Written by:LindaShell
8/30/2006 4:13 PM

It’s fall in Alaska and we are excited when the outside temperatures reach the high 50s. Also with the arrival of the cooler temps, the moose start heading for town. The moose have gotten pretty tame around Anchorage and they kind of rule the roads. Along the roads in Alaska, you will see road signs listing the road kill for the year. There was a serious accident this morning on the Glenn Highway involving 2 full-sized pickup trucks, a car, and a 1400 pound moose. All of the vehicles were totaled and the moose did not survive, but no people were seriously injured. Although from the news report 3 people will be spending a few days in the hospital and a couple on crutches for a few weeks.

But hunting is also very popular. Moose and Caribou hunting is done mainly in the areas north of Anchorage. The tundra where the Caribou hang out is really beautiful country. There is a big herd of Caribou that lives on the Kenai peninsula outside of Kenai and Soldotna. To me it’s a big herd consisting of a hundred or so members. Up North on the tundra the herds get to be a couple hundred strong. Most people I know hunt for moose up around Denali and farther north. I’m sure people all over the state have their favorite hunting grounds.

There are no deer on the mainland of Alaska. When people go deer hunting, they travel to the smaller islands in Prince William Sound or Southeast Alaska. The people that I know that deer hunt, hunt from boats. They take a boat trip to an island and cruise around the island looking for deer. The shoot the deer from the boat and then go to shore to take care of their game. From what I have been told, the deer are small here, about the size of a large dog. Most Saint Bernard dogs are bigger then the deer here. My brother and his friends love to spend a week deer hunting and being with their friends and buddies. I believe that the deer limit is 6 deer per person.

Some people hunt bear as well and I am not sure of when bear season is. I hear of a bear being shot and in a couple of days, I hear of a person being arrested. It’s difficult to determine what’s legal and what’s not since people will shot bear any time, with the hopes they can say they were protecting their family.

Also with the arrival of fall, comes the steady rain. For instance, we have only had 2 days without rain in the month of August. I was looking forward to some warm summer temperatures. Silly me. While most of the country n the lower 48 were sweating through record high temperatures, we were experiencing the coolest summer since 1986. Of course, it’s my first summer in Anchorage. But we had a couple nice months, without rain. A few days in June, the temperatures actually got into the 70s. Definitely shorts and halter top weather.

I met some tourists form Florida one day in June. I enjoyed them very much. They were so shocked that you could tell immediately who was from Alaska by the way someone was dressed. Being from Florida, they were wearing Parkas and my friends and I was wearing sleeveless shirts and wearing shorts. I told them not to let the cooler temperature to ruin their trip. They had to remember that they were closer to the arctic circle than they ever had before. I should not have reminded the mother of the family of that. She started searching for knitted hats for her children. She was a hoot. I really enjoyed their company.

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