I'm standing on the island of Atka, halfway between Alaska and Siberia, off the Aleutian Island chain. North of me is the Bering Sea and south is the Pacific Ocean. We left Anchorage this morning on a charter plane and landed in Dutch Harbor, and that's where all of the "Deadliest Catch" boats dump all their catch. Then we continued farther on. So if you put your finger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean meet, that's where we are.
Amazing country. It's blowing hard, about 40 miles per hour. We were lucky to get in on the airplane today. The island, there are no trees at all, just grass and big, giant hills. I'm really excited about this hunt.
These are basically European caribou that were transplanted here in 1922. They were classified as caribou up until 1980 when the natives were given control of the island, then they were called reindeer again. I haven't seen any yet, but tomorrow we're headed out to hunt.
Nasty, ugly, foggy ... just exactly the kind of weather you would expect out here; and cold, but no snow. Looking forward to it, should be fun. Can't wait to get out there and see one of these caribou. The biggest bulls have racks that score over 500 points ... which is huge!
Caribou or Reindeer on Atka Island
Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 09:53 AM
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Hope you enjoy the trip, I know you will, Score BIG, bring back pictures, Good Luck and God Bless!!!!! Gary |
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Good luck to you Jim ! |


That is unbelievable, I wish you the best. You are truly blessed to have seen and been to the places you have. I hope one day I am as fortunate to maybe do a tenth of a percent of what you have accomplished. Until then, I'll just be an Arkansas girl looking for some ducks. Take care, if you kill a bull that scores that high, I hope you post it here asap. Sarah Walker
Sarah W.02:06 PM CST