Outdoors/Adventure

As light fades and air chills, Alaska's deadly season descends

Alaska is in its deadly time now. Hunting seasons are in full swing and with them comes death, but it is not just the animals that die.

With days growing shorter, the weather changing, and people pushing to get things done before the onset of the long, dark Alaska winter, human deaths in the 49th state spike, too.

Alaska epidemiologist Deborah Hull-Jilly has noted the plane crashes, all-terrain vehicle rollovers, accidental shootings, drownings, and heart attacks and begun a closer examination of the deadly season. Anyone paying careful attention to the news might have noticed a trend.

"It's not just the hunting," Hull-Jilly added.

Fishing, hiking, four-wheeling, boating and even driving become more dangerous as the light fades and snow and ice begin to creep into the scenery.

October, November peaks

Alaska vital statistics aren't close to up to date on exactly how much the dangers increase. The last annual report from the Bureau of Vital Statistics is dated 2009, and it notes that statewide deaths hit their maximum in November of that year. The year before, the peak came in October. The lows were in June and July.

The reports give no month-by-month breakdown, and earlier reports lack any notations on the deadliest, or least deadly, months. But there's no reason to believe seasonality is much different now than it was years ago.

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As Hull-Jilly observed, Alaska's climate makes fall dangerous.

This is our time of death and injury. For those who recreate or subsist in Alaska's great outdoors, the potentially deadly change of seasons is especially noticeable.

On Wednesday, according to Alaska State Troopers, a 15-year-old in Delta Junction accidentally shot his 9-year-old brother with a .22-caliber rifle. The younger boy was lucky. Troopers said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Two days earlier, 52-year-old Paul Keithahn of Juneau was not so lucky. A late-season fisherman, he apparently fell out of his boat on Monday evening near Point Louisa north of the capital city. An extensive search found no sign of him. He remains missing.

On the very same Monday, 59-year-old Stephen Hager of Eagle River was moose hunting with friends near Bulchitna Lake, about 70 miles northwest of Anchorage in the Yentna River valley, when he was fatally shot. Troopers investigated. They reported he'd been walking around outside of a cabin in the area when a gun inside went off.

A bullet went through the wall, struck Hager and killed the longtime Alaska Airlines pilot. Troopers said his family was there when the accident happened.

Autumn is often like this in the 49th state.

Lake Louise tragedy

Anchorage hunters Brian Johnson and Jeffrey Watson were in a boat following that of friend Howard "Longbow" Jaidinger of Lake Louise across that 50-mile-long system of lakes earlier this month when a storm blew up. Their boats floundered. Johnson and Watson activated an emergency locator beacon to signal trouble.

Almost two hours later, help arrived. Thanks to Johnson's and Watson's personal flotation devices, the two men were found alive, floating about a mile offshore. Johnson told troopers that Jaidinger had been in a boat just ahead when strong winds and large waves swamped and sank their craft.

Jaidinger was eventually found floating in his PFD in the lake, but he was dead. A lifelong Alaskan and Anchorage high school hockey star of the 1970s who had decades on the shores of Lake Louise, he was 61.

Four days before the accident that killed Jaidinger, only miles away, Henry Hoeft of Wasilla was luckier. He rolled his all-terrain-vehicle while hunting about 8 miles from Eureka, a roadside outpost along the Glenn Highway northeast of Anchorage. Hoeft broke his leg.

Luckily, troopers reported, another hunter in the area -- Michael Rush of Anchorage -- found the 74-year-old man and motored out to the highway to summon help. A helicopter later arrived to pick up Hoeft and take him to the hospital.

It was the same day a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter found the empty kayak of Leif Osmar, one of the sons of 1984 Iditarod Sled Dog Race champion Dean Osmar, floating in Cook Inlet. A PFD was on the surface about 300 yards away. There was no sign of Leif.

The 38-year-old, a regular kayaker, had been last seen the day before. Family members thought he was likely paddling down the Kasilof River headed for the family fish camp at South Coho Beach along the Inlet when he disappeared.

Searches by both troopers and the Coast Guard provided futile. He remains missing.

Extra caution needed

Sometimes, there is a fine line between those who survive and those who perish this time of year.

After 76-year-old Francis Lloyd Hester ran his riverboat aground on the Susitna River after a fishing trip on Sept. 2, troopers reported, he decided to camp out with three visiting friends from Texas.

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"During the course of the night," troopers later added, "a steady rain set in and the group could not sustain a fire and had no way to keep warm and dry. Hester began getting hypothermic."

The group called for help. An Alaska National Guard helicopter dispatched from Anchorage was able to reach the scene at 5:30 a.m. to fly the entire group back to the warmth and comfort of civilization.

One day earlier, help came too late for 61-year-old Carl Thompson of Anchorage.

The lifelong Alaskan had been at a family hunting camp near the mouth of the Susitna River west of Palmer when he turned on an emergency locator. He'd been hunting, troopers reported, "when he collapsed. CPR was immediately started. A LifeMed helicopter responded to the scene and (a medic) attempted additional life-saving measures, but (they) were unsuccessful."

Every year in Alaska, there is a long list of deaths and injuries like these that start near the end of August and continue until the start of winter, when life in the north quiets down a bit.

It is a good time to exercise extra caution, authorities warn, though not to stay inside. Although accidents lead to significantly more deaths in Alaska than other states, "unintentional injuries" are the fifth-leading cause of death in the country. In Alaska, it's No. 3, behind cancer and heart disease.

The latter is linked to what some call America's "sedentary lifestyle," and cancer is strongly associated with lack of exercise, too.

Contact Craig Medred at craig@alaskadispatch.com

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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