Posted on 01/04/2025 5:41:13 AM PST by marktwain
The Year-Long Day is a factual account of an overwinter in the Svalbard Archipelago, trapping foxes and hunting polar bears. It was published in 1976 and is a fascinating true story of survival and adventure.
In the Arctic winter of 1970 to 1971, a trapper/hunter in the Svalbard Archipelago had to protect himself several times with gunfire from polar bears.
This is not particularly unusual. It was unusual for Ivar Ruud to keep a detailed diary, make a movie, and have a book published about his experiences. Most arctic trappers and hunters do not keep detailed diaries, make movies, and write books. Ruud had an older partner, Fredrick Rubach. In their first year together, they harvested over fifty polar bears. After the first year, they moved into separate cabins about 15 miles apart along the coast. They would only see each other when they were dropped off, at Christmas, and when picked up in the summer.
Polar Bear iStock-1364796505 While researching defenses against bears in the Arctic, this correspondent found the account of Ivar Ruud referenced in the Polar Bear Human-Information Management System (PBHIMS) data base. The PBHIMS was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by AmmoLand. Used copies of The Year-Long Day are sometimes available on ABE Books or Ebay. My copy was found in very good condition for $25 and shipping. The book is fast-paced. It mentions enough of the daily grind to inform the reader but is successful as adventure storytelling.
According to this source, the year of the account is apparently 1970-1971.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
cant even imagine camping out in polar bear country- we see stories about Eskimos having their igloos torn apart and killed by the bears fairly often- (though not so much anymore). For that matter- can’t imagine camping out in cougar territory either, or grizzly country- either.
We’ve camped in areas of Wyoming where there are grizzlies. The Forest Service requires hard shell campers/RV’s. That is, no tents.
We were going to camp in one of those places once and a section of that campground was closed off. The reason was a mommy and a couple of cubs were roaming in that area.
A person would need some heavy duty fire power in case a bear decided to open up a camper like a sardine can.
There’s a real life (not one of those fake reality shows) show called “The Last Alaskans”. It chronicles the everyday lives of real people living in the Alaskan wilderness. They are basically hunters and trappers living in log homes they built with materials on site. Bears are a major problem for them.
> “with gunfire from polar bears”
Armed polar bears are truly horrifying to contemplate. Wonder who’s selling guns to the polar bears?
Bookmark
Note that the price of the book has gone WAY up - $365 on Amazon?
Look for it on ABEbooks.
I see copies their for as low as $15 + $19 shipping, from the UK.
When guns are outlawed only polar bears will have guns. It will allow them to expand their territory by extreme force.
Whatever will we do? I hope they stay on Svalbard.
Stay out of the bars where cougars congregate, and you can mostly avoid that problem.
Thanks MT!
It is now $685 on Amazon.
I just paid $60 for a copy on e-bay…
LOL= noted!
Their Sci-Fi was different, their crime novels were interesting but I think I liked their novels the best because they did a lot of research into what ever subject they were covering.
AE Maxwell partnered with Rudd to write the book and market it.
Yes, I can see that. His name is on the book cover along with theirs.
AE Maxwell is a pen-name for a married pair of writers.
They partnered with Rudd, in the sense they helped him write the book in a way which was more marketable. They used his diaries for the base.
English was a second language to him.
So, a bit more than ghost writers, I would say.
It turned out well.
Sounds like you got a good deal!
Just looked on AbeBooks, hard cover for $40 plus $5 shipping.
I have bought several old books from AbeBooks, always a good deal.
And yes, they are more then ghost writers.
Even their series romance books (under Elizabeth Lowell) are quite well researched. Refreshingly so.
It will be interesting to read this.
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