Cronk Brother and Sister-in-Law Travel North to Alaska
Shelby’s brother, Andrew, and his girlfriend, Missy, are frequent travelers. They often travel to faraway places like Asia, Africa, and less far-off places like Louisiana and Colorado. This year, however, was the first year they had ever split the difference and traveled to Alaska.
The visitors were only meant to be in Alaska for a long weekend, but thanks to some COVID-complications, they came into town early. While Shelby worked, the two of them drove south to Portage to hike the Byron Glacier.
For the remainder of the week, Shelby and Justin showed the two of them around on some outdoor, Alaskan adventures, starting with the 14-mile round trip hike to Symphony Lake. The views were phenomenal and Andrew was able to take his drone out for some beautiful pictures. The next day, everyone was very sore.
Andrew had a few goals when coming to Alaska and based on some other visits, Shelby and Justin were nervous about completing them. He wanted to catch a fish and see a bear. Lets just say that while they were in Alaska, Andrew and Missy had the most authentic, stereotypical visit possible.
The group woke up early and drove south to fish on the legendary Russian River. The Russian River is known for its fishing as it has two Sockeye Salmon (reds) runs and a silver salmon run. The river is fast moving with an incredibly slippery bottom, so fishers should be cautious when fishing. It is also well known for bear encounters.
This year, it was know for being the place where Andrew caught his first Red Salmon and a black bear made an appearance. The bear's first appearance was on the fishers' side of the river, then it traveled across to the opposite side where it considered crossing the river to eat Shelby and Missy. Instead, it continued its up-river trek and moved on Later, while Shelby was walking along the boardwalk, she heard what she thought was a bird. Update, it was not a bird. It was 3 black bear cubs in a tree. Bear goal, check. Catch a fish, check. As far as Andrew was concerned, this trip was a success.
The group went on to spend an entire weekend driving north. Andrew caught a few rainbow trout and grayling and saw a moose with two calves drinking from a lake. Andrew and Missy were also afforded the opportunity to drive the entire Denali Highway and camp on it's edges. It was wonderful to be able to share our passion with both of them even though Missy may not have enjoyed the fishing as much as the rest of us.
One final note, a huge congratulations to the both of them on their engagement this year!
The visitors were only meant to be in Alaska for a long weekend, but thanks to some COVID-complications, they came into town early. While Shelby worked, the two of them drove south to Portage to hike the Byron Glacier.
For the remainder of the week, Shelby and Justin showed the two of them around on some outdoor, Alaskan adventures, starting with the 14-mile round trip hike to Symphony Lake. The views were phenomenal and Andrew was able to take his drone out for some beautiful pictures. The next day, everyone was very sore.
Andrew had a few goals when coming to Alaska and based on some other visits, Shelby and Justin were nervous about completing them. He wanted to catch a fish and see a bear. Lets just say that while they were in Alaska, Andrew and Missy had the most authentic, stereotypical visit possible.
The group woke up early and drove south to fish on the legendary Russian River. The Russian River is known for its fishing as it has two Sockeye Salmon (reds) runs and a silver salmon run. The river is fast moving with an incredibly slippery bottom, so fishers should be cautious when fishing. It is also well known for bear encounters.
This year, it was know for being the place where Andrew caught his first Red Salmon and a black bear made an appearance. The bear's first appearance was on the fishers' side of the river, then it traveled across to the opposite side where it considered crossing the river to eat Shelby and Missy. Instead, it continued its up-river trek and moved on Later, while Shelby was walking along the boardwalk, she heard what she thought was a bird. Update, it was not a bird. It was 3 black bear cubs in a tree. Bear goal, check. Catch a fish, check. As far as Andrew was concerned, this trip was a success.
The group went on to spend an entire weekend driving north. Andrew caught a few rainbow trout and grayling and saw a moose with two calves drinking from a lake. Andrew and Missy were also afforded the opportunity to drive the entire Denali Highway and camp on it's edges. It was wonderful to be able to share our passion with both of them even though Missy may not have enjoyed the fishing as much as the rest of us.
One final note, a huge congratulations to the both of them on their engagement this year!
2020 Fishing Report: Queen of Kings Strikes Again
As always, fishing played a huge role in Justin and Shelby’s lives this year.
The fishing season started with a trip out of Homer, AK in February. No fish were caught, but Shelby finally got to see her first Orca and they learned to clean crab (do not use an air compressor to blow the crab out of its shell unless you want crab salad.)
After that, Shelby had a successful weekend on the salt with Big John. Justin watched because Shelby seems to always get to the deck first to land the fish. Big John has taken to calling her a ghost because she vanishes when there is a fish on.
For the fresh water season opening, Shelby was beyond excited to celebrate her birthday on the river. Unfortunately for her, that same weekend she realized that she was allergic to wasps and spent the entire weekend sleeping off Benadryl. Wake up at 3am, drive to the beach, fall back to sleep in the truck. That was her opening weekend.
When she wasn’t sleeping, she was setting some serious fashion trends with the 10- and 12-year olds at the fish camp with her mismatched XtraTuf deck boots. The XtraTuf boots came in extra handy when Shelby’s brother was in town; she lent her tall boots to him to lake fish.
Shelby and Justin also located a few locations to catch Rainbow Trout, Grayling, and then made the trip to Hope for the Pink Salmon run. Shelby obviously slayed the Pinks while Justin spent more time helping visitors.
Shelby fished the Russian River for the first time this year when her brother was in town. She successfully hooked her first 4 Red Salmon, and then, also successfully, lost all 4 of them. Once she lost her final fish, she decided that her poor attitude was scaring the fish away and put the pole down to watch Andrew and Missy enjoy their time.
Shelby also caught her first Grayling at what she now refers to as the “Buggy” lake. The picture is not printed here because you can’t see her face because she was so bundled up hiding from the bird-sized mosquitoes.
The fishing season started with a trip out of Homer, AK in February. No fish were caught, but Shelby finally got to see her first Orca and they learned to clean crab (do not use an air compressor to blow the crab out of its shell unless you want crab salad.)
After that, Shelby had a successful weekend on the salt with Big John. Justin watched because Shelby seems to always get to the deck first to land the fish. Big John has taken to calling her a ghost because she vanishes when there is a fish on.
For the fresh water season opening, Shelby was beyond excited to celebrate her birthday on the river. Unfortunately for her, that same weekend she realized that she was allergic to wasps and spent the entire weekend sleeping off Benadryl. Wake up at 3am, drive to the beach, fall back to sleep in the truck. That was her opening weekend.
When she wasn’t sleeping, she was setting some serious fashion trends with the 10- and 12-year olds at the fish camp with her mismatched XtraTuf deck boots. The XtraTuf boots came in extra handy when Shelby’s brother was in town; she lent her tall boots to him to lake fish.
Shelby and Justin also located a few locations to catch Rainbow Trout, Grayling, and then made the trip to Hope for the Pink Salmon run. Shelby obviously slayed the Pinks while Justin spent more time helping visitors.
Shelby fished the Russian River for the first time this year when her brother was in town. She successfully hooked her first 4 Red Salmon, and then, also successfully, lost all 4 of them. Once she lost her final fish, she decided that her poor attitude was scaring the fish away and put the pole down to watch Andrew and Missy enjoy their time.
Shelby also caught her first Grayling at what she now refers to as the “Buggy” lake. The picture is not printed here because you can’t see her face because she was so bundled up hiding from the bird-sized mosquitoes.
Skyler Succeeds in August “Sheep” Hunt
For the third year in a row, Skyler came to Alaska chasing another of his "guide required" species in Alaska. As some of you may remember from last year, his sheep hunt very quickly turned into an all you can eat adventure with plenty of burgers from the roadside truck. He came up with low expectations and a lot of hope this year.
Fortunately for him, the smoke cleared, and no new wildfires sprang up that might block his mountain and chance at a sheep. He was joined this year by their mutual friend, Tristan Frederick who came to help pack out if necessary, but mostly to pick some blueberries and try his hand at fishing.
The house was a mess of gear the night before the hunt; all the boys and Shelby were preparing for their hunts. The boys left and drove towards their well-scouted sheep area armed with snacks, a four-wheeler, and Tristan's .308 Remington Rifle.
When they arrived, before setting too far off into the mountains, Justin spotted a Grizzly bear at about 5 miles (thank goodness for that expensive Swvarovski spotting scope); they settled in for the night.
The next morning, the three boys and their gear all piled onto the same four-wheeler to start their way on a sheep hunt. Once they were set up and looking for sheep, Justin took off to "stir up the earth" and pick up a Caribou shed about 200 yards away. By the time he returned, Tristan had spotted the bear again at about 1000 yards.
They made a 30-minute stalk to make it up to 110 yards from the bear who was feeding on blueberries. Skyler set up and shot. There's a funny story to go with that, call Justin or Skyler for more.
They got the bear back to the truck and turned tail to head back to Anchorage. They told Shelby they returned to take a shower after a single day, but they were cleaning their gear and heading back out again.
Before Tristan left after a week, the entire household took a day trip to Hope for some Pink Salmon fishing and then did a drive to attempt some trout fishing. After Tristan left, Skyler and Justin returned to the mountain to find Skyler a sheep. They were unsuccessful. Skyler has now filled 2/3 of his guide-required Alaskan hunts: Mountain Goat and Grizzly Bear.
Fortunately for him, the smoke cleared, and no new wildfires sprang up that might block his mountain and chance at a sheep. He was joined this year by their mutual friend, Tristan Frederick who came to help pack out if necessary, but mostly to pick some blueberries and try his hand at fishing.
The house was a mess of gear the night before the hunt; all the boys and Shelby were preparing for their hunts. The boys left and drove towards their well-scouted sheep area armed with snacks, a four-wheeler, and Tristan's .308 Remington Rifle.
When they arrived, before setting too far off into the mountains, Justin spotted a Grizzly bear at about 5 miles (thank goodness for that expensive Swvarovski spotting scope); they settled in for the night.
The next morning, the three boys and their gear all piled onto the same four-wheeler to start their way on a sheep hunt. Once they were set up and looking for sheep, Justin took off to "stir up the earth" and pick up a Caribou shed about 200 yards away. By the time he returned, Tristan had spotted the bear again at about 1000 yards.
They made a 30-minute stalk to make it up to 110 yards from the bear who was feeding on blueberries. Skyler set up and shot. There's a funny story to go with that, call Justin or Skyler for more.
They got the bear back to the truck and turned tail to head back to Anchorage. They told Shelby they returned to take a shower after a single day, but they were cleaning their gear and heading back out again.
Before Tristan left after a week, the entire household took a day trip to Hope for some Pink Salmon fishing and then did a drive to attempt some trout fishing. After Tristan left, Skyler and Justin returned to the mountain to find Skyler a sheep. They were unsuccessful. Skyler has now filled 2/3 of his guide-required Alaskan hunts: Mountain Goat and Grizzly Bear.
Fifty-One Hours, Second Sheep Taken
Last year on Skyler's sheep hunt, the brothers and Zach saw a pair of Rams on the mountain; they named one "Scarface" for the prominent scar that ran down his nose. When they first spotted him, the hunters could not determine if he was legal, so they erred on the side of caution and let him be.
This year, Justin and Skyler did not see him again, or at least Skyler didn't.
After Skyler took off on his flight home, Justin was sitting on the couch when he received a call from his friend Zach, returning from his own hunt, who quickly scouted their hunting location and saw that Scarface had returned. Zach and Justin came to the agreement that they would four-wheel in and if Scarface was there, Justin had first rights, but for any other ram, Zach had first right of refusal.
Justin finished watching Jurassic Park with Shelby, packed for his hunt, and took off that same night arriving very early in the morning. The two hunters grabbed a few hours of sleep before heading in at dawn.
On their way in, they found another set of fresh Grizzly tracks, even after taking Skyler's bear. They hiked up to within 1000 yards of the sheep and began to belly crawl and drag their backpacks up the mountain to get closer. They decided to hold back until the rams moved, eventually coming within 100 yards of the hunters at one point. They did not have a clear shot at the legal ram.
Zach attempted to age the second ram for legality, but, again, could not determine if it was legal. They then made their move on Scarface; once within 300 yards, with a clear opportunity, Justin took the second ram of his lifetime.
It was Justin's goal to have a "solid representation of the sheep species" and he succeeded in that goal with this hunt. While he is proud to have a mature, 9-year-old ram, Skyler still insists that he "stole" the ram since Justin made him pass it last year when it was 8, legal.
This year, Justin and Skyler did not see him again, or at least Skyler didn't.
After Skyler took off on his flight home, Justin was sitting on the couch when he received a call from his friend Zach, returning from his own hunt, who quickly scouted their hunting location and saw that Scarface had returned. Zach and Justin came to the agreement that they would four-wheel in and if Scarface was there, Justin had first rights, but for any other ram, Zach had first right of refusal.
Justin finished watching Jurassic Park with Shelby, packed for his hunt, and took off that same night arriving very early in the morning. The two hunters grabbed a few hours of sleep before heading in at dawn.
On their way in, they found another set of fresh Grizzly tracks, even after taking Skyler's bear. They hiked up to within 1000 yards of the sheep and began to belly crawl and drag their backpacks up the mountain to get closer. They decided to hold back until the rams moved, eventually coming within 100 yards of the hunters at one point. They did not have a clear shot at the legal ram.
Zach attempted to age the second ram for legality, but, again, could not determine if it was legal. They then made their move on Scarface; once within 300 yards, with a clear opportunity, Justin took the second ram of his lifetime.
It was Justin's goal to have a "solid representation of the sheep species" and he succeeded in that goal with this hunt. While he is proud to have a mature, 9-year-old ram, Skyler still insists that he "stole" the ram since Justin made him pass it last year when it was 8, legal.
Rainy Day
Compared to Justin’s hunts this year, Shelby had a comfortable, if unsuccessful caribou hunt.
While Justin went out with Skyler and Tristan in search of sheep, Shelby went out with her good friend from Glenwood, IA, Darren Toppin. Darren and Shelby were both successful in taking Caribou from this same location last year, and they attempted it again for 2020.
Just like everything else in 2020, it kind of stunk.
The two took Darren’s pop-up camper and met up with a group of friends north of Fairbanks. They went out on a quick scouting trip the night before the season opened and came back drenched from the rain they were not prepared for. Lucky for Shelby, Darren took most of the rain to his front, protecting her on the back of the four-wheeler. He was soaked.
The next morning, the group set out in search of the herd, which they later found out had moved through the area 2 weeks prior.
At one point, there was a single Caribou at about 800 yards and Darren was determined he could take it. Shelby refused to hand over the gun as it meant shooting over 2 groups of hunters. While attempting to get closer on the four-wheeler, the two watched as another, previously oblivious set of hunters took the Caribou.
Later, while driving down the road, they spotted a small herd of caribou. A single cow attempted to cross a bowl in the mountain, oblivious that 9 hunters had their guns aimed at her. Shelby was down on the gun and Darren was insisting she take the shot. The cow stopped for approximately 2 seconds before taking off again. Shelby did not take the shot.
The two left empty-handed.
While Justin went out with Skyler and Tristan in search of sheep, Shelby went out with her good friend from Glenwood, IA, Darren Toppin. Darren and Shelby were both successful in taking Caribou from this same location last year, and they attempted it again for 2020.
Just like everything else in 2020, it kind of stunk.
The two took Darren’s pop-up camper and met up with a group of friends north of Fairbanks. They went out on a quick scouting trip the night before the season opened and came back drenched from the rain they were not prepared for. Lucky for Shelby, Darren took most of the rain to his front, protecting her on the back of the four-wheeler. He was soaked.
The next morning, the group set out in search of the herd, which they later found out had moved through the area 2 weeks prior.
At one point, there was a single Caribou at about 800 yards and Darren was determined he could take it. Shelby refused to hand over the gun as it meant shooting over 2 groups of hunters. While attempting to get closer on the four-wheeler, the two watched as another, previously oblivious set of hunters took the Caribou.
Later, while driving down the road, they spotted a small herd of caribou. A single cow attempted to cross a bowl in the mountain, oblivious that 9 hunters had their guns aimed at her. Shelby was down on the gun and Darren was insisting she take the shot. The cow stopped for approximately 2 seconds before taking off again. Shelby did not take the shot.
The two left empty-handed.