Slide Mountain - 2024 Season in Alaska - Back To Our Roots

SLDMTN

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Palmer, AK
I’ve missed reading good hunting stories from folks like Luke and Becca, Stid, Jake (BRWNBR), etc. There’s several more names I could list but it’s why I joined a forum in the first place so many years ago. Not to say mine will be as good as theirs but a few folks will hopefully enjoy it and to them, cheers!

A few years back I made the jump into guiding and have been keeping very busy with it. Starting the 2024 season off, I was guiding for Vast Alaska which is one of my regular outfits that I guide for. Cash Joyce (owner) is one of the best hunters and people you could work for. He puts everything into making sure his clients have a fun, safe and successful hunt. His word of mouth reputation and success percentage speak volumes.

Flying to the Alaska Peninsula, our target was spring brown bear. My clients would be a mother/daughter combo with the daughter as tag holder. These ladies had phenomenal attitudes and turned out to be two of my favorite clients to date.

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Our camp was tucked in a great little side chute that offered a fresh runoff stream only feet from the tents.

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Days were spent perched on our glassing knob with very little walking to keep from spreading our scent around which can deter the big mature bears.

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Each day we experienced a variety of weather with a minimum of rain and high winds at some point. Mornings typically started clear and cold.

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The selection of gear that seemed to work best for us on this trip was chest waders with a rain jacket over top. Layering beneath was a mixed bag for all three of us. The waders made it very convenient for hasty stream crossing maneuvers.

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We saw lots of bear sign around but couldn’t quite get a play on the boar we were after.

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On day 4, things came together. The day started with atrocious weather but early afternoon brought us Mr. Big wandering down the drainage. Hurrying across the valley, we headed him off and caught him napping in some shade up on the hillside. We laid out and got ready for the shot. With all the time in the world, “A” made a fantastic shot from 237 yards.

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We got to work in short order skinning and loading him up for the haul back to camp.

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Once the weather permitted, the Cubs made short work of getting us back to civilization. Waiting for commercial flights had us hanging out for a few days which gave us plenty of time to explore.

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This shack gave you insane vertigo upon entering. Oddly tough to keep your balance, like one of those rooms at a local fair.

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If you’ve made it this far, thanks for following along. Stay tuned, more to come!

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SLDMTN

SLDMTN

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Back at it, this time on the salt for Father’s Day weekend. The bite was slow but the weather was amazing!

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Too small and not in season but cool to hook into a lingcod.

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Spent the night back in Whittier at the campground. Amazing how many people will run generators all night long.

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One in a million day out here.

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Definitely an all time weekend with the fam

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SLDMTN

SLDMTN

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I'm not the greatest at online fish ID but I think you've got a cabezon there rather than a lingcod. Thanks for the cool pictures. I sure envy AK residents, particularly this time of the year.

You could certainly be right, I just assumed it was a small lingcod. I’m definitely not the guy to ask on saltwater fish. Had to google what a cabezon even looked like…
 

JohnB

WKR
Joined
Aug 28, 2019
Messages
485
You could certainly be right, I just assumed it was a small lingcod. I’m definitely not the guy to ask on saltwater fish. Had to google what a cabezon even looked like…
One of the rules I've heard is if you can stick your finger in it's mouth its a cabezon(they eat crabs so have teeth built for crushing) and if you are too scared to do it is a ling(fish eaters with some very impressive and violent looking teeth for eating fish).
 
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SLDMTN

SLDMTN

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Back home from the field for a few days. Working for Hidden Alaska I guided a moose/bear combo hunt. Great weather for the most part, client was fun to have around and a huge help getting his critters packed up out of the hole and back to the strip.

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Before we laid hands on him, a toklat grizz tried to claim our moose. We were letting the last bit of energy drain from this tough old boy when the bear came barreling in. The client made a great, quick shot to put the bear down as well.

Notice the moose palm sticking up in the background.

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A few more shots I liked from our trip.

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blackdog

Lil-Rokslider
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Apr 15, 2013
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Freaking awesome thread! A lifetime of adventures for most guys wrapped up in one year for you.
 
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