Alaska Elk
Elk 101
1 Episode 1:25:36

There’s a temptation early on in this film to say “Alaska isn’t like that.” It’s true, but the more you watch, the more it is exactly like Southeast Alaska. The weather looks good. You make a decision, then as the weather unravels and the window closes, the consequences of every decision is amplified.

While I am a big fan of cutting the fat, the length of the kill sequence doesn’t drag on which conveys the time it takes to have success with a bow. The viewer gets the delicacy of the situation. There isn’t a huge herd or a few bulls in the area. It really seems like this might be the one shot they get, and knowing where they hunted, it may very well have been. So you can’t cheat that by cutting to the shot and making it seem as though the master simply went to Alaska, arrowed a bull and came home. Corey draws and holds and you can hear the elk coming. It sounds like it’s just right there, but still the steps get loud, then finally there are antlers. But it’s not over. Did the thing come in, provide an excellent shot, then fall off a cliff on the other side? This is not elk footage anyone is used to. It’s dad joke time if Corey gets that shot in Wyoming or Idaho. It’s panic time in Alaska.

While most hunts are concluded with the kill and the falling action is sometimes slow and drawn out, an entire new storyline emerge between 49:00 when Corey reaches the bull and the end. It is difficult to convey the level of isolation or potential danger because everyone has seen a film in which caribou hunters have to wait a couple extra days to get picked up. There is a difference when you add getting stuck to the extreme terrain, wet hunters and an inability to get warm.

When it’s all said and done, there can be a temptation to brush off potential danger or hype it up once crippling fear has left the hunter. It can be difficult to admit you were given all that you could handle, especially in a realm such as this. “I took all Alaska could throw at me.”

Sure buddy…

Maybe it’s the calm, humble attitude, but Jacobsen doesn’t come off as the type of person who believes he conquers Alaska, Donne certainly doesn’t. There is a feeling about him that while he is very confident and prepared, he knows he is a guest and appreciates the gravity of how quickly things can turn.

The shots convey the beauty of the landscape and all the elements of a brutal story. The severity comes out too without being manufactured and this is what allows this film to be so long. It is technically part of their Destination Elk season, but it was published as a stand-alone which it had to be.