^^^^^
I've hunted the Porcupine herd a few times in the far NE corner of Alaska in recent years; usually during the first half of September. What time of year are they in your area? Do the migrate through your area, or do they spend the winter of summer there?

One of the coolest things I've ever experienced was being in the mild of their fall migration a couple years ago. It was estimated about 40,000 of them walked through the valley our camp was in, all in about four days. I was very particular about where I got my drinking water after they went through.

The herd passes in the fall from early august to late September on their southbound migration. Usually see them heading north from end of april through to ice out in late may/ early june. Wandering bunches can be found with some luck at any time of year. We used to have herds spend the winter but it seems they just pass through these days. Ive seen the main herd a couple times in my life, a scene that Ill never forget. Like a giant brown carpet covering the land for as far as you can see. If you look at a map of the Yukon coast you will see a spit off the mainland west of blow river called Shingle Point, I was able to get 9 healthy caribou there this past Saturday and sunday. 3 went to my grandparents, 2 to my hunting partner, 1 to my parents and 3 for me to be shared with my aunts. The bad part is that I came down with pneumonia during the trip. Ive been suffering through the sickness and it couldn't have happened at a worst time of year. I should be out hunting and being busy but instead Im stuck in town bundled up to stay warm. Awful sickness, sure takes a lot out of a guy.

Hope you get over it Ryan.Pneumonia can scar your lungs bad in some cases and you wont be the same after.A buddy of mine got a bad case a couple years ago,he is in his mid 60's and it hit him hard,he is now on a wait list for a lung transplant.
I had a mild case when I was younger and recovered OK.

Prayers,keep on keeping on!

Good morning fellers. Im alive. the past 2 weeks have been pretty rough but im on the way to recovery. Sure gets boring when youre stuck at home for 2 weeks during prime fall hunting. Im slowly getting back to myself though and look forward to getting some hunting done and getting things ready for trapping. Woke up to about 5 inches of snow this morning.

Im not going to rush out just yet though. Some short walks and a boat ride or two to get back in the game.

I think I heard a moose calling your name last night. No rush to get going no word on beaver program yet.

I dreamed about hunting everyday during my 2 weeks of staying inside with pneumonia and like a kid who misses school and doesnt get to play out afterwards I felt pretty bummed out. I knew I was sick though and for once in my life I listened to what the doctor had to say.

My first day back to work was this past Monday and you all know that means I was free to go and look for moose finally. I was pretty excited as I left town even though I knew the big bulls were off limits. I went to an old trusty lake with several arms and grassy bays that have always been good to me over the years. Spotted smoking fresh moose tracks at a spot I call beaver crick and followed them up into the timber. We tracked the moose to a different arm of the lake so we returned to the boat and intentionally drove a mile or so past where we last seen the tracks in an attempt to get ahead of the lone moose. The next spot we left the boat to look around was promising as the tracks hadn't passed by yet. Back to the boat we went then started back to a midway point between the two spots we checked. Again no moose tracks. Theres an excellent narrow grassy lake here though and you all know how the swamp donkeys like them kind of lakes. We kind of figured the moose mustve headed far inland though and we decided to go and check a different spot with our remaining daylight. I started driving back out of the lake and I guess the way I looked at an open spot on the shore made Greg read my mind, "Looks pretty open up there" he said. That's all I needed to hear and immediately headed for shore. We walked up and after about 20 minutes of walking there were the tracks, 3 sets now. We followed quietly, constantly scanning for a patch of hide, the flicker of an ear or the sound of willows breaking but no luck. After a while we could see the point where we first spotted the tracks and just ahead of us was the end of the grassy lake. I whispered that they have to be right here in front of us. On we went slowly but surely until I spotted a young bull feeding. I spotted a nice tree that would give a solid rest and open shooting lane but just as I reached the spot the bull ran. Little disappointing but hey what can you do but come up with your next move. We waited and called, the bull would grunt and we could hear willows breaking from time to time as the day light kept fading. Then Greg said he could hear water and we knew the moose had made it to the far side of the lake on the other side of the land we were standing on. LETS GO LETS GO! back to the boat we hustled and then sped off until we figured it was time to idle. We slowly idled around the corner and there stood 3 moose across the lake, well 2 stood and one was laying down but you get my drift. Greg ranged them at a little over 400 yards and I said we can get closer as they aren't showing any signs of running....yet. We were doing just fine until the water started getting shallow. I raised the kicker a bit and the noise made the moose look our way but still they stood there and watched us.
"250" greg said but I still wanted to get a little closer. With the motor trimmed up we were doing fine again and slowly closing the gap. Then the water got too shallow even for that option. The moose were kind of on alert now and I knew if Greg went up front to grab a paddle the moose would bolt so I told him to quietly grab my pack board and push from the back of the boat. Heeheehee...we were still getting closer as greg pushed us along. Then one of the moose walked into the bush and disappeared for a minute or so before coming back out. That moose was the one I was looking at the whole time and we thought it was a big cow. "220 yards" said Greg. Hmmmm....now or never I thought. I had a rock solid rest and decided I had better do this before they either run or daylight fades. I aimed, exhaled and squeezed. The other 2 ran out into the lake as we made our way to the fallen moose.

I knew chances like that don't come along too often as the remaining moose just stood there in the lake and let us get with 60 feet or so. I told greg that the moose we got is only 15 feet up from the water and would be a piece of cake as far as moose packing goes. Still though we just watched them. I told Greg that a lot of people are waiting on their moose meat from me and how could we tell when we would get another chance like this? Still we just watched them. Then the 2 weeks of built up hunting frustration/motivation kicked in and I made the call. "Soon as that bull hits solid ground Im shooting" I said. "Mmmm-Hmmm" said Greg.

BANG!!

"Did I just shoot a second moose with 45 minutes of daylight left?" was my first thought. No problem doing 1 or 2 alone with daylight and lungs functioning at 100% but I knew we couldn't let such an opportunity pass even though I felt like my body wasn't firing on all cylinders. First thing I did was run my hand over the young bulls hide, no worries about this guy rolling in his whiz yet. "Probably doesn't even know what its for besides peeing" I thought.
We knew there was no use in rushing as daylight was nearly gone at that point. We considered gutting them and covering them up to be retrieved the next day but I didn't like that option in case the lake froze overnight or the water dropped enough to prevent us from even reaching them. I told Greg we're both fairly handy with knives so lets just get in there and get them both done, loaded and hauled home tonight. "Mmmm-Hmmmm" said Greg.
Out came the headlights and knives and we got to work. We took our time and enjoyed the work. Once the young bull was loaded we idled over to the big cow which to my surprise turned out to be another young bull with no antlers!! Both were fat and healthy and will be hung until Saturday I think just to drain the blood and get some air. First moose hit the ground at 935pm and we had the boat put away and meat covered with clean plywood by 230am. We hung it all yesterday but also gave a few pieces out to elders and aunties. I knew I missed hunting during the worst of my sickness and several times during the work I commented on how much fun this is even though it is work. "Man I love this life" was also said many times as we worked away in the bright moonlight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwHbgNtop1U

First moose.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_wnbk_P-wQ

Second Moose.

Sure do enjoy your journal Ryan. Nice job on the moose! Hard to believe a .270 dropped em so hard.

Ryan, your journal is like psychotherapy for a guy like me, stuck way down in the Lower 48. Thanks. Please keep writing and posting. Dig the videos. BTW I have started using GoPro Hero4 Silver cameras, kind of dated nowadays but perfectly functional for non-professional users. Pretty inexpensive on eee bayyy.

Congrats on your sucessful moose hunts.

Here we are at the start of another season. I figure i can make it to my camp now but I don’t mind giving another week of freezing to get the ice a bit safer. I set 25 Marten boxes yesterday east of town towards where the high number Marten trappers start their lines. Still a long ways to go before I come close to the catch totals of some of the guys (1200 Marten is the most I’ve heard of anybody catching) but it’s a start. One of my buddies set up the first 25 km of his line and coming home he already had a couple beauties hanging. It’ll be fun exploring this new to me area. I talked to the neighboring trapper and already mentioned that once I hit his trail I’ll turn back and work with the space nobody is using. The previous trapper has passed and his son is now running his lines. He wished me luck trapping this line. I wish I had more 120s in town.

Best part is that between the truck and skidoo I’m burning no more than 50 bucks in fuel and gas to run my 25. I figure I’ll check them Tuesday and take one or both of the older kids.

Have fun and be safe, Ryan, we are all rootin' for ya

Thanks man.

Tonight I’m repairing my old 550 Polaris. The Bolts on the rear bumper loosened off and stretched out the bolt holes pretty bad and ripped the tunnel a bit. That happened September 2017. My repair won’t win any awards for its looks but I think it’s a lot more solid than it was brand new. Just need to put the bumper on now, then the rear suspension and skis and she’ll look like a skidoo again instead of a coat rack. Then put all the plastic back on the front. I serviced everything under the hood this summer. It’ll get me by until the parts for my other skidoo get here.

What's wrong with the ACE?
Can you trap into Miner River Ryan? Samuel use to get a few from there.

Ace is getting new gear box seals and a cross shaft for the rear suspension. Not sure about miner river. Far as I know people trap in there. I’ve got my eyes set on a small piece of land right now. Few long days of exploring should give me a good idea of what’s going on.

I checked my traps the day after setting and picked up 3 Marten. I actually just went out to haul wood and figured if I had any catches i could bring them home too. First time checking a short walking line for lynx and that w@s good too with 2 lynx out of three sets. Looking forward to checking for Marten again tomorrow after a reasonable wait. Might be time to get a few more sets out. Maybe target foxes for awhile. My first real success in trapping was with foxes, back in the day. I still think a well furred well handled fox pelt looks as good as any fur out there.