Hunting

Hunting for moose and caribou is not only a tradition for our family and many other Alaskan's but a way of life. The meat we eat is mainly moose, caribou and salmon with a little chicken thrown in there sometimes. There are many benefits to the lean game meat even though it is red meat.

My husband has grown up hunting and probably was given a gun on his second birthday. He has many stories of hunting with his father and brother. In his single life, he was a hunting and fishing maniac. We have a head and shoulder's moose mount on our livingroom wall with a Boone and Crocket world record spread of 70." When I married Tim, I knew that it was inevitable that we would have animal heads on our walls. Our house was designed around that 70" moose. And although he has gotten many Dahl Sheep, bear and caribou worthy of displaying, the moose has been the only one (so far) that has made it on display. I'd have to say that my husband is quite humble when it comes to his hunting accomplishments. He has many stories that could have made quite an exciting TV program, but he's not one to go around bragging about them.

This year's moose was a little over 50," but according to Tim, it was the biggest looking 50 incher that he's ever seen. We have been thankful that the Lord has provided at least a half of a moose for us every year...no we don't go out and shoot half a moose. Sometimes, we "share" with family and friends.

Part of the success that my husband and their family has is due to the fact that they use horses to hunt with. They are able to go farther into the bush than some and go places where motorized vehicles are not allowed. Tim didn't ride this year as he had just had a hip replacement in June, but instead walked the 18 miles that it took to go in and get the moose and then make the two trips to bring him back out! At least the horses were the ones doing the packing!

It seems like the kill is the easiest. Then comes all the hard work of packing the moose out, getting it home and cutting up and processing it. We do all of our meat processing. I come to dread it more every year, but have to say that the hours of helping my husband cut and package meat affords us some quality communication time. (Maybe my dread has to do with the fact that I have either been pregnant or had a nursing child the past 6 years of hunting season. Sights and smells and back-breaking labor...) We cut up roasts, grind our own hamburger and can some of the meat. This year we made some Italian and breakfast sausage too. It is a good feeling to know that we have a freezer packed for the winter.
Natalie, Jess and I posing with the moose antlers from this year.

Natalie was so cute to watch feeding Lady. She would pull hay out of the bales and run it over to her one handful at a time. She wasn't intimidated by the big horses like she was last year.

I probably should mention that these pictures were taken of Tim's hunt in the middle of September. Our Fall starts in August and this year it was beautiful. The yellow leaves lasted a long time, but were gone by the end of September.