Ak duck opener

[Richard Flanders]

Just back from a two day hunt in our usual duck camp on an Island near Minto Village west of Fairbanks. The water was really high and rising all the while we were there. The camp got mostly flooded in two days. Hunting was ok; I actually managed to hit a couple and was shooting my 32" 1883 twist-bbld hammer gun and a nice SG 30" 2-frame VH12. Pretty warm most of the time so the birds weren't moving around as much as usual. The high water didn't help either. A good time was had by all though and we'll be back out there in two days for another go at it. My hunting partner was an 86 yr old retired family doctor, Nancy, who is still hard at the hunting game with her aged lab Gita. I think this lady will outlive many of us much younger folks. She's something else and shoots a vintage Ithaca 37 that she actually shot the choke clean out of and had to have screw in chokes installed; she has hunted and shot a lot. Used to fly her own Super Cub, which the fellow who has this camp and is piloting the float plane bought from her after she quit flying at 75, and a C-185, which she used for longer hauls around Alaska. She did a lot of duck hunting out of Anchorage with the Cub on floats. She's heading to Dawson in Canada to hunt ducks and geese with her son here soon. I hope to hunt with her as long as she is able. My job, aside from being the camp photographer, when she's in camp is to make sure she makes it through the hunt safely and gets some shooting, a job I take very seriously. She's a real peach of a lady in all respects. She gets a bit tired at times, as you'll see in one photo but she's all business on the duck stand. We had a ball sneaking and jumping ducks in my boat and she managed a few birds over the two days, including a nice GW teal which is her favorite for eating. I got her dog, which can be a real piece of work, her best retrieve in a long time, a 40yd swim during which she didn't hesitate or foul up in any way, and on the dogs birthday: Nancy was absolutely ecstatic. We had a hard frost yesterday morning and the birch trees turned blazing yellow overnight, which made for a very scenic ride home. We broke a tie rod in one of the trucks as we came into the village where we launch the boats and Tom had to ride along with the wrecker to get the truck back to town and came back out in his C-172 yesterday. We tossed 3 dogs into it for the ride back to town. Three of us boated back to the landing and drove home. What a great time.

[Fred Slyfield]

Very nice!!, Can't wait for our season to start in mid October!

[Gary Laudermilch]

Now that's a great hunting story - and great pictures to boot. Thanks for taking us on the hunt!

[Steve Hodges]

Now that Lady should have her own hunting show and get rid of some of the "Tinsel Town" couples we now have on the Outdoor Channel She is the REAL DEAL

[Richard Flanders]

She is indeed the real deal. Moved to Alaska in the mid 50's after med school at a womens medical school. She retired from family practice at 70 or so then spent 10yrs working in the Aleutians helping to get clinics built in the remote villages then practicing in the clinics. She's the prototypical old-style family doctor and has incredible stories.

Almost forgot: she likes her coffee black and her nightly 2-3 shots of whiskey neat. She had so much fun on this hunt that instead of giving up on hunting when her dog passes that she's going to get another dog and keep on going. We collectively decided that if her dog had collapsed and expired after her long retrieve, that she would have "gone with her boots on and with a smile" and we would have been very happy for her.

[Mills]

Great story. That would make a good Parker Pages article

[Richard Flanders]

We went back out to camp on Sept 5 after only day in town, which was one day too many for me. The weather was incredible - too hot! Nice for a suntan but it sure kept the ducks from moving around much. I managed to hit a few nonetheless - mallards, spoonies, pintail and green wing teal, which were the most common duck around the spot I hunted most. Pics show the landing where we load the boats to head the 3 miles up to the island we camp on. Britt is a 30 yr old neighbor who hunts grouse a lot, has shot a variety of big game, including a black bear last spring, and is learning to duck hunt now. Good to see a younger person who is more addicted to hunting than to a smart phone and rap music. I had a great spot that produced several species of ducks and was easy to wade around in for retrieves since I didn't have a dog to do it for me. We were only there for 48 hours but had a great time. We share in supplying the meals so there is quite a variety of good food produced. I feel like I have to come home just to lose some weight! The ride home today was gorgeous with lots of fall color on display. One picture is an overlook of the area where we hunt; lots of water there this year. The last pic is a shot to the east off the road showing the good fall colors. The colors in town look like this now. We'll be back out there this season, but first we have to try to get a moose or two in our freezers.

[Dean Romig]

That's beautiful country Richard.

I wonder if she had ever met Dr. Romig of Anchorage - known widely as "the Dog-sled Doctor". He visited remote villages by dog-sled in the winter months.
In Anchorage, Romig Jr. High is named after him.





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[charlie cleveland]

i always enjoy your duck hunts with this special lady..your stories and pictures are just the best...i hope you and the lady duck hunter have many more good seasons together..charlie

[MarketHunter]

Good to see you're out amongst 'em Richard. I'll be doing a lot of running this weekend, will try to give you a call.

Destry