To hunt along the Haul Road, you have to be five miles from the road to use a gun for hunting. The law passed by the legislature back when the road was going to be open to the public said Hunting. Keep that in mind. No one was worried about someone shooting the pipeline, it was put in place to satisfy the locals that live in the area, they did not want hunters coming from Anchorage and Fairbanks and hunting in their area. They felt five miles would be too far for anyone to walk from the pipeline. Therefore no one would be hunting in their back yard.
Now in the law, nothing is said about Trapping along the pipeline. I'm sure this was an oversite by the Legislature, and the locals at the time. Many people were trapping there already before the pipeline was put in place. It took a few years before the general public figured this out. In methods and means one of the methods of trapping is shooting. So if someone wants to trap a Wolf, a Fox, or a Coyote, along the pipeline, all they have to do is get a trapping license and drive the Haul Road. As long as they don't shoot from, onto, or across the highway it is legal to use a rifle or shotgun for the taking of furbearers with a trapping license. A friend is trying to get it pasted in the Legislature to allow bird hunting along the Haul Rd with a shotgun. There are Thousands of Ptarmagine along the road above Attagun Pass. One little chip at a time.
The first time I took the wife up to the North Slope hunting, we had a bad experience going down the North Side of Attagun Pass. On the North Side the road is narrow, twisty with switchbacks, and a sheer face of rock on the right side, and nothing not even a guard rail back then on the left side. I was driving a Jeep Scrambler. As we neared the last switchback, with the wife in near panic mode from the road, a bunch of Ptarmigan flew up scared by the Jeep. They were flying straight into the strong wind. Due to the wind they made a 180 degree turn and came straight at the Jeep. Several hit the windshield, killing them and splattering blood all over the windshield. Visability was zip. I had to roll down the window and stick my head out to see where I was going. Thought the wife was going to jump. She actually had the door open to jump when I told her not to.
We went on North and got our Caribou with Archery right beside the road. On the way back, thought I was going to have to hog tie her to go through the pass. She did not want to go back up that road. Today they have a Guard Rail along that section. When you see pictures of Attagun Pass on Ice Road Truckers they always show the South side. That is a pretty straight and gradual climbing section of the road. I've never seen them show the North Side of the Pass, it's a whole nuther road in comparrison. At the bottom of the decent on the North Side is a spring that flows year round. Dall sheep are almost always seen on the road licking salt from the roadbed, and watering from that spring. They will stand there and let you get to within 10 feet of them. You can get some real close ups with out a telephoto lens. Mostly Ewes and Lambs, but every once in a while there will be a big Ram there as well.
