The Chisana News Wire March, 2012
Issue 3 (late, but here!) Chisana, Alaska
“The snow-birds are here!”
I’ll bet a few of you are wondering “What on earth is going on out there?”
I am here to tell you! Being introduced to the world over the last 15 months has not only changed, even defined, so much of who I am, it has thrown open the doors to Pioneer Outfitters.
The snow-birds (Snow Buntings) are here! To me, that spells Spring. I was sitting on the back porch yesterday, taking a break, I was looking at the big corral when a rush of 30 or so tiny white birds swooped in to pick at the left over grain. Ahh. Spring has come into the mountain valley.
Opened? How? These last months have thrown open the doors of Pioneer Outfitters to endless and incredible possibilities.
There are some outstanding changes coming to the Survival & Guide Training program. Interested? There is some intense work happening right this minute. I expect, Alaska Chick’s Blog will be announcing what’s what this Summer of 2012.
In 2011, Pioneer Outfitters took the opportunity to make some changes that had been pipe-dreams for a long time, to both Pioneer Outfitters Horseback Adventures and Pioneer Outfitters Big Game Hunting. Changes by creating longer time frames and sharing the amazing Alaskan experience of The Last Frontier with family groups, are a HUGE hit.
{Folks, by “HUGE hit” what I mean is the simply amazing people, families, and I am saying entire families, that have come into our lives, have been a blessing and oh-so-much-FUN!}
A WORD FROM THE MAN IN BLACK,
MASTER GUIDE TERRY OVERLY
Well, I believe Winter is over for us here in Chisana at Pioneer Outfitters. They say about March, “in like a lion and out like a lamb” seems to be holding true. We still have at least another month or so of snow to contend with, but that is a good thing.
We are cutting a lot of firewood right now, from a mile or so away, hauling it in to be spit and stacked for next Winter. This has been what I would call a “normal” Winter, compared to the last three or four Winters.
Our horses live on the open range and have for decades. All of the horses look good so far and with only 40 more days of snow, till bare ground will show itself.
We are now rounding up the horses to come into Chisana this Spring. Amber-Lee has been nagging me non-stop about finding a good “keeper” stud for our mostly female herd.
Plotting out the work that still needs to be done on the Castle, Amber-Lee and her family’s house up on my airstrip so that the endless refrain of “I don’t know where it is, it is probably packed” will finally come to an end.
Our Spring Grizzly & Black Bear Hunt season is coming together for us with only a few openings left. And we are already looking towards, forward to and working on the Fall Season. 2012 is going to be a momentous year, one way or another.
Is there something in your life you have always wanted to do? Don’t wait. Time slips away in a blink of an eye.
Take Care and enjoy the News Wire.
Mother Nature’s Twisted Sense of Humor
Since the last News Wire, we have gained over 4 hours of Daylight! (Pretty amazing, isn’t it?) Waking to another -30 below zero morning and having the thermometers hit +30 above by noon tells us all here in the wooly North that Spring is coming.
Life in the Bush
Everything here in Chisana kicks into some sort of an intangible high gear as the daylight increases and Spring arrives. Trap lines are checked more frequently as the critters like the longer and warmer days too, the range horses are watched more intently for signs of weight loss. They tend to forget about eating as they stand and soak up the sun’s heat.
The Alaska Board of Game, the Commercial Services Guide Board and the NPS (National Park Service) -Guide Concessionaires Meetings all take place within a few weeks time frame.
This is what we have been up to and where we have been the last little bit.
Dealing with freaky-crazy-unethical trappers, cutting firewood, hauling water, checking on the range horses, pulling capes left behind by last year’s hunters to be check and dry to send off when we finally head to the “big town,” training, home schooling and getting ready for state testing... yeah, it is just another day living in the bush! ☺
NOTICE!
Non-Resident Sheep Hunting is still in pretty dire straits, folks. The pressure is on, to put Dall Sheep on the Subsistence list for Alaska Residents and to give Residents the preferential season opening 2-3 days earlier than for non-residents.
What can you do to help protect your rights to hunt Dall Sheep in Alaska? Join and support the APHA. The Alaska Professional Hunter’s Association is doing everything in it’s substantial power to protect your rights and to stop the Alaska Dall Sheep from being taken from non-residents as an option for Big Game Hunting.
Keeping Up With The Boys
Wes and his side-kick Leo have been dealing with many firsts in their lives together and in their lives in Chisana. Separated from each other for the first time, while we attended meetings in town, Wes found himself adrift and Leo expressed his opinion of these happenings by destroying anything he could get ahold of.
Kaleb, Pioneer Outfitters’ newest trainee and Wes accompanied Master Guide Terry Overly and Pioneer’s Alaska Chick to attend the Commercial Services Guide Board meetings recently.
As most do, Wes and Kaleb share some of the common and more obvious characteristics found in all Professional Guides. Such as pride in what and who they are, an arrogance that comes, at least partly from the same, an energy, strength and interest in the wilderness, it’s critters and the people that make their livings and lives as the “real life legends” of Alaska’s past and future.
As we attended the meetings and keeping an eye out for snoozing in the front row, I also wondered about the how the realities of a Professional Guide verses the romantic (if you will) dream of which mainly comes from the popular hunting shows on TV portrayal of a guide “hunting for a living and livelihood.”
I asked both young men a few questions that I thought I would share here with you.
How long have you been in the Pioneer Outfitters Survival & Guide Training program?
(Wes) I arrived in Chisana on October 24th, 2011.
(Kaleb) I got here on February 21st, 2012.
Do you have any thoughts you want to share with others that may be thinking of a life in the Professional Guiding Industry?
(Wes) Yes. Be sure this is really what you want to do. It’s harder than you think. You have to have your head in the game.
(Kaleb) Be prepared to work hard and be open minded about what each day brings.
So, guys, what did you think about the meetings we attended last week for the Commercial Services Guide Board?
(Wes) There is way more to the Guiding Industry than I thought.
(Kaleb) It was very informational. It helped me to better understand the business of guiding is so much more than harvesting an animal.
Did attending these meetings change anything for you, regarding your decision to become an Alaska Big Game Guide?
(Wes) It enforced my decision to become a Guide. There are a lot of people ready and willing to help you become a trained and proficient Alaska Assistant Guide. There is a real need and help waiting, to be well trained in everything I need to know as a Professional Guide.
(Kaleb) No, if anything it drove me more towards becoming a Professional Guide because there is so much to be done and even improved in the industry and the public’s ignorance in it’s perception of what it really means to be a Professional Guide.
Spring Excursions are happening!
This is the perfect-perfect ideal weather and time of year for the Spring Excursions! -30 below in the mornings makes nice hard ice, warming up to +30 above by noon with bright beautiful Alaska-Blue skies making the backdrop for each day’s fun and play.
Blue skies, warm sun and lots of ice! Critters are easy to spot as they begin to enjoy the light and warmth too. The frozen North has to be one of the most amazing wild places to experience.
The Aurora Borealis, our Northern Lights are both a humbling and inspiring display to witness and the photos I have managed to capture simply do not do them justice.