Made it out for the deer hunt. Smooth waters............ all the way, 75 miles.
We climbed 1,000 feet the first day and ended up in a bowl 2/3 from the summit. It was so beautiful that words can not describe it. Flat waters out on the ocean, 70+ degrees and a light breeze.
We spotted 2 deer and my hunting partner put a stalk on. I set up an ambush spot in case things went wrong for him. Turned out to be does. Mean time I spotted two up high on a rocky ledge. I glassed them for half an hour and saw no antlers.
Then as I circled around for a better look, bang, bang. My partner had circled back below me and had seen antlers. Well he missed and I only saw alders and butts from that point. We saw about 4-5 deer in the bowl all told.
Time to head down the hill. Heavy dew on the grass turned it into a nightmare for me. Slick as dog s.... I fell 5-6 times coming down and tore a groin muscle. Soaked from landing on the moss and chilled by the time I was able to change.
We then headed to Double Bay looking better morage. Headed out and proceeded to gain elevation. The we came upon a foul smelling area.
Two things smell like dead fish in Alaska. Dead fish and bears. The place was littered with wide trails and stench. I was carrying a .308 with 150 grain bullets. I felt under gunned for sure. So we found a different direction to head. No deer at all. To beautiful of weather and they were all up high.
We decided to head back to Valdez as we had perfect running water. 25-27 mph all the way back and I only burned 42 gallons of gas for the trip. By the time we arrived it was almost dark and my leg had stiffened up so bad I had to limp around for 10 minutes to loosen it up.
No deer but a great trip. I have to go to work next week so I just might try a close to home trip before then.
