Off Grid Alaska

[ztejas 43198]

On 8/17/2024 at 12:12 PM, mooseoutfront said:

black spruce

Are those the spruce on the other side of the train tracks?

[mooseoutfront 3640]

On 8/18/2024 at 1:23 PM, Bevo said:

Where is the nearest mexican food and can you grow tomatillos there?

Nearest Mexican food restaurants are in Fairbanks, but they suck. I make better Mexican food at home. 
 

My wife grows tomatoes in a greenhouse, so I’m assuming tomatillos are possible. 

On 8/18/2024 at 2:27 PM, ztejas said:

Are those the spruce on the other side of the train tracks?

Nature’s kerosene are what they are known as around here

[Frank Drebin 5620]

On 8/17/2024 at 12:12 PM, mooseoutfront said:

Aspens everywhere in my part of Alaska. Also have white spruce, black spruce, and birch. The aspens and birch are lovely in the Fall with their golden leaves. 

Aspens are pretty when green or golden.  Love the shimmering leaves in the breeze.

[Native Horn 3476]

On 8/18/2024 at 1:07 PM, Gatorubet said:

Dat hump on the male bear to the right!

Kevin ain't skeered!

[mooseoutfront 3640]

Well folks, Fall has arrived in the North country. Leaves are changing color quickly. Fireweed is in the cotton stage. The snow is about half way down the hills. Was 36 degrees at the cabin this morning.

[pearlandhorn 3275]

4 minutes ago, mooseoutfront said:

Well folks, Fall has arrived in the North country. Leaves are changing color quickly. Fireweed is in the cotton stage. The snow is about half way down the hills. Was 36 degrees at the cabin this morning.

Bottle some of that up and send it to Houston.  It's miserable down here.

[texashorne 1177]

18 minutes ago, mooseoutfront said:

Well folks, Fall has arrived in the North country. Leaves are changing color quickly. Fireweed is in the cotton stage. The snow is about half way down the hills. Was 36 degrees at the cabin this morning.

I'm came real close the the middle finger neg rep on this one as I sit here in DFW lol

[mooseoutfront 3640]

4 hours ago, texashorne said:

I'm came real close the the middle finger neg rep on this one as I sit here in DFW lol

I completely understand

Mom texted me from Abilene about an hour ago and said her truck thermometer was reading 116 in her driveway

Fuck all that

[Bevo 13468]

23 minutes ago, mooseoutfront said:

I completely understand

Mom texted me from Abilene about an hour ago and said her truck thermometer was reading 116 in her driveway

Fuck all that

 

71 where I am, but I have to leave the office in an hour.

[Armybrat 40648]

Hunters in Alaska encounter Brown Bear - 10mm saves the day:

https://notthebee.com/article/man-hiking-in-alaska-forced-to-shoot-a-brown-bear-accidentally-shoots-himself-in-the-leg-while-deleting-the-bear

[Park Gothic 4923]

3 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Hunters in Alaska encounter Brown Bear - 10mm saves the day:

https://notthebee.com/article/man-hiking-in-alaska-forced-to-shoot-a-brown-bear-accidentally-shoots-himself-in-the-leg-while-deleting-the-bear

Holy shit. That guy is impressively calm.  

[mooseoutfront 3640]

10 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Hunters in Alaska encounter Brown Bear - 10mm saves the day:

https://notthebee.com/article/man-hiking-in-alaska-forced-to-shoot-a-brown-bear-accidentally-shoots-himself-in-the-leg-while-deleting-the-bear

Hiking through high grass like that always gives me pause.

Switched from carrying a .44 mag to a 10mm for bear protection about a year ago.  10mm is equivalent ballistically to a .41 mag.  17 rounds of 10mm vs. 6 rounds of .44 mag is why people are switching to the 10mm.  I'm sure those extra rounds proved pivotal in that close quarter situation.

[Handcruser 2805]

Hiking through high grass like that always gives me pause.
Switched from carrying a .44 mag to a 10mm for bear protection about a year ago.  10mm is equivalent ballistically to a .41 mag.  17 rounds of 10mm vs. 6 rounds of .44 mag is why people are switching to the 10mm.  I'm sure those extra rounds proved pivotal in that close quarter situation.

What 10mm did you get again?

[mooseoutfront 3640]

2 minutes ago, Handcruser said:

What 10mm did you get again?

Springfield Armory XD Elite

[Bevo 13468]

Possibly getting a place in Montana (with Grizzlies) - How does bear spray compare to a 10mm?

[mooseoutfront 3640]

I carry both when out in bear country.  I would use the spray first. The gun is a last resort. In the situation above, the gun was the only choice.

One of my main goals living up here is to not shoot a bear.  Beautiful creatures that are just doing their thing.

[Dilligas 659]

On 8/20/2024 at 5:19 PM, mooseoutfront said:

I completely understand

Mom texted me from Abilene about an hour ago and said her truck thermometer was reading 116 in her driveway

Fuck all that

Pics of mom?

Sorry I’m a surly fuck

[Handcruser 2805]

Springfield Armory Elite

Yeah that’s right - nice gun.

[mooseoutfront 3640]

14 hours ago, Dilligas said:

Pics of mom?

Sorry I’m a surly fuck

 

[Dilligas 659]

3 hours ago, mooseoutfront said:

Wow, classy lady!

[ztejas 43198]

18 hours ago, mooseoutfront said:

I carry both when out in bear country.  I would use the spray first. The gun is a last resort. In the situation above, the gun was the only choice.

One of my main goals living up here is to not shoot a bear.  Beautiful creatures that are just doing their thing.

Assuming some people hunt bears up there?

If so - what are they usually using?

[Ten Bears 2475]

[mooseoutfront 3640]

3 hours ago, ztejas said:

Assuming some people hunt bears up there?

If so - what are they usually using?

Lots of bear hunters here. For black bears, anything you’d hunt a Texas whitetail deer with is plenty of gun. For grizzlies and brown bears, .30 caliber magnums are the standard. The .338 win mag is a very popular choice for bear and moose. The .375 H&H mag is also used frequently. 

[mooseoutfront 3640]

4 hours ago, Dilligas said:

Wow, classy lady!

That’s her high school senior portrait.

[ztejas 43198]

1 minute ago, mooseoutfront said:

Lots of bear hunters here. For black bears, anything you’d hunt a Texas whitetail deer with is plenty of gun. For grizzlies and brown bears, .30 caliber magnums are the standard. The .338 win mag is a very popular choice for bear and moose. The .375 H&H mag is also used frequently. 

Yeah figured it had to be stuff .300 and up.

That's interesting on black bears - are their hides just not as tough?

[mooseoutfront 3640]

Black bears are much smaller than brownies and grizzles in every way. Smaller boned, not as muscled, thinner hide. They also don’t have that “Fuck you!” attitude that grizzlies and browns have. 
 

Lots of folks eat black bears. I’ve had it once and didn’t care for it. Browns and grizzlies are just trophy kills. 

[ztejas 43198]

8 minutes ago, mooseoutfront said:

Lots of folks eat black bears.

Yeah I've heard Rogan talk about that. 

Aren't black bears overpopulated in some states because it's illegal to kill them? 

[markstanco 12464]

Hiking through high grass like that always gives me pause.
Switched from carrying a .44 mag to a 10mm for bear protection about a year ago.  10mm is equivalent ballistically to a .41 mag.  17 rounds of 10mm vs. 6 rounds of .44 mag is why people are switching to the 10mm.  I'm sure those extra rounds proved pivotal in that close quarter situation.

May need to consider the 11mm. Or 20.

[Handcruser 2805]

Springfield Armory Elite

What load are you carrying? 220 BB?

[idigTexas 2258]

9 hours ago, Handcruser said:

What load are you carrying? 220 BB?

220, 221, whatever it takes.

[mooseoutfront 3640]

11 hours ago, Handcruser said:

What load are you carrying? 220 BB?

Underwood coated 220 grain hard cast flat nose

Started out with buffalo bore 220, but always had failure to feed at about round 14 or 15

Found the Underwood coated 220 grain and haven’t had a failure to feed since

The coating also eliminates lead fouling so Glock shooters can use the hard cast bullets with their original polygonal rifled barrels

[SimonBolivar 10890]

On 8/24/2024 at 7:56 PM, mooseoutfront said:

Lots of folks eat black bears. 

Was pretty common on plates in Western North Carolina before about the 1910s. I'm assuming a lot of the country was eating black bear.

[shadow_operative2.0 15797]

stanco trying to give advice is so fucking choice. 

[Baboontyme 2806]

On 8/24/2024 at 7:24 PM, Ten Bears said:

Username checks out and all. C'mon surly you're slipping.

[Biff Tannen 45439]

On 8/24/2024 at 7:44 PM, mooseoutfront said:

The .375 H&H mag is also used frequently. 

Also good for Graboid hunting, or so Reba tells me. 

[mooseoutfront 3640]

3 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Also good for Graboid hunting, or so Reba tells me. 

I’ve used that line several times and no one up here has ever gotten the reference

[mooseoutfront 3640]

Winter is here

[mooseoutfront 3640]

Had to light the wood stove for the season. There will be a fire burning until late April or early May. Time to slide into winter. 

[ABSR 5286]

12 hours ago, mooseoutfront said:

Had to light the wood stove for the season. There will be a fire burning until late April or early May. Time to slide into winter.

Is that your pet name for your wife?

[kevwun 15572]

On 8/24/2024 at 7:56 PM, mooseoutfront said:

Black bears are much smaller than brownies and grizzles in every way. Smaller boned, not as muscled, thinner hide. They also don’t have that “Fuck you!” attitude that grizzlies and browns have. 
 

Lots of folks eat black bears. I’ve had it once and didn’t care for it. Browns and grizzlies are just trophy kills. 

We went on a bear watching trip in Hoonah a few weeks ago and our guide was talking about that.  He said he saw a brown bear skinned out once and it was the nastiest meat he had every seen.  Full of worms with grey splotches running through the meat.  He said they have a particularly nasty parasite from eating so much raw salmon.

[SurlyGator 858]

14 hours ago, mooseoutfront said:

Had to light the wood stove for the season. There will be a fire burning until late April or early May. Time to slide into winter. 

The concept of a fire running in my home continuously for 7+ months is mind bottling for this Southern boy. 

[Gil Bang 25843]

Yeah...do you have to shut it down every few days to clean the box? 

[Gil Bang 25843]

12 hours ago, kevwun said:

We went on a bear watching trip in Hoonah a few weeks ago and our guide was talking about that.  He said he saw a brown bear skinned out once and it was the nastiest meat he had every seen.  Full of worms with grey splotches running through the meat.  He said they have a particularly nasty parasite from eating so much raw salmon.

How else would a bear eat a salmon?   Grilled on a cedar plank? 

[kevwun 15572]

Well people can get the same parasite unless the salmon has been frozen or cooked.  That's why I said raw.

[mooseoutfront 3640]

12 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Yeah...do you have to shut it down every few days to clean the box? 

Nope.  Just let it burn down to coals.  Clean the ash out around the coals.  I always leave enough coals to get the next fire started.  I clean the fire box, the catalytic converter, and the stack in the summer time.  We only burn properly seasoned wood, so we don't have much of a creosote problem.  It really only needs cleaning once a year.

[mooseoutfront 3640]

22 hours ago, SurlyGator said:

The concept of a fire running in my home continuously for 7+ months is mind bottling for this Southern boy. 

It was weird for me too when we first moved up here.  The old saying, "Keep the home fires burning" took on a completely different meaning to me...it became literal.

[Ten Bears 2475]

Do you get depressed when you realize you are in for 6 months(?) of winter and being in a 400 (?) sq ft cabin like us in Texas get depressed when we realize we are in for 6 months of summer?

[RPM 26168]

Here's hoping the shit stick is primed and ready.

[mooseoutfront 3640]

1 hour ago, Ten Bears said:

Do you get depressed when you realize you are in for 6 months(?) of winter and being in a 400 (?) sq ft cabin like us in Texas get depressed when we realize we are in for 6 months of summer?

I do not.  I love the winter.  The tourists leave, the seasonal workers go away, the bugs are gone, my job slows way down.  The deep cold fascinates me.  It's so foreign and other worldly.  The snow covered woods are beautiful.  The Northern Lights are a common sight.  I really enjoy getting out and exploring on a snow machine.  It's a lot easier to get around when everything is frozen.  Alaska is basically a swamp.  The bears are asleep, so there is no worrying about critter safety and protocols.  There are negatives, but the positives outweigh them in my eyes.  It's a very peaceful, very simple life.

My wife says the cold and dark tickles my inner Darth Vader.  She's probably right about that.

55 minutes ago, RPM said:

Here's hoping the shit stick is primed and ready.

I really need to post a pic of the fabled shit stick.  I'll take care of that soon.

[Brisketexan 104238]

1 minute ago, mooseoutfront said:

I do not.  I love the winter.  The tourists leave, the seasonal workers go away, the bugs are gone, my job slows way down.  The deep cold fascinates me.  It's so foreign and other worldly.  The snow covered woods are beautiful.  The Northern Lights are a common sight.  I really enjoy getting out and exploring on a snow machine.  It's a lot easier to get around when everything is frozen.  Alaska is basically a swamp.  The bears are asleep, so there is no worrying about critter safety and protocols.  There are negatives, but the positives outweigh them in my eyes.  It's a very peaceful, very simple life.

My wife says the cold and dark tickles my inner Darth Vader.  She's probably right about that.

But the cold makes your balls shrink up.  Then again, at your age, tightening up the old sagging scrote is probably a plus.  So, winning.