Finnegan smiling

We had this ultrasound a few weeks back. Finn decided to smile a little during it. but he would not put his arm down! a few more months......

I'm going black bear hunting in a couple days..... hope to share some photos soon.

Logan's first Caribou

I brought along the tripod for my spotting scope, my camera screws into it perfectly so I was able to get a couple of pictures of me and Logan together during our hunting trip.

Our campsite, we had a good time around the fire and competeing against eachother with the ruger 10/22 .22 LR. I am a big enough person to admit Logan beat me on some of the shooting challenges, but not all of them.

Logan got scoped pretty good. He shot my .338 Win Mag for the first time. Said he barely felt it hit him in the head, but it did bleed for awhile. I think he was so excited about his first caribou he just didn't care. This picture is litterally seconds after his shot.

I will try to do my best at describing our hunt.

My dad hadn't filled his tier 1 caribou tag on our earlier hunt during August. That tag was just begging to be filled. And the rules for that particular tag are that any person in the household can actually harvest the animal. I took Sunday off of work, and I was supposed to work Tuesday and Wednesday (today) for the military but I took those days off too. Some things are just down right important in life, and meat is one of those things.

We loaded up my truck with all of our gear, borrowed dad's 4 wheelers, got the trailer all hooked up, and headed up north to the Denali Highway to our favorite caribou spot. We arrived in camp after about 4.5 hours of driving. It was pouring rain, (the forcast had been for clear weather but of course it was raining). We had wanted to get out and do some hunting that night, but with the weather being what it was, and us having gotten a late start to begin with, we decided it was best to go about the business of getting camp set up. We strung up a blue tarp so we would have a place to get out of the rain. We were hoping it would stop for a little bit so we could set the tent up, but of course it didn't. I brought my new cabelas 6 man tent that Rachel had got for me for my birthday this year. It takes a little time with only 2 people to set it up, but we eventually got it together, rain fly and all. There were no dry spots so it was placed basically in a giant puddle of mud. and it was raining so hard while we were setting it up the inside had several large puddles. We were both very hungry, hadn't eaten anything all day except for powder sugar coated donuts (family hunting tradition). all of our wood was soaking wet. But after a about twenty minutes and about a gallon of gas we were able to get a small fire going. I had pre-made some hobo dinners the night before (caribou backstrap from my caribou in august, moose bacon, taters, carrots, onions, mushrooms, seasonings and butter all wrapped up in tin foil). it took awhile to get some cooking coals but eventually we had our dinner ready. It was amazing, different everytime I cook it, and this has to be in the top three all time. We called it an early night and got into our tent. I was a little cold that night (it was about 35 degrees or so) but logan said he was fine. I decided not to have a repeat the next night.

The next morning we woke to beautiful hunting weather. No rain, cloudy (not to hot), and only a light breeze. We ate cereal (felt really good about remembering to bring milk) for breakfast. We got the 4 wheelers off the trailer and loaded up with our hunting gear. I had brought my .338 Win Mag Rem 700 XCR2 again. I had a moose harvest tag just in case we saw a legal bull, and the 210 grain Barnes TSX bullets me, dad, and Grant Fry had handloaded months earlier would do very nicely on a bull moose. We got onto the trail a little later then I would have preffered, but by 930 we were in our 'huning area'. Our plan was to head to an area about 7 miles away we refer to as Jacob's Knob. But about 5 miles down the trail we decided we wanted to check on another area that was on the way. it was on top of a mountain that was accessible with the 4 wheelers. by the time we go on top of the mountain it was about 1030 and we felt lucky, we just spotted a group of 4 caribou on the mountain side to the south of us, about 700 yards away with a draw in between us. We stopped our machines and I got out the spotting scope to have a look at them. We both agreed, 3 cows and one calf in the group. One cow was very good size though. We talked it over, and Logan made the decision to go farther into the mountains and see if we could find anything better, and if not, then to return and put a stock on the group later. As we headed further south west we were suprised to find that the group of caribou we had seen were heading in the same direction and Logan made the decision to give it a go at them if we got a good oppurtunity. We increased our speed so we could get in a good position to cut them off/ambush them. About a mile later we parked our machines. I gave logan the rifle and grabbed my pack with all our needed supplies and took off on foot heading south. The two mountains converged into a somewhat plateau, with the side the caribou would be on being slightly up hill from us. We could see the group coming from our left, unaware of us as of yet. We were in a perfect position, they were going to pass right by us, our machines well out of eye sight. I placed my pack down for logan and he jacked a round into the chamber. I grabbed my range finder. Probably 30 seconds passed and the caribou slowly kept coming our way. I started calling out ranges to the nicest one in the group. "Logan, 150 yards, 160 yards, 175 yards" it never stopped and gave a perfect broadside shot though, I let out a holler trying to get it to stop. The caribou stopped and spotted us. But the one Logan wanted was facing perfectly towards us. They ran back where they had come from, spooked now. They didn't go far, me and Logan moved to a slightly better position. I started calling out ranges again everytime the one we wanted stopped "125, 140, 160...." Logan had the safety off, finger resting on the trigger, the wind slighly blowing from north to south. But again, the darn thing knew what we were about I guess and never gave up that perfect broadside shot. It was about 5 minutes of this dancing game we played, them moving and us in turn moving to a better spot, before the group dissappeared over the edge of the mountain to our right. Logan put the rifle pack on safe, took the round our of the chamber and back in the magazine. I told him I was proud of him for not taking the shot, better to take a good quality kill shot then risk a bad placed shot and having to track a wounded animal and having to really WORK for your meat. We were a little dissappointed, but logan's adrenaline was pumped up and we knew would have more oppurtunitys today.

We agreed that we would go back to our original plan and head to Jacobs knob. But I told Logan, before we head the 4-5 miles in that direction, we should continue on our current route and look into the valley ahead of us, where the caribou had dissappeared into. We took our machines as far as we could get them, and then it was time to hump it on foot. As we looked into the valley we immediately spotted caribou across the valley about half way up the next mountainside. I initially thought this was the same group we had just seen, but as me and Logan glassed them we recoginzed this was a different group all together, about 12-14 animals with some nice trophy bulls in the group. We got really excited. They were moving from our left to our right, and if we hurried we would be able to set up a ambush, they were not moving very fast. I told Logan we could go after these but we would have to really hurry and if we got one it would be hard work getting it back to the 4 wheelers. There was never really a question for either of us if we were going to do it. We decended the mountain we were on at a slight jog, him with the rifle and me with my pack and the gear we would need. It was fast down to the bottom, and we had to climb a hill before we came back into view of the opposite mountain side. RATS!!! no luck, the caribou must have busted us coming down and they had picked up their pace. There was no way we were were going to be able to catch them. Just as we were about to head on back, we spotted another group coming from the same direction as the last group, from our left to the right, but lower on the opposite mountain than the group before.We were already in almost perfect position. We moved another 50 yards or so to a flatter spot and I set my pack down for Logan to rest the rifle on. He jacked a round into the chamber and we waited. Well, the next group came just as expected. There were about 7-8 animals in this group and some real fatties. Me and Logan both agreed that the lead animal was the biggest bodied. I had my rangefinder out and started calling distances again, the anticipation of the shot amping me up. I could tell Logan was hyped as well, after our trek down to where we were and caribou in his cross hairs. At about 100 yards the group spotted us, CRAP!!! All but 2 started running back in the direction they had come from, including the one that we wanted to take. Now there were no caribou whatso ever in sight. But I knew better............. I told Logan "just wait, they were going in that direction for a reason, be patient, they will be back, they want to go that way and they have to cross right here to go there." No more then 2-3 minutes later here comes the same group. They are moving at a little bit faster pace and a little higher on the mountainside then before but they are coming back, just like I told Logan. I start calling out ranges agin "165 yards, 180 yards, 195 yards.." I'm starting to worry that they are getting a little too far away without stopping. I let out a holler to try and stop them. The one we want stops, turns around facing to our left on top of a picture perfect little noll. The shot is about 200 yards, maybe just a little bit farther. Perfect broadside shot, slight wind blowing from our left to right. I tell Logan to put the crosshairs right behind the front shoulder a couple inches from the top. BOOM!!!! The gun goes off but neither one of us really hear it. I can tell immiately the animial is hit, but its staying on its feet, taking a few steps. I yell at Logan to shoot again, I'm not sure if its a killing shot yet. Just as Logan is getting ready to put another round down range the caribou falls no more then a few feet from where it was originally. I can see it kick a few times and then its out of sight becuase of the angle of the moutainside. Its about 1230.

I look at Logan and we are both super excited. He just got his first caribou. I tell him I am so proud of him, he has blood trickling down his nose from where he got 'scoped'. I've never seen anyone get scoped that bad, but we're both too excited to worry much about it. I snap a quick couple of pics of him right after the shot and we head up to his caribou. We find it right where we saw it fall. the shot is a little back from the shoulder, but there was a good wind at the time so that was no suprise. We take a few photos, which I must say are important. All I can think of is backstrap and caribou sausage. We are right on top of this noll sticking out the side of this mountain, and the wind is gusting on us. I know that we don't want to clean / butcher the animal here. I quickly gut the animal (Logan's shot was just back from the heart, hit both lungs, would have been heart / lung but the wind pushed his bullet over). me and logan pull it down into a little draw to the south of where we are in order to get out of the wind. It was the perfect spot. I was well prepared for the job. I had brought plenty of game bags and a tarp to do the butchering on. I start skinning on the right side and I show logan how to skin and he starts in on the left side. I'm using my trusty outdoor edge knife and logan is using dad's buck knife. My knife is so much better I have to say, only sharpen it twice during the whole thing, the buck knife has to be sharpened every couple of minutes. I start to really hope a Grizzly shows up, as I didn't get my bear in Kodiak this year. Well we finish with the skinning and we know we have a trip ahead of us. The 4 wheelers are about a mile, maybe a little more, back down into the valley, over the hill and then up a mountain. We decide to get a couple of loads to the 4 wheelers before we have our lunch. I send logan with both front quarters and continue butchering. We only have my one pack so we empty it out of all the gear. Logan gets back a while later and I have finished the job. Everything very clean, straight from the tarp into game bags. I let logan use the pack for one of the back quarters, and I put the rib cage (most important with the backstrap and tenderloins) and neck on my back inside a game bag. both my arms hanging onto it, one wrapped around the neck, the other halfway into the ribcage. I dont want to complain to much, but it was awkward to say the least. With many breaks, we finally get the load up to the wheelers. While securing the meat to the front and back racks, we notice 2 caribou ontop of the plateau with us, one larger then the one logan had shot. I tell logan to get down behind his wheeler and see what happens. These idiots start walking right for us! They get to probably 80 yards before they even really notice us. At that point I stood up, put my hands above my head and started walking at them. They just stood there and stared at us. If we had just waited a couple hours, we could have shot the big one instead and drove the wheelers right next to it! We laugh about it, and decide our meat is going to taste better because we worked harder for it. We head back down to finish up. We have an MRE lunch, I tell Logan we are kings of the mountain. I take a few quick pictures and get the last of the meat back to the 4 wheelers. I'm not to prideful to say that my legs were aching bad. I should have been training better. Its about 4 pm by now. We start up our machines after everything is strapped down to the wheelers. I turn to logan and tell him he just got his own landmark, just as we have jacobs knob, we now have 'Logan's Valley'.

We take one final look of the majesty before us and head for camp.