"Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment" - Guns?

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Finally caught 1.5 episodes of this; interesting (I was on vacation and the cabin we were in at trout camp had more channels than I do at home - go figure!).

Regarding guns & hunting, at one point ol' boy was hunting but was just walking along at high speed (not stalking), and of course a camera crew was nearby, so I don't know how stealthy he thought he was gonna be. At one point, a few white birds flushed out, and he tried to shoot, but no bang - either bad ammo or gun malfunction, or he forgot to load it, or had the safety on - I don't know. Also don't know what kind of gun it was - don't think they said. Anyway, they were quite short on food/nutrition, and definitely could have used a skilled hunter in the group. But without some hunting knowledge, those guns were about as useless as teats on a boar hog.
 
that Africa ones funny ,no gun's ,how much you want to bet that guy caring the spear would throw it away if a loin came along and run leaving the others to fend for them self's lol
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If a loin comes along, you just throw a cloth over it and render it harmless. Unless it's a tenderloin, in which case, you just grab it and throw it on the fire to cook it.
 
Am I foolish to think my Pardner Pump 12ga. would be the "wonder gun" to have in just about any wilderness?
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Not bad, but see what I wrote in post #14 in this thread:


http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=457927

Here, I'll reprint it with a small change/addition:

The Answer is a 20", 3-barrel drilling with:

1. 3" 12 gauge rifled barrel, with ability to take multiple screw-in choke tube extensions to unspin and choke shotshell shot, but also shoot saboted slugs without the choke tube extensions.
2. Rifled barrel in .223 remington, 1 in 9" twist, with chamber inserts for also shooting .22lr and either .22 magnum or .22 hornet in the rifled barrel, AND the ability to take a screw-in choke tube extension for shooting .22lr and .22mag shotshells, which will unspin and choke the shot, for shooting tweety birds for pot meat and other small game.
3. Full-powered rifle barrel in a caliber such as .270 win, .280 rem, .30-'06, .308, 7mm-08, .260 Rem, .338 Federal, or similar. Actually, since the 12 ga slug barrel handles short ranges / dangerous beasts, I'd want to focus with this one on more of a long-range caliber, so probably 6.5x55 swede, 6.5-.284 Norma, .270 Win, .270 WSM, .280 Rem, 7mm WSM, or 7mm rem mag would be the ticket, I think.

THAT's the ultimate survival gun, as far as surviving off the land goes. You could kill cape buff with hardcast brenneke slugs with the 12 ga in the morning, and then kill a nuthatch for an afternoon snack with the .22lr shotshell barrel, and everything in between, whether walking or flying.
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If it was all burly he-man survival experts who cake walked through the bush it wouldn't make for very interesting television.

As for Africa? I would have eaten Pasquale by now. That guy is irritating as hell.

But you know what? If you've ever trekked anywhere with a group of people sometimes you butt heads. Whether you are the film crew or a boy scout troop or a bunch of friends on a weekend warrior paintball trip. People who haven't worked/trained together don't act like a team, it takes a while to shake out what everyone is capable of.
 
i would take my 45/70, and a "papoose" 22 survival rifle. as for the moose, that would be in my game plan also, but honestly, your chances of depending on a moose just walking up to you to be shot really is not all that great. but there should be lots of animals to shoot there. you just might not be able to pick and choose so much what you do, or do not want to eat. IMO, wolf, fox, raccon, whatever. almost anything that moves is fair game in a survival situation! anybody who is dumb enough to quit after only getting one fish or bird, can go ahead and starve to death, unless that is all they could find! i think those shows are there to antogonize those of us who know better.
 
i would take -
savage .308 bolt
for hip, my cz 75b 9mm
and for smaller game, my savage mk2 .22
 
My Winchester .44mag trapper. Light enough to not mind packing for days at a time yet powerfull enough for large game and I can load it with .44spl birdshot shells if I want to try shooting birds or smaller animals ie rabbits, squirrels, etc, etc
 
yenchisks said:
that Africa ones funny ,no gun's ,how much you want to bet that guy caring the spear would throw it away if a loin came along and run leaving the others to fend for them self's lol;)
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I realize I'm breathing life into an old thread, but the Africa Expedition retracing part of the journey Stanley took to find Livingstone actually kind of sickened me. HM Stanley isn't really someone I'd want to glorify. IIRC, he started his adult life by fighting for both sides in the war between the states - very pricipled, huh?

I missed most of the one with the group hiking through Alaska but also thought it was nuts to leave the big defensive rifle behind. Even if the ammo is heavy, leave most of it and just keep twenty rounds - it's not that much extra weight. Don't be a sissy.
I am catching up on reruns of the Alaska Experiement on NatGeo (I think) right now. Things that I found odd - first is that they didn't give any of those people any firearms training prior to dropping them off in Alaska. The first shots many of them fired seem to have been from the guide's .338 Win Mag. Second is that they only gave each group a single shot .22 rifle. Granted, you may be on a budget, but why not at least give them a 12 gauge pump so they have some defense against a bear, moose, or wolves if needed? Even here in PA, when I go camping or hiking I don't take a step into the woods without a .357. Third, a little instruction would have gone a long way - one group took a shot at a buffalo with their little single shot .22. Bad idea!
I really like the concept of the show. Every time its on I get drawn into it and I even would like to maybe go take a few months at some point in my life and kind of duplicate this experience. But it still wouldn't have hurt to take a day or two to teach these people a little about hunting, guns, and surviving before sending them out to their cabins.

FWIW, I think this over a lot because like I said, I think I might want to go to Alaska and maybe spend a little time in the wilderness some day - something along the lines of what these people did (albeit with the ability to use a rifle and skin a squirrel long before I get there).
I'm wondering if something like a good Ruger rimfire semi-auto or Single Six and a Marlin Guide gun in .45-70 or short barreled pump action 12 gauge with rifle sights and slugs (and a few round of birdshot along for the ride), wouldn't serve pretty well.
 
FWIW, I think this over a lot because like I said, I think I might want to go to Alaska and maybe spend a little time in the wilderness some day - something along the lines of what these people did (albeit with the ability to use a rifle and skin a squirrel long before I get there).
I'm wondering if something like a good Ruger rimfire semi-auto or Single Six and a Marlin Guide gun in .45-70 or short barreled pump action 12 gauge with rifle sights and slugs (and a few round of birdshot along for the ride), wouldn't serve pretty well.
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In my time in the sticks up here, I had a shifting assortment of large bore rifles but the one I did 99% of my actual hunting with was the CZ 452 with irons. If you're doing meat bag hunting your rimfire or small bore will be your No. 1 weapon. A 12 ga will work in a pinch but it's loud and the ammo very very bulky. I could go out with the CZ and a bunch of ammo and come back with grouse, squirrel, hare, etc. Even with my fancy Big Bore I expect if I did that business again it would get left int he cabin in favor of the CZ. The thing just works, no fuss.

The big ones were only needed for the rare moose hunt and I never had much luck on those. For stupid beasts moose seem to know when they're being hunted. Off season they'll be walking ten feet in front of you, then you get the green light from F&G and the moose have suddenly vanished. Oh well. The ones I helped to butcher made me thankful for my bad luck, since getting all that meat out of a nasty swamp would have been hell. There's no end to a moose once you start taking it apart. I liked having a razor sharp axe for that and if I could have managed it I would have used an electric chainsaw with olive oil in the bar oil reservoir.

The natives who live subsistence also rely much more heavily on small bore rifles than big boomers. The .223 is a favorite, though it tends to chew up the meat on small game.
 
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Cosmoline - thanks alot. As someone who actually lives there, your opinion carries some weight.
I often look at the idea of minimizing, not just for some kind of extended stay somewhere but just because although I really love guns, I just don't have the desire or need to own maybe more than ten or so at most. And I'm pretty sure I could get by just fine with three or four for the rest of my life if I really had to.
I also have a huge amount of respect for the .22 LR. I love my 10/22 but the CZ-452 is like a laser. When I had mine scoped, it almost seemed like cheating to go squirrel hunting with it. The 10/22 has an advantage in that it is stainless and although its not as accurate, it is accurate enough. Still, I doubt I could leave the CZ behind.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about rust on the CZ. Mine got pretty badly rusted due to the cabin effect of bringing a cold gun into a warm cabin, but with some elbow grease and fine steel wool it was fine again. They build them to last.
 
12 Gauge

12 gauge 12 gauge 12 gauge

I would bring a 12 gauge and a couple of different types of ammo. Slugs and a few types of heavy bird. If I had another person I would have him/her carry a 30-06 and as much ammo as he/she had room for
 
jim in Anchorage said:
I saw a couple and they actually follow game laws. Thats why in one episode they had to try to snare a beaver Rather then shoot it.
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Jim, you need to read up on your ADF&G regulations, you can trap in AK with a rifle.

At least in Central where I am, it's perfectly legal to "trap" that way, if you're trapping for fur of course you do get a hole, but otherwise it can be a lot easier on some of the larger fur bearers.

Oh to the OP

I use 223 on critters up to coyotes, 30-06 on Moose and Black Bear, and for defense 12 gauge with Slugs on Grizz. Oh and I shoot spruce grouse with my 40 XDm at about 20 yards on my trail.

(edited to answer the question)
 
Jim, you need to read up on your ADF&G regulations, you can trap in AK with a rifle.

At least in Central where I am, it's perfectly legal to "trap" that way, if you're trapping for fur of course you do get a hole, but otherwise it can be a lot easier on some of the larger fur bearers.
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You may care to read up yourself and notice the different regs for trapping beaver over just fur.
 
Thank you for reviving this thread!

I have since STOPPED watching such trash on TV. Is either the Alaska or Africa show still going?

Man....I think this thread has generated as much basic "duh" survival skills knowledge as anything I've seen on the internet or anywhere. Smoking meat, trapping, "bring a knife no matter what", "bring a .22 no matter what", likelihood of small game vs. large game, moose disappearing during moose season, the gun is only heavy when you don't need it for survival, always bring fishing gear because the fishing police will bust you and, hence, save you :), keep fishing if you catch one fish, learn to eat squirrel, learn to butcher and smoke a moose...

The magic of THR. Thank you again Oleg!
 
jim in Anchorage said:
You may care to read up yourself and notice the different regs for trapping beaver over just fur.
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I'm in Unit 20C...

Specifically from 2009-2010 trapping regulations.

You May not take Beaver by any means other than a steel trap or snare except:
* In units 12, 19, 20A, 20C, 20E, 20F, 21, 24, and 25 a firearm or bow and arrow may be used during the seasons and with bag limits established in regulation.
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In my case there is also no limit.
 
Guys, if we start debating the state's F&G laws in the array of GMU's and subdivisions we will be here for months!

Anyway, we all know it's the DUCKS who will be skinning the BEAVER this year.

Oregon_Ducks.gif
 
I know north of the Alaska range different regs apply, but the one time I watched the show they said they where in the Talkeetnas; unit 13.
 
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