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One local guy has a 50 here in our community. He shoots it at the 4th july shoot; but unfair to class it with all the other local calibers so he doesn't use it in the contest. Sure would like to get one of those one of these days. The Yukon is about 800-1000 yards across here and we have a island across from the local landing strip. they stick a 12 inch pan on chains on beach of island, 400 yards. Costs a buck to enter and half the people don't have any money but have a few shells. Usually maybe 50 people shoot; open sight & scope class. Then they have a shoot off for everyone that hit target 2 or more times out of 3. Usually 10 people make the shoot off. Kinda funny, and it doesn't seem all that hard to hit a 12 inch target at 400 yards; but the swirling winds 30 yards up that high bank really is tough. My 7mm is good enough but the mini-14's or ar is too light; barely dings the plate when you hit it. The natives really are the best shots and believe it or not with peep sights, as they don't believe in scopes. Probably because they just throw their guns in truckbeds and most have broken stocks and such. Anyway, I've never lived somewheres that they have a shootin contest off an airstrip across a navigable waterway; but people around here come into the school or pretty much everwhere with pistols on their belts all the time anyway. So its just different than back in pa. We were from back around meadville and just could imagine what people would think if they saw the natives around here riding their bikes with rifle & shotgun. Rifle for bear protection and shotgun for spring ducks that follow the road. I never hunted ducks in the spring either till I come here.

You'll have more meat on the hoof with all the deer and no predators, but moose are bigger, sheep taste better, and its alot of fun herding caribou on snowmachine. Wish we had some elk. We are starting to get whitetails moving in from the yukon territory; maybe my son will kill some down the road. I have a bunch of old pa racks in the 18-22 inch range on boards in my hallway and everyone asks why they are so small; kinda ticks me off but here a nice bull is in low 60's.

Late this summer I was down at one of the natives fish nets and looked across the river and there were 12 dall sheep drinking water out of the yukon. Usually they are up in the rocks & snow above treeline but I guess they were thirsty or just wanted to plant their hoofs in the soft mud for a change. You notice strange things like that a few times each summer. Seeing and feeling everything what keeps me here, not as much the hunting and fishing. We drove back to Pa 8 years ago; planned on staying 2 weeks. It was 90 degrees and just everything seemed like it had changed and we left after 3 days. Living in a bush community of 150 people thats 185 miles away from the nx community just makes you feel like you have some space to breath.

But no joke when I tell people up here about how hunting is back east; they don't believe me. They say well, they're making it so you can't kill nuthin back there, how you supposed to get your meat for the winter/ I just shake my head. Up here, its not about the sport, its about filling the freezer out back.

You have good hunting & lots of stocked fish, but I prefer going hunting knowing I'm not going to see another person or hear another shot I guess. But then they must be doing something right with those elk, cause an old friend sent me a pict of a 6x7 he shot a couple weeks back, lucky bugger drew one of those permits.