Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Stocks shatter from Alaska cold?

dennisinaz;
Top of the morning to you sir, I trust this first crisp and clear morning of December finds you all well.

With apologies to one and all for my continued trips into the rhubarb on this thread, your statement reminded me of another story which I'll attempt to share with brevity.

Back in the mid '80's I worked at a test orchard which was owned by a combination of the BC gov and the BC Fruit Grower's Association. As such we'd get foreign exchange students sometimes.

This particular year we ended up with a wee wisp of a lass from Holland. I'd suggest she was 6'1" and roughly 180lb - which was good because she needed to be that size to carry around all that knowledge, as in she knew everything.

One morning shortly after arriving in June, as the Okanagan sun began to beat down upon us, she asked me how hot it got here. I replied that since we're a semi-desert - cactus, sagebrush, rattle snakes and scorpions - that it could get pretty warm and that I'd seen it 45°C - 113°F a couple times.

She snorted and said, "I don't believe that! At 40°C one's blood will overheat and we die." Since she didn't appear to be interested in learning there was a difference between internal body temperature and external temps, I didn't attempt to explain.

Fast forward to the 3rd week of July that year, I had to go down to the temperature gauge on the sand at the end of one block of trees to record the daily temperature, humidity and any rainfall - none - as was done daily.

That day, was a pretty warm one and the temp gauge read 46°C or 115°F, so when I walked back up to record that, she asked what it was and I told her.

She said, "What? How can that be? So hot??"

Being "that guy" when I was younger, I looked at her and said, "That's correct and we're all dead now..."

She didn't find it even a wee bit amusing, but I thought our coworker who was standing beside us was going to need medical assistance he was laughing so hard!

As mentioned, it must be tough to know everything there is to know about everything. Luckily I've never suffered from that myself!

All the best to you as we head into days cooler than 120° sir.

Dwayne

Few things are heavier than an airplane stuck in overflow.

I had to look it up. This thread is the first I've heard of it.

Dry heat! 😏

^^^I knew there had to be an explanaton^^

Best to just sit back and read when you don't know what your talking about. It's only +23 here this morning and almost to cold to be sitting in a tree stand. Stay warm and shoot straight friends.

I observed an interesting overflow several times on Kotzebue Sound when I lived there.

The incoming tide would crack the ice out away from shore, from underneath pressure, water would gush up through the crack, carrying tom cod or smelt/herring with it.

The ravens loved it. There would be hundreds out there feeding on the fish.

The first over-flow I went through years before , farther north, out of Pt Hope, was actually up a river a few miles. A strong north wind pushed water into the lagoon and up the river, lifting the ice and cracking it along the shorelines, with subsequent overflow., skimmed over with thin ice and falling snow by the time we headed back to town from a weekend caribou hunt. My partner was riding the sled behind, after his 3-wheeler had brokendown.

When the snowmachine went through, I got wet to above my waist, but we got it out again, non running. I had to leave it there for another day. The sled and rider had not gone in.

Fortunately I had a complete change of dry clothes on the sled except for my outer layers Getting nekkid at 12 degrees and in a 10 mph wind (it had dropped) was a lot of fun, as was the 12 mile hike back to the village, in frozen snow pants and lower parka. We got picked up 4 miles from the village by other hunters, which was nice.

Remember, this is the Arctic - no trees, firewood, or shelter, except for whatever snow bank one might be able to dig a cave in. Which is what I did overnight when I went out 3 weeks later (storms) to get my machine back to town, using a borrowed machine and sled. By this time, my snowmachine and sled were buried beneath about 8 feet of snow, so the cave I dug after probing for it seved a dual purpose. There were big bear tracks just outside when I got up at daylight the next morning, having slept in the cave on the frozen caribou in the sled that I was towing when I went in.

"Adventure" is way over-rated, trust me.

There is a reason to have an "Eskimo parka" in that country, and mine saved my butt on that occasion, and at least one other time. For those wondering, an Eskimo parka is a pull-over, made of mouton sheep skins, skin out, deep hood edged with, preferably, wolverine fur, so it can be folded out to make a tunnel in front of one's face. This not only protects the face from wind and frostbite, but lets one breath somewhat warmer air than ambient The body of the parka is fairly loose fitting which provides an airflow from bottom, and out the neck, which helps remove body moisture from inside. It works best in very cold conditions. You still don't want to work too hard and get all sweaty, tho.

That can kill you quicker than a gun barrel shattering from the cold!

Over the centuries, those Eskimos have learned a thing or two.

Yeeeeaahhh, the Russian front, Korea....

Dwayne if you wrote a book I’d buy it in a heartbeat!

Bullpuckey. Not directed at anyone I just wanted to write bullpuckey. I’ve never typed that before. Oh wait I spelled it wrong. Too late, I ain’t going back....

I cannot image that kind of cold.
Worst I did was zero w 30 MPH wind.
Only day BIL had off that week to deer hunt.
Drove a soft top jeep about an hr to my spot, was frozen by the time we got there (soft doors).
Idled for a while, didn't warm up.
Told him one loop around CRP and done.
Made it 75 yards from the vehicle, and then there was a corner, so we'd get less wind.
Told him I would shoot a rabbit.

Went a bit and my TC Renegade barked.
He asked where the rabbit was (rose bush area by the edge of hardwoods).
Told him no rabbit, deer, way down a gully inside the woods.

Was bedded behind a log out of the wind. Ears gave him away. Never got up.
Was like jagged concrete, side of that ravine, dressing that deer.

Painful, but out of the wind.

Now I click the Weather Channel and have a hottie tell me if I should get out of bed or not.

Screw that cold and blowing weather.
Zero w 30mph winds was as bad as I've been and that was bad enough.
If I'm a midwest sissy so be it.

No stock issue but plastic does not like the cold scope cover release broke today. Also, snow got in the bolt and chamber from a dropped round in the snow, tried to chamber it would not so stopped trying and pulled the bolt, cost us a second caribou, when I got home gentle tap of cleaning rod after rifle warmed up round dropped free. Long way from home when it happened.

Kurt,
I hear yah. I had a tiny bit of snow fall off sled handle onto a ruger bolt action. It got in gun down near sear. Cylced round into chamber pulled the trigger: Nothing! There was no place for the firing pin be held back because of this tiny bit of snow.

So bolt essentially closed on a live round with firing pin resting on the primer. It couldve went off while cycling gun.

Toughest, simplest bolt rifle, rendered useless by a tiny bit of fking snow!

Another time, was coming back home with my freight sled loaded with 800 lbs of sheefish. Dogs picked up speed as we hit land. Drop into an alder choked gully : caribou everywhere!

Rip out the blr winter gun: shuck the lever, click. Shuck the lever again, pull trigger: click. Last ditch effort: pull out the 357 mag trail gun, got off one shot as they disappered into the alders: MISS.

My dogs kept looking back as if to say rest of way home: what an idiot. Never did winter hunt again with that darn blr.



If you're fool enough to hunt in winter, carry a couple bottles of heet in the yellow bottle. I buy this sht by the 40 bottle box, to power my dog food cooker. When a rifle is frost or snow seized from a fall or some other scenario, douse that s.o.b. with heet. It's almost as effective as a thaw near the wood stove.

Instantly de-ices rifle. Evaporates off even in below zero. Doesnt hurt plastics or gun finish. It's quick enough to save a caribou hunt, ask me how I know........

Bou were tough to get close to hiked into lake, snowmachiners kept ruining our stalks 4 times, bou to the left was 818 yards rangefinder was spotty on read till light conditions changed . Brown dirt speck middle is my cow I shot 515 yards, pics were from cell phone 8 x zoom.

Michael good tip on the heet.






280 AI Forbes

Thanks (Mainer in Ak) for those observations and the fix of HEET for de-icing treatment. I will remember that. Out of doors i carry a wool Bison Gear waste pack or essentials pack and in it i have a bunch of fire starting methods and equipment andni have a Swedish mess kit with German eating utinsils, empty water bladder and a stainless Kleen Canteen bottle. My essentials kit. The mess kit has a Trangia alcohol stove and i carry extra alcohol fuel in an small and a larger containers for cooking and in a pinch it can do the same duty as HEET. Thats good to know that the alcohol fuel can have various uses beside just heat for cooking and water boiling.

Well I’ve been in an honest sixty below and although I wasn’t hunting or shooting I honestly doubt I would be. Having said that my two rifles that would of been with me were stocked with a MacMillian and MPT stock. Both handled 20 below no issues.