Max Auschwitz is living the dream of an outdoorsman.

He lives in a cabin at Fairbanks, Alaska, and hunts and fishes year-round.

That needs a little explanation.

He hunts and fishes when he’s not attending pre-med classes at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

How is a pre-med student at an Alaska college connected to Kingfisher County?

In several ways. Max is the grandson of Frank and Vicki Rother of Kingfisher, the son of their daughter, Carey, and her husband, Dr. Ted “Trey” Auschwitz of Bartlesville.

His paternal grandparents are Ted and Anne Auschwitz of Owasso and Donnie and Peggy Edgerton of Tulsa.

Max’s father is a physician/ surgeon in Bartlesville, but a native of Okarche.

So, why is Max going to school at Fairbanks rather than a closer college, such as Oklahoma State University at Stillwater, where his brother, Jack, is a sophomore this year? He also has a sister, Claire, a junior at Bartlesville High School.

The answer to why Fairbanks University goes back to 2019 when the family went to Alaska on vacation while he was in high school.

Max fell in love with Alaska at first sight.

“I thought it would be a great place to be,” Max explains, so he did some investigating and learned that if he paid an annual fee beforehand, he could attend college in Alaska at the instate tuition rate.

That’s what he did and now he’s almost finished with his bachelor’s degree, which he will complete next spring.

He has yet to decide where he will go to medical school, following in his dad’s footsteps, or if he will go into medicine at all.

He says there’s a chance he will apply for a job with the Alaska forestry service so that he won’t have to leave, at all.

The thought of leaving a year-around sportsman’s paradise is almost more than he can bear.

He’s only 21 so he has time to decide what he wants to make his career.

Max had just finished an 11-day sheep hunt when the Times and Free Press caught up with him recently.

He reported seeing a number of good rams, but none meeting the full curl requirement making them legal game.

He said the hunt was fun, but exhausting in the high mountain Alaska range. He went with a buddy and they were their own hunting guides.

get cold with a minus-51 degree reading the coldest, he recalls.

He grew up hunting with his dad and brother in Oklahoma and they have visited him in Alaska.

A story his family likes to tell regards his freshman year when he left the campus holding his fishing rod.

A classmate saw it and wanted to go along with him. Max agreed and they have been outdoor partners ever since.

There is no lack of partners for his long string of outdoor adventures.

“I love it here,” he said. While most Alaska stories involve events regarding bears, Max said he has only seen a couple and they were no threat.

Asked what he planned to do with the rest of his day after the interruption by the Times-Free Press staffer, Max replied: “I think I’ll go check for ducks; duck season starts this weekend (last weekend now).”

Grandmother Vicki Rother says they’re proud of their grandson.

“How many 18-year-old young men fly 3,610 miles from family and friends to go on this amazing adventure, learning all he has?” she asks.

They did have to hire a bush plane to take them to their hunting area.

He said the trip was made easier by having dehydrated meals which the hunters prepare by adding boiling water. They are a popular item in Alaska.

Besides the hunting, there’s also year-round ocean and river fishing for salmon (several varieties), halibut, rockfish and many others.

The fishing is available year-round.

He enjoys fly fishing during the warm weather months, but he’s also become an ice-fishing enthusiast, drilling holes through the ice, which often reach a depth of 4 feet in winter on the lakes.

He says it’s not uncommon to see trucks pulling trailers across the ice.

Fairbanks is located near the dead-center of the state, thus he doesn’t have to drive far to be in the middle of fine hunting country.

He lives in one-room cabin, provided by a landlord.

It is heated by a stove fueled by a 230-gallon diesel tank so he doesn’t have to chop wood except when he’s on a hunting trip.

Auschwitz says the one diesel tank will last him through a winter. It does get cold with a minus-51 degree reading the coldest, he recalls.

He grew up hunting with his dad and brother in Oklahoma and they have visited him in Alaska.

A story his family likes to tell regards his freshman year when he left the campus holding his fishing rod.

A classmate saw it and wanted to go along with him. Max agreed and they have been outdoor partners ever since.

There is no lack of partners for his long string of outdoor adventures.

“I love it here,” he said.

While most Alaska stories involve events regarding bears, Max said he has only seen a couple and they were no threat.

Asked what he planned to do with the rest of his day after the interruption by the Times-Free Press staffer, Max replied:

“I think I’ll go check for ducks; duck season starts this weekend (last weekend now).”

Grandmother Vicki Rother says they’re proud of their grandson.

“How many 18-year-old young men fly 3,610 miles from family and friends to go on this amazing adventure, learning all he has?” she asks.