Spring time... it's my favorite! At least in Bush Alaska. Bird hunting, crabbing, ice fishing, emperatures are warmer, there's still snow, you can still ride snowmachines on the snow and on the water. It's just a happy time for me :) I went home to Unalakleet for my dad's birthday and Mother's Day; it was perfect timing, though it was a little early for the birds.
Out bird hunting, I didn't shoot anything, but I was completely content with life, sitting in the blind out on the flats. My dad was a "stay at home dad" when I was little (fished in the summers), so he took me where ever he went. Bird hunting in our family has been more than providing - it's bonding and spending quality time with each other without the distraction of Western technology (despite the fact that we have fun with our snowmachines and enjoy the water skipping portion of hunting). I love it and it will forever be my one of my favorite past times.
I also got to help my dad check their crab pots which they keep out from the time there's ice in the ocean until the spring. This is for subsistence purposes. In some of the pictures you can see Unalakleet right behind us, that's how close we are to town! It's a bountiful land that'll forever be home.
My brothers and I heading to the blind with our snowmachines
Here's my dad & I heading out when I was little with our hunting dog Jabbar
Crane flying over Unalakleet
My baby brother sitting in our blind
My dad, brothers Keoni & Gage, and little cousin Kanayaq pulling crab pots from the ice
My brothers & I with the crab we got from two pots
