Welcome from the Kenai Peninsula! My favorite animals to go after so far are the black bears, especially the ones on the mountainsides eating berries in the fall.
I work on a boat buying salmon from commercial fishermen. Long hours sorting fish, driving, and setting up/taking down deck gear, but also some great opportunities to hike, glass mountains and stalk black bears.
Come fall I’ll probably wish I’d done more squats, more miles and fewer ice cream...
I shot three recently (one large, two one-year olds) with 30-06 using Hornady 178 gr ELD-X; all three were neck/head shots in the 20-35 yard range and all dropped immediately. Exit holes were large, but my cartridge selection was based on bear/moose, so .22-250 would be smaller than I’m...
I’ll second this! On my last hunt I got a little wet on the hike up the trail and camped on a high shelf of a ridge, woke up cold in the middle of the night with temps below freezing. Boiled water, put it in my nalgene and was able to sleep a few more hours.
I like using the Sawyer squeeze...
When I’m higher up in the mountains, I will often drink straight from streams and springs without filtering it, but as I get into areas where the animal activity is higher (beavers, moose, bear, etc.) I will filter or boil my water. I am more careful in the lake systems where there is a lot of...
Gore tex is a great material in the right application, I agree with the pit zips - any venting you can do will help with moisture build up. Sometimes other fabrics are better; I was given an old Filson wool coat that does an excellent job of keeping me dry and is quieter than my synthetic rain...