Moose Hunt 2018

I had my chance twice this fall to catch a bull moose and failed to bring one home. I was so disheartened. On Saturday night, we went to camp out at the cabin upriver with hopes to go out hunting early the next day. I woke up 3 hours later than I had planned. I quickly made breakfast (sausage and eggs), ate, and got dressed. Cassidy followed suit, as she always does. Wherever mom goes, she has to follow.

We got down to the boat only to find it was high and dry. Wooldridge boats are not light so there was no way we could push it out. I was so frustrated by this time. It was 10 am. I was losing time. I thought for sure there would be no moose roaming around if I stayed and waited for someone to come upriver. So, I brought a canoe down and Cassidy got in (with her life jacket of course) and I got in next. I started paddling upriver towards the slough across from South River. I wanted to sneak up on a bull like Jimmy Cragle.

I paddled half way up to the slough then I heard movement in the water down river. I turned around and saw him. Bullwinkle was a bank below the cabin so I changed direction and quietly paddled his way. Then I hear “Amber!” Reuben is yelling from the cabin. I want to yell, “Shut up! There is a bull out here!” but I didn’t want to scare him off. I kept paddling. Then, I notice movement across the bank from the bull. It is a cow! Reuben gets down to the bank and notices the cow and shouts, “Don’t shoot. It’s a cow!” By now I’m aiming at the bull because he is staring at me. I had to take a chance or he would run in and not return. I shot three times and missed. I was baffled. I was only 150-200 yards away. What was wrong with my gun? Cassidy sat quietly in the bow of the canoe. I paddled back to the camp to tell Reuben what had happened and how he scared the bull away. Afterwards, we went back to town to re-sight my rifle.

It was the 18^th day of my moose-hunting saga. I was beginning to give up. I had 2 days left to catch a bull moose. On September 18^th, Reuben, Bing, Cassidy and I went up to Sauyaq and drove into the horseshoe. Reuben fell asleep while Bing got out of the boat and did some moose calls and rattled some trees. I didn’t think he was going to call a bull out. We sat there for maybe an hour before deciding to move further in the horseshoe. Bing parked at the end and we looked around then I noticed a dark brown spot 350 yards ahead of us in the trees. Then, another light brown spot. I grab my .270 and change the magnification to see what they were. One was a cow and the other a bull. By now, Reuben has awoken and we are all looking at the bull. Somebody makes the crazy decision that we should shoot at him. He notices us and walks further in the trees. Then two cows come out on the right. We look through our scopes to make sure one was not a bull. We are thinking, “Gee! How many moose are back there?”

We never thought the bull would come back out, but he sure did. We all get our guns ready and Bing says to us, “1-2-3 shoot!” so we do. Then we reload and shoot again. Looks like the bull is walking away. We shoot another two times and he is gone. At first we think we missed so we are fixing to leave, but I tell them we should at least go check to see if we hit him. Bing and I make the long trek over. He walks the wrong way and I redirect him to where I hear distressed breathing. Sure enough, we got him! Bing and I walk over to the bull and I do the kill shot. I am beyond happy and almost in tears. I waited so long for the day to come. We decide that we will come back in the morning to butcher and haul, knowing it will be a long day due to how far we would have to haul; plus it was getting dark.

The next morning, Bing and I went back up to butcher the moose together. It rained on us all day. My raincoat soaked through to my fleece sweater. After butchering the moose, we took the toboggan and started our first portion of the haul. Walking through tree stumps and wet grass ended up being a lot harder than I expected. Bing told me that L.A. (his brother-in-law) was going to come up and help haul in the evening. Well, it was going on 5 pm and nobody showed up. I was in despair thinking of the long evening of hauling without help. Bing kept saying, “sounds like a boat” and then nobody would appear. We were hearing things. Finally, when we got all the meat to the first stretch, L.A. and Reuben show up.

As we are hauling the meat to the boat, L.A. hears a moose and it gets close to our boat so he shoots. The bull was not going to stop for anything. He was a huge guy too. I’m so glad L.A. showed up because I don’t think my .270 would take a bull that big down. I didn’t even hear him coming. I just heard the two shots then when I got to the boat, they told me about the bull. He had a 68-inch rack! He was huge compared to my moose (41-incher). 

By the time 9 pm comes around, Bing and I are just beat and freezing from being in the rain all day. L.A. guts and quarters his moose all by himself in 45 minutes and we all take off for home. It was quite the hunting trip. Next year, I am not going to hunt like this. I hope to catch a moose near the river so we don’t have to haul so far. Since this is my first moose, I have to give it all away, which is fine because my freezer is full. 2018 has been an amazing year for me: catching caribou, travelling to Europe with my mom and Cassidy, and catching my first moose. My heart is full. Now I can relax and enjoy some football.

Moose Hunting Blues

On Saturday, I left the house at 7:20 am to go moose hunting. Initially, I wanted to go upriver but the Lund battery was not charged. I was so frustrated because I was all packed and ready. I had high hopes of seeing a bull along the river because it was early morning and everyone else would still be sleeping. I had no time to waste so I got on my Honda and drove up the road.

Along the way, I bumped into Guam and we decided to partner up to look for Bullwinkle. We drove past North River Bridge and took a right and walked a path. There were moose turds on the path, but we could not call a bull out so we left. Guam and I drove the tundra before White Alice and still no luck. After we returned to the road, we parted ways. I took off for VOR. Once I got to VOR, I drove the tundra behind Oliver Hill. There is a pond behind Oliver Hill that looks like viable moose country. I sat there a good two hours and attempted to call out a moose, but I was unsuccessful.

A slight breeze made the tree leaves bristle.  I snacked on slightly sweet and tart blueberries while I sat and waited. The tundra was covered in frost. All I heard were the sounds of boats driving up the river and the tweets of birds flying around. A spruce hen flew out of the bush and gave me a good fright. The sky was blue and there was not a cloud in sight. Blueberry leaves covered the tops of my bunny boots.

I had my moose call in hand. My throat was getting sore from trying to make my voice deeper. Calling moose is hard for a soprano. I hoped that nobody was around to hear my sad attempt to call moose. I’m sure I scared the moose away rather than called it in. I’m just glad I didn’t call in a bear. Would I shoot a bear? I would if it meant my life was on the line. Since my moose call was not working, I opened my moose call app on my phone and tried it. It also was an unsuccessful approach. 

I tend to think too much sometimes. As I sat and waited for the unlikely presence of a bull moose, I started to ponder who the first person was to eat blueberries and how they knew they were not poisonous. Then I started to wonder who made the first gun and how they knew where to shoot a moose to kill it. Then I started to think, “If I shot a moose over here, it would be such a troubling haul to bring it up the hill.” That’s when I decided I was in a bad spot for moose hunting. I left my spot and drove back home. I had to recollect my thoughts and refuel.

These are just pictures from a handful of times I went out berrypicking. Cassidy is a pretty good hunting partner. 

 

Moose hunting makes me anxious because we are given a quota. Once we get closer and closer to reaching it, you start asking around, “Who all caught?” You scroll through social media looking for moose pictures then you are relieved to only see people in other communities catching. This gives you slight hope that your time will be next. I’m still trying. Seems like some people have all the luck. They go upriver and don’t have to go far and a bull just swims across the river saying, "shoot me. shoot me." Easy kill there. All I see when I go out are darn cows. I feel as blue as the blueberries. I think we have another 10 days left and the moose are starting to move more with the colder weather. My time will come. Stay tuned…

Dream Trip to Europe

During my mid-twenties, I began devising a bucket list. On top of that bucket list was a trip to Europe. I felt that I was not living until I crossed off all of the items on my bucket list. Something was always missing. Europe is seen as a beautiful place filled with magnificent architecture, exotic food, and beautiful scenery. It has been a dream to me that one day I would go and see the Colosseum, cathedrals, and castles overseas. Needless to say, my mom, daughter, and I made that dream happen earlier this summer.

Our trip consisted of visiting London, Zurich, Rome, and Cologne. There were so many other places that I would have loved to see but given the time frame of 2 and a half weeks, we could only visit a handful of places. There were many ups and downs on the trip. Some places we loved more than others. But the most important thing is that I no longer feel the need to see Europe. As beautiful as Europe is; nothing compares to my hometown.

In London, we stayed at a very small bed and breakfast place. There was hardly any room for us to move around. We took the “tube” across town and almost got lost. The bed and breakfast offered us free breakfast so I was really looking forward to that. I was disappointed to find the food was very strange. They offered beans and hot dogs and bacon that wasn’t even like the bacon we are used to. Even their yogurt was different. The area we stayed at was nice and we were able to roam around and find shops and a park. There was a pond and lots of birds at the park. Cassidy really needed to go pee and we could not find a bathroom, so I let her pop a squat behind a well. Luckily, nobody saw us. I’m not sure what the law says about peeing in public. LOL!

Zurich was amazingly beautiful and extremely clean. I didn’t see any litter on the streets or homeless people. Flowers were a common decoration along homes in the city. The local swimming pool was much more than just a pool. It was like a water park and it only costed 7 Franks to get in. We took a tour bus out to Rhine Falls and went on a boat to get a closer look. It was beyond amazing to feel the mist as the boat neared the falls. Everything in Switzerland was expensive. We took a 10-minute cab ride that costed us 60 franks. We laughed when I told the cab driver to pull over only to find out that our hotel was just around the corner.

The next day, we rode over to Lucerne and Engelberg. On the way to Engelberg, we drove by the Swiss Alps. The land was filled with cows. I would highly recommend visiting Engelberg for its endless beauty and the fact that it is a small town (something that I am accustomed to).

The next part of our trip, we flew to Rome. In Rome, we stayed at a Best Western Hotel that had a pool. The hotel offered paid shuttle services to the Colosseum so we took advantage of that. There was a lot to see in Rome. We visited the Colosseum, Ancient Rome, the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel. All of the sites were beautiful. People sold things everywhere. There were even people standing at stop lights to squeegee your windshields. I could care less to go back to Rome. It just isn’t for me. Seeing it once is enough.

After Rome, we flew to Cologne. Cologne was gorgeous. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency hotel and it was fancy. Cassidy and I enjoyed the indoor pool. We walked over the famous bridge that is covered in love locks. I have never seen a bridge that was covered in locks from one end to the other. All of the locks had names of couples and dates. One day, my mom, Cassidy and I took a walk to explore the area and it started raining so we went into a dollar store to see if we could find an umbrella. I needed to use the bathroom so I went to the back and used the bathroom, only to be yelled at by one of the workers. For all I know, she could have been cursing at me in German. Cassidy ended up getting really sick while we were in Cologne. She had a fever for 5 days. We tried walking to a hospital only to be told we needed to go to a children’s hospital. I was so frustrated. It ended up being a virus. I was worried she may have a UTI or appendicitis because she kept complaining of stomach pain. No fun to have a sick kid while traveling overseas. I was worried that I would get a huge bill since my insurance wouldn’t cover overseas healthcare.

One really neat thing about our visit in Cologne was that the national football team was staying at the same hotel as us. Everyone was standing around waiting for them to leave and we all got to take selfies and some got autographs. It was pretty cool!

We ended our trip in London, but we were in Heathrow this time. We did a whole lot of nothing in London. I was just exhausted at this point. I also just wanted to go home, but it would cost $300 per person to change our ticket, so we stuck it out.

The food was terrible in Europe. Everywhere we went all we could find was bread. We wanted hot breakfast, but it was near impossible to find that. In order to get meat, we had to go to McDonald’s. I also had to lug around Cassidy’s stroller everywhere, and it was not one of those lightweight cheap strollers. It was so tiring to go up and down stairs with it, but I just could not travel without one. All-in-all, it was a good trip. It was definitely worth going, but I think I will stay in the U.S. for further travel. Flying 10-20 hours is so tiring, that it took 3 days on each end of our trip to get back our energy.  

A People Divided

We are a people divided by religion, by politics, by parenting styles, by family, by extracurricular activities, and other personal beliefs. Why can’t we all just get along? It’s as if everyone has forgotten how to be human. We are not brought to Earth to judge others. We are not the Creator.

Everyone is entitled to their own belief systems. Everyone is entitled to live their life the way they believe is good and just.

When we are divided, we cannot work together. Sometimes I am guilty of partaking in the judgment. It is times like these that I look back and reflect on my own practices and shake my head. Each day I grow as a person. Each experience molds me.

I know for a fact that sometimes it is hard to see other people’s points of view. It is so simple to call others out and say they are wrong. It is hard to come to the realization that there may be alternatives to your way of life.

People, we do not need to fight over whether the Baptist, or Covenant, or Catholic church presides over one another. The most important thing about all of the churches is that we all worship the same God.

We do not need to fight about whether the Republican party or the Democratic party is superior to one another. As long as our people are taken care of, then we will survive.

Abraham Lincoln stated, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Let us remember to consider other people’s religions, personal and political beliefs rather than passing judgment. I have so much love for my family and my community. I cannot imagine living anywhere else, because each person brings something unique to the village. It is what makes Unalakleet WHOLE.

My first caribou hunting trip!!!

It was quite the adventure going caribou hunting this weekend! The weather cooperated: really warm (maybe 20-30) and no wind. The trail was pretty bumpy from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik (40 mile drive) especially Foothills. Man I dreaded going back over them on the way home. But after Shaktoolik it was pretty smooth sailing. 

The only problem I had was my sled came loose from my snow machine twice. The drive from Unalakleet to Iglutalik was about 4 hours. My shackle came loose twice. The first time I was on the trail between trees and I kind of freaked out because I didn’t want to block the trail for other hunters. Luckily, I was able to back up 200 yards or so to my sled and found both pieces of my shackle and reconnected and got out of the trees. The second time I was out in the open and one of my hunting partners was driving behind me. I lost both pieces of my shackle, but luckily he had an extra one. I was extremely lucky to go up with two very prepared hunters. 

From then on, it was smooth sailing. The drive was peaceful and I didn’t get cold. We got to caribou country and started scouting out the land to find herds. My hunting partner, Wade, spotted a good-sized herd of about 50 so we started out for them. Because I have never gone out hunting before, my heart started racing and so did my mind. I couldn’t believe I was actually there and seeing caribou for the first time. It was amazing. 

We got to the herd and Jeff started chasing them. He drove so hard that he must have hit a bump and his snow machine tipped over and so did his sled. I was going to stop by him to help him, but he waved me to go after the herd so I did. He was able to get his rig back up pretty fast. The herd got away that time. You have to see how skiddish they are. They are so fast and split up in like 4 directions. 

So, we pulled back together and started driving after one group of the herd. Wade must have caught a few because he stopped and Jeff went after a big group of about 15 or 20. I saw 3 caribou running off towards the hills and some willows. They looked a little easier to go after and I figured the willows might slow them down, so I chased them. I was about 100 yards behind them so I stopped and shot and reloaded and shot again and they kept running, but one started to slow down and I watched it slowly fall to the ground. 

I couldn’t believe it. I actually killed a caribou! So, I got brave and started chasing the other two. I got like 50 yards behind them and stopped and shot again. They kept running but one of them slowed down to a walk and eventually went down. I pulled up beside it and shot it in the head to make sure it was dead. I wanted to go after the 3rd caribou, but was scared to catch too much because I did not know how to butcher and didn’t know how many caribou Wade and Jeff got. I stood beside my second caribou, unsure what to do. I took a few pictures of course for memories, then I drove to one of my partners. 

Jeff had caught five. I was impressed. I asked to watch him butcher, but it ended up being us butchering 3 caribou together. Wade came over to us with his sled tied down. He had caught three caribou and had them all butchered so he butchered the last of Jeff’s caribou and helped me with my last caribou. 

I was so intimidated about butchering, but really it wasn't as bad as I thought. Wade showed me how to get the tongue if the caribou had lock jaw. Jeff showed me what was what inside the caribou's cavity. My gram wanted me to bring heart, liver and tongue back. Wade is a speedy butcherer. One day I might butcher half as fast as him. :)

We ended up seeing another herd of caribou after we finished butchering and Wade teased saying I should go after them. LOL! It was already after 4 pm and we still had to drive home. Now, I kind of wish I did. Would be nice to have extra meat to send out to be made into hot dogs and sausage.

All-in-all, it was an amazing experience. I loved it so much, that I would like to to go hunting again this weekend, if the weather permits. 

I am Eskimo!!!

The other day I was criticized for my blog name “West Coast Eskimo”. The guy just assumed that I was not part of an Eskimo tribe and told me to go to hell, that I was racist and the term “Eskimo” was a cultural appropriation. So, I went and looked up the term “Eskimo” in the English dictionary. It turns out that “Eskimo” means “eater of raw meat”. The Oxford Dictionary defines Eskimo as “a member of an indigenous people inhabiting northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and eastern Siberia, and traditionally living by hunting seals and other Arctic animals and birds and by fishing.” 

In all honesty, my family and entire tribe DO eat raw meat. I am not offended by the term at all. My husband and daughter love dried black meat (oogruk aka bearded seal). We also love dried fish. My daughter goes crazy over muktuk (whale blubber, even when it is raw). Raw meat is good in some forms. Nothing wrong with it.

Eskimos are providers. Eskimos are leaders. We subsist for our families. Some of us are cut off from the rest of the world in our little communities in rural Alaska. Eskimos share with one another. They look out for their family, friends, neighbors, and all of the village kids. Eskimos survive harsh winters, but they are smart about it. They utilize what they have in their area to stay warm. They make parkas, mukluks, malaqis, mittens, and other clothing articles with furs of locally hunted animals. Eskimos feed their families local food (seal, seal oil, salmon, caribou, moose, crab, herring eggs, muktuk, etc) to offset the high costs of food from the store. 

I do not understand people who get offended for being called Eskimo. If someone called me an Inupiaq, I would feel just the same. I do not differentiate the two. The Canadian Eskimos prefer to be called Inuit. The Northern and Northwest Alaskan Eskimos are called Inupiat. Others are called Yupik. Really? We are all Eskimos. We are all related in one way or another. Get over it!

I will keep my blog name as West Coast Eskimo because I am proud to be Eskimo. I may only be half Eskimo, but I am Eskimo nonetheless. I will always be an Eskimo as long as I shall live. And my children will know that they are Eskimo as well and their children and their children’s children. So, for those that find offense to the term, Eskimo, so be it. Eskimo defines who I am: who my ancestors were. My ancestors did not find offense to it. Why should I? 

The cutest little Eskimo in the boat! :)