Long Range elk hunt coming up fast and soon!

[Michael Eichele]

I am sooo stoked right now it isnt funny. I will be leaving Anchorage on Sep 28th headed for an island near the famed "Prince of Whales" Island for elk. I was there in September trying to score on a gnarley Etolin Island bull with a bow but wasnt successfull. This island let me tell you, if there was ever a "hell" on earth, Etolin Island beats it hands down. To get where the elk are you have to climb over 1000 feet of rugged terain in less than a quater mile. And if that isnt enough, you have to get to 3300'! I had to use a rope to decend back to my drop off/pick up point. The ground is so saturated even on top of the island that I had to sleep on a tarp to keep my bivy and sleeping bag from soaking in water. The brush is so thick it is maddening. The freaking 100' dead fall trees that fall on top of one another makes it an esspecially wonderfull trip. You have to take off your pack every few yards, hurl it over several downed trees and crawl under a little hole under the bottom most tree. Then after hundred of yards of crawling through this hell hole you find yourself at the bottom of a freaking cliff. It can take hours to find a route around this crap! All the while rain comes down in buckets. When it stops raining from the sky the trees shed water for hours. You will be walking along and take a step like normal and your leg dissapears in a freaking hole coverd with moss looking like good footing up to your nuts! After a patch of devil's club you have enough stickers in your legs, nuts, and hands to set a woodland on fire. Bugs so ferocious they will make the toughest man cry for his mother. I have hunted dall sheep all over this state and I am still amazed at how fast you feet come out from under you on this snotty slippery island. You will be walking along thinking your footing is perfect and the next thing you know is youre on your face. By the time you throw your hands out to break your fall the fall has already happend. I fell so hard I broke my pack. I had to tie it together with parachute cord AND I AM STUPID ENOUGH TO GO BACK FOR MORE OF THIS HELL!!!! All in the name of a 6x6 bull elk. I have never scored on a nice 6x6 and have vowed to fullfill my life long dream of bringing a 6x6 home. I am prepared to go to the wall and then to hell and back and back to hell for this bull. Sounds crazy but I am tired of dreaming. Come October 1st I can ditch the bow and throw 200 grains of near 30 years of frustration at him in the form of lead from a 300 RUM. I cant wait to get back to hell.....I meen Etolin Island. I have only had a few elk hunts and they were all bow hunts. Now I have a rifle tag in hand for an still in the rut elk hunt. These bulls are roosevelt elk so they are not as impressive as the Arizona/New Mexico bulls I am used to hunting but they are pretty and gnarley in their own unique way. Here is for dreaming.

 

[jwp475]

Here to a great hunt...........

We'will be wishing for you to have a sucessful hunt, good luck on your quest..

 

[Michael Eichele]

Thanks jwp. I will need all the hopes of success I can get to be successfull in that enviornment. I hope to score early. If not, the elk filter down into some esspecially crappy country. Which of course will not stop me, just make my packing job a bit tougher. I have been in close contact with the area biologist and he has been a HUGE help. The game department wants the elk project to be a success, which it is but due to the terrain and weather, harvest rates have been lower than in most lower 48 states. However year after year some dang nice mutants come off this island. It boils down to how hard you want to work for it. After my sheep hunt this year and packing out moose meat for 3 days accross mountanous country I am in awesome shape and destined to have FIRE in my eyes when I make my retutrn. Success on this trip will not depend on if I can spot a nice bull or set up on the shot properly rather it will hinge on whether or not I can rise above the mental mind games with the brush, weather and steep terrain. This will be the ultimate test to my hunting abilities and I will find out truely how determined I am. This is a solo hunt and meat will have to be packed over 3 miles to a pick up point single handedly. I will find out if I have what it takes. Alaska's elk are proven to be the largest bodied elk in the world. Some tip the scales at 1350 pounds which rivals many Alaska/Yukon moose. This is going to be a pure torture test. And yes I do suffer from SIM (self imposed missery) I cannot wait to return home on October the 8th and post the results wheather I bring an elk home or not. This trip is for sure to bring home many memories and scars. I cant wait!

 

[Slopeshunter]

Wow Michele! I hope the bull you find is a monster!

You sound like you've got "the fire in your eye" on this one. Which based on the terrain, sounds like you're gonna need. I cannot imagine packing an elk out of what you are describing.

I wish you the best of luck. I'll try to send some "mental power" up your way on Oct 1.

I hope you're gonna take lots of pictures, so we can all see what this place looks like.

I remember when you first wrote about this hunt back in spring (I think?) when you drew the tag.

Were you able to get in on any during the archery season?

Cheers, and good luck again!

 

[Guy M]

Those Roosevelt are BIG strong elk!

Didn't know they grew to 1300+ pounds though... Wow... Amazing.

So, ya sure you're going to get a chance at a long-range shot? Say, maybe 50 yards or so between rainstorms? Best of luck to you - sounds like tough hunting!

Regards, Guy

 

[Slopeshunter]

I just took a look at Elotin Island on google maps. That's a pretty good sized island. Do the elk hang out on any particular part of the island? How do you access the island? Do you have your own boat? Have someone to drop you off?

Cheers

 

[ol mike]

meichele ,

Best of luck to you bro..

I know what you mean about being tired of dreaming about something -you get to the point of no return -sounds like you're there.

After you get your elk all the misery you put yourself through will be 'nearly' forgotten ,all the memories will be of the good stuff.

Again good luck and looking forward to the conclusion of the hunt -Mike

 

[Michael Eichele]

So, ya sure you're going to get a chance at a long-range shot? Say, maybe 50 yards or so between rainstorms?

Youre probably right about that although there are some great vantage points 1/4-1/2 mile from some elk.

Do the elk hang out on any particular part of the island? How do you access the island? Do you have your own boat? Have someone to drop you off?

There are several pockets through out the island that hold elk. I will be hutning one or two pockets out of many that hold elk. I will be dropped off in a 206 Cessna on floats either on a lake or saltwater depending on the weather. I will be picked up in a DeHaveland Beaver on floats. I do not have a boat and if I did it would be about a 700 mile trip one way.

I will be sure and take lots of photos while I am there.

 

[jwp475]

Hunting alone in Alaska is very dangerous....take care....

 

[justgoharder]

sounds like the trip of a lifetime!
I'll have something to dream about tonight

 

[Michael Eichele]

Thanks guys. I was out Saturday and shot 650 yards with the 300. After a couple warm up shots I shot a 4.6" 3 shot group perfectly up and down and the group about 2" off center to the right with one bullet in the X ring. My rifle is doing well and I just got my new cosine indicater in the mail the other day and have got it all set up and ready to go. I am going back out Wednesday afternoon to shoot out to 850.

 

[Slopeshunter]

Good luck again! Looking forward to the results.