The last moose didn't come as easy as the first three, but Jim Humber was not about to give up.  Jim, who fished with us last season, returned from Mississippi as a moose hunter in 2012.  On his 5th day in the field, this heavey 61 inch bull made the fatal error of crossing the river about a quarter mile upstream from the spike camp, while responding to the cow calls made by Wildman Guide, Mike Chamberlain.  Jim make an excellent shot with his .300 Win.Mag. bringing down the fourth bull, making it another 100% season for Master Guide Gary "Butch" King and the crew at Wildman Lake Lodge. 

We the last bull packed out and hanging in the meat house just before dark.  Now it's time to pack up the lodge, move the airplanes to town and begin preparing for the sport show season.  It was another 100% hunting season, and Butch's 42nd year guiding on the Alaska Peninsula.  Please visit Butch, Kathy, Jesse and Logan in the Wildman Lake Lodge booth at the Safai Club Conventions this year in January: Dallas, Reno and Houston.  See you there!

The Trophy Moose taken by Will Oates at Wildman Lake Lodge measured 63 inches and change, an excellent trophy by anyone's standards.  However, on the first hunting day, Will and his guide Michael located a much larger moose which was extimated to be very close to 70 inches.  The bull land his cow were laying down in the willows about 1/2 mile from the spike camp.  Michael managed to get his hunter a mere 60 yards from the trophy bull and told him to get ready to shoot as soon as the moose got to its feet.  As the bull began to rise, Will was entirely taken with the shier size of the animal, now towering over 7 foot at the shoulders, just yards in front of him, looking head on. "Shoot" whispered the guide, "Shoot!"  The overwhelming sight was just more than Will, who had only taken Texas Whitetail in the past, could stand.  Rifle in hand, he stood in total awe, as the huge bull turned and followed his cow into the tall alders.   

Trophy Alaska Moose in the sixty to seventy inch range are the rule, not the exception as Steve Johnston of Houston, TX found out.  The first bull of our second hunt this season at Wildman Lake Lodge was Steve's inpressive 67 inch "Bull of the Woods!"  Steve took his bull on his first hunting day, and spent the next few days fishing silver salmon and Arctic Char near the lodge.  Steve awoke this morning to Gun Fire, as Butch's dogs were barking at a big BLACK WOLF, which was circling the meat house, eyeballing Steve's backstraps.  Guides, can the the dog's rescue with a hail of gun fires, as the wolf escaped, tail tucked, down the runway.  Stay tuned for tomorrow morning's wolf patrol at the Wildman Lake Lodge, meat house!

On his first Alaska Moose Hunt, Knox Nunnley took this excellent 62 inch bull hunting with Wildman Lake Lodge's Head Guide Jesse Gallagher.  Knox may have been a bit under gunned, using some sort of lever action 35 caliber in a .308 case.  But numerous shots later, the huge trophy moose finally died of lead poisoning.  Knox is planning to return with a .375 H&H for his Alaska Brown Bear hunt.

It was a very successful Alaska Moose hunt for Knox Nunnley and Will Oates of Houston, Texas who took these 62 and 63 inch bulls during the first few days of the 2012 moose season at Wildman Lake Lodge.  Weather was in the 40s to mid 50s, with very little wind or rain so far during the September hunt.  No frost yet, but the bulls are beginning to rut, according to Gary "Butch" King, Master Guide, who reports seeing two to four cows with nearly every bull during his preseason scouting.  Knox and Will spent the last two days fishing silver salmon and hunting ptarmigan near to the lodge, then departed this morning, just a head of an Aleutian Storm, which is expected to bring 50 knot winds and rain on Sunday.

San Antonio Mike, was just about out of steam.  Was this the third or forth stalk he and Rob had made this week on big Alaska Brown Bears, only to be eluded by thick brush or have the sun fade to darkness.  It was the last day of the spring season, as he and they had reached the mid point of the knive edge mountain ridge, just below snowline.  The guide whispered, "he should be just ahead, we are getting close."  Mike had to stop to catch his wind.  Averting his eyes from the familuar view of the guide's back, he sees bear 150 yards to his leftmat the toe of the steep slope.  Different color his is thinking, when the original quarry busts out of its hiding place a mere 35 yards ahead of Rob and heads up the ridge, into the thick alders before Mike could even prepare for a shot. 

Turning their attention to the other bear, they crossed the ridge and could see that it was not the mate to the first bear, but a large boar, making its way around the bowl created by their ridge and the hillside below.  Winded from the climb and the excitement of being in such close proximity of two big bears, Mike steadied his .375 H&H for the double lung shot that Butch described in the pre-hunt briefing.  The bear, now at a steep downhill angle, swung its big hear for one last look back, as Mike touched off the round.  The .300 grain Swift A Frame hit the bear square between the eyes which quickly ended the hunt in a hurry. A lucky shot?, maybe, but it was finally Mike Zucker's lucky day.  San Antonio Mike's last bear was indeed a big sucker, squaring 9'-2" .

Rafael's father had taken a big bear earlier in the hunt and now it was Rafael turn. Father and son had endured several days of extreme Alaska weather, but they started early and stayed out late each day, glassing for bear with their Wildman guide Mark Anderson.  It was the end of another long day, Mark had cleaned up the dinner dishes and the hunters were already in their sleeping bags.  Taking one more look around before turning in himself, the guide spotted a boar and sow on a spring time path of passion that would lead them accoss the valley, and right toward the remote spike camp. 

"Hey, you guys, you ready to go hunting?" the guide called to the client's tent.  Thinking it was a call in jest, the Mexicans opted to stay in the warm sleeping bags, until Mark shouted something more convincing.  He and Rafael Jr. were on their way to meet the oncoming bear, with Dad following a bit behind.  There wasn't much time, as the midnight sun was fading fast as hunter and guide ran most of the way to good spot to ambush the bears. Head low the big bear was coming right up the trail chosen by the veteran Wildman bear guide.  Laying prone in the fading light, Rafael could barely see the dark boar through his rifle scope when he finally pulled the trigger with the bruin at a mere 45 yards .  The 300 grain Swift hit big bear square between the shoulder blades about the same time the rifle scope hit Rafael square between the eyes.  Both hunter and hunted were hit hard, when Mark yelled "You got a Bruiser"  After seeing the picture, we all had to agree, it is definately going to be a bruiser.

“I want to hunt in the mountains”, was Mike Onak’s request. “Be careful what you wish for” said Gary “Butch” King, as Mike and his gear were loaded in the ski equipped Piper Super Cub.  This was no doubt the most snow we have seen in decades, setting all kinds of records throughout Alaska.  Mike and his guide Jake would spend the next several days high in an Aleutain Mountain pass, waiting for the right bear to be going the right direction.  For the next five days, the planned their snowshoe attack, but no bears were cooperating.  Mike was reconsidering his mountainous request, but Butch was confident in the camp location and persuaded the hunter and guide to stick with the program, it was an excellent location and would happen.  That night, they spotted the big brown bear, which was investigating the snowshoe trail they had made earlier in the week.  The huge bruin was nearly a mile away when he turned his back Mike and just walked away into the twilight.

Deciding to just “track the bugger down”, hunter and guide were on the 9 inch wide track at first light.  After two miles on snowshoes Jake spotted this trophy brown bear sleeping in the alders and was able to get Mike within 150 yards.  Jake said they had time for a sandwich, but Mike prefered to wake the sleeping giant, which they did.  With two well-placed shots from his .375 H&H and Mike had earned his Mountain Brown Bear from Wildman Lake Lodge.

Michigan hunter Del Ruth takes a beautiful "Toklat Phase" Alaska Brown Bear at Wildman Lake Lodge.  After being eluded more than once by a few larger bear, Del and his guide Bary make a late evening stock on this georgeous blonde boar on the fifth day at Krager Camp on the Bering Sea coast.  It was a cold hunt this year, with miles of ocean ice jamed against the shoreline.  Normally, we have open ocean by May, but not this year.  DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING, we again had one coldest spring seasons on record.  Nothing washed up this year to encourage the bear to wander the beach, due the the blockade of Arctic ice, so we turned our binoculars inland.  Del's bear squared right at 9 foot and definately the prettiest hide of the year.

On the fifth hunting day of his ten day spring bear hunt, Greg Hartman connected with this fine trophy spring brown bear near Wildman Lake Lodge on the Alaska Peninsula.  The Alberta hunter and Wildman guide Billy Billy Bullet were high in an all snow mountain valley where Alaska Master Guide, Gary “Butch” King has enjoyed great success on spring bear over the years.  Access was by ski plane only and walking was strictly on snowshoes.  Days of glassing had revealed several brown bear, some small, some medium and a couple very large bear which, after several hours of hot pursuit on cold feet strapped to cumbersome snowshoes, eventually eluded the determined hunter and guide.

Late yesterday evening, things worked out for Greg.  The bear was spotted high up in a draw which joined their long valley.  Making their way up the steep slope on snow shoes, the guide and Greg were finally within good shooting range.  The 10 ft. class bear took five rounds, before  finally succumbing  to hard hitting 200 grain Swift A Frame bullets  from the Greg’s .338 Winchester Magnum.

At the 2010 SCI Convention in Reno, Rafael noticed a familuar name on the marque above the outfitter's booth, which read; Wildman Lake Lodge - Gary "Butch" King - Master Guide. 

Curious recognition flickered as their eyes made contact through the mass of past hunters and potential clients who crowded the outfitters convention display.  As Rafael made his way to the counter, Butch searched the alphabet for the Mexican client’s first name and as their hands met over the counter it came to his tongue, “Rafael, how long has it been?”  In a strong Spanish accent, Rafael said “1974, I hunted with you for my Dall Sheep, Grizzly, Moose and Caribou.”  Wow, we were both kids in our early 20’s and here we meet again.  At the reunion, Rafael booked the 2012 spring bear season for himself and Rafael Jr at Wildman Lake Lodge. 

This evening, Rafael took his Alaska Brown Bear; almost thiry-eight years after the two had first hunted together in the Wrangell Mountains and on the Alaska Peninsula as very young men.  Rafael’s brown bear will go well into the SCI Record Book.  Interestingly the lower jaw had evidently been broken many years ago, as the lower teeth are severely misaligned and deformed by either a fight with another bear or a swift kick from a fleeing moose.  This damage did not increase the length of the skull and may have even retarded to growth.  A great trophy.  Now, Rafael will accompany his son Rafael Jr. for the duration of the season

We just got word late last night from our guide Billy Bullet, that Dan Dinges too a nice bear about 7 pm this evening.  We had one beautiful day, yesterday.  Butch called the clear blue, 50 degree day "A Bear Killing Day".  Hunter and guide are still skinning and packing.  With a Southeaster moving in, our weather will no doubt be wind and rain by tonight.  Some camps are already report 30 to 40 knot SE Winds.  UPDATE:  Using our ski equipped Piper Super Cub, we were able to get Dan out of Bear Skin Gulch after the storm subsided.  He took a great bear, which is now in the skining tent.  We will flesh and measure the hide, which is a LARGE bear, as you can see by the photo above.  This great bear was spotted looking out of its hibernation den early in Dan's hunt, but just like "Ground Hog Day" the big bear took one look around, seeing no shadow, went back in the den for several more days.  Finally, the bear emerged from the den, way up in the snow field above their valley.  Dan and our guide Billy Bullet, snowshoed there way up the mountain to within shooting range and Dan made the shot, earning himself an excellent trophy Alaska Brown Bear at Wildman Lake Lodge.

The weather has been cold and snowy but some bears are out and about.  After four days of glassing to find the right bear going the right way, Jim Gresham of Houston and our veteran guide Rob, spotted this big Alaska Brown Bear hiding in an alder patch, some 3 miles away.  It was late in the afternoon, but spring time in Alaska provides nearly 20 hours of daylight.  Several hours later, Jim took the shot in the heavy alders and was rewarded with this huge trophy brown bear on his hunt at Wildman Lake Lodge, Gary "Butch" King Master Guide.  Jim's bear hide squared 9' - 8", a fine trophy Alaska Brown Bear.

Butch and Kathy:
Thanks for a great Alaskan adventure. Everything was "First Class" including your staff, accomodations, food, and the hunting environment. I experienced everything the Alaska peninsula could throw at us including snow, rain, wind, river crossings, wild plane rides, 20 hour days, 3.5 mile one way bear stalks, that  ended in a great trophy bear. Rob was an exceptional guide and I would hunt with him again. Chef Willy did an outstanding job in the kitchen with "World Class" food in the Alaska wilderness. I hope to make another trip to Wildman's Lodge in the future with family on the cast and blast trip. Hope the weather improves for the hunters you have in camp. I will check your web-site for updates when I get back to Houston. Look forward to seeing you at the shows next year.

Jim Gresham - May 2012

Mario Padilla of Monterrey, Mexico, spent opening day of the 2012 bear season in the comforts of Wildman Lake Lodge.  This was his second hunt with Gary "Butch" King, Master Guide on the remote Alaska Peninsula.  Mario's first hunt lasted exactly 45 minutes on opening morning, when he took a nice 9'-2" Brown Bear.  This spring, snow storms and fog, which are still plaguing the Alaska Peninsula, prevented us from reaching a couple of our remote camps before the season opener on May 10th.  But, late opening day, the passes opened up and Gary "Butch" King was able to fly Mario and the last of the early season hunters into their spike camps.  For them, the first day of hunting would be May 11th, a day into the season.

Mario and guide Logan Canton were up glassing early on the morning of May 11th.  They spotted, stalked and passed on a medium sized bear before lunch time. Seeing nothing else in the valley hunter and guide returned to the tent, figuring that tomorrow was another day, Mario was brushing his teeth when his guide Logan says "Mario, a big bear coming off the mountain across the valley, let's go!"

Hurrying out of camp, Mario grabbed his .375 H&H, which had exactly three shells in the magazine and an barrel empty. The hunter and guide crossed the wide valley, glassed the bear one more time to confirm it was indeed a big trophy class brownie and made the final stalk within 60 yards.  Mario made three good shots, but the bear was still on its feet.  Mario yelled to the guide "Shoot, I am out of bullets!"  Logan, confident that the bear was anchored well, handed Mario his own rifle and the hunter took the bear down with one shot from the guide's rifle, ending his SECOND one day bear hunt with Gary "Butch" King, Master Guide.  Mario's bear is very old and is a contender for the Ten Foot Club.  We will see after fleshing!

Although we rarely take archery hunters for brown bear, Craig Lewis gained our confidence after spending a week fishing with us a few years ago.  Archery bear hunting rarely ends well, as Alaska guide regulations require a guide to use every legal means at his disposal to keep a wounded animal from escaping.  We selected a perfect camp and the right guide for Craig.  The creek banks were steep and there was very little heavy brush along the stream.  The bear presented the perfect broadside shot and Craig hit the spot.  The bear didn't go far at all.

"It looked like a good shot" said veteran Wildman bear guide Mark Anderson, as the 9'-2" bruin disappeared into the brush.  It was Tom Zulim's first hunting day after arriving last evening iat the comfortable spike camp that Wildman Lake Lodge had set up especially for this fall bear hunt on the Alaska Peninsula.  It was in an exclusive guiding area of Master Guide Gary "Butch" King where , glassing from his vantage point near the camp, Mark had been seeing between ten and twenty brown bear each day, as well as several of moose and an even a few wolves during the week he had been there.

After giving the bear a good 30 minutes to hopefully lay down and bleed out, Mark and Tom carefully made their way along the ample blood trail.  The brush was thick alder, which towered high over their heads and limited forward or side visibility to mere yards.  Eyes and Ears is all you have going for you in this situation, and ears it was, as they heard the wounded brownie leave its bed and crash even deeper into the brush ahead of them.  "Damn" Mark uttered under his breath, look back to see that Tom was still close to him.

As the sound faded, the hunter and guide pressed on, only to hear the bear circling in the brush in attempt to stay within the confines of the alder patch.  After thirty minutes of playing cat and mouse in the alders, Mark knew this wasn't working, the bear just kept manuvering to avoid them in the brush.  He needed to post the hunter in one spot and move around the bear alone in hopes it would expose itself to Tom, while trying to avoid Mark as he moved through the brush.  Well the risky ploy worked and Tom got the killing shot from about 10 yards in heavy brush.  An exciting end to a one day hunt at Wildman Lake Lodge.

Tim Buffington of Adedo,Texas found out that some Alaska Brown Bear come easy, some come hard and some might not come at all. On his 12th day of hunting, Tim was just about ready to through in the towel.  "We were actually about to head back to our camp when I asked my guide Jesse, what's that dark thing over there?"  Twelve days and two Aleutian storms before Tim finally got his sights on this incredible 10'- 6" Alaska Brown Bear while out of Wildman Lake Lodge, Gary "Butch" King - Master Guide. 

 "We had found (actually smelled it first) some sort of kill, evidently made a bear.  It was all buried in tundra and dirt and had obviously been there for a while." said Jesse.  "May of been a moose calf or cow.  Hell , I wasn't going to probe around in the pile to find out when I didn't know where the owner was." said the veteran Wildman guide.  The pair watched the kill for several hours, changed position to watch from a different angle a couple times in hope that something would claim the carionage.  "We had finally given up and were about to head back to camp, when Tim saw something on the edge of the brush that wasn't there a few minutes ago.  Jesse confirmed it as a LARGE BEAR and they were back in the game.  Closing the distance to 183 yards, Tim took the bear through the shoulders with his .375 H&H Magnum.  The bear soaked up four more rounds and made it about 50 yards before going down finally going down.  This adds one more distinguished member to Butch King's "Ten Foot Club"  The bear scored 27-08/16", putting it well up in the Safari Club International Book of World Records, and our third largest of the 2011 fall bear season at Wildman Lake Lodge.

Jim Lochner of Arkansas took this trophy Alaska Brown Bear at first light, on his second day of hunting at Wildman Lake Lodge.  "My guide Rob spotted the big dark bear coming up the valley just moments after we reached our glassing spot above camp." Jim related the story of the stalk to Gary "Butch" King, Master Guide.  " We bailed off the hill and angling down wind, we ran to where Rob figured the bear would cross.  As we hunkered down on a little knoll in the brush, a darn wolf passed not 100 yards to our right, an instant later we saw the bear, still coming our direction.  I waited until he was just 55 yards and my first of three shots took him right through the left shoulder and at least one lung I am sure.  Then, I followed up with two more shots and it was over as Butch instructed in the pre-hunt briefing."  Jim booked his fall bear hunt last July while he and his wife and another couple were on a King Salmon fishing trip at Wildman Lake Lodge.  The trophy brown bear squared 9 foot 10 inches.  Jim plans on having his bear mounted life size by Animal Artistry in Reno, Nevada.

Alaska Master Guide Gary "Butch" King has guided and outfitted hunts for more than 125 TEN FOOT and larger Alaska Brown Bear in his 40 year career on the Alaska Peninsula, more than any other outfitter in the history of our State.  This week, in the first six days of the 2011 fall Brown Bear season at Wildman Lake Lodge we have added four new members to THE TEN FOOT CLUB:  Greg Walla of Houston, TX - 10'-9" Brown Bear taken on his second hunting day, Kurt Mia of Dallas, TX - 10'-5" on the 4th day of the hunt which scored 28-06/16",  Nacho Martinez of Monterrey, Mexcio - 10'-0" on the 4th day of the season and Juan Garza also of Monterrey with the grand daddy squaring 10'-10" and scoring 28 inches even.  Congratulations gentlemen on four of the largest Brown Bear to be taken in Alaska this year.

Officially ending our FIRST HUNT on Day 6, Juan Garza took this terrific 10 foot - 10 inch boar with top hand George Wescott, who has been guiding moose and bear hunts for Gary "Butch" King on the Alaska Peninsula for nearly two decades now.  Experience counts when you are sorting through several bears a day, as Juan and George were, trying to get close enough for a shot at this incredible trophy.  Juan also took a big male wolf during his 6 day Alaska Brown Bear hunt at Wildman Lake Lodge.  Stay tuned, because the second hunt begins with the arrival of a few more hunters tomorrow...

Hunting with Mark, a veteran guide here at Wildman Lake Lodge, Hector Martinez was able to make a quick clean kill on this mature Alaska Brown Bear which ended up squaring 9'-2" taken on the fifth day of his hunt.  The weather is cooperating and we are seeing lots of bears, both on the berries and fishing the clear water streams here on the remote Alaska Peninsula.

Kurt Mai returns to Wildman Lake Lodge after taking a great trophy bull moose in 2009, to hunt again with our guide Jesse G. for trophy Alaska Brown Bear.  Glassing from his favorite perch near our famous Ilink Fish Camp,  Jesse spots “Ol Foggy,  the infamous Fog Creek Bruin who has eluded him for several fall seasons in a row.  We often see “Ol’ Foggy” snacking on harbor seals along the Bering Sea coast in what we call the Seal Islands.  This time Ol’ Foggy was about to make a big mistake, crossing the mud flats in broad daylight on an outgoing tide.  Closing the mile and a quarter distance, Jesse anticipated where Ol’ Foggy would cross.  Beaching the boat and waiting in the tall Bering Sea beach grass, they waited for the bear.  Crossing just a little further than anticipated, Kurt opened the ball at 235 yards with two well placed rounds from his .416 Sako, using the recommended 400 grain Swift A-Frame bullets.  This took the wind out of “Ol’ Foggy’s “ sails and hunter and guide had just enough time to take this great photo, before getting the boat back in deep water and heading back to the Ilnik Camp before the tide left then stranded high and dry for the night.  They returned the next morning to skin the 10’-5” bruin which will definately put Kurt Mai in the Gary "Butch" King's  TEN FOOT CLUB.   This bear will be displayed at the Dallas Safari Club Convention in January 2011.

Alejandro Martinez of Monterrey, Mexico hunted hard for five and a half days, passing several smaller bear, finally got his sights on this great trophy which squared nine foot two inches.  Alejandro brought to count to nine bear so far in the first week of the Alaska Brown Bear season on the Alaska Peninsula. Hunting with Mark Anderson and Master Guide Gary "Butch" King at Wildman Lake Lodge, Home of "Alaska's finest bush pilots and brown bear guides"

David Faust of Austin, TX didn't pass up this beauty.  It was day one of his Alaska Brown Bear hunt at Wildman Lake Lodge when he and his guide Billy "Bullet" spotted this big dark brown bear which squared 9 foot and 4 inches.  Too good to pass, even on the first day out.  Dave spent the balance of the week catching Silver Salmon, Arctic Char and hunting Willow Ptarmigan over our Brittanys, Heidi and Veni.  "What a great hunt,  I had a great time!"  David Faust, Austin, Texas

Nacho "Wolf Man" Martinez, after holding out for four days, gets his sights on "Monarch of the Valley".  This huge trophy brown bear has been sighted several times over the years and hold fishes early morning and late in the afternoon.  Catching him just before dark was a matter of good planning and good luck.  "It is hard to pass up several very nice bears, waiting for the Monarch to show, but it was definately worth it" Says Nacho Martinez, who took three wolves from the famed Chignik Pack, earlier this week.  See report below...

Tico Hauser from Monterrey poses with another huge trophy brown bear taken on the fourth day of hunting with our guide Tim, at Wildman Lake Lodge on the remote Alaska Peninsula.  We are having a great season! This one is just in, but a definate contender for the Ten Foot Club as well.  We will update this report with official measurements and SCI scores once the fleshing and trophy field prep is done.

Greg Walla, Houston Safari Club member makes Gary "Butch" King's TEN FOOT CLUB with this monster 10'-9" Alaska Brown Bear taken on the second day of the season at Wildman Lake Lodge.  "We had this big bear, and several others nearly the same size, spotted on opening day.  But the wind was wrong and my guide Tim decided not to make the stalk until the wind direction was in our favor" said Greg Walla of Houston, Texas. "It was a great call, because the next morning everything was in our favor and I was able to put to good shots into this trophy bear.  Thanks, Tim, Butch and everyone at Wildman Lake Lodge for a great hunt and for making this longtime dream a reality." 

Opening Day Brown Bear on the Alaska Peninsula at Wildman Lake Lodge found us with two trophy bear down.  Pictured here is Kiko Milmo of Monterrey Mexico with a very, very old boar, who was in very poor physical condition. According to Gary Butch King - Master Guide, its teeth were nearly gone and he had accumulated no fat for the hibernation and would not have made the long winter.  A real Trophy Bear.  The second bear was taken by Bill Ramsdell of Austin Texas, who took an excellent and healthy trophy bear on opening day as well.  Bill's camera was acting up, so we have to wait until his guide Mark finishes the season before we will be able to post any pictures.  The guys will be fishing and bird hunting around the lodge, waiting for their friends to finish hunting.

 Alaska Master Guide and Bush Pilot, Butch King with two of the three big Alaska wolves that his hunting client shot yesterday.  The large wolf pack stalked the hunter and his guide near Chignik Lake Alaska, where this pack was responsible for the horrific killing of a young school teacher last winter. (read more...)

With the pack of man killers circling to get down wind from the hunter and guide, who were in a remote tent camp on the Chignik River, the hunter took this 187 pound Alpha Male at 27 yards with his first shot, then continued shooting until the wolf pack finally dispersed.  "I feel sure that this is the same bunch of wolves that has been terrorizing the villagers at Chignik Lake, not only because of the close proximity, but led by this huge Alpha Male, they were obviously not afraid of man and would not break their stalk on the hunter and guide until the client had shot the third wolf with the last round in his rifle" said Butch King who has guided on the Alaska Peninsula for more than forty years.

Lack of predator control on the Alaska Peninsula has allowed several large wolf packs to flourish, leaving nothing but death in their wake. Namely, the once great Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herd, which King has seen go from 30,000 animals to less than 3,000 head in the past ten years, where hunting had to be closed for both sport hunters and rural village residents who have subsisted on these caribou for centuries. "Everything that is born, is eaten by the wolves in this country anymore." says Butch. "It is a sad state of affairs for the villagers and sportsmen alike. I am glad we were able to save a few caribou today." 

Michael Dianda of Reno took 1st place award for Alaska's #1 Brown Bear, Guide Outfitter - Gary "Butch" King.  This bear squared 11'-0" and scored: 28-11/16 SCI.  Mike and his brother Chris have hunted twice at Wildman Lake Lodge for Alaska Brown Bear. Chris's biggest bear, also squared 11'-0", taken opening day, 2006 scored 27-11/16.  Both bears will be displayed in the Wildman Lake Lodge exhibit at Safari Club International Convention in Las Vegas, February 2012.  On the 2006 hunt, Mike Dianda took a 9-1/2 foot bear and two wolves and on the more recent 2009 hunt, brother Chris took a 10'-2" Brownie.  Together, the Dianda brothers have more than forty square feet of brown bear and two wolves and have hunted a total of five days in the field.

At long last, opening day of the ptarmigan season at Wildman Lake Lodge.  August 10 marks the beginning of bird season.  Our Brittanys, Veni and Heidi are 1/2 ready.  That is to say, Veni is 2-1/2 years old and 100% ready had 15 different birds in his mouth before lunch time.  While little Heidi is only five months, and still in intensive training and just today graduated from .22 caliber to 20 guage being fired behind and away as she held point, with the help of 50 ft of nylon cord and a "whoa" from Butch.   Our hunters this morning, all from Victoria, Texas: Ken Vickers, Russell and Mason Marshall and Don Duncan.  All had plenty of pointing dog action as Veni worked methodically from covey to covey, as we put up more than two hundred birds, in groups of 8 to 10 in a bunch.  We are now booking Cast and Blast packages for 2012.

Somebody please send my friend Arno Krumm at Stoney River a little of that Global Warming. His Jack is frozen solid!  Not much snow this winter at Wildman Lake Lodge, in fact our caretaker Randy Piper has been running his trapline without skis or snowshoes. This is a big deal, in that without deep snow, the moose and caribou have a much better chance of not being killed by wolves. Randy is reporting that there are four less wolves in the neighborhood, and the ptarmigan numbers are way up. There are hundreds of those pure white tundra chickens running around, way more than normal. With good nesting conditions this spring, it should be a banner wing shooting season this fall. If you ever wanted to shoot ptarmigan over our Brittanys, NOW'S THE TIME... GIve us a call! All for now, from Wildman!