After 32 years, Jim and his brother Don were able to meet again this September. Don and his wife, Ellie, came to Fairbanks to visit us for two weeks, and Jim and Don spent 7 days of that time at Jim's hunting camp, on a moose hunting trip.

Only three years apart in age, they were very close when they were children, but lost contact as both left their home state in young adulthood.  Since Don settled in New York state, and Jim went to Alaska, they just could not get together, and life changes took them further apart.

Since we sold our airboat last winter and Jim's hunting camp is only accessible by airboat, Ron Richards, a friend and neighbor, took them up to the camp, leaving them off to be picked up a week later.  Little did they know that just three days later the terrorist attack would take place.  They were completely out of contact with the world.  They had a great week up there, and had a lot of fun.  Here are some photos to give you an idea what it was like.

First the camp:  It sits back from the river a way, under the shade of trees, and on the bank of a slough.  It's an ideal hunting spot because there's a bluff across the river, and moose must cross below and go through the slough to progress upriver.  As you can see from the photo it's an Alaskan camp. Plain and utilitarian, but with all that is needed.  A wood sleeping cabin (under the green roof on the right of the photo), and trees to tie off a tarp for the kitchen area form the basics.  A canoe for emergency transportation, a couple of chairs and some gear, and they are set.  They can relax in camp and just wait for the moose to pass by!

Here is a photo of Don, relaxing in camp, while watching for moose.  Don has not hunted moose before, but he and Jim hunted together as boys and young men and Don continued to hunt during the years they were out of contact, as Jim did.  He also spent several years guiding for a company in Montana, so he's had a lot of experience hunting. 

I don't quite see how either of them became proficient at it, after listening to the stories about their hunting trips to New Hampshire for deer.  Don seemed most proficient at sliding down icy trees while yelling at the top of his lungs, and Jim seemed most proficient at laughing so hard he broke his homemade tree stand and fell to the ground.  I think most of the deer left the state when they arrived, to avoid the embarrassment.

Here is Jim relaxing in camp with a book.  It is early morning, since the sun is shining beneath the cover.  They had wonderful weather for hunting this year, with days approaching the 60's in temperature, and no rain all week.  It gave them the perfect opportunity to spend a lot of quality time together. 

These two boys must have driven their mother absolutely bananas, they got into so much mischief.  One of my favorite stories is one that Jim tells about the time their mother took them outside to build a snowman.  Jim was 5 or 6, Don about 3.  She ran inside to do something, leaving them outside to play with this great snowman.  It had a top hat, carrot for a nose, scarf around its neck... the whole shot.  While little Donnie played in the snow, Jimmie found out that he could push the broom handle (it was holding a broom) clear through the head where the mouth was.  So... he called Donnie over to look into the hole from the backside, put him into position, and was inserting the broom handle into the front of the hole (so he could shoot Donnie in the eye) when his mother spied him from the window.  She began pounding on the window for him to stop, but he paid no attention.  She then pounded so hard she broke the window!  Boy, did Jimmie get a lickin' for that one!  Let me tell you, they have many stories like that and worse, and can go on about them by the hour there are so many.

Here are photos of the two of them hunting.  Actually, from my limited experience I would bet they are just checking what's been through the camp during the night, most likely.  They hunt from their camp.  However, there's a resident grizzly who's been in this area for years - a large one, a wolf pack they need to keep track of, and they would want to see what moose came through camp, if any.  I can see the river in the background, so that looks like what they were doing.  Their guns are handy in case a moose shows up, or a grizzly.  They don't do you any good sitting back in camp.

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