Posts Tagged ‘rifle hunting’

Webisode Operation Texas: Mission Alaska head to South Texas (youtube link)

Posted: March 14, 2012 in archery hunting, arrows, big game hunting, bow and arrows, camping, DIY hunting, extreme hunting, hog hunting, hunting, Hunting Culture, meat, texas whitetail, The next generation, traditional archery, Uncategorized, Whitetail hunting
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La Frijolia management Brush Buck

Youtube link

OPERATION TEXAS MISSIONAK YOUTUBE VIDEO

Team Mission Alaska head to South Texas on a mission, attempting to harvest a wild bore and a famous La Frijolia brushbuck. Hidden Antler Camo owner and sponsor Brandon, leads the men on their Texas mission. Join the guys live on the stalk with the La Frijolia Ranch guide tony, bowmen Austin, and Vid cam dude John.
Check out
http://hiddenantler.com/
 for any sweet camo apparel you saw in this video.
OR
Check out
http://brushbucks.com/
 to book the Texas Hunt of lifetime.

Mission Alaska meets Africa

Posted: February 21, 2012 in Africa, Africa Big Five, Africa big game hunting, African Hunting, alaska, alaska hunting expedition, archery hunting, arrows, artic slope, bear charge, bear maul, bears, big game hunting, bow and arrows, bow fishing, camping, caribou, coyote, DIY hunting, extreme hunting, fishing, grizzly bear, hunting, kudu, meat, nature, public land, Small game hunting, The next generation, traditional archery, Uncategorized, wildlife
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Mission Alaska is not just a blog about the outdoors and my conquest to sojourn the Alaskan wilderness.  This blog will also pre-log my past adventures and experiences in different places across the world in which I have experienced different cultures while hunting.

I had an awesome opportunity to experience an African dream hunt at the age of 12, for several years I saved up my birthday and christmas requests in order for my father to come good on his safari promise.  He kept his end of the bargin and for my 7th grade summer I would spend a month in South Africa hunting 11 plains game african Animals.

Young predator, small but dangerous

Very spoiled indeed, I did not argue with my fortune of being able to go on an unforgettable life changing adventure.  Many men dream of going on hunts to the dark continent, I am very lucky to visit such an amazing place at such a young age.

Over time, sprinkled throughout this blog you will find old school pictures of myself from childhood till now.  Each picture represents the memories of the outdoors I have lived which have formed my traditions, shaped my culture, and made me who I am.  This post look back at my life, retrospectively gives the reader a sense of exactly who I am and what I have become through my passion in the wild. The outdoors is who I am, this blog helps to explain my method of madness.

New Age Thrill Seeker

Posted: February 18, 2012 in alaska, alaska hunting expedition, archery hunting, arrows, artic slope, bear charge, bear maul, bears, big game hunting, bow and arrows, bow fishing, camping, caribou, coyote, coyote attack, DIY hunting, extreme hunting, fishing, grizzly bear, grizzly bear charge, grizzly brown bear, guns, hog hunting, hunting, meat, moose, nature, Pennsylvania hunting, Pike fishing, public land, Rifles, salmon fishing, small game, Small game hunting, snow shoe hare, texas whitetail, The next generation, traditional archery, trout, Trout fishing, unguided hunting, Whitetail hunting, wildlife
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Ever since my father took me trout fishing in a local stream after my first day as a kindergartner at Pioneer Peak Elementry School, I was hooked for life.  I had recieved a new telescopic (totally BA) trout fishing rod set up and I could not wait to test my new implements of attack upon the majestic rainbow trout.  My dad picked me up after school and we headed to Wasilla Creek. It wasn’t too long before we found ourselves 50 yards from the road, in a perfect trout hole.  My Dad rigged me up with a small spoon lure and told me to cast in the dark, deep hole behind the log…. I did so expertly, as if I had been a bass master my entire 5 year old life, after my third of fourth perfect cast I felt my pole tip jerk directly toward my line..

Trout Killer: the Great Northern Pike found in my secret trout fishing lake

What happened next was almost unexplainable, to this day I still have a hard time finding words for it. My tiny stomach lurched forward and downward at the same time, and for a split second I swore I was levitating.   For a brief moment, my body seemed to have defied gravity. I did not know what was happening but I knew I had a trout or something on my line and I did not want it to get away.  After landing the trout my dad and I shared a moment of silence and awe at that little trout flopping on the bank. My body let me feel the ground once I got a hold of my very first self caught trout.  My body experienced one of my first adrenal highs. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but if fishing could give me that knee shaking experience….then I would catch more fish!!!!   At a very young age I knew I was a thrill seeker, and believe it or not fishing gave me that thrill.  It was only later that I experience hunting for the very first time, which brought the thrill to a completely different level.

Everyday after school, between sports and home work, I would head to the woods or the streams carrying my fishing pole on my mountain bike. Later that bike would become an ATV..   Yeah sure I had video games, but getting to the next level was not gratifying for me because I knew the next level would always be there and I would always be able to beat the game.  There wasn’t too much fun in video games for me, deep down when I played them, I knew there would be a monster trout sitting under that log that I wasn’t fishing.  The outdoors was a challenge for me, every time I left the house I knew I would have to be clever enough to outsmart a fish or a squirrel.   My next personal metaphoric “video game level” would be my next small animal target, or my next dream hunt for Moose or Dall sheep.  After many years of small game hunting, I wanted to challenge myself, I wanted to to start hunting big game animals.

I will not tell a lie, the outdoors gratifies me beyond words.  The only way to break the experience with nature down such as catching a fish, harvesting an animal, or even seeing an animal, is the chemical response in the brain linked to adrenal release.  Adrenaline so to speak is what I chase, this chemical is released when your “rod tip jerks” or when you spot a grey squirrel and you’re hunting for dinner, or when you’re hunting for bull moose and a trophy 60 plus incher walks out with a rack thats wider than a door frame.  Your body’s natural instinct is to release this super human chemical giving you seemingless power, you must seek a thrill to experience it.  The harvesting of an animal is not the thrill, I get just as much satisfaction releasing a 26 inch rainbow trout as I would harvesting and eating the fish.  The kill is not as important as outsmarting the game animal, for instance letting a legal but small antlered animal walk by you instead of needlessly taking a life just because you can.  The taker of a life involves maturity and respect for the animals as well, close relationships are formed with the animals we pursue.  A last second buzzer beater, a half court 3 pointer  shot with no time left to beat the other team, that feeling as the ball goes in the hoop is a similar feeling to the experience of catching or harvesting an animal.

I don’t discriminate. I follow each U.S. state Fish and Wildlife regulations and within law, pick several legal game animals to pursue whether it’s big game or small game the thrill is the same.  I have been an accomplished big game hunter most of life, in part to a father who at one time was a Master Alaska Guide.  We have hunted both big and small game together and to me the adrenaline rush is nearly the same.  More exciting to me than hunting or fishing for myself, is sharing the sport with someone new, sharing the experience (the rush) of animal encounter with someone who is interested.  This last winter I decided to take my best friend and high school sweetheart Jordan Pokryfki small game hunting.

In high school her father, Vince, would teach us how to make port orford cedar arrows and osage orange self made D-bows.  We both had a love for the bow and making beautiful arrows, it was now time to put these arrows to action in the next challenge.  Noticing that Jordan was deadly with a bow I suggested we purchase a hunting license together, she asked me if we could actually hunt legally if she had purchased the license. I told her yes we could hunt small game (Snow shoe hare, ptarmigan, red squirrel, and spruce hen)because thats the small game open this season and off we went.

Jordan and austin

Bunny Hunting

Our first time out, we definitely looked deadly, however we spotted no bunnies during our snow shoe adventure.  Un-deterred  we decided we would head back out to a different bunny hunting location the following weekend, and this time we would use snow machines to get further from the road and deeper into bunny country.

One bunny, one zwickey doubled bladed broad head.

Our new game plan, using snow machines to get further into bunny country worked!  Jordan and I would succesfully harvest several bunnies this day, and had a blast doing it.  Jordan liked it so much we decided to go the following weekend to the same place, this time we would bring her dad and have equal success.

What a beautiful Alaskan winter day, an amazing moment.

Like I said, I don’t discriminate in the adventures I go on, the satisfaction I received would only be comparable to the happiness of  Jordan and her first successful hunting experience.   Seeing Jordan come to full draw with her home made refinished bow as bunnies zoomed through the willows, would bring me to a full draw smile and many awesome memories.

Traditions and Tactics: 2011 Pennsylvania Whitetails

Posted: December 8, 2011 in alaska, alaska hunting expedition, archery hunting, artic slope, bears, big game hunting, camping, caribou, DIY hunting, extreme hunting, guns, hunting, meat, moose, nature, Pennsylvania hunting, public land, Rifles, Uncategorized, unguided hunting, Whitetail hunting, wildlife
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Heading to Northern Pennsylvania to celebrate the ending of a good harvest, Thanksgiving of 2011 would be a continued tradition of our pilgrim ancestors. The Manelick family would continue this tradition, celebrating the holidays Pennsylvania style. Most every Pennsylvanian hunter will tell you the following Monday is an equal important part of the Thanksgiving tradition. The Monday following Thanksgiving is a school holiday for most Pennsylvanian schools, this holiday is the opening day of rifle Whitetail deer season. The opening day of Whitetail season would represent a different kind of Thanksgiving harvest, the harvest of the land’s red meat. My father, my brother, my cousin, and my uncle continued the PA tradition of opening deer season, dawning the field together. My brother would travel from Alaska, my father from over seas, and myself from Colorado to meet and hunt our family’s land and to enjoy the holidays. So many things a hunter can learn while he takes to the field in attempt of besting game. This trip I focused my interests to three, the significant of these lessons will stick with me the rest of my life. The take away points from my thanksgiving trip 2011 would be the celebration of my American family traditions, the need for good gear and basic tactics for opening day whitetails.

Carrying the family Tradition

Manelick Men and the 2011 Harvest

Family Traditions

I have learned that traditions are not made over night, but over time after many repeated practices of the ritual. The ritual of thanksgiving to Pennsylvanians is first the big turkey feast second opening deer season with a lunch packed of old thanksgiving turkey and stuffing. My first thanksgiving I really remembered was during my junior year in high school. No other thanksgivings provided me with an adrenaline rush, not any that I could remember. I got the rush by partaking in the family tradition of sitting in a red oak tree stand, the very same tree stand my grandfather, father, and brothers have sat. I sat oh so quiet that opening morning of deer season and ended up harvesting a beautiful 8pt buck with my handed down 30-30 Winchester lever action rifle. Sitting in the “Old Faithful” stand where the majority of males in my family have harvested their bucks, I realized the experience that I endured had been felt before by my elders sitting in the very same tree. We shared an experience together that cannot be explained through words, that experience is our tradition. A tradition that I will share with my children…. someday. Year after year our family has been successful during the opening day of the Pennsylvania Whitetail deer season, we have used several tactics to employ success during our family traditional hunt.

Tactics for opening day whitetails.

Tactics for opening day begin with the classical “all day sit”; pack a lunch (of thanksgiving leftovers) and plan to sit all day, as everyone will be pushing and moving deer in the woods. During this year’s PA hunt I used an all season weatherproof jacket from a camo pattern company called Hidden Antler Camouflage http://www.hiddenantler.com. The Hidden Antler Jacket kept me dry during the opening days of the Warren County PA Whitetail season, the first two days were down pours and I was able to keep dry and warm. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. Make sure you have rain jackets or a body suit, something that will keep you happy all day in the field. Outside of your gear and a well-sighted rifle, the location of your opening day spot will be the key.

After I had successfully harvested my buck on the opening morning, I cut the tarsal glands off of “Dougie” (my dead 9pt buck) and made a drag-line rig. August did not have the opportunity to harvest a buck on the first day, despite have the best cut shooting lanes in the “Old Faithful” stand. I told August I had many years of whitetail knowledge of the farm, roaming the hills and hunting past years prior to gain the understanding of the best deer travel corridors on the property. I told August I would be his Buck Master and help him on the second morning of the opening days of Whitetail season. I knew my secret tree stand always had the possibility of a buck running through my shooting lanes, at any given moment at any time of the year. I used the tarsal drag line from “Dougie” and dragged him and my brother to my secret tree stand. Once we got to the desired tree (the tree where I left my tree climbing tree stand) I sat and waited for Auggie to climb and get settled (his first attempt ever using a tree climber…ahah). After he got settled, I made a mock scrape and slapped Dougie’s tarsal’s on the ground then hung them above a tree in the shooting lane. The sun began to rise and shapes in the forest became visible, I needed to get out of Auggie’s hunting area quickly. The wind was blowing the opposite direction, from the first day and it seemed as if Auggies buck came directly to Dougies fake scrape and his tarsals. An 8pt buck was convinced he was about to get in a fight or score a lady, as Auggie sat in the stand sprinkling doe urine all over the place. The buck was fooled and came within 5 yards of where I shot my deer (Dougie), and where Dougie’s tarsal’s and mock scrape was. August shouldered his handed down 30.06 and awoke the forest with a boom. The woods gave my brother a beautiful 8pt buck the second morning of deer season, my brother could not have been more jovial with his first whitetail deer harvest of all time. I could not have been happier to help him, and we sat like small children admiring the accomplishment 27 years in the making.

Several tactics for our success on opening day of Pennsylvania Whitetail season.

-Location of your stand: Funnels, and pinch points. Spots such as my hunting area in the Allegheny Mountains of PA and have large hills, I found that the saddles between two points funnels bucks across the lowest points. Preferably you find a saddle between two high crossing points, other hunters will push deer right in front of you.

-Shoot your rifle the day prior to the season, even if your rifle is “on” please do a confidence shot.

-Be prepared to sit all day: meaning proper weatherproof gear. Tip: when rain is in the forecast, I will bring two extra rain jackets to drape them over my legs and shoulders in the stand. Pack an all day lunch as well. With coffee thermos (aka liquid gold). Bring an empty milk jug to discard any un-needed fluids while in the stand.

-I keep my rifle at the ready at all times while in the stand (chamber round once safety harness is attached to the tree): Be ready for a fast shot as the deer will probably be running from other hunters. -Wear a safety harness, no matter how tall the tree stand is.

-Be as scent free as possible: this will only help and not hurt you. If you can wash scent free the night before the season and leave your clothes in the dryer with scent free dryer sheets until leaving for the field.

Follow those few tips, and I guarantee that you harvest a legal beautiful buck. Take it from the Alaskans, me and my brother, who both took bucks during the first two days of the PA 2011 season. Harvesting two bucks per five hunters for PA is undeniably, a good harvest. Proud of our accomplishments, my father could not have been happier to see his two adult children harvesting the trophies of their dreams. My brother August and I, could not have be more thrilled than by sitting next to each other grinning over our 2011 harvest. This past Thanksgiving will be one of the most memorable holidays of my life. This was the result of an effort from multi parties of the Manelick family to keep the PA tradition alive of the opening day of deer season. Someone from up above had to be looking out for us.