extreme hunting

New Age Thrill Seeker

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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.

This year big game hunting is essentially coming to a close, and the populous of hunters are beginning to find themselves in a hybernation type pattern.  This is the exact time when the hard yards are earned  help you have succusfull 2012 hunting season.  If you have ever dragged a deer from the woods or packed out a bull elk, or bossed up a 200+ pound moose hind quarter then you know that you must be in not the best, but a pretty good shape  to safely bring your quarry from the field.  It’s to often that you hear a hunter tell a story of how he busted his ankle, or threw his back out, pulled a hamstring, the list of injurys goes on and on.  Being healthy and fit for the outdoors can only help to make you a more successful hunter, going further to help you get to that secret spot you only wish you get during the rut.  No matter if your a tree stand whitetail hunter or a back country elk hunter, being in shape both mentally and physically are factors playing into a successful hunting season.  Besting game this day an age takes hard work and perseverance, this is why I enter my hunting seasons as a professional athlete would enter his pre-season training camp.

Camp and Caribou on back.

I begin my pre-season hunting workouts during the winter, starting with an alternate cycle of a month of heavy weights with light conditioning such as non-weighted hikes or back country snow boarding hikes.  The second alternating month is an anaerobic high intensity high repetition excercise which is a simliar variation of the popular work called CrossFit.  Crossfit, focuses on a combination of different excersise in non-step repetition with little to no rest between exercises.  I made up my own variation of cross fit and p 90x, I like to call my workouts Wilderness X because its a combination of the outdoors with functional workouts.  The work out is similiar to what a hunter would go through during his time in the field(think spring bear on an Alaska hunt deep snow), I begin a snow shoeing hike with a weighted pack and enter one mile onto a pre-designated national forest trail in the middle of no-where Colorado.  Once a mile up the trail I pulled out my 40 pound dumbbell and begin the work out doing a combination of 5- 10 exercises between 15-30 repetitions each.  Once I finished this I would pack my weight away and hike back to the base of the hiking trail.

This work out mimics a spring bear hunt by placing the hunter in a game time situation such as a bear that is spotted, then stalked, then harvested. Long periods of heavy walking with a pack leading into several high intensity moments followed by another long period of walking.

That pack has a 40lb dumbbell inside

-The Wilderness Work Out

One Mile Hike with weighted pack (I chose 40 pounds)

Sumo Swings

Standing Triceps extension-20

Push ups 20

lunges 15 X each leg

Push ups 20

Sumo Swing

Standing Triceps extension 20

One mile hike down with weighted pack

This one way I prepare myself for success, some would call it a little crazy but each hunter has there superstitions.   How do you get ready for your hunting season?  Do you work out or go through some other form of ritual?  To each his own, what has helped you have you most successful year ever, and what will make you have the most successful 2012 season?

Stay tuned for the next post, the youtube video of the actual work out.

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Sheep Hunting 2011

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Sheep Hunting 2011

This picture was taken last August during the Dall Sheep portion of my 30 day hunting expedition. Who would have thought we would find mountain caribou at the summit of our Dall Sheep Mountain, apperently the mountain caribou are just as nimble as sheep or goats.  We ended up spotting 70+ different sheep with only five rams among those numbers, none of the rams would be “full curl” and deemed legal to harvest thus we ended up striking out on this sheep hunt.  However, we did get some awesome footage of animals and a grizzly bear charge on film, check out the grizzly charge on youtube.com at this link Grizzly Charge.

Primitive Archery: Whats your method?

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Primitive Archery my usual poison

Stalking animals with primitive archery equipment takes stealth to a whole new level. An animal taken with any kind of archery equipment is, in my opinion, a true trophy. An animal taken with primitive equipment means dinner, not to much argument with food on the table. Any legal hunting means to ethically harvest an animal should never be discouraged, to each his own. Respect other hunters, fishers, and outdoorsmen methods as you would enjoy others to respect you. Compound archery, traditional archery, primitive archery, rifle hunting, muzzle loader hunting, or even spear hunting try to enjoy others successes regardless of take method.

Grizzly Charge on Team Mission Alaska’s 30 day Expedition for Alaska’s Big Five Animals Fall 2011

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This clip is of a grizzly bear charge in central Alaska during an expedition style hunt for Alaska’s big 5 animals. This charge happened to be in the middle of our 30 day expedition on our second leg of the journey, the Dall Sheep portion of our expedition. Having no All Terrain Vehicles to take us 10 miles off road to the base of our dall sheep mountain location, we decided to use manual man power and the use of mountain bikes to get to our base camp. These mountain bikes provided a stealth like entrance to our Dall Sheep location, we biked upon a wolf and several bears during our bike ride. The squeaking wheels and rusty bike chains seemed to bring the bears to us! The bikes worked dually as a predator call and a deadly mode of transportation. This clip sent chills down the camera mans spine as he realizes that the only thing protecting him is the camera he’s holding in his hands. No doubt, this encounter could end fatally be sure to watch this heavy action moment when the host stands his ground in attempt to not become part of the bears lunch menu.

Follow the youtube link for the video to the grizzly charge.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcKIL22nVnw 

MISSION ALASKA: 2011 Spring Black Bear. Spot and stalk, DIY hunt in Uknown Alaska.

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This is our 2011 Spring do-it-yourself bear hunt in Unknown Alaska. Sled Necks pro-snow mobile rider Jason Semler joined Austin and Jon on a 100 mile ATV ride to a secret bear hunting location. This webisode starts live on the hunt in the Alaskan mountains, mid-stalk on a nearly vertical cliff face the bear, Jon, and Austin hold on for their lives.. Jon has the cameras and Austin has a longbow, backed up by his Thompson Center 50.cal muzzleloader. This bear hunting location was developed over a three year period in which we visited the location to track bears post hibernation activity. Our third year at the location brought success with a beautiful cinnamon black bear with muzzleloader equipment. Check out http://www.missionak.com for more webisode action of the 2011 Mission Alaska season.

This is the featured movie star of the youtube link below.

Click this youtube link to take you strait to the video where this beautiful cinnamon bear is harvested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x48ZtEWphU&list=HL1324431937&feature=mh_lolz

This webisode links the article from this summer outlined “How to develop a premium bear hunting location in Alaska”.

Mission Alaska: Operation Texas

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All throughout the hunting season, Mission Alaska has been using Hidden Antler Camouflage. It is the perfect balance of light and dark and works everywhere. We have used it on the Northern Slope of Alaska, Rocky Mountains, and the Hardwoods of Pennsylvania, and when we are wearing Hidden Antler, “Stuff Happens!” We love it and cannot say enough about it. Check out www.hiddenantler.com to get some gear of your own.

This past week we got the opportunity to hunt with our good friend, and creator of Hidden Antler, Brandon Key. Brandon is a Texan through and through and had been telling us about the great hunting opportunities down there. We finally took him up on his offer, and headed down to South Texas.

Brandon is the Deer Biologist at The Frijolia Ranch in Three Rivers Texas, and introduced us to his friends, Jason and Norma Mims. Wow! What great people, and unbelievable ranch. Set in the beautiful South Texas brush country, The Frijolia Ranch is a Texas Paradise. Game is plentiful and the people awesome. Our nights were spent picking the guitar, while steaks sizzled on the fire in the warm December air. What a great Texas experience! Check out www.brushbucks.com to learn more.

As soon as we got to the ranch, we met up with out guide Tony and were immediately on some hogs. Austin was up first and was trying to stick one with his long bow. Tony is part Apache Indian and is a world-class guide. His hunting and tracking skills are unbelievable, but not only does he put you right on the animals; he also shares his knowledge of land. His people have lived there for generations and Tony continues to shares his ancestor’s knowledge of the flora and fauna. Needless to say, Tony got us right on the hogs.

We crept through the thick brush undetected. Once again the Hidden Antler Camo kept us concealed and broke up our outline perfectly. Tony spotted the hogs and Austin and I crept in closer. We waited for them to feed into an opening and as soon as the first hog appeared, Austin stuck him with his long bow at 10 yards. We got some awesome footage of the shot and you’ll have to check back for the webisode, coming soon.

Right after the hogs, we met back up with Jason and Brandon. They were telling us about the deer management program on the ranch and we drove around to see first hand what good whitetail management was all about. The Frijolia Ranch has a large and healthy herd with lots of great trophy whitetails. There was one deer however, that Jason said had to go. This young buck did not have the best genetics and Jason did not want him to start breeding other does. We saw which one he was and would be after him the next morning.

We got after it the next day and set out to find the buck Jason needed taken out. We hunted that morning and although he never showed himself, we did get to see something very rare. Two monster bucks came out of the brush, locked eyes, and it was on.  They battled only a couple yards in front of our blind. You could hear antlers crashing and feel the force of the fight. One deer finally backed down and they disappeared again. It was unbelievable to see such a spectacle in nature and one we will not be forgetting.

That evening we were back in the stand and it was not 10 minutes before we caught a glimpse of the buck we were looking for. He was with some other deer and was not presenting a good shot. We waited, but he took off back into the thick brush. I thought I had lost my opportunity, but moments later, he stepped back out and this time was clear. He fed a few more feet and I squeezed off a shot through his high shoulder. He dropped right there in his tracks.

Hidden Antler and Mission AK meet at Frijolia Buck

Even though this was not close to the biggest deer we saw at the Frijolia ranch this was my largest antlered deer that I have ever taken. I was so excited and thankful to harvest a Texas Whitetail. Most of the time people just show the huge bucks being shot, but this hunt was focused more about deer management. He is still a trophy deer in my book and will provide great tasting meat for the upcoming winter. The Frijolia Ranch goes to show you what great deer management can achieve, and I was honored to be a part of it.

Make sure to check back soon for the Mission Alaska: Operation Texas websiode here on http://www.missionak.com. In the mean time, check out www.hiddenantler.com to get some gear right in time for Christmas. Also check with Jason Mims at www.brushbucks.com to learn more about hunting at the amazing Frijolia Ranch.

Thanks to everyone for making this experience possible and check back soon for the webisode!

-Mission Alaska

Traditions and Tactics: 2011 Pennsylvania Whitetails

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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.