Sharptails in Alaska Zombieland.... or not

[Richard Flanders]

I hesitated to post this because I didn't take any pictures but, oh well. Last Wednesday we had a nice day so I saddled up and flew down to an airstrip south of Fairbanks that is in the middle of a huge burn that has been hosting some sharptails for several years. I took my 24" PHE 16 along and hunted the burn and scraps of surviving forest around the airstrip. What was unique about this particular hunt is that I go here up to 25x a summer to collect butterflies, spiders and tiger beetles for the university and to pick berries and shoot my old Winchesters and sometimes just to sit and read a book, and it's generally a lively place, a celebration of everything that is wonderful in nature. There's moose, squirrels, black bears, lots of insects to collect, amorous wood frogs croaking in a pond out in the burn that can be heard for a long ways off, a number of birds sounding off - chickadees, jays, raptors, sharptails, ravens. a nest of peregrines nearby, you name it. The entire area is an explosion of wildflowers of every color, which draws in bees, grasshoppers, beetles, flies and butterflies of a huge variety. It's just a wonderful place to hang out in the sun and celebrate the sounds of the world. Well, this time of year it's more like a Zombieland. The air was cold and the absolute silence was the type that roars in your ears all day. I hit all the likely spots and the only other creatures I saw were one raven that passed over and two little flies of some sort - lace wings maybe. Other than that, it was a dead zone in every respect. All the leaves are down and I found no low bush cranberries, rose hips or any other food plants that would keep the birds fed. The real clincher though was a clearly lonely cow moose bawling, looking for a boyfriend, some hundreds of yards away in the forest somewhere and it echoed loudly as if she were only 50ft away. The frosty air amplified her bawling and made it crystal clear, shades of Jeremiah Johnson. The day was deemed a total success at that moment. This was a new one for me. I tried to call her out onto the strip but she was having none of it. I hope she finds a suitor. No sharptails? Oh well. Who cares? At least I got out and tried! More days should end as this one did.

[mobirdhunter]

Next time bring your camera...or maybe not, as my mind's eye has a pretty good picture as described by you. Enjoyed this post!

[Dean Romig]

Excellent narrative Richard! I really enjoyed the sounds of nature when I used to be able to hear them - it brought the world to life. The sounds coupled with the smells enveloped me to the point that sight was unimportant at the moment.... but the hearing is slipping to the point where Kathy's mantra is "GET A HEARING AID!!"





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[Richard Flanders]

You don't have hearing aids?? Unbelievable. Once I went in for a demonstration on what they would do for me, I just laughed out loud and said, "Sign me up!!".

[Woodcock survey]

Richard i wii second that. I had not heard a woodcock flush for 12 years until i got mine 2 years ago. Pricey but it makes all the difference, my sons no longer ask me why i did not shoot a bird. The answer was i did not see it until to late. I can now tell direction and distance to look and it has helped a lot. I can now understand my granddaughters. Dean you will be amazed, you can get them on approval and return if not to your liking.

[Big D]

I'm blessed to still have pretty good hearing, despite thousands of rounds of 12 gauge target shooting. Perhaps one of the reasons is that when at the range in the Army, (Uncle Sam didn't provide ear plugs ) was that I used to stuff old cigarette filters in my ears. I guess my ears didn't smell too good, but it may have saved my hearing

[Dean Romig]

Brilliant idea!





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