TAJIKISTAN | BY CAM FOSS
Photos: Adam Foss
Hunting Marco Polo sheep in Tajikistan has a reputation — not just for its high-altitude, unforgiving terrain and daunting travel in an unknown world — but also for corrupt outfitters, shady hunting practices and poachers. Sheep travel in large bands to protect themselves from their many threats, and not just the snow leopards, wolves and deadly winters; poachers in jeeps wielding AK-47s routinely roam these mountains in search of trophy rams. The sheep are incredibly skittish and live in some of the highest places on earth. Getting within bow range of these wary animals is a tall order.
VOLUME III | WORDS BY ADAM FOSS Photos: Sam Averett
Gary Edinger grew up in rural Wisconsin in the 1950s. As a youngster, he learned to hunt, fish and trap in the hardwoods he called home. Edinger glided through the woods, equally efficient at felling and skidding a stand of oak as he was at swiftly skinning a deer. Hard work and a hard way of doing things weren’t lost on Gary, lifted as he was by six generations of homestead family pride. The outdoors laid a foundation for Edinger to not only survive, but thrive in a sometimes harsh and unforgiving world
A TALE OF TWO ROARS | BY ADAM FOSS
Photos: Adam Foss, Frankie Foss
Rustic wooden gates groaned open as our Toyota HiLux rumbled through. We navigated the rutted, winding dirt road; every pothole and washboard negotiated revealing another layer of the towering Andes Mountains. A gin-clear river meandered through the valley floor. Willows on the cusp of fall color shimmered in the cool afternoon breeze. This was the start of the annual breeding season for red deer in northern Patagonia—also known as the roar.
REVELATIONS OF A ROOKIE BACKPACKER | BY FRANKIE FOSS
Photos: Ben Johnson, Adam Foss, Frankie Foss
Inception of the trip occurred, as many grand adventures do, over one too many bottles of wine in our friend Ben’s Vancouver, BC apartment. The idea was to explore a remote archipelago off of Northern British Columbia’s notoriously rugged coastline via bicycle. It’s called bikepacking, and yes, it’s a thing. Our rookie status required us to start with the simplest of tasks. First up, discover what the hell this thing called bikepacking actually is.
VOLUME I | PHOTOS AND WORDS BY ADAM FOSS
Sixteen muscle-laden horses weaved untethered through an evenly spaced stand of white spruce. They climbed together, gradually, with loaded but balanced panniers, and a steady sense of purpose. I rode third in line behind head Gana River Outfitters guide, Rachel Ahtila, and her first hunter of the season, Riley Pearson. As we crested the rise, revealed below us was an expansive glacial valley, guarded by mammoth peaks of black and purplish-red rock. We rode on without pause, and as each mountain passed we gazed skyward, craning our necks in hopes of a glance at the white coat and curling horns of a trophy Dall ram. On the valley floor, the Fritz River wound effortlessly beneath us, eventually joining the Mackenzie River — North America’s second largest river drainage behind the Mississippi — hundreds of miles downstream.
VOLUME II | PHOTOS BY ADAM FOSS AND FRANKIE FOSS
Words: Adam Foss, Reid Bryant and Rachel Ahtila
GAZING DOWN THE BARREL OF A NET GUN | BY ADAM FOSS
Photos: Charles Post
Six desert bighorns tore across the talus as the chopper thudded in low behind them. A cascade of rocks slid out below them. Like a steer loosed from its pen, the first ram bucked over a serrated rim and disappeared into a fold in the mountain. The others followed. The helicopter pitched and spun like a mechanical bull, dropping its nose before shooting forth into the chasm.
COUNTING OUNCES | BY ADAM FOSS
I’ve refined my system for about 15 years but write this with only one caveat — don’t simply take my word for it. Yes, these are my personal choices, but the ideal setup for you may vary based on your body type, hunt conditions and preferences. Furthermore, the best system for an individual is only obtained through the trials of personally testing gear in backcountry environments.