Gun choices for Alaska from a fellow who was really there, did it

[Timber Wolf]

My Mom gave me a couple of DVDs (“Alone in the Wilderness” Parts I&II) and a book on the life and adventures of one Richard (Dick) Proenneke. Mr. Proenneke, a Navy Veteran, Carpenter, Heavy Equipment Operator & Mechanic, Commercial Fisherman, Farmer, Rancher, and all around handy fellow, retired in the late 1960s at the ripe old age of 51 (the same age I turned a couple of weeks ago). He had previously scouted out a nice area next to a lake and built a log cabin completely by himself where he then resided for the next 30 or so years until the 50 degree below zero winters and old bones caused him to move back to the lower 48 at the age of 82. He had lived completely off-grid and his only contact to the outside world was a local Bush Pilot. Dick self-documented his activities with tripod-mounted movie and still cameras. Although he did come out occasionally for visits with family and friends and people came (very rarely) to visit him and stay for a while (in his 11’X15' cabin), for the most part he lived a single, solitary existence. I had watched the home movies of his exploits in the Alaskan Outback and was, as a gun enthusiast, particularly interested in his choice of firearms. In the films you see his bolt action rifle and the narrator (reading from Dick’s journals) makes mention of his “heavy revolver” but you never see the handgun or any mention of a caliber for it or the rifle. I just started reading the book, a compilation of his journals, and in it he says his rifle is a sporterized 03 Springfield in 30-06 and his handgun a .357 Magnum. He doesn’t say what make or model of .357 Magnum but given the time frame and if I had to guess, given the description of it as “heavy”, I would say it was probably a N-frame S&W of some fashion. Although, it could have been a Colt New Service or even a Ruger Blackhawk I suppose. The only game he shot that I know of, at least in my viewing and reading so far, was Big Horn Sheep (with the ’06). At any rate, this fellow who walked the walk like none of us ever will and lived in Grizzly country felt OK with his Springfield and .357, and he lived (a very long time) to tell about it!

[jaykden]

i never saw the second, but we really liked the first.

[Timber Wolf]

In the second film he mostly builds his cache-on-poles, paddles down through the cut to the other lake, scouts out more of the mountains and stuff. His brother flies in with a float plane he (the brother) restored/rebuilt himself so I guess handiness and mechanical aptitude ran in the family. They fly around the area together scouting from the sky and Dick gets to see a lot of ground he had previously only seen from the ground. His brother stayed on about a month, I wonder who slept on the floor. There is one shot in the second film of the square stern canoe with a small outboard on it, so I guess he did not have to paddle all the time.

[gman]

Remember this was a time when it would have been rare for the animals in his area to have been hunted, so he could easily get close to make the shot.

[HighRatMaster]

I have enjoyed the book many times, it's a good read. I've seen the first film on PBS, it was good also.

He wasn't into guns or hunting much, he actually went and cleaned up kill sites of other hunters for the meat they left. He liked his '03 but it was not held in awe like his hand tools were, he loved his sharp tools. The hunting he wrote about was more like harvesting, it wasn't a big deal to be looked forward to and relished.

He seemed to have found his niche in life and his home is now a state park. He passed on 8 years ago, RIP Dick.

[JR in the NW]

http://www.talkingcircletv.com/flash...Proenecke.html

Another look at Dick Proenecke.

[JasonB]

A lot of the stuff in "One Man's Wilderness" (which is the narration for the "Alone in the Wilderness" video) isn't actually Proenneke's own words, but some twists given to his journals by Keith who was supposed to edit only. There is more on this in "More Readings From One Man's Wilderness" and the video "Silence and Solitude." One biggy that comes to mind was the reason for his move was not a union dispute as mentioned in the Keith book, but instead that he was almost blinded by crud falling off some equipment he was working on and he wanted to enjoy his eyesight while he still had it.

Fairly sure if you look at the pics closely in One Man's Wilderness(mine is loaned out so I am going off memory) that you will see the outline of a Single Action Army copy and I am also fairly sure that it is mentioned in the "More Readings"(way longer than the first book to the point of skimming for details being a non-starter) as being a German made revolver marketed by Herter's.

[Timber Wolf]

Hmmm, sounds like some sort of J. P. Sauer & Sohn hog leg. Interesting.

[RG Coburn]

I liked the series.
I don't imagine I would feel under-gunned in Alaska if all I had was an 03' or a M1917. Heck,I might even choose an M39 Finn,simply cuz I like them so much.