44 mag when I feel the need. I know a pistol is a poor choice against a charging bear, but I also know what that load will do in an animal, so I'll get what licks I can in if I have to, and hope it works, should the need arise.

I do not believe in waste. If big game is killed, it should be harvested. Predation is a consideration, but still no excuse for wasting an animal.

Benjamin ... I'm confident you will get the "bear thing" right. Personally I can't see the need to hunt bears for meat ... But thats just me. Maybe I'm wrong but bear meat doesn't sound that appetizing. Might be OK in chilli :-). I can understand it was an important source of fat in the old days. But nowadays I can just buy a jar of olive oil.

I'm more interested in your hunt for a caribou. Can't tell you what that meat tastes like either. I am guessing, though, that its not good to get an older full grown animal. The meat may be tougher and flavor stronger. So maybe you are looking for a younger animal. Any thoughts about this?

pete2

Pete-
Caribou tastes excellent, in my experience.

Benjamin-
Good luck on your hunts! If you aren't already aware, you probably want to check into some of the drawing permit hunts. The application period for next year's hunts is in November and December this year.

As you no doubt have already learned, hunting the more remote parts of Alaska (ie much of Alaska) can get expensive if one is based in Anchorage. Unless you know someone with a plane, flying out to the bush can be very pricy. For this reason the areas that can be reached from the road system are extremely popular. To avoid too much hunting pressure, nearly all the good hunts near the highway system are by drawing a limited number of permits.

If you want to go after caribou, you should try to draw a Nelchina Herd permit. That is the most easily accessable caribou hunt in the state. A co-worker of mine and her husband both drew Nelchina permits this year. They are up there this weekend. I'll find out next week if they were successful.

I've yet to eat bear meat that I care for much. I've eaten black bear meat, and it wasn't gamey as much as it smelled like a latrine to me. I suppose if they are up in the berry fields eating then they might taste better, but they forage and aren't too picky sometimes what they put in their gut.

Yeah, Caribou, maybe next year. I have a couple of GMUs I might try. One will be a fly in, the other a heckuva lot of driving and ORV.

Went out for ducks today. The birds aren't around. Hiking in the much damn near wore me out. But it beats sitting on the couch. Saw a couple eagles having a mid-air fracas. Looked like a juvenile encroaching on a big adult's territory. The white-head came down out of his tree and straight after that poor young one. He flew over our head a bit later, after the fight was done, and he was missing some wing feathers.

Saw Beluga whale pods along the Turnagain on the way back to town. Sure is pretty land and sea up here. I gotta get out in it a lot more.

"Saw a couple eagles having a mid-air fracas ... Saw Beluga whale pods along the Turnagain"

those are the best reasons for being out there, benjammin. memories like that stay with you for a lifetime. it would be a great day down here in the continental US if I could see two eagles fighting in the sky. but to see eagles and whales all in one day - that is a memorable day :-)

Pete2

Yeah, occaisionally we Alaskans have to stop and remind ourselves that people pay big bucks and come from all over the world for stuff that we locals see and do on weekends! (Or even after work during the long daylight of summer.)

The drive along Turnagain Arm where Benjamin saw belugas, can be done in less than an hour from my house in Anchorage. Besides eagles and belugas, on that drive one will commonly see Dall Sheep, and occaisionlaly moose. Once when the salmon were running I saw a grizzly bear out on the mudflats at low tide. Driving the side road into the village of Girdwood (halfway down Turnagain Arm) I once had a black bear run across the road just in front of my car.

When I drive out of Anchorage, for any reason and in any direction, I ALWAYS take my binoculars with me. You just never know what you will see!

Yep, this is a special place. I wish I would've made the move up here long ago, but things work out as they should I suppose. Another great chapter being written. I hope nothing happens to spoil it, at least for a little bit longer.

A good friend of mine (then climbing ranger at Denali NP) once said that the nice thing about Anchorage was that you were just a few minutes away from the real Alaska.....

True. Took off this afternoon for the hills up around Hatcher Pass looking for blueberries. Sadly, only a few low bush berries left, and those have almost no flavor. But the view up there is great. Fall colors are just starting to come in, and with all the moisture we've had the veg is lush right now. On the way home I stopped at Trout café in Wasilla, then over to the Sportsman's Warehouse, where I picked up a new butcher's knife and 3 pair of thermal underwear on clearance (each pair averaging less than $10). It started pouring down rain on the drive home down Glen Highway, but I got home, changed into a pair of the thermals, and now sitting beside the wife in front of the fireplace.

I got half a dozen little projects and to-do's that I will work on over the next week. To top it off, I got invited to a pre-opening of the new Sam's Club out on the NE side of town on Wednesday night. Lots of giveaways and specials promised, so maybe I'll get my hands on some boodle. The new store will be huge, so it will be interesting to see what all they put in it.

Sounds cool! I would love to see Alaska like that one day. Sadly the demand for chefs probably isn't all that strong.

All those tourists who come up here in summer like to eat well. And even some of us locals, believe it or not. There are quite a few nice resturants in Anchorage, and also some in smaller towns. I have no idea how hard it is to land one of those jobs. Our local college has a "Culinary Arts" program, so there must be some demand for chefs.

There are also quite a few lodges that are open in the summer. Some cater to folks who pay big bucks to fly out to remote lodges to fly fish and what not. People who pay that kind of money for a vactation also expect good food. Even people at the less exclusive lodges like to eat. Those kinds of places usually also like it if you can do other things, like help with maintenance and whatnot. If you are a chef who is also a "jack of all trades" you could probably find a summer gig somewhere. I once talked with a lady who ran a lodge who told me her biggest hassle was finding good help who would stick around for the summer. Her place was on the road system, but several hours from the nearest town. She said she had hired lots of kids who came out there, worked for a month, then decided it was too boring and quit. Not too many tourists come here in the winter, so that kind of work would be seasonal.

Yes, there are some very good restaurants here in town, and quite a number of great eateries all around. Most have seasonal work demands, but there's enough off season demand that it should be possible to find a permanent spot if you are any good.

Camp cooking is hard work, much worse than in a real kitchen. I have the goods and the means to do it, but not the gumption to do it for a living. Been there, done that, my back and knees won't take the abuse no more. But if you have the wherewithal and the connections, you can see the backside of Alaska from a very special perspective.

I was very close to taking a job at a lodge in Canada. It would have been seasonal, with long hours and lots of work in season. Ultimately I didn't want to have to deal with trying to manage all the permissions needed to work in another country. Alaska of course wouldn't have those issues.

One thing I've been considering is trying to do a summer working in a kitchen up there right after I graduate. Once I get my Bachelor's degree, that would be a good time (and maybe the last time) to do something "wild" before settling into the 55 hour a week grind for the next 20 years.

I would highly recommend it. I wanted to come up here after the Navy, and I regret I didn't take the chance until now. Thirty years later, I have had the chance to travel the world, and I can say that for a fellow like me, this is where I belong.

I need to stop reading this thread before bed. Now I'm craving meat!
-Blast

"Now I'm craving meat!"
Come on man! There's cattle near Houston. Also bison, deer, rabbits, prairie chickens, whooping cranes, (oops, don't mess with the cranes)