Been awhile..

Matt Masters

Active member
It has been awhile since I have posted, but I still get on here and lurk around every so often. I finally got to go to St. Paul Island, AK to hunt King Eiders this January. When a good friend of mine knew I had booked my hunt he asked me if I would do him a favor, and without him asking I told him “definitely”. He traveled a good portion of the United States and parts of Canada with his lab Daisy, and she retrieved around 50 species of North American game birds before her passing. She never got to make it to Alaska, nor be able to go after Kings. He asked if I would mind taking a King Eider decoy urn containing part of her ashes so she could finally get to swim in the Bering Sea and hopefully get a King. Needless to say Daisy got to swim in the Bering Sea several times and get her Kings! I could go on and on about this hunt and experience, but I will let the pictures do most of the talking. I will say for the hardcore collectors this is a must! It was and experience I will never forget, and probably my favorite so far on my journey to collecting all the North American waterfowl species!
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Really not sure how a waterfowler could top that as far as a "bucket list" hunt goes.

Beautiful birds, and very cool what you did for your buddy.
 
Pretty cool Matt. Anybody that goes hunting on the ocean in Alaska in January earns what they get!
 
Hi Matt: I hunted St. Paul for king eiders four years ago and yes I can say that truly is an adventure you will never forget. Just getting there can be nearly impossible because of the weather as you probably know. Anyway congratulations on your KINGS.
 
We were very fortunate to have several good weather days during our hunt, however we had a couple that it was blowing 40+ mph! I was very fortunate to scotch double on these two studs off Sea Lion while it was blowing around 50 mph! I flipped out when I shot and these two studs fell out of a flock of about 12 birds!
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That has to be Chris Price's ol girl Daisy!

That had to an awesome experience! Daisy was a sweetheart. I met her toward the end of her days.
 
That's her! The rail hunt I went on with Chris back in 2014 was her last good hunt. I was very thankful to hunt with her, and Chris has become a good friend of mine.
 
Pretty cool Matt. Anybody that goes hunting on the ocean in Alaska in January earns what they get!

He trained for the trip by hunting Dividing creek in a blizzard and
- 20 wind chills ...... Haha! Well done Matt!
 
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How cool is that!

I was watching something online about hunting eiders up there. There's a fella from SC guiding at Aleutian Island Waterfowlers. That hunting looks nuts!
 
Jode that trip with you and the following days in Delaware were the coldest days I've hunted to date. Alaska is not that cold compared to the cold on the East Coast!
 
Jode that trip with you and the following days in Delaware were the coldest days I've hunted to date. Alaska is not that cold compared to the cold on the East Coast!


And that was the last real cold we had..... Almost two full years. I think I left part of my feet in that goose field!
 
Good stuff Buddy! Daisy got a workout down here and logged a few solid Fulvous retrieves. Nice to see Her make it to the opposite end of the waterfowling spectrum. Great pics. Good for you and Chris to get it done that way...
 
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