Welcome to EVEN WOLVES DREAM V. Thanks for stopping by! Please be patient. Load time is a little slow. The wait Will be worth it. Enjoy the music "Dances with Wolves".

Alaska sportsmen never die nor are they on the brink of extinction, as some environmental and animal activists would like to think. These sportsmen just disappear over the next ridge, leaving the rest of us, apparently, alone. But the truth is, they haven't gone anywhere.

They continue to embrace the land, the water, and the atmosphere that have forever drawn them. They remain apart of it. It is my belief that their souls live on in guys and gals like you and me, in the passions we share for hunting, fishing and the great outdoor life.

Wolf populations on the North Slope of Alaska are stable, consisting of up to 85 seperate packs. It is difficult to count wolves in the 88,000 square miles of land that constitute the North Slope. On open tundra, wolves may cover 120 miles per day in search of food.

Still, with the rough average of a little more than 100 wolves harvested each year across the entire North Slope, the population is not threatened by legal hunting and licensed trapping.

Though animal activists may attempt to curtail the trapping of wolves within the State of Alaska, the Inupiat subsistence hunters and trappers, hopefully, will not be tainted by such outside frivolity. As long as there are wolves in the Arctic, a few dedicated Eskimo trappers will pursue them for their market and traditional art value.

A majority of Eskimo trappers sell their hides to furriers in Fairbanks and Anchorage, as well as some on the open market. They also fashion them into traditional clothing and art forms.

The long hair on the backs and shoulders of the wolves are excellent for trimming parka hoods, sleeve holes and waist lines. At an average of minus 40 to 60 degrees below zero, I was glad to have been presented a wolf ruff for my parka by a village elder.

The fur greatly insulates against frigid blowing snow and cold. Some parkas are fully lined on the inside with wolf hides, creating one of the warmest jackets available. Boot leggings and mittens also are crafted.

I have been so very fortunate and blessed to have had the opportunity to have lived among the Inupiat Eskimos of Alaska's Arctic Circle. I was given the pleasure to have hunted with rifle and camera some of the most pristine wilderness on the face of the earth, even at minus 50 below zero. I am especially thankful to have rubbed shoulders with the mighty Amaguq.

Edited By: Les Palmer
ANCHORAGE- Most Anchorage residents think hunting is a safe and positive activity, according to a survey of 971 randomly selected residents of Alaska's largest city

"Beliefs about hunting" was just one finding of a survey conducted last year for the Department of Fish and Game. The survey will be used to help develope a wildlife management plan for the Anchorage area.

Overall, 69 percent of those surveyed said hunting is generally good, and 20 percent said hunting is generally bad. The remaining 11 percent had no strong feelings one way or the other.

Questions asked on recent random survey conducted of 971 residents of Anchorage, Alaska:

Question #1: Does hunting helps people enjoy the outdoors?
Answer: 70% Agree / 24 percent disagree

Question #2: Does hunting help people appreciate wildlife and nature?
Answer: 68% agree / 23% disagree

Question #3: Is hunting generally a safe activity?
Answer: 73% agree / 21% disagree

Question #4: Is hunting cruel and inhumane to animals?
Answer: 21% agree / 71% disagree

Question #5: Does hunting make people insensitive to suffering?
Answer: 17% agree / 73% disagree

Question #6: I would be upset if I saw a hunting kill.
Answer: 27% agree / 66% disagree

Question #7: Overall Agreement/Disagreement with hunting.
Answer: 69% agree / 20% disagree

Note: Neutral responses not shown.

In the November Alaska statewide election ('98), 63 percent of the voters said "no" to a ballot initiative to ban the use of snares for trapping wolves.

The bill also would have made it illegal to buy, sell, or possess a wolf skin known to have come from a snared wolf. Opponents said it would have outlawed wolf-trimmed cold-weather gear and Native ceremonial garments, a claim denied by proponents.

There is still a sufficient number of Alaskans who make a living by trapping, as it remains important to the job scarce bush. Trappers and hunters together harvrested an average of about 1,300 wolves during each of the past five years. About 30 percent of that number were snared.

The Alaska Board of Game and the Alaska State Department of Fish & Game consider snares a tool for controlling wolf numbers in areas where caribou and moose populations are depressed.

The bill wasn't about cruelty, said Rod Arno, president of the Alaska Outdoor Council. A snare, one of the more humane methods of trapping, strangles quickly. The bill's intent was to stop wolf control, he said.

Alaska State biologists have said repeatedely that Alaska's wolf populations are healthy. About 7,000 wolves roam the state. Wolves, like other Alaska game animals, are managed by the sustained yield principle.

Snow Types: This may not have alot to do with Wolves in general but alot to do with staying alive during winter travel within the Alaskan bush.

While crossing the Colville River on Alaska's North Slope in the winter of '86 I came within a micro-second of dying due to my inattention to one of natures warnings.

Unknown to this wilderness pilgrim, I was unaware of camoflaged "soft spots" on the surface of what was an endless avenue of frozen ice and snow of the Colville River.

While searching for Caribou on this barren land, I became lost within my own thoughts when as if from a warning from God I somehow detected a different feel in the surface on which I was walking, a sponge-like softness. I still to this day shudder as I think about how close I had come to becoming a cold water drowning statistic.

I instinctively tossed my rifle and guide pole wildly as I flattened myself out on the snow in a prone positon. My right leg was in the icy water just past my knee while my left boot was submerged to my calf. I was dressed in the usual Arctic clothing (thigh length caribou/wolf parka, heavy knee-high boots, handgun and binoculars, etc.). I had strapped on a canvas mountain day pack which contained all my personal winter survival gear after leaving my snowmachine some distance back thus adding more weight.

I have witnessed Caribou fall through the ice on two seperate occassions and drown after a dramatic attempt to get back on the ice which was not a pretty sight. As I fell to the ground, attempting not to panic but feeling an unfamiliar tremor running from my head to my feet while grasping to remember my teachings years past concerning survival on the frozen ice-packs and rivers.

For what ever reason I survived and continued on in life. But as I sat there on the crusty surface of the rivers outer edge, I thanked God.

The morale in sharing this experience with you is to remind the winter traveler in keeping a clear mind and in being vividly aware of the shortcomings of the geographical area in which you are traveling. I had crossed this river and others on numerous occassions never stopping to inquire with my Eskimo friends about the rumored "soft spots".

So here is my rule of thumb on "Snow Types":
Some forms of snow are of benefit to the winter traveler such as the relatively smooth surface of the river vs. the lumpy tundra, while others are a source of great danger.

Snow is a substance that follows a life cycle starting as falling snow and terminating as water.

And in between this evolution of ice and snow there just might be a "soft spot" or two.

Here is one of several time-tested recipes for Alaskan Hard Tack that has worked well for me.

Recipe Originator: Unknown

11/2 cups of white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in margarine. Add buttermilk and mix well. Divide dough and roll thin on floured board as a pie crust. Brush with flour. Place on cookie sheets. Cut into 3-by-3 inch squares. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Yield is approximately: five dozen

Special Note: Good luck on locating buttermilk and in-locating a coal and/or oil fired stove that will maintain 350 degrees especially if you are located within the Alaskan bush..Enjoy!!

My Grandfathers jerky recipe (one of many) is a bit unusual as it includes nutmeg in the marinade.

5-pounds of lean venison or beef
1/2 cup soy sauce
5-Tablespoons Worcestershire sause
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
4-cloves pressed garlic
1/4 teaspoon powdered onion
1-teaspoon nutmeg
1-teaspoon ginger
10-teaspoons liquid smoke
5-teaspoons crushed dried red pepper

Slice meat into strips about 3/16-to-1/4-inch thick by 1-inch wide, cutting strips as long as possibe. Marinate 12 to 24 hours, refrigerate, depending on how seasoned that you like your meat. Dry.
Yield: Approximately one (1) pound of jerky.

Sportsmanship is a persoanal matter. A matter of human conscience. Game conservation will never succeed merely through repressive laws. It must be founded on a respect for living things.

My interests in sportmanship within the wilderness theater reflect an evolution of a lifetime of love and observation and of course thought. To discovering what it means to live in harmony with the land and with one another.

Of particular interest to me are two things. They are the relation of people to one another and the relation of people to the land.

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© 1997 lonewolf-grzle@wolf-web.com

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