My oldest son, the Seal Hunter

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caribou

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I took the picture of our 'Guests' laying in the kitchen, two Ring Seals our oldest son brought from his Sound side home, while he visits for the holidays and plays in the local ball tournaments. I 'borrowed' the hunting pix from him, I guess he did pretty good this Fall, both with Hunting and Winning the tournament. The wife is happy for the blubber and nice skins, and these being prime for clothing and so fat they dont sink when shot, therfore no holes from Harpoons or hooks :D The less holes, the better.
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Looks like he knows that ice well, and he should. Im also glad I gave him one of my cameras to record his kids, hunts and such, 'cause gettin' these pix is worth it. His only problem is everyone wants to shoot, chuck spears and drive, no one wants to take pictures when theres 'Action'~~LOL!!~~
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Nothin' but Headshots.
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You should know that you open us up to a reality that most of us can't even really imagine.

Thank you.
 
the area they are in is just beautiful. Funny nothing but water and ice but wow. Nice job on the seals.
 
No antlers? Are these does?

All kidding aside Caribou , congratulations to your son on his hunt. What a different experience from us deeply landlocked folks. I would love to go along as a non-hunting member of a party for something like this for the experience.
 
That's awesome! I have always wanted to bag a few of those, after the torture they have put me through working boats in Ca. Congrats to your son and the people that get to share in the harvest.
 
That looks WAY too cold!!!!!! I don't reckon theres any seals in the gulf so i'll just have to use your pics to imagine what thats like. Thank you
 
Thanks for posting!

I have not had much luck in harvesting a seal down here in FL.
(i did catch a shrimpboat the last time out...me and another boat could not remove him from under the bridge, as tide was pushing the boat right under the bridge)...We do see manatees on occasion

Another similiarity between Alaska and Florida, we also find it hard to drive the boat for all of the icebergs.:D
Seriously, i bet it would be easy to flip or sink a small boat if you hit one of those blocks of floating ice just right.
 

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OMG that looks cold....BURRRRRR! LOL Not for a south Texas boy, I can tell. I always love your posts, though. If nothing else, they're different, and it's neat to think there is more than just "sport hunting" still going on out in the big blue planet.

Hmm, not sure I want seal blubber steaks. LOL I'm sure the coats come in handy up there, though. Wow, that looks cold. :D Think I'll go back to butchering my latest hog, now. Just took a break to warm my numb fingers cutting up that cold meat straight out of the ice chest, then I come in here and click on this tread and see THAT. Now my whole body went numb just lookin' at the pix. ROFL!
 
thumbs up & questions

caribou, cool deal! just have some questions as it looks very interesting:

- is there anything that us lower 48 dwellers can relate to what seal tastes like?

- Up there in AK, can anyone get a license to hunt seals? or is it only the Eskimo population?

thanks for a look-see into your world up there!
 
Sam1911 - you put it perfectly... caribou - I always look forward to your posts. This is a way of life most of us can't imagine...
 
What was he using? I found an article from a 1950's outdoor mag about hunting seals that noted a lot of locals favored small high-velocity rounds and went for the brain.

IIRC you need to get those guys with headshots or they're gone for good.
 
Have you ever hunted with the Remington nylon 66? If so, what is your opinion. By the way, always look forward to your posts.
 
can anyone get a license to hunt seals? or is it only the Eskimo population?

Marine mammals are protected by federal law since the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1976.
It is a crime to even harass them, startle them, or interfere with them, never mind hunt them.

The natives get special privileges to hunt certain things most people go to jail for even disturbing.
 
My oldest son lives 50 feet from the Ocean, hes Inupiaq Eskimo, and not all Native Alaskans can hunt Sea mammles, they must reside on th ecoast or have a tradional tie to the Ocean, as my wifes family does with them migrateing each breakup to th eOcean till Caribou are calling us back up the river in Fall, than we go back downstream to our little village on the Kobuk delta , and quite often Seals and such, with Seals quite often and Polar Bears and Walrus occasionally.


To start with a Seals butchering, you must first consitter what it is going to be used for. Were gonna render the Blubber into oil, but chopping it up and letting it "Try out", and being an oil that renders at room temperature, it will not stick to the arteries, nor will any Sea mammle fats.
Th eoil makes a tatsy garnish for frozen meats and fish, and in this extream Arctic environment, its a caloric boost that makes eating frozen foods a doable Thang, and the person eating such will have energy and viger, rather than Hypothermia from eating frozen foods plain. Often, a bag of blue berrys and a bag of seal oil was the travle food of the man on foot, who hunted and stayed out till he had a load, often over several days, which he would live on , with the berrys and oil as garnish for the meats caught.

One Seal here was butcherd with the skin being cut for streching for tanning, the other cut for cordage. When its cut up the middle and around the flippers, its going to be streched, if its in two seperate "Hoops" of skin from above and below the flippers, its gonna be rope or bags, depending on how its worked bythe woman.

In spring, my wife will make a bag of sorts, a "puuk" (pook) that she will place the 1/2 dryed meats into the render'd Seal oils for preservation. Skins then are poor for clothing, but make great rope, waterproof boots, bags, and other 'stuffs'. Fall and winter skins make great pants and coats.
During winter, the meats are boiled or fed to dogs after a little cooking.
Seal Meats taste like a Beef with a definint fish taste to it, but not hard to get used to. I like mine with mustard and tea.


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Poking holes an inch from the edge all along her cuts, to lace the strings that strech it in the frame.
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Then the pelt is removed with the blubber on the skin by cutting the blubber away from the meats, untill th eentire carcass is fat/skin free.
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Then the animals carcass is taken back out to be cut up as needed, to the cache, while the blubber is removed by carefully slicing the 2 inches of fat closely and carefully to avoid cutting the skin, and yet leaving none behind that would spoil the skin. The skin is streched, then scraped and cured. Then, finally, it will be ready for cutting and sewing.
The Hoops of skin will be cut as a spiral, after a soak in the scrap oils, so as to loosen and shed its hairs.

Blubber in the bucket.
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This will be cut into small peices over the next couple days, to render at room temperature.

Ill post more as this progresses.
 
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Sea Mammle Hunting around the world was campeigned against to "Save the Whales" and other endangerd animals.Restrcitive laws world wide occured in the 1970's because of the reduced stocks.
The most prominant idea was to stop everyone from hunting them, and the Feds used the same system in subsistance than as they do in Alaska today.
If there is plenty, then everyone, commercial and others can hunt/fish
If theres low numbers but not endangerd, then those who live close by and eat them may hunt/fish them.
if number are way low, nobody hunts them. This has happend to Polar Bear hunting, as now , between both Russia and America , a total of 58 a yaer may be killed by any human activity.

Alaskan, Canadian, and Greenlandic Eskimo, Russia, Norway, Feroe Islands and Iceland contenue to hunt Whales and Seals for tradional and cutural foods.

As a group, Native Alaskans spoke up and demanded subsistance Hunting contenue, as they had a history of hunting and eating and utilizing these animals. Entire villages have economies based on Hunting marine mammles.
For us lighter skinned folks, who could only show a tradion of commercial hunting (as a people) and with the KKK, Aryan nations and the Republican party representing us, we aint ever gonna get to Hunt Sea mammles again.

You must be 1/4 proven tribal bloood quantum from an Alaskan Tribe that utilizes the Coast and its products, as well you must reside by the coast, or have a tradional use of the Coast , just down the delta here, so No Anchorage living Eskimo' or Plains Indian Whaling captains and such.

Better than the lying the Japs do, claiming 'scientific research' while selling all the meat in the supermarket, to the tune of 800 Whales a year, as opposed to Alaskas 45 total 'Strikes' , spred among 9 Whaling villages, and are caught by those who catch them to eat with no profit.
 
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Thank you for the education for us, and teaching your children your customs. It makes me sad to see so many young people grow up thinking milk and meat come from the grocery store.
 
Caribou, thank you VERY much for the look into your world up there, all the info on what you do with the seals is facinating! Even with all the fats & oils from the animals, must be hard to keep any fat on you through the long cold winters! How many calories per day you have to take in just to stay even, ballpark number?

Also, please be aware that this is not a flame, nor am I P.O.'d and angry, just very curious. You wrote:

For us lighter skinned folks, who could only show a tradion of commercial hunting (as a people) and with the KKK, Aryan nations and the Republican party representing us, we aint ever gonna get to Hunt Sea mammles again.

You have alot of KKK and aryan nation up there? and the Republican party is equivalent? thank you for any insight you can give. and again, thanks a million for the great pictures and info!
 
"For us lighter skinned folks, who could only show a tradion of commercial hunting (as a people) and with the KKK, Aryan nations and the Republican party representing us, we aint ever gonna get to Hunt Sea mammles again."

Thats just a joke. :D

But if you put thought into it, who does represent the 'WASP' in the U.S.? ~~LOL!!~~

Most all that crap is inthe citys, not in the bush, or here, where I am respected by my ability, not color, as for the most part we all work hard together. Now if I go to Anchorage, the whining and parring off begins, but what can I say? Theres always the odd Duck, but Eskimo' are about the most staunchly patriotic Americans I can think of, but ofcourse there is poor(!) Siberia as an example to all how bad it really can be.........we have the internet and a Post Office., and all the Lower 49 has to offer (as long as it fits inna box :D)
 
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