Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska The Last Alaskan's

I had hunting buddy recently tell me of a run in with the AST when he and two friends were in Alaska fishing, they were pulled over for what seemed like a small infraction. They had incorrect pass for their boat trailer and were treated like they were purposely breaking the law.

The three are retired law enforcement from the lower 48, one a retired LAPD commander, the second a retired FBI special agent and the third a retired Secret Service agent.

I wasnt sure who a 'refuge' would be patrolled by.

Your right about Chris Hatch kaboku68. He and I have been friends for years now, and he keeps his guys in line or he fires them. A True Public Servant and an upholder of law and reason. Hes cool off duty , too ....LOL!!
Ive skipped the others and went to Anchorage, 6th ave FBI. and hooked it up with them a while back.From the questions the agent asked, it struck me that they all ready know about their doings, other than what I provided.

The camera crews are agency hired and the guys that work with us and 'Last Alaskans' never give us cause to have LE come around, though the FnG Brownshirts (not Chris) will land a cub any and everywhere, and they often visit, no problems. Theres a new fella here in Unit 23, Im sure he will stop by.

The Feds have Helicopters, they can literally land anywhere, here or the ANWAR, I would hope that if those folks, being a bit elderly have an extraction plan? Im sure they do, for emergency's.

Seems normal that those folks stay in town and camp seasonally, Bob even had a plane of his own....I wonder when we will see them in their other homes?

Thanks for the info. I spent two years at Ft.Rich and Wainwright in late 60's and thought about staying but came back to North Idaho. Anyway, appreciate your insights.

Heimo and Edna are out there most of the time. Seldens have a home out near Goldstream. Charlie bounces around more than most. I grew up with Chris and would trust him with my life. Heimo and Edna stay in Fairbanks with their other daughters. Charlie bounces around quite a bit. The Last Alaskan crew is closely tied to Joe Mattie and Alaska Raw Furs. You can see them with those caps in every narrated episode. The funny thing is I bet that their houses in Fairbanks are more rustic and ratchet than their trapline cabins.

I still stay in contact with my former students from Ambler and from Nulato where we were for 5 years on Facebook. It seems like its really rough in ABL right now. However Ambler goes through phases. I hope people who are reading this know this. A good Alaska State Trooper raised right and working right is about one of the best people on the whole planet. However, like everything else, there are some that do not follow the old ways. They are bitter and opportunistic and do the state a disservice. One of my good friends from high school died in the line of duty and I often wonder if it was because of the actions of many of the idiots that they purposely wash out by their two years of bush service. I grew up with Trooper Alexander and Trooper Jeff Hall that were both legends and could take out a whole bar without drawing a gun. I have heard some very shifty things about some of the troopers in rural outposts with a pile of issues in NWAB and in Copper River Basin. I know that many of the Troopers from Fairbanks and from Kenai Peninsula uphold the old ways and I respect them.

I am in pretty close contact with Mike Zibell and his son Wilifried. Wilifried is a Bush kid going through Harvard right now. I am sure that is an education for the many of the ivory towered elites.
Chip I hope you have a very merry Christmas. I would love some frozen uncooked caribou meat dipped in seal oil right now. I like it fresh and do not like it seasoned like a lot of folks do up there.

Best,
Thomas Kennedy

Interesting read ... Anyone know what caliber Charlie's rifle is??? I kind of thought it might be a .300WSM???? Nice to hear about and from the folks in this fine show.. Enjoyed it, keep it coming..

Back to the question of firearms.......

Caribou, why does your wife shoot a Moisin with open sights when there are so many seemingly better options?

I'm not anti-Moisin, I've got a 1917 Remington Armory and a Finnish M39, but they aren't rifles that I would want to depend on to feed myself or my family if there were other options.

Here's the thing on that. You want a super accurate gun and you want a system that nobody can come and "borrow" ammo. I ran a 788 with a 22-250 for most of the time I was out in ABL and a 300 Roy in Nulato so nobody would come to "borrow" ammo. I also ran Arctic Cat Bearcat snogos because nobody would "borrow" parts or try to steal it.

Funny how sometimes things that the guys do is ok, but if the gals do it, the same guys think its bad or such.

But then again I've been in the narrow thought mode once or twice in my life too.

What most folks forget is exactly how common it was for both to use snuff so many moons ago. Time flies and folks forget.

And maybe one day all the brown snuff bottles we have in storage will be worth something. LOL. That was the baptist side of the family to boot.

Makes total sense.... or not...

Not to turn this into a trooper debate, but we have some good troopers out here in the valley. I will say they are stretched thin out here.. we have a former Brn shirt from Tok out here in the valley now. He's a blue shirt now and I shot the bull with him at the local shooting range. He's a hand loader and we were talking about the 7-08. The Brn shirt in glennallen now is a local kid who grew up there and people there seem pretty happy about it. I heard one of the Brn shirts in delta jct was a local kid as well.. I met him seemed like a good guy. I have a lot of respect for the troopers, most of the time they are the only ones out there, and they know we are there backup/help if things go sideways. Especially when they showed up on the side of mount baldy to arrest Bradley renfros dad for getting into fist fight up in that mtn. That trooper was brought in on a 4 wheeler, by local fire department guy. He was all by himself no back up.

I heard a story about a Copper River trooper shooting an unarmed guy named Eric Hash and letting him bleed out. Family is traditional and although they are broken up haven't sought an indepth investigation of the incident. I don't more about it but it happened last Summer.

79s, 99 outta 100 Alaska State Troopers are just right for the job, but the Human Factor included, that 1 in a hundred crossing your path is [bleep].
Fact is, if they were more interested in the truth and Justice rather than image, we would see it at 100% very soon.

Lets hope so!!





The M-39 is her preferred rifle.

We once had a collection of more than 120 various Mosins. I discovered the Finns M-28/30 when I was in high school in a bi-athlon class. Cant argue with an exceedinly accurate rifle, and Simo Hyha, thehighest scoring sniper ever did it with an open sighted Mosin M-28/30

The M-39, the successor to the M-28/30 in Finish Civil Guard use is ultra accurate and quality, consistent ammo in the form of Czeck LPS 'Silver tip' was available for 68$ per 800, so we bought 40 crates

Shooting the same rifle with the same consistent ammo produces excellent results.

My wife is 5'1 and 125lbs. The 10 lbs of rifle is nothing for her to carry all day, the weight keeps the recoil off her as well. It travels well on a snowgo with its steel but plate and a bunji cord, has a positive safety that also locks the bolt closed.
The bolt is straight and easy to use with gloves on as is the trigger guard large.
Theres a cleaning rod to keep the chamber scrubbed and snow out of the muzzle.
The sling is side mounted for easier riding across the chest, so snow wont accumulate (it will anyways) too much and if you wreck your ride, you can wrap and roll with it, instead of break your back.
the firing pin can be adjusted to the deep cold, the wood covers the metals so our hands dont freeze or burn from the steel, the sights are awesome, the triggers tuned and when SAKO and Tikka made them with Valmet, who could make a greater rifle??

Remember,I was the Hunter in the family before I was made a felon. because she ahd to step up to pull the trigger, we had quite a learning curve and a pretty good time. Not much different than when I taught our sons how to hunt, all right.
my wife did follow her parents and did some hunting as a kid on her own, but shes one to tend kids , home and such work, and hunting wasnt her main occupation in our marriage.
I am the one with the skill sets needed for a living to be made. Her hardest time was tring to learn the lead on moving Caribou, because after the first shot, all Caribou are moving.


She has tried several types of rifle, and has a vast selection still, if shes wants to use something else.A Nat Match M1A has been a fun toy, and I tryed her out this spring, but wen back to the M-39 when I found one that shot as I liked.

When I gave the M1A a try, I do very well, ''Untill" I need to lead something moving. Man, that peep drives me nuts then....with more practice , I will master it, but for serious hunting, well, Thats where Im at with a rifle, the m-39, because I have leading 'Down'
[img]http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g71/edwardhailstone/th_HeadshotHeartshotHeadshot.mp4[/img]
When I can get 3 for 3 as routinely as I can with my M-39, or a double tap to the head at 450 yards on a moving Bear, Ill consitter the rifle.

[img]http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g71/edwardhailstone/th_BB11AgnesIandaBrownbear.mp4[/img]

On the episode he shot the moose he had the shells on his belt, looked like a 30-06 to me.

Chip, You’re the kind of man I’d be proud to have as a neighbor! You and your family exemplify the meaning of traditional values.

Merry Christmas and God bless you and your family.

Just went read the story looks like that blue shirt trooper got his start up in your part of Alaska and was sent GA to do blue shirt duties.

That, right there, is perhaps the biggest downfall of keeping weak or unvetted personnel in the ranks. Sadly, I don't think (m)any within the organization would acknowledge this. But it may ultimately doom them if they don't. I sometimes wonder if Sgt Johnson and Trooper Rich might have suffered the fate that befell them in part due to some of the bad (if deserved) press that shoddy members of the organization incurred. I never met the kid, but I met and talked to Arvin, the dad, a few times, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the chips he carried weren't from more than his personal interactions.

I also suspect that recruiting is not made less challenging by closing ranks rather than cleansing them from time to time - a bad apple and all. So they seem to be stuck seeking lower 48 and ex-military 'cowboys' far too often. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think I'd lose much on a bet.

Merry Christmas Mark. Your boy, Sid, did very well in my Ancient World History class. I don't have everything graded but it looked like he was getting highest marks. He loves history so it isn't super hard for him. I hope I get him next semester. He was always proud to have his dad be a retired teacher. One of his classmates had a dad who worked as a principal and knew you from SW Alaska. I hope you get to take both your boys out camping and traveling this break.

I know of a couple as you call them ex miIitary cowboys. That joined the troopers, after couple yrs they quit, couldn't take good ol boy system. One became a U.S Marshall the other said he rather be a Palmer city cop instead.. very tellin* when one quits the troopers to become a Palmer city cop..

79S I don't know you but have a great Christmas as well. Hopefully you are having a great time out there. There is a lot of great people and great country out there.

We might not know each other we know some of the same folks like Mike Cronk out in Tok., well I'm pretty sure you know him lol. I have a bag of duck carcasses I got too get too him for trapping.. Merry Christmas to you as well!