ALASKA! someday I may go bowhunting up there, so we will call it a scouting trip

I took off this last Friday afternoon and headed up to see a my friend Genny and her boyfriend Matt in Anchorage. Got to fly up first class which was awesome! Also once I was up there we went out to some great local bars.

The next day we headed out to Matt's fishing cabin which is about an hour or so out of Anchorage in a place called Willow AK. Once you got off the main highway you had to take an unmarked interesting dirt trail till you got to the railroad tracks. From here its a bit over a mile of hiking down the railroad till you get to what I will simply call..... AWESOME aka Matt's fishing cabin.This place was cool, you can totally see how this is big time Bear and Moose Country. Saw some huge bear tracks on the river we fished close to the cabin... HUGE bear tracks! Also some moose tracks.
As far as fly fishing goes I think Genny's Pink fly rod may have been what it took cause Matt and I got skunked, while Genny had two rainbows and a King Salmon on! I did get a couple good hits especially when we first started. Did I mention we fished till after 11pm and it was still light outside!This place was really cool and I can't wait to go back some time again

Pre-Season scounting #2 Lost and Quinn Lake

Had an abosulty awesome hike today! I headed out this morning at 5am to go up to the greenwater lakes trailhead and then head to Lost lake. I have done this hike before and it is a pretty good 14 miles day hike. Today I had a couple problems, one I wanted to spend more time flyfishing then hiking and two my wife Courtney would be irate if we didnt make her familys early 4th of july party tonight on time.

I took the suggestion from a co-worker and looked for a cross county route from a forest service road to get me closer. Awesome advise Kevin I owe you one! I ended up going to the lake and back today covering about 4 miles total, not bad verses the 14 miles normal route.

First Scouting Trip of the Season, Mildred Lakes Olympic Mountains

I was given an interesting article from a co-woker on the

good but challangelling hunting in a remote area of the Olympics. Scouting for deer is always going to be a bit more difficult with others. Especially when two fo the four in your party just got engaged the night before the hike (tons to discuss)! Congrats Paolo and Amanda!

When wedding talk is in the air be sure that the chatter is plenty to drive most animals far from your presence. We may not have seen any animals but there where plenty of deer and bear tracks and perhaps even a cougar track.

I have to admit this was one of the more challanging hikes I have ever taken. The trail is unmaintained(an understatement at times). When you finally reach the top of your first ridge you feel triumphant, however then you drop into a creek crossing and it all gets harder, much harder!

All and all it was a good trip, I might come back here to Bow hunt but only if I'm looking for a challanging area, and have a couple days to camp out at the lakes, a day trip here just inst worth the drive or the effort.

Vail trip #2

I headed up to a new area of Vail this Saturday. I arrived about 45-60 minutes after I wanted to and the sun had been up for quite a while. At the first gate I saw 5 trucks then when I arrived at the gate I entered at there where 6 more trucks. That kind of deterred me from the start.

I rode up one of the logging roads being followed closely by another two bow hunters also on bikes right behind me. Eventually I put some distance between me and them. I am not doubting there are plenty of deer and elk in the area but I think everyone else in Washington is thinking the same thing.

I saw the remains of an elk in a patch of short trees and I ended up seeing 3 doe deer throughout the day, but mostly in the last couple hours I was there. The first was probably within 40 yards right off the main logging road. As I was trying to grab my bow it took off. The second I found in a small clear cut and it was probably 60 yards. The last doe I saw was across a pretty nasty ravine and just stood and looked at me for about ten minutes. I had enough time to take out my range finder and figure out it was exactly 85 yards away. Far out of my range and I wasn't about to take a shot.

The area is nice and I will likely go back this weekend, just hope to get there much earlier and not see so many other people. If I wanted to stand side by side with the next hunter I would have gotten a modern firearm permit and not an archery tag.

Vail Tree Farm

Due to logging activity the entrance I was going to use was closed off. Another entrace was closed dude to people durring the modern firearm season destroying and littering. The entrance I was left with was fine it just took a while to find.

This was my first time out with my mountain bike. I am hooked! Because no motorized access was allowed. I was able to cover lots of ground on the mountain bike. In the future I would like to make it a bit quieter. In the past i used this mountain bike for Freeride mnt. biking. using it for hunting worked out great.

I was within 100 yards of a doe today, she was on the edge of a clearcut. Once she saw me she freaked out and ran into the hillside and heavier trees. That was the highlight of this trip.. I climed a decent sized hill called bald mountain... really cool, really tough getting up

hunt up in the olympics

This hunt was kind of lame compared to the previous. I saw no animals... and TONS of other bowhunters. It was like bow hunting convention. I did go to the town of grisland, it is an old abandoned logging town. Very cool to think their used to be hundreds of people living up there and now you can just see the footprints of the town. Might go back to the same area but next time with my Mnt. Bike... all of the roads in the area are gated and non-motorized access is the only way in. So you either walk, ride a horse or take in a mnt. bike.

Upcoming TRIP! Late Archery Season Starts!

SOOOOOOO excited for this weekends trip, heading up to the Wynoochee Lake and Wynoochee River area. Should be a good time, I guess there is an old forest service station with a pilot program going on. Offering overnight bunks just south of the lake. Might be worth checking out while I am up there. This is Game Management Unit 648 and both deer and elk will be open for this weekend, with any deer legal and 3pt. min or antlerless for Elk.