Took a long lost friend Charlie with me hunting on Fri. Charlie was the best man at our wedding and moved to Juneau years ago, but until I returned to work for the state, I rarely saw him as he lived on the other side of town.

The trip started out poorly. I have few outboard issues, really. But Charlie seems to be with me whenever they arise. The outboard started right up, and we idled out to let it warm up. We accelerated for maybe a minute, and the engine sputtered an shut down. I could tell from the fuel bulb that there was a fuel problem. It looked like the water/fuel separator filter was clogged and maybe water in the fuel line as it felt like slush in the squeeze bulb.

We were not far from shore, but the wind was making a chop. I started the kicker outboard, which started on the second or third pull, but it, too soon died. I ended up taking off the line to the kicker, which had no filter, and put it on the big outboard, after first cutting off the fuel connection to the kicker line and putting on the connector to the big motor.

This solved the problem, and we continued on as I knew I just bought the fuel in the fuel cans. This may or may not have been smart, as there may have been water right from the pump, but the motor did not give us any more issues, as it turned out.

It was pretty windy in Stephens Passage, but it was the first snow on the ground. We could sneak down the back of the island in reasonable seas. I told Charlie when we got to the middle part of the island, either we’d be able to anchor or we wouldn’t, depending on if it was too rough or not. When we got down there, we found one spot that was in the lee of the wind. We dropped the gear, and I took the boat offshore, dropped the anchor, and tied one end of a roll of line to the anchor, and would tie the other end to a tree above tide line so we could just pull in the anchor when we got done hunting. I paddled back to the beach, and we got our guns and gear ready. We saw a big aluminum boat come by and he ended up going by us, did not find anywhere to anchor, and he turned back. We were lucky we were the first one to this, the only good anchorage for the day.

We headed up in the new snow and soon saw tracks – the deer had moved towards the beach as expected, to get out of the wind and out of deeper snow higher up, with access to kelp to eat on the beach. We moved and called, moved and called. I decided to let Charlie call, so I moved infront of him about 30 yards. I could barely hear his 2 series of calls because of the wind and his soft call. After a short time, I let loose with my louder call. I looked back and saw what I like to see- my partner aiming his gun. A boom, and then a follow up shot. Charlie didn’t move like he’d missed, so I knew we had a deer.

It was a large doe. We dressed the deer, put in the GPS coordinate, hung it to cool, and kept hunting. Interestingly, Matt got a deer at about the same elevation, on the other side of a large creek, from where we got this one. We continued climbing but saw no sign, so side-hilled, came down and back to Charlie’s deer. We didn’t see anymore.

We cut off the lower limbs and head, and tied the carcass whole to my Bull Pac, which has turned out to be a great pack. I was able to carry the deer quite easily once I was standing erect, and we made it down to the beach and back home without incident. It was great to spend the day with a long time friend and even better he got a deer.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

I went back of Douglas Island today. Not much sign down low, but there was some scat and tracks up along the side hill at the base of the virtual cliff that goes straight up for maybe a thousand feet.

I did the usual move and call. On one spot, I called once or twice, and a doe had come up towards me to within 20 yards, but I never saw her. The only time I did see her was when she jumped sideways and across the trail then back downhill. I tried calling her back but she never came back. Guess I should have stood up and tried to see if I could get a shot at her moving away. I was thinking right after the point she came up to that I couldn’t see was right where I would have put my usual hunting partner Matt, down hill about 20 yards and looking off to where I couldn’t see.

Didn’t see anything else. It was flat calm on the way out and the way back. I could hardly believe it after the wind last night. Looked like quite a few fresh trees blown down in the woods today. There was no one in the launch parking lot yesterday afternoon nor this morning, and only one there when I got back. Forecast may have scared folks off.

What a great day in the woods. No wind. Rained some, but in the big woods it all doesn’t get to the forest floor. Leaves and devils club leaves are down now, and good visibility. I didn’t see any buck rubs, so don’t think they are in the country just yet. But shouldn’t be long.

When I got to the beach, there were two big sea lions growling off shore. Not at my, it’s just what they do. Huge tides today, and I came out right at high tide – a 20+ footer. When I came around false Outer Pt where the road is, a humpback whale was crusing and looked like someone up in the parking lot was getting a show.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

We went hunting on Admiralty on what turned out to be one in 5 decent days. In the 40’s and beautiful weather, really. We saw quite a bit of sign but no deer. Most of the leaves are down now on the blueberry bushes and nearly all on the devil’s club, so much easier to see.

I’d patched the little plastic punt I use to put the skiff out deep enough so it’s not dry on low tide. I’d patched it, but the patching all fell off. I rowed in from the skiff, and hard to believe I didn’t just sink, as I could barely pull the boat up the beach. I finally found some dope that works on plastic, and patched the boat on Sunday, finishing today. We were gonna hunt on Sunday, but it was pouring rain and windy and with only one deer so far this year, we found it easy not to go.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

Kurt and I hunted South Douglas Island today. We left at sunrise, anchored the boat as I’d told him the tides were “perfect”, and headed up the spine to get up to the higher country. As usual, what looks like an “easy” hike never is so easy once you’re in the woods. The spine was actually several knobs with valleys in between, so it was up and down. We did get into lots of sign, but never saw a deer.

We decided to head down early in the afternoon. We knew we’d come out on one side of the point or the other, so were not all that concerned about where we came down. We made a steady walk down, but I did call here and there were I had a good area to see.

When we were fairly close to the bottom, I blew the call, and we both heard some animal take off in a hurry on the other side of a little valley. At first I thought the call scared it away. Then I see a head coming from the other side, down the gulley, and up our side. At first I couldn’t figure out what it was. The blueberry bushes are much higher on Douglas than where I hunt on Admiralty.

A lot of things went through my head – is it a dog? A wolverine? A squirrel (but knew it was too big for a squirrel. Finally, the deer broke out of the blueberry bushes and came right up the trail towards Kurt. When it was right next to me (maybe ten feet away, but not looking over at me, but up at Kurt), Kurt fired as I had my fingers in my ears.

We dressed the deer, tied it to Kurt’s pack, and had what we thought was a short pack to the beach. But the steepness of the hill fooled us. It was much further than it looked, and down some pretty steep areas, but nothing too bad.

When we got to the beach, we put the packs in the beach fringe in the woods so the eagles wouldn’t get at the deer, Kurt left his gun, and we started for the skiff. We planned to skiff around the point and get the gear and go home.

We were quite a ways from the skiff, so another long trek. By the time we got there the last thing I thought would happen, happened. The boat was tided. We tried to put some beach logs under to roll it, but it wouldn’t move. So, we knew after awhile we were there till somewhere around 8 pm.

Neither of us was up for the long walk back to the packs. We huddled in under the boat canvas thinking we could still go around with the full moon, but by the time the boat floated, we both knew it would not be safe to go out in the dark in the ocean and try to retrieve the packs.

So, we’ll try in the morning.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

I’m back from hunting yesterday. Hunted across from the cabin. I went in about right across from the spit where we put the boat. In the first muskeg I came to, not far up the beach, I was just setting up to call when I saw a white tail hopping away. I called but it did not come back. Later in the day, slightly up from the base of the ridge, I was side hilling, stumbled and broke a branch on the ground, and about 20 yards in front of me a deer took off like a rocket down the hill. Beautiful day as it was today. I ran the beach up to piling point hoping for an easy one but did not see any. Hunters were out at Bear Creek and another between Bear C. and Piling Pt.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

Went to Admiralty with friend Bob B. deer hunting on Sat. A beautiful day in the low 50’s, overcast, and little rain. We did not see any deer, but I did see I am out of shape.

Started my new job last week. Back to being a fishery biologist. Got everything I could ask for – higher start up pay based on experience, 4 day work week, office that looks down Gastineau Channel, and working with a group of friendlies.

First thing I said to Sara and her sister when they picked me up from my last hitch on the North Slope was “I don’t miss it already”. It was an “Alaskan Experience” working up there, and I’d be hard pressed to remember 3+ years where I learned so much on the job about equipment and tools, not to mention the industry that drives Alaska both economically and politically. Best thing I could have heard from my boss he said as we left together on the plane “If your new job doesn’t work out, call me.” Pretty comforting to know I still have a job if I need it.

I picked up my butchered and vacuum packed Chilkat sockeye salmon from my processor. It was the nicest fish I think I’ve seen. Not a drop of blood from the pressure bleeding. That will be good in the freezer for 2 years anyway.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com