Film Overview
This short film reflectshunting the Alaskan wilderness for 20 years with Alaskan Master Guide Virgil Umphenour. During my past huntingadventures,Virgil hasled me to numerous remote locations throughout the great state of Alaska, hunting, Dall sheep, Grizzly bear, wolf, and Alaska Yukon moose. Through those years of huntingadventures,I experienced with Virgil,I have developed a strong admiration and friendship with him. As far as Alaskan guides go, I hold him in legendary status. The hunt documented in this film,marked the 20thyear I have been hunting with Virgil.
Last September, I had the opportunity to hunt the famed Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge of western Alaska in a quest for a truly giant Alaska Yukon moose. This was an area that I was very familiar with, having hunted there twice previously,taking beautiful bulls on each of those trips. After landing in the tiny Athabascan village of Huslia, we traveled by boat 60 miles upriver to access the remote hunting area. The following day, we started searching the area for a giant rutting bull. After six days of hunting and travelling over 100 river miles,slogging through slews, pushing through dense willow thickets and calling at every opportunity, my luck changed. We tied the boat off at a beautiful bend in the river and hiked to a grassy opening with an amazing backdrop of aspen trees. This spot had abundant moose sign with numerous broken and rubbed trees. It looked as good as any spot we previously called. I had found a shed moose antler on a previous stalk and decided to use it to rake trees and brush while calling. I thought to myself, nothing could sound more convincing to a rutting bull than a real moose antler. As I raked that antler on the brush in front of me, I immediately got a response about 300 yards away. The more I called, the closer the bull came. Although I hadn’t seen him yet, I could see the tops of the willows violently shaking as he responded to the call. When he emerged from the willows, I stared in disbelief as the giant bull-headed directly toward me. He was definitely looking for a fight. At each calling sequence,the bull continued his approach, tearing up every sapling that stood in his way. At each turn of his head, I saw the powerful muscles of his neck ripple. He stood directly in front of me at only 26 yards, slowly tilting his massive 64-inch-wide antlers side to side. I felt pretty helpless crouched down with only a small patch of brush between me and 1600 pounds of rutting bull moose. Finally, the bull turned and presented me with a broadside shot. As I squeezed the trigger, the huge, old bull collapsed and gave up the fight.
This is just one of the many adventures I have shared over the past 20 years with my friend, legendary Alaskan Master Guide, Virgil Umphenour.
Production Company
Gary English
Gary English owns and operates Golden Hills Taxidermy in Rapid City SD and has been providing professional Taxidermy services for the past 30 years. He has been a vendor for Cabela’s for 20 years providing buffalo head mounts for their catalog and online customers. Many of his mounts appear as dioramas in Cabela’s retail stores throughout the country including a herd of nine life-size running buffalo in Rapid City, South Dakota Cabela’s store.
His passion is big game hunting, particularly hunting Alaska. He has traveled to Alaska over 40 times and taken Grizzly bear, Kodiak Brown bears, Alaska Yukon moose, Dall sheep, Barren Ground caribou, and wolf.
In his spare time, he enjoys videography and documenting his outdoor adventures so he can share his story with others. He is also a writer whose work has appeared in numerous National hunting magazines featuring the stories of his hunts.
He has taken 12 Pope and Young award-winning animals with his bow and 3 Boone and Crockett award-winning animals with his rifle.
Gary is also an official scorer for Safari Club International, Pope, and Young Club and the Boone and Crockett Club.
