Bubba Hunt

Thanks to all of my "commenters".

2010-06-08T06:19:44Z

I suppose that we all get too busy trying to stay afloat these days. I'm as guilty as anyone else.
However, I don't want to be guilty of ignoreing all of my fans and their inspiration.
Your comments are what keeps me going. I really do appreaciate all of them, and save them to my computor.
The way my web log is set up, I can't respond unless you leave your e-mail address, so I can't answer your questions.
You will find my e-mail address scattered out all through my posts.
I do believe some of you would enjoy my book, "The Wilderness Trail", (thewildernesstrail.org.)
It basically is my biography. A lot about living in Alaska that most folks find interesting, because it's so much different than anywhere else.
Anyways, once again, thanks for all of your encourageing comments. I will try to keep them updated more often.
George"Bubba"Hunt
oldbearhunter@alaska.net

Just a note...

2010-05-12T21:37:20Z

My fine Doc cut off two protruding disc's at L-4 L-5 and L-5 S-1. He done a wonderfull job and I'm up running around. Hurts a little and is a bit stiff and sore, but otherwise a very successful job done.( actually it hurts like HELL!!) but If I don't forgett the meds, it is easily controlled.
Thanks a ton for all the e-mail prayer support, and I'll be back on the air soon.
Bubba

No Big Deal

2010-05-08T19:17:48Z

I suppose that I could sit down and wring my hands and feel real sorry for myself.That might be the plan of some ordinary folks who take a foul hit from a health issue. So far in the last year I lost my cancerous right kidney, 14 inches of colon, major surgery to put large mess in my guts due and old prison injury, and now I'm looking at spinal surgery on Monday morning in Anchorage.
I guess I have been a bit rough on picking up things bigger than me for too long. After 67 years of doing and living my dreams, I'm not about to lay down and let someone else wait on me hand and foot.
My little wife has seven fusions of her spine from prison injuries.( She was one of the top cops at the Calif. Dept of Corrections.) She suffers more than anyone I know. She is happiest bent over a bull moose that she just harvested. The bigger the gut pile, the happier she is. Does it hurt?? Unbelievably!! You might see tears running down her face, but you won't hear a whimper.
The reason I write some of these types of articles is I hate to see good, productive people, who have always been active, just sit down and let pain destroy the rest of their lives.
I only have a blown disc at L4-L5. It messes up my leg with lots of kool charley-horses in my left calf. Hate those charley-horses! That disc will be lobbed off Monday morning and I'll be bear hunting in a few days.
Long ago I stopped hanging around folks who use that "CAN'T" word. Life has enough hard times and those "can't" folks can peddle their brand of "defeatism" somewhere else.
Saying "CAN'T" to Lin and I is like throwing a steak at a couple of hungry hounds!
We have the guill nets to run in June. We usually catch 150 salmon in 3-4 days. Then Bow season for moose. lot's of trout and arctic char must be caught in these mountain lakes. After all of that fun, we camp out for a month far back in the mountains for some serious bear and big old moose hunting. During that time we pick gallons of blue berries, wild raspberries, cranberries, wild currants, and wild watermelon berries. Who has time to sit down and bawl about a little stiff back problems.
Eight years ago I had a cancerous prostate removed and then 5 years ago I had the pleasure of receiving 3 nice stints in my heart. I have climbed a lot of mountains since then, and bagged several tons of moose and bears. I can not say how many pounds of halibut I have pulled up from 300 feet.
You will hear me huffin and puffin once in a while about these temporary little set backs. I don't do it to be boasting, I do it to inspire regular folks to reach down and pull themselves up by the boot straps when bad things happen to them. AND they WILL happen sooner or later.

I noticed that quite a few of you seem to enjoy this old rambeling from the "comments".
My life story, "The Wilderness Trail" should be of interest to some of you.
It can be bought from me or at the web site www.thewildernesstrail.org.
Bubba n Lin Hunt, walking the wilderness trail.

Bubba and the Parrot

2010-04-02T17:51:10Z

While working as a telephone repairman in Anchorage, I got a call to respond on a repair order.
When I showed up to the residence, it was obvious it was the home of a druggy.
There was a note on the door telling me that the key was under the mat, and to go on in and fix the phone.
It went on to say he had two large pit bulls, but I would be OK if I didn't try to pet them. It also said that he had a parrot, who talked rough, but as long as I didn't "talk" to him, it would be best.
While I was repairing the phone, I got tired of the bird calling me awful names, so I finally turned to it and called it a few foul names of my own.
The parrot set there quietly for a few minutes and then yelled in a loud voice,"SPIKE...STRIKER..GET EM!"
Thought you could use a grin today.

"WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER"!

2010-03-24T19:31:26Z

I have always been impressed with a lot of the quotes of Winston Churchill. I suppose it has had a profound effect on the way I grew up, and the way I always look at life.
We are living in tough times and those times are on the ragged edge of getting a lot tougher.
I feel a bit sorry for all of the young folks who will have to face those times.
When I grew up about the worse thing that happened was some of the high school seniors got into a case of beer at the annual Future Farmers of America bar-b-que.
The bar-b-que was held on the banks of Thomas Creek, just west of Corning California. We had a big bon-fire and cooked the beef in a fire pit all night.We had a full night to party.
According to some of the school officials, we were bad. How things have changed!!
Kids, today, have 100 times more pressure on them than we ever did.
I would not want to grow up today with all of the things that the young folks deal with every day.
Most of my life was growing up in the hills. It was a lot of chores and helping Dad out on the trap line. I was very insulated from normal city life.
Maybe that's the reason I have managed to hang on to the kicked-back, country kid lifestyle. I moved to Alaska when I was 26. Alaska is one of the last strong-holds for the pioneer spirit.I have fit in very well up here.Life hasn't changed that much for me. We still live pretty much off of the land keeping our "4" freezers full of moose, salmon, clams and wildberries.
This life-style disappeared 100 years ago in the lower 48 states. It is just the way things are up here.
I have never let much get in the way of what I wanted to do. It bugs me to see so many 30-50 year old folks sitting around, glued to the tube. It seems they are satisfied to lay around doing nothing. They work, sit, and work again, while their bodies grow old and flabby.
If only they would get up, get out and live out the rest of their years having an adventure once in a while, instead of wasting their youth on the web. Those "young-productive" years will be gone far too soon!
I turned 67 yesterday. Is it slowing me down from all of my outdoor adventures? I don't think so. I am getting ready for bear season, then running a gill net for salmon.
I have a hundred lakes and rivers to fish this summer, and then camp out for a month during moose season. Clams have to be dug from the beach, and berries have to be picked while watching out for the grizzly bear, who is picking also.
I have had a ton of youngsters come up with every excuse in the book on why they never do anything outdoors. They have so much to do...they have health issues and can't do much. They just don't have time to squeeze any outdoor time in...in other words they have succombed to the "rut" lifestyle. They have already died, but haven't fallen over yet.
It makes me sick to hear all of that BS! They have lawns that have to be mowed and shrubs to trim, a garage to be cleaned out...kids to take to ball practice...
Too danged many people see to it that their kids play all of the different kinds of "ball games"and sports, and never take them camping or fishing. Kids grow up knowing nothing but ball games and nothing about living in the outdoors. It's no wonder why they never get to know who they really are.A foundation of "ball games" is a poor foundation for handling the real struggles of life's real challenges! It's all too easy to let the coach take the responsibility of training your kid, instead of you taking them out and sharing the "personal" time with them.If you don't believe me,ASK THEM!
I could have easily let health problems stop me. I have had 4 major cancer surgeries. Two of them in the last year. I am trucking along with one kidney, and three nice stints in my heart. I'm just getting over with my fourth surgery within the last year. Can't lift much yet but I did shoot some arrows in my 70 pound bow. Hurts like heck! Shouldn't have done that!! Dumb!! I'll have to crank it down to 65 pounds and see if that hurts.
What I'm actually trying to say is never let excuses slow you down.Pain, is my old companion. So far I'm still kicking his butt! He still hasn't gotten dominion over me yet.
I know that the day will come where I can't drag this old carcass through the back-woods of Alaska any more. You can bet one one thing...I'll be dragging and clubbing it down the trail! May even be calling it a few choice names. The "real me " is still 27, not 67. This old carcass will never dictate how I will live and as what Winston Churchill once said.."WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER"!!
George"Bubba"Hunt, walking "The Wilderness Trail"!

Comments and Stuff

2010-03-14T20:49:48Z

I get a lot of e-mails on my blogs and some of you ask questions. I can't respond on the comments from this blog site. Instead if you have questions please feel free to e-mail me at "oldbearhunter@alaska.net.
One question that keeps coming up is when I'm doing the "Book Signing" at the Flournoy Store, at Flournoy, Calif.
It will be on Sat. June 26th, 2010.
For those who don't know where Flournoy is, it is about 13 miles west of Corning, Calif.
I would really like to see a bunch of old Corning High folks(class of 1962) and old Flournoy grade school friends.( as well as old El Camino grade school,( Gerber), class of 1958.
I don't get down from Alaska very often.
Please pass the word and plan on being there. You can also get one of those monster (Belly Buster Burgers) at the store. That is worth the trip!!
Thanks, and hope to see you in June.
George"Bubba"Hunt
Shadow Mountain Outdoors
thewildernesstrail.org

Flournoy Never Changes

2010-03-01T07:54:43Z

We were in California over Thanksgiving.
I decided to take a trip up-state to the little community of Flournoy, where I went to the first few years of grade school.
My memories of the little country school and the old homestead have always been very dear to my heart.
My book, "The Wilderness Trail", began here in my childhood and ended at the old ranch site where I had lived over 50 years ago.There are many references to Flournoy in the story.
I have never forgotten the country life-style of Flournoy. It seems like everything else, and every place else where I lived had changed dramatically over the years.
Flournoy has managed to stay much the same. The people are still friendly, and the old Flournoy Store still has the old-time 50,s style atmosphere.
The Bedford's still live next door. John Bedford is one of the last living friends that my Dad had, and he and his wife are still considered to be family.
When we arrived at the store, my first grade teacher, Marjory Murphy, was there to greet us. Her son, Darrell, and two of my classmates from were there too. I hadn't seen Sherry Pitkins or Jim Davies since the years at old Corning High School, where I graduated from in 1962.
I hadn't seen Marjory since 1953.
They were seated around the old table on the front porch of the store. What a reunion!
Most of the afternoon was spent spinning stories about how things were in the old days and all of the people we knew. It was a time I will never forget, with folks who were just like family, even after all the years gone past.
We ended the day inside sitting around the table. The rib-eye steak I had was outstanding. Lin had the "Belly Buster". When I saw that monster burger, I wished I had ordered it instead of the steak.
Not to worry... Lin could not eat half of it, and took the other half home in a doggy bag. I am always the "doggy". It was still absolutely wonderful the next day when I finished it off.
I can not wait to get my own.
We will be in San Francisco in late June. I'm planning on coming back to Flournoy and doing a book signing at that old table on the front porch of the store. I am also planning on chomping on one or two of the big old burgers.
I don't have a date for the signing yet, but I will in a short while. I will be having postures put up around Corning and Flournoy.
I sure would like to see as many of my old class-mates as possible.
A lot of who I am comes from my years at Flournoy school and the long-lost country life-style that we lived.
I can't wait to come back to my roots.
George"Bubba"Hunt
www.shadowmountainoutdoors.com

We Love Pain

2009-11-15T00:52:49Z

Life usually brings a lot of discomfort all by itself, and most folks try to avoid as much of that pain as possible.
Then there are those who put themselves out there knowing it will hurt, and sometimes hurt real badly.
I really don't particularly enjoy the pain of trying to thaw out frozen hands and toes. Those little finnies don't look much like they should be able to muster all that pain, since they don't appear to be damaged much.
Never assume that those little things will thaw peacefully.
I have shed many tears while trying to get some warmth and circulation back into those critters.
I suppose that most folks would at least TRY to keep the things warm enough to avoid the displeasure, but I have never been lucky enough to avoid the problem.
No normal folks would consider going out on a windy lake when the temperature was 5 above zero. No normal folks would EVEN think of going fishing when it's that cold.
The only reason the lake was not frozen over was the gale blowing down the lake, keeping the water moving enough to not freeze. Most of the low-land lakes were frozen over, but this high mountain lake was still open and begging for some fools to fish it.
On November 4th, my nephew, Frank, Lin and I put a boat on Cooper Lake, high in the mountains above Kenai Lake.
Cooper Lake always blesses us with some of the finest Arctic Char and Rainbow trout. It also has a hybrid mixture of the two, which are Char-bows.
The lake is deep and the water is clear and moving. Not stagnant like other lakes. The rivers drain into the lake and out the other end near the big dam.
Most people don't catch much when they fish there, but we have figured out how to fish the lake and we always limit out quickly.
The only smart thing we done was take along a little Buddy heater. I never spent much time in the cab of the boat because the fish were biting so fast that I had to hold my pole to keep it from being jerked into the lake.
Lin also stayed out in the cold wind and managed to beat me at fishing once again. It was because I had to bait her hook and my fingers stayed frozen beyond feeling.
My reel also froze up and was very hard to get the thing to turn.
During such a fishing frenzy one seldom realizes just how cold the old nose, feet, and hands can get.
The lake is in steep snow covered mountains. The sun only shines there for a couple of hours a day, and since we got there late, the shadows were already on the water. It is one of the most beautiful lakes on earth, and one of the coldest in the winter.
We all knew it was not going to be very pleasant, but it would be the last trip of the Fall before freeze up. Not going was not even an option.
Yeah, I knew it was going to hurt, but this time it was special.
I did managed to drive back home, but my hands and feet kept me in tears the whole way back home.
The fishing was more than great; the scenery was more than breath taking; and the pain won't soon be forgotten.
I guess it was a trade off of a sort. Having said all of that, ice fishing will be starting in a few weeks. By then I won't remember the pain, and I guess I'll have to learn the "pain lesson" all over again.
Without a little pain, there would be no adventure. Life without adventures wouldn't be worth living. Strange, Huh?

Reflections of an Alaskan Winter

2009-09-26T05:16:09Z

Fall is by far my favorite season.
Each season has it's sounds. Each season has it's beginning and end. Each season has it's feeling of the weather and the "change" in the air. All of the wild creatures react to these changes.
Fall is the time of the moose and caribou rutting. It is the time you hear the grunting and the slashing of the bulls as they compete for dominance. It is the clashing of large antlers as the big bulls battle for the right to propagate the species.
It is the long moans of the cows as they search for the dominant bull.
The wilderness is alive with the calls of the ducks and geese as they prepare for their long journey south.
The bears are finishing off every edible salmon, grass, and berries before the land is covered in snow and ice.
I think my favorite sound is the song of the loons on an unnamed lake.
Too much of our lives are taken up in the struggle with mortgages and the never ending battle with paying the bills.
It seems that we spend most of our time trying to find happiness and peace in a world that has neither.
I guess most folks define happiness as the things they can acquire, which never will fill the void.
Too soon we get old and find that we have missed the opportunity to find what we have fought so hard to get.
I learned as a youth that most of who I am could be found in the wilderness.
I always felt more at home in the mountains. I always felt more accepted in the wilderness.
Wild places never required me to act a certain way, or to be a certain way. It always allowed me to fit in and flow with the way wild critters lived.
I learned very young HOW to fit in without having to change the way the winds of the wild spirits would blow.
There is nothing about the ways of nature that I would change.
Most town folks will never understand what I'm talking about. Most town folks are happy with being around other town folks. Most town folks also seldom stop and enjoy a sunset.
How sad it is to live out your life depending on others for your happiness.
The wilderness has never let me down. It has never left me feeling unfulfilled. It has never failed to bring the inner peace and quietness of my spirit. The wilderness will find me at peace with myself and my Creator.
Fall always finds me camped in the mountains for many weeks.
Fall is the time I fill my freezer with moose meat. It is the time I gather firewood for the long, cold Alaskan nights ahead.
I actually look forward to the challenge of survival through the long months of winter.
I am at my best preparing for these challenges. I haven't let health issues stop me or slow me down much.
This year has been tough and probably would have stopped most. I had a 4 pound cancerous kidney removed along with 14 inches of cancerous colon.
I went on to get the set nets out a few weeks later and catch the salmon for four families.
I have all of the clams in the freezer for winter that I dug with a belly full of stitches.
Lin and I have several gallons of berries that we picked during moose camp.
A lot of folks enjoy the opera or the latest movie. We would rather share a berry patch with a bear.
Today the leaves have turned to their fall colors. Today I felt a crispness in the air. It was like the air was thinner with the promise of heavy frosts ahead. Today the "change" was definitely in the air. Soon the rains of late summer will give away to the quietness of blowing snow.
Soon the colors of fall will give away to the soft white blanket of winter.
Soon the only sounds will be the mournful howling of the wolf pack on it's winter nights hunt.
The ducks and geese will be long gone to their wintering grounds in the south.
Alaska will be buried in long months of darkness and ice.
The tourists will be home smoking on their exhaust pipes and we will be sitting around the fireplace drinking hot chocolate.
It will be a time for reflecting on the year gone past and plans for the new life of spring.
We will be pouring over maps in search of new moose hunting camps. Already we are talking about moose season next fall. Already we are putting plans together for family meetings to get ready for next fall.
Soon the lakes will be frozen over several feet thick. Soon we will load up our fishing gear and heading back into the bush on ice fishing adventures. Soon we will be living the adventures that others can only dream about.
Tonight I look out over the Kenai River Valley into the falling darkness. The Alpine glow of the Kenai Mountains has finally gone from pinkish purple to the long shadows of an Alaskan night.
I can't help but to feel fortunate to be here on my mountain. I can't help but to feel very blessed for our log home and the warmth of our fire and friends. The thought of being somewhere else would be unthinkable.
We are ready for the challenge of the long Alaskan winter. We are ready for the temperatures to fall well below zero. We are ready to watch the snow falling around the house and down into the river valley below.
We are ready to snuggle up under the down blanket and feel secure. We are ready for all the fury and beauty of the Alaskan wilderness. We are ready!

Not So Dumb After All!

2009-09-22T02:36:42Z

Well, there are some pretty smart weather folks out there after all.
I called the National Weather Service in Anchorage about those "tornado's".
It didn't take them long to e-mail me back with the answer as to what we went through.
I had heard of "williwaw's before, but never on the main land. I found out they do appear in Chile, and Greenland etc.
They are caused by "down sloping winds" that come down from the mountains in glacial country.
The wind gravitationally sinks very quickly causing the winds to heat up and gain speeds of over 120 MPH. They cause tornadic twisters that are very dangerous.
During WW11, in the Aleutian Islands williwaw's caused heavy damage to aircraft and the military encampments.
If you are interested in williwaw's, you can look it up on the web. There is quite a bit of info on them.
I know that we don't want anything more to do with them!

The Glacial Tornado's of the Twenty Mile River

2009-09-21T03:25:57Z

I have been putting off writing this story due to the lack of information I had in trying to explain the event. I have not ever been exposed to the kind of wind problem we had.
Most folks don't seem to get a grip on the situation we faced.
Everyone I've talked to get funny looks on there faces and try to understand, but they have never heard of such a thing.
I have camped in high mountain passes over the last 40 years. I have had to get up several times to repair broken tent poles, broken rope "tie downs", and about every thing else on a tent that can break.
These high winds can rip up about anything out there.
It takes a very good tent to withstand some of the harsh winds. High winds are the norm and I always make great preparation to set up our camp with the wind direction in mind.
I use trees, alders, rocks, logs and anything else to block the winds. I am certainly no rooky when it comes to setting up a safe camp. Actually Lin and I camp out for two months a year.
This year we both got our moose in a couple of days, and decided to join my two nephews, Frank and Ernest Hunt, on their moose hunt in the Twenty Mile River area.
It was a once in a life time draw and it was in the most scenic area in Alaska.
The Twenty Mile is a valley just north of Portage Glacier. It is an area known for very high winds. With that in mind, we set up camp on a gravel bar next to a row of trees.
The first couple of days brought rain in buckets. The river begin to come up the bank and we were soon surrounded by rushing water on our little island.
Luckily I had my SAT phone and was able to call our boat friends to move us down river.
We set up camp about 3 miles down river on a bend. We had nice high ground and were able to set the tent up in an alder thicket.
I love alder thickets! It provides many great places to tie to the bases of the bushes.
We took liberty of all of the bushes. I knew a storm was coming up the Prince William Sound and high winds were coming.
Prince William Sound dumps wind over Portage Pass and down over the frozen glaciers at speeds of nearly 100 MPH regularly. It wasn't something I did not expect.
I even tied a rope over the top of the tent to hold it down in case of one of those gusts.
What I didn't know was the warm air would come over the passes and become "down-sloping" winds. The warm air would hit the frozen glaciers and ice covered river causing "glacial tornado's".
Three mountain passes entered the Twenty Mile valley from the south at 90 degrees.
I had noticed that the normal wind currents caused little twisters in the low fog clouds almost every day. It never occurred to me that those same little twisters could become raging glacial tornado's with winds well over 100 MPH.
As I had already stated, these were not the run-of-the-mill gust of high winds.
The first tornado hit the tent at 12:30 AM on Sept 11.
The wind outside had only been barely blowing, if at all.
We could hear the deafening roar for 45 seconds. We have never been in a tornado, but we all knew what the roar was about. The first blast hit the tent and we thought it would explode. The tent blew up like a big balloon, and almost went up. The blast lasted for what seemed like two minutes and was gone. Everything outside was dead calm.
We jumped up, got dressed and went outside to re-tie the broken ropes.
We took shovels and dumped several tons of gravel on the tent flaps around the outside.
We tied two more ropes over the top, and hung our 5 gallon water jugs on the corners of the tent.
Frank grabbed the chain saw and cut three logs ten feet long. He notched the ends and we braced the walls inside the tent. I tied the logs to the upper side rails and buried the butt of the logs in the ground.
We were lucky to have most of the bracing done before the next tornado hit.
I was standing outside when it hit. I grabbed the top corner of the tent and tried to hold it down until the roar had passed. I was scared it would lift me up too!
The one strange "other" thing was the warmth of the air. It should have been cold, but it was warm instead. During several of the blasts we were also slammed by hail and rain.
When each tornado hit, the hail and rain also hit. Then as quickly as it started it would be dead still and quiet. It was just like someone flipped the switch off.
We were forced to hang on the logs to hold the tent down until 5:00 in the morning.
I don't know how many tornado's actually hit us. I think it was between 15 and 20.
The first 5 were much the worse.
We survived because we done everything right. I had everyone dressed warm and in rain gear in case we lost the tent. I also had a 10X12 tarp tied to a log outside in case we had to spend the night out in the rain.
I told everyone to drop to the ground if the tent did explode. I know some or all of us could have been injured very badly if we lost it.
The next morning we found all of our nice awnings shredded and everything else blown across the gravel bar.
I had a ground blind set up with a portapoddy. That critter had to be hunted down and dragged back to camp. The heavy tie-down loops on the tent had all been ripped out.
Not much actually scares me. Not big bears or much of anything else, but this night I was scared. Lin, with her bad back, hung in there and done her job in spite of the pain. She did not come apart as some would have done. The next morning the stress shown very vividly on every ones face. We were lucky to be alive and we all knew it.
I guess there were many strange things that took place. One of them was a tent 3 miles down river. It had not seen any wind.
I called the boat crew and they came in and helped us gather up our destroyed camp.
I heard from a different camp of moose hunters over on the Placer River, which was just on the south side of Portage Valley.
They were not so lucky. They lost their tent and spent the night rolled up in a wet tarp.
They were hypo-thermic but did make it.
I know the pilots don't fly near these glaciers for a good reason. I have an idea that the Weather folks don't have near all of the answers about some of those glacial wind currents.
The fact is hurricanes spin, low and high pressure fronts spin, tornado's spin. Most high winds are the result of air masses spinning. Those areas where warm air contacts the glacial ice fields also causes some very terrible, explosive tornado's. They may not be large in size, but they are explosive and very dangerous.
Other than that we had a very nice camping trip.
Just having fun.

Moose Camp 2009

2009-08-27T03:06:47Z

It seems that good times always come to an end much too quickly.
I wait all year for moose season. I always plan a month long camping trip far back in the wild country. It's as much about just being out there as it is hunting.
This year was disasterous!
It was over in 4 days. I tried passing up several moose to make it last longer, but as it goes.
We usually have a short camp only a few miles from home while waiting for the opening day of hunting in the Caribou Hills.
Short camp lasts about 5 days until the real opening day.
We can never afford to pass up our winter's meat, so we have to take moose if one presents it's face.
Unfortunately, too many moose presented their faces in the first four days.
Lin bagged her bull on day 2 with a nice shot through the neck. It was a fine year-and-a-half old bull. They are the best and tenderest meat to eat.
We had it back in camp by day break and hanging in a cold storage unit before noon.
I passed up several on day three which I probably shouldn't have done.
The fourth morning I bagged my bull before the sun was up. I suppose it was just about when it was light enough to see.
I was glad to have another fine young bull, but it was sad to have to be done before we got to go to "real camp".
There was no justification to go to real camp because it cost's $225 for a permit.
It was over. We stayed an extra day to just sit around the camp fire and reflect on our success.
Don't get the idea that it is a wizz to go out and pop two moose quickly.
No other hunter bagged anything out of a ton of moose hunter's camped everywhere.
They drove the roads and trails from sun up to sun down. The only problem is moose never stick that long nose out after first light, then they hit the thickets and watch all those wanna-be moose hunter's pounding the muddy trails.
Then those hunter's are back in camp after a long days riding before deep dusk.
Once again the same moose seldom come out of the thickets until deep dusk.
I hunt the first light and the last 30 minutes before dark. The rest of the day we pick berries, tell lies around the camp fire, or catch up on sleep.
In Alaska first light is at about 0500, and deep dusk can be around 2100 hrs. So it's 2200 hrs to 2400 hrs before we get to bed. Having said all of that, it makes for very short sleep before having to get up at 0400.
Most of the hunters sit up around the camp fires until 2400 hrs before getting to bed.
The next morning they are woke up by the roar of our moose rifles, because we have enough sence to get our sleep during the day so we can be up at that wee hour.
I have had complaints of others because they jump up out of bed when I set off my 375 H&H Magnum right next to their tent.
This year I could have shot 2 big bulls standing in the trail. The only problem is right behind the moose was one of my friend's tent. They were not at camp. I didn't know it or I may well have dumped one of the big bulls next to their tent. I knew if I shot, the bullet would have easily gone through the moose and poked a big hole in the end of the tent.
I knew they were already mad at me for waking them up early for years, and leaving big gut piles too close to their camps.
It's not kool to have big gut piles next to your camp because they draw the big old fuzzy grizzly in too close to camp.
You can see how they don't sleep very well with those big old bears wandering around their camps.
I'm not a mean old geezer, but I do have a decent sense of humor. Especially when I have been trying for years to get those lazy old pharts up early enough to shoot their own moose.
I hate to admit it but I do kind of enjoy messing with them.
The rest of the year we fish and do other things, but when it comes to moose hunting, we agree on nothing. We spend long hours debating moose hunting issues.
Not to brag too much, but my camp has bagged many bulls while they have had to eat beef and dead hog for winter's meat. Maybe a chicken once in a while.
My good old moose has absolutely no growth hormones or fat. It's probably those "growth hormones" that keep those old pharts from getting up early enough to get moose.
I have even offered to go with them and show them how to do it, but that sort of gauled them a bit. I guess when they get red in the face and start shaking, I should back off and not needle them too much.
They are still camped out there and I do envy them for that.
It'll be a small miracle if they get a moose, unless one stumbles over one of their tent posts and breaks it's neck.
By the way, we got a couple of gallons of blue berries, cranberries, red currants, crow berries, watermelon berries and low-bush cranberries.
Dang! I miss being out there.
Actually two of my nephews drew moose tags in a unique moose area.
I'm going along to shoot video of their hunt.
It will be a river boat trip up a river in the best moose hunting area in Alaska. It is a place where only 20 tags are drawn. I am excited about going with them.
I'll bet I won't have trouble getting them up early. I have found that a cold bucket of glacier water in bed always helps the late risers.
Just having fun!!

The Mosquito and The Plumber's Crack

2009-07-31T03:54:11Z

I have been taking a break for a while and it hasn't been entirely by choice.
First of all we put out our nets for a few days and got enough salmon for four families.
Around a 130 or so.
It's always good to have the freezer full of fresh salmon.
Our operation was slobbered over by everyone on the beach for a mile.
Folks like the idea of using a wench for pulling the nets in and out. They also liked my pressurized water system. It allows us to spray the fish clean before we vacuum seal them.
I always have my generator running and the freezer plugged in. It gives us a place to freeze the fish as well as being able to have nice steaks and ice cream in camp.
Fish camp went very smoothly again this year.
My neighbor gave me an old 1986 ford one ton diesel 4X4. It had a recently installed engine and a lot of other new goodies.
He couldn't get the transmission to shift. I told him many times to replace the little slave cylinder on the clutch and it would be fine.
He wouldn't listen so I asked him how much he would sell it for. He just gave it to me to get it out of his yard. How Kool is that!!
Lin started right off the bat not liking the looks of "Old Rusty".
It took me 20 minutes to get the clutch working. I have had to put vaseline on my teeth and gums to keep them from drying out, from all of the grinning.
"Old Rusty" is a flat bed crew cab with a 4 speed transmission. I have just finished a month rebuilding all four wheels with brakes, seals, bearings etc.
I installed a new tie-rod, batteries, windshield, emergency brake cables, heater and radiator hoses and speedometer gears and cable. I had to replace the light switch, turning switch, dimmer switch and rewire the dome light. It seemed that ever time I replaced something, I would find three more things that were worn out.
During one of my projects of working on the front wheels, I found that if one fails to spray mosquito spray on every inch, the industrious little critters would find and set up camp on it.
I usually covered about everywhere I could think of. I figured if I missed a place, they would surely let me know.
Well... when I was all bent over wrestling the front brake, they found that little place just below where my shirt wouldn't quite reach and where the top of my pants also wouldn't quite reach. I suppose I was too busy to notice all of the action going on back there.
The result was a great bunch of the most itchy bites I have ever had.
There was none of this "don't scratch the bites".
Lin found a lot of humor in my agony. She offered to put some lemon juice back there, but I couldn't trust her not to "accidentally" dribble some on down to
"old Glory".
The thought of having lemon juice along with the bites almost sent me into deep depression.
I tried backing up against a tree and rubbing like a bear, but that still wasn't enough.
I would wake up at night clawing at the things like a sick cat. The more I clawed, the worse they got.
After many days and nights of no sleep, they finally began to slack up a bit.My old "hind end" looks like I just got over a small battle with "small pox's".
I know there is a moral to that story, but I try not to figure out what it might be. Everytime I think about it, I can feel the itch beginning to return, so I try to forget as much as I can.
I am going to have to cut this blog short so I can get a few scratches in before lin catches me doing it again!
Bubba

It's Time to STAND Up and Be Counted

2009-04-16T03:12:58Z

I have been sitting watching all day of the Americans who turned out for TEA day.
I found myself humbled by the unity of so many folks who are tired of what the Obama administration, along with a Liberal controlled Congress, is doing to destroy everything we have stood for for over 200 years.
I have been perplexed for so long. Sometimes I have felt that I was the only one who understood what was going to take place, and then had to watch as Americans elected the most power-hungry, socialistic, Liberal Progressive President and Congress that America has ever had.
My greatest fear happened in November.

I am re-attaching an article I wrote in October, BEFORE the election from hell.
Maybe now...just maybe all of you who I sent it too won't hit the "DELETE" button before you read it. Maybe you might just possibly realize that the old Bubba might have lived long enough to see enough CRAP happen, and just maybe he just might know a tad about how things were, and how things can be.
I know I have sent a lot of political stuff in the last year, and I know very well some of you want to puke when you see another one of those political e-mails.
Well, give me a minute of your time and actually read this article from October.

Bubba

Wake Up America
American Socialism??

I would like to start this out by saying that I was raised as a Democrat. My Father's old Democratic party has all but been replaced by a Far-Left organization that has little to do
with the old Party.
I consider myself to be an average "flag-waving" American who still believes America is the only force in the world that still stands against the socialistic, and freedom- hater factions that run rampant today.
Recently I watched several people in a political rally that were not only very angry; they were also begging John McCain to stop the socialism from taking over America.
It looked to me like just another bunch of those "strange" folks that live everywhere among us who think the sky is falling.
I was amused, but didn't really give it much thought.
Since then I began to think about what has taken place in the last few months.
Then I remember what Khrushchev once said. "I will take over America without fireing a shot."
I will never forget that statement. It has often haunted me that it could be done.
The more I thought about all of this, it began to be very clear what was taking place right here in our country. It sent chills up my spine and brought a very deep concern that something very Un-American was close to fulfilling that promise.
I don't consider myself to be one of those "Nuts" who cry fear every time they don't like something.
Most of you who know me, know I don't usually jump on every wagon that comes down the street. This time I am jumping, and jumping hard.
Call me what you like! Think that I too, have gone over the edge.
My friends, I am scared for our way of life more than any time in my 65 years. I have seen a lot of policies come and go. I have seen a lot of mistakes made by our Government.
I know that it is not run very well a lot of the time, and a lot of us don't trust them as far as we could throw them.
Most of us would just as soon keep them out of our daily lives as much as possible.
Having said all of that, I'm going to write some controversial things that may or may not upset you. Whether or not you agree with me is up to you, but I have to get this off of my chest because it is bothering me more than I can stand.
I don't want all of this to go down without saying a thing.
AS WE ALL KNOW, America is now in a crisis that will change our way of life forever. 911 changed our lives forever also. I felt it then and I danged well feel it now.
I have begun to try to understand what has happened in the last few days.
I watched the Government being "forced" to pass laws against the theme of our Constitution. I saw many in Washington vote against the bill from both parties.
I wondered why some of the Democrats voted against it.
Now the Government is considering having to "Nationalize" the banking system in America.
No, they don't want to do it but they feel that something has to be done to save our economy, and the fall of the stock market.
IF THEY DO THAT, IT WILL BE A TERRIBLE STEP TOWARDS A SOCIALISTIC FORM OF GOVERNMENT!!
No American should sit back and say nothing about this!!
I want you to think about this next part with an open mind.
First, our financial leaders all agree that all of this "economy" problem started with the fall of the Housing Market.
The Housing Market went down due, in large, to the sub-prime crunch where folks were loaned mortgage money that had no way of paying it back.
The rates went up and defaults took place.
Then Fanny and Freddie emerged with some CEO's who had been cooking the books for several years. Barney Frank (left wing congressman watch-dog), along with others testified that Freddy-Fanny were in good shape Top that off with ACORN helping to push these "ridiculous" loans along.
Now ACORN is cooking the voter registration in many states trying to fraudulently
win the election, and have been doing so for several elections.
There are three Freddie-Fanny executives who were instrumental in the fall.
All three are now on the election committee of Obama. (Franklin,Tim,Jim) If you want their names, look them up!
Several of our Left-Wing politicians were in charge of "watch-dogging" Freddy-Fanny.
They now are a part of the crowd in charge of trying to fix the problem! (Wolves guarding the flock)
I promise you that they are scurrying around trying to cover their tracks.
When I began to understand all of this, I began to see how it all started four years ago, when the left took over control of Congress.
I know that these are not all of the issues.
Four years ago we were strong financially, and gas was $2.30 a gallon.
Since Congress is the one that runs our Government (not the President), guess who is responsible for the fall of America?? Could it not be the Democratic Congress?
In 2006, McCain tried to pass a bill to stop the fall of Freddy-Fanny by tighter regulation, but it was voted down by the Left Congress.
This brings us to Obama.
It certainly is no secret who he has been associating with. Other than that, who is he?
He has promised America with a Government based "Health Plan" that will be "far better than McCain's "privatized" plan. (Socialized health care?)
Do you realize that if he is successful in being elected President, WE WILL HAVE A LEFT-WINGED PRESIDENT BACKED UP BY A LEFT-WINGED CONGRESS!!
No American should be happy with Obama, Pelosy, Reid, Franks, Ayers, running America. The worse thing is they will have ABSOLUTE CONTROL of America!
With the Government in control of the BANKING system, guess where all of that leaves you and I?
Khrushchev's statement doesn't sound so far-fetched now, does it?
Looking back at the last four years, it isn't hard to see how all of the pieces of the puzzle fits into place.
Now Obama has stepped up in position to tell America that it is the fault of the Bush Administration. He has blamed everything on "someone else", and he is going to bring "change". God help us all at the "change" we may get!
He is now in position to take advantage of the situation to get elected.
The Socialistic Left has been laying this ground work for years.
Now, with the fear of America's economy, and with people having lost everything they have worked so hard to get and save.
Now with all of the pain we have been through.
Now during our darkest moment of American history, Obama is trying to step in and take over our country with a Left-Wing Socialistic form of government.
I am very afraid! I'm not mad as some are! I am scared to death that we are on the brink of loosing our country to the worst possible kind of enemy that our founding Fathers tried to keep us from.
IT IS TIME TO WAKE-UP and help fight this attempt to take over our country!
I don't care what political party you belong to. I don't care if you believe any of this.
It is on your shoulders to look for yourself and make up your own mind.
.
Quote, "All that it takes for evil to prevail, is for good men to sit and do NOTHING"?
Let it never be said that "I" didn't try to stop this down-fall of America.
I figured I had to say what I could.
After the election it will be much too late. If we loose, it will be too late to stop the process. Then you will hear that it was all caused by the Bush Administration, and more Socialistic measures will be needed to control the problems.
The Obama Administration will have all the answers, and you will all have to go along with it.
Democracy around the world will fall!
Please pass this along, please. I don't claim to have all of the answers, but I have enough sense to see what's coming down if we sit quietly and do nothing
I am an old timer, but my grand kids will suffer beyond anything than I can imagine if we do nothing.

posted October, 2008

George "Bubba" Hunt
oldbearhunter@alaska.net
posted by Bubba at 1:05 PM

Braggin Rights

2009-04-07T06:05:10Z

Thought I would get an update on my latest adventure, to the local hospital, that is:)
It's easier to do theses little blurbs than call.
Today I got out of the hospital with ALL of the cancer removed. I only got the colonoscopy because my brother and nephews had gotten one,( I didn't want to be left out on such a nice event) I had no pain or thought I had any problems.
Today I'm walking a bit stiffly. Feels like I swallowed a "lit chainsaw."
The next time they get some test done I will be running the other way as fast as my short legs will travel!!
Actually I'm a walking miracle. I lost 14 inches of colon, and my right kidney.Like I have said before, I had no pain or knew anything was wrong.If either of those cancers had spread, I wouldn't be here pecking on this key-board.
My cancerous kidney was 4-5 inches wide and at least that thick.It looked like maybe 9-10 inches long and the Doc said 3-4 pounds.
I'm sure it was some sort of world record!! Can you imagine that?? I had a world record kidney and couldn't even brag about it! My nephew Frank wanted it to make a fuel filter out of it. He also want the colon to make a "moose call" out of it.
For some reason the old Doc wouldn't give it up.
My little wife doesn't see the humor in it all, and she muttered something about us being some sort of sick dogs.
Some times the little gals can't understand??
Thanks again for all of your support and prayers.
If you ever wonder if God is listening, then maybe you can help me understand this little tid bit. "I just underwent MAJOR SURGERY and NEVER HAD ANY PAIN??" I do have stitch irritation, but had no real pain. ( I seldom ever pushed the pain button either, and only when the nurse scolded me)
God must think I'm special!! Maybe I'll brag about that!!
Bubba