elk_hunter
Active member
Fantastic, Fin. Love the play-by-play and pics...hit it hard and I'm sure you'll have success!
Alaska Black Bear - The plan has started
- Thread starter Big Fin
- Start date
IdahoBugler
Well-known member
Absolutely amazing story so far Fin. You truly have a nac for telling a story.
Yup, that pretty much sums it up Ovis.
Looking forward to your story, when you finally get there. Like many AK hunts, just getting there can be an adventure.
shoots-straight
Well-known member
Where did you go?
Day 4 - We need to shoot a bear
May 6th - The night before, Troy and I poured over the maps and decided it was best to head south and check out the big tide flats near Tunehean Creek. It looked like great bear country, but even more to Troy's liking is that Tunehean is a steelhead hotspot.
We are up early and make a quick one mile jaunt around the cabin area tide flats, hoping one of those bears who are crapping in the grass would make an appearance. Having secured the perimeter of the local tide flats, we catch the tide and head south.
The weather is so nice, I am regretting not having brought sun screen. This was not SE AK, or at least not like any weather I had ever experienced here.
Looking to the west and seeing the tall snow-capped peaks of Baranof Island is amazing in this clear blue sky. I can't wait to see how Troy captured these great scenes with this professional equipment. My little point and shoot just can't do justice to views such as those found in Alaska.
As we were watching two Sitka Blacktails, we notice a nice black bear further down the beach. We quickly find a point on the map where we can beach the boat on this outgoing tide.
While moving toward that point, we watch as the deer jump into the waves, and the bear leaves his little grass spot and bolts into the forest. We stop and watch. The deer turn and look into the brush as if something has spooked them. We see the bear make one quick appearance further down the beach, then he runs again into the forest. We wait for another half hour, and the bear is still absent.
The plan is to slowly glide down the coast looking for more bears. We do that, but see nothing. Given the lateness of morning and the tide being good for us to get further back toward Tunehean Creek, we head to the Kupreanof coast and beach the boat on the tide flats.
Troy packed things much lighter for this hike into the fishing hole. This is another very cool stream where the tanic water seemed to emerge from some mysterious corridor of moss-draped trees. We follow deer trails along the river and wait for fish to appear in the deep holes. But, no fish appear.
Finally, we are maybe a mile up the river and though no bears have been spotted, a surge of water wakes to the head of a deeper pool. I tell Troy it is either an otter, or a really big fish. We climb the rocks above the river and look down on the biggest pod of large trout I have ever seen. There below us are many hundred huge steelhead finning in a pool maybe thirty feet wide and one hundred feet long. The deepest spot is only four feet deep.
I watch Troy quickly dump his pack and start assembling his weapons. I get out of the way, as he is all business. Quickly, he has the water foaming from his casts. Small rainbows take his baits, ooops, he tells me baits are for guys like me; what he uses are flies and streamers.
I throw a few casts, but quickly realize this is a better place for a nap than fishing. I enjoy watching the fish swim up and down the clear pool as they try to avoid Troy's presentations. As Troy's frustration grows, the audio from these clips becomes unusable for our purposes.
After a few hours, he tires of his antic and wakes me up. Time to head back down, catch the outgoing tide, and find a bear. Steelhead win, and Troy leaves skunked.
On our way down, we glass the many small green openings, hoping the bears making the tracks and leaving the scat will make themselves visible. No luck.
We get to the boat and do some more trolling of the coasts. It takes us some time to get back to the cabin, but we have two hours of late daylight, so we head back around the tide flats surrounding the cabin.
I am sure this will be the evening when we see the big bear that had come feeding to the back meadow on the day we flew in. On our way across the flats, Troy points out some fresh bear tracks that have shown up since we crossed these mud flats yesterday. Now more confident, we sit on a small rock pile, waiting for the bears to emerge from the forest.
We sit again for a long, long, time. Again, we see the guided hunters make a pass through these tide flats, glassing for bears, but mostly glassing at what we might be doing. I think they wonder how the hell we got here.
When the sun finally is setting, we end up back at the cabin. Not sure how we can be covering so much great ground by boat, and by hiking these classic areas in the evenings, and not seeing any more bears.
Not sure what we were doing wrong, but we resolved in our last two days, we will hunt that much harder and create some bear encounters.
I head to the spring to filter tomorrow's supply of water. Troy cooks some Mountain House freeze dried meals. It is quickly "Lights out."
Troy lightening up his pack for this fishing hike.
Troy's weapon of choice.
My weapon of choice.
Damn, is it a beautiful place to spend a week.
Troy, I bet you I shoot a bear tomorrow.
May 6th - The night before, Troy and I poured over the maps and decided it was best to head south and check out the big tide flats near Tunehean Creek. It looked like great bear country, but even more to Troy's liking is that Tunehean is a steelhead hotspot.
We are up early and make a quick one mile jaunt around the cabin area tide flats, hoping one of those bears who are crapping in the grass would make an appearance. Having secured the perimeter of the local tide flats, we catch the tide and head south.
The weather is so nice, I am regretting not having brought sun screen. This was not SE AK, or at least not like any weather I had ever experienced here.
Looking to the west and seeing the tall snow-capped peaks of Baranof Island is amazing in this clear blue sky. I can't wait to see how Troy captured these great scenes with this professional equipment. My little point and shoot just can't do justice to views such as those found in Alaska.
As we were watching two Sitka Blacktails, we notice a nice black bear further down the beach. We quickly find a point on the map where we can beach the boat on this outgoing tide.
While moving toward that point, we watch as the deer jump into the waves, and the bear leaves his little grass spot and bolts into the forest. We stop and watch. The deer turn and look into the brush as if something has spooked them. We see the bear make one quick appearance further down the beach, then he runs again into the forest. We wait for another half hour, and the bear is still absent.
The plan is to slowly glide down the coast looking for more bears. We do that, but see nothing. Given the lateness of morning and the tide being good for us to get further back toward Tunehean Creek, we head to the Kupreanof coast and beach the boat on the tide flats.
Troy packed things much lighter for this hike into the fishing hole. This is another very cool stream where the tanic water seemed to emerge from some mysterious corridor of moss-draped trees. We follow deer trails along the river and wait for fish to appear in the deep holes. But, no fish appear.
Finally, we are maybe a mile up the river and though no bears have been spotted, a surge of water wakes to the head of a deeper pool. I tell Troy it is either an otter, or a really big fish. We climb the rocks above the river and look down on the biggest pod of large trout I have ever seen. There below us are many hundred huge steelhead finning in a pool maybe thirty feet wide and one hundred feet long. The deepest spot is only four feet deep.
I watch Troy quickly dump his pack and start assembling his weapons. I get out of the way, as he is all business. Quickly, he has the water foaming from his casts. Small rainbows take his baits, ooops, he tells me baits are for guys like me; what he uses are flies and streamers.
I throw a few casts, but quickly realize this is a better place for a nap than fishing. I enjoy watching the fish swim up and down the clear pool as they try to avoid Troy's presentations. As Troy's frustration grows, the audio from these clips becomes unusable for our purposes.
After a few hours, he tires of his antic and wakes me up. Time to head back down, catch the outgoing tide, and find a bear. Steelhead win, and Troy leaves skunked.
On our way down, we glass the many small green openings, hoping the bears making the tracks and leaving the scat will make themselves visible. No luck.
We get to the boat and do some more trolling of the coasts. It takes us some time to get back to the cabin, but we have two hours of late daylight, so we head back around the tide flats surrounding the cabin.
I am sure this will be the evening when we see the big bear that had come feeding to the back meadow on the day we flew in. On our way across the flats, Troy points out some fresh bear tracks that have shown up since we crossed these mud flats yesterday. Now more confident, we sit on a small rock pile, waiting for the bears to emerge from the forest.
We sit again for a long, long, time. Again, we see the guided hunters make a pass through these tide flats, glassing for bears, but mostly glassing at what we might be doing. I think they wonder how the hell we got here.
When the sun finally is setting, we end up back at the cabin. Not sure how we can be covering so much great ground by boat, and by hiking these classic areas in the evenings, and not seeing any more bears.
Not sure what we were doing wrong, but we resolved in our last two days, we will hunt that much harder and create some bear encounters.
I head to the spring to filter tomorrow's supply of water. Troy cooks some Mountain House freeze dried meals. It is quickly "Lights out."
Troy lightening up his pack for this fishing hike.
Troy's weapon of choice.
My weapon of choice.
Damn, is it a beautiful place to spend a week.
Troy, I bet you I shoot a bear tomorrow.
JoseCuervo
New member
I was thinking the same thing.... Only so far, Fin and Co have not ripped holes in their brand new waders trying to walk up the creeks...
elk_hunter
Active member
Wow; the river, trees, rocks, etc. in that pic where Troy is assembling his fish killer is gorgeous!
This is great stuff; almost like I'm there too!!
Looking forward to the next post...?
(enough mug shots, though; lets see some more scenery please!)LOL
Moe
These work for scenery? Troy has the real gems on his SD card.
I am checking in at the Petersburg airport and will try to post the remaining days of the hunt when I get to a layover that has some decent cell coverage and makes uploading pics a little easier.
M. R. Byrd
New member
BigFin,
You are killing me, man!
I just wish I was there.
You are killing me, man!
I just wish I was there.
Day 5 - Crunch Time
I have a lay over in Seattle, so I will try to get another day posted here.
May 7th - This was the day I told Troy I would shoot a bear. I told him that before the trip and last night, bet him I would shoot one on this day. If I lose, I have to cook and filter all the water tonight.
Not a good start. My liver was out of whack again, and the headaches and swelling were back in full force. I woke up to "drain my tank" and decided I would glass for a few minutes, then crash for another hour, hoping I would feel better. It worked, to some degree.
I told Troy to set the alarm for an hour later and when it buzzed at 5:30, I got up and looked around for bears. None. Troy went off to do something else, as I was packing my gear for the day's hunt.
I was on the cabin porch filling my Camelback, when I looked up and saw a really big dog about 80 yards away, playing catch with something. Wow, a wolf, still sporting a pretty good hide. I ran in to the cabin, grabbed a camera and tripod, and my rifle.
Those of you who know the rules in AK understand that you can shoot an animal of lesser tag cost. Since a black bear tag costs $250 and a wolf tag costs $50, my mind is thinking that this might be a wolf episode, rather than a black bear episode.
The wolf looked at me as I was setting up the camera. At the same time, Troy returned to the cabin and asked what I was doing. I pointed to the wolf, and he muscled me out of the way and took over the important task of filming.
Now a lot of things are running through my head.
Troy asked me what the plan was. I told him I would shoot it, if I knew for sure season was still open, despite my other concerns and questions. He told me to get out in front of the camera, while I made up my mind. I walked out in front, toward the wolf, and the wolf moved off about fifty yards, but kept dropping his mouse, so he would stop and pounce on it, flip it up in the air, then trot off another twenty yards and repeat himself.
This continued for about five minutes. Five minutes when my mind thought how cool it would be to shoot my first wolf, a big brown and silver wolf, on camera. I just couldn't get over the notion that season dates had changed. Finally, the wolf tired of Troy and I talking, and he trotted off across the mud flats with this breakfast in his mouth.
I told Troy I had to go in the cabin and check the regs to see if I can shoot a wolf. We had seen a ton of sign, and heard lots of howling, so I figured if they are this tame, it would be worth knowing for sure what the season dates are.
Whew, good thing I hesitated. Season closed April 30th. Not sure what the deal is with that, given the number of wolves that must exist in the area. Oh well, this was a black bear hunt, and this was the day I had promised to shoot a black bear, so all was fine with me. Was cool to watch a wolf for that long, from that close range. Should make some pretty cool footage for the show.
With that delay behind us, I told Troy my plan was to head southwest during these low tides and find that big bear who had made the huge tracks on the creek bank a couple miles south of the cabin. Figured he would be making more rounds this morning and we could make him a TV star.
We walked around the first flat, then got to the creek mouth. Crap, fresh tracks from sometime during the last 24 hours, and again, they were big. He had walked right along where our tracks had crossed the morning before. What the hell?
So, we continued with the plan. Unfortunately, the bear did not read the same plan. We find where he entered the thick woods, so we continue with our path that would take use another mile and a half south, around a big rock point that would allow us to glass another mile and a half of shore line, and way back into some far bays, not glassable from the coast.
We got there and set up for a while. Troy is asking me if I was feeling OK. I think I was, but he wasn't convinced. I must have had that "look."
We sat there for a couple hours, glassing and talking more strategy. Two Sitka Blacktails came out of the trees and grazed down the beach toward us. Finally, they disappeared back into the thick vegetation from which they had originally emerged.
We glassed a series of buckets further south down the shoreline. Not sure what they were, and wasn't about to take the time and effort to find out. Most guys had asked us what we intended to use for bait. Come again?
Not too surprised, as baiting is legal in AK. I have no problem with guys baiting bears, just was not part of what our plan had been. Some questioned why we would come this far and not take the extra effort of spreading some Purina around, to increase our odds. Hard to explain. Just not something I had planned to do on this hunt, even though I understand why others would do it.
Whether or not these buckets we saw were bait, I don't know. If it was bait, it was not attracting any bears in the time we sat there.
I convinced Troy that the big bear we had crossed tracks with this morning, was probably walking up the creek to our west, and we should go and shoot him. He laughed, almost hysterically. What did I say that was so funny?
To humor me, he loaded the cameras and we marched west. Within four hundred yards, we hit some tracks - nice tracks, but not the huge ones from further north. The front pad measured just over 5" across, which told me it would be a shooter, if there is any validity to Greenhorn's theory of "measure the front pad, add one inch, and multiply by one foot to get the hide size of the bear."
We followed the tracks until they vanished into the woods about a half mile up the creek. The woods were getting tight, and hard to see very far. And impossible to stay quiet.
I gave Troy the option of three miles of backtracking, or taking a short cut to the back of the meadow where we had seen the big tracks this morning. I told him I thought it would be about 200-300 yards, but a jungle for his tripod and camera gear.
He pointed into the woods, and off we went. Big mistake. Having crawled through these briars on other trips, I should have known better. But, it sure seemed like a good way to save some effort.
It was probably only 400 yards, but it took the better part of a half hour. What a mess. Troy didn't complain too much, just made comment of my poor woodsmanship.
But, my shortcut landed us exactly where I had expected, even if we were now soaking with sweat and our noise had scared every bear within three miles.
We sat and glassed more openings and flats from the small elevation increase this berm provided. No bears were cooperating.
It was agreed we should trudge back to the cabin, get some food, and use the tide to carry our "Ship of Fools" down the coast for the afternoon/evening hunt. Sounded great.
I told Troy I would take a short nap, since bears were not out at high noon. When I crashed it was just before 11:00 am. I awoke at 3:30. How did that happen? Not sure, but I was feeling pretty damn good, as a result.
We loaded up the skiff and headed down the coast. The west setting sun would provide some great glassing into the back bays of Kupreanof Island, which formed the east coast of this straits.
The clouds had completely disappeared. The sun was illuminating everything on the shoreline, specifically, a lot of black rocks and stumps. As the day got shorter, Troy reminded me of the bet of the day. I told him to shut it up, as until the last light is gone, there is still hope.
We did see the other two boats that were tied to the big boat out in the deeper water. I think they were guided, but not sure. They were making the same route we were. Wonder if they were seeing any bears? Didn't stop to ask, as I was in a hurry to find the one I promised to shoot today.
We returned to the cabin just in time to make the short hike to the first point of the tide flat and examine the back corners of the tide flats. No bears there, either.
Guess I would be cooking dinner and filtering water.
Hmmm. Wonder if I should have been more interested in those bears so visible the first days?
I have a lay over in Seattle, so I will try to get another day posted here.
May 7th - This was the day I told Troy I would shoot a bear. I told him that before the trip and last night, bet him I would shoot one on this day. If I lose, I have to cook and filter all the water tonight.
Not a good start. My liver was out of whack again, and the headaches and swelling were back in full force. I woke up to "drain my tank" and decided I would glass for a few minutes, then crash for another hour, hoping I would feel better. It worked, to some degree.
I told Troy to set the alarm for an hour later and when it buzzed at 5:30, I got up and looked around for bears. None. Troy went off to do something else, as I was packing my gear for the day's hunt.
I was on the cabin porch filling my Camelback, when I looked up and saw a really big dog about 80 yards away, playing catch with something. Wow, a wolf, still sporting a pretty good hide. I ran in to the cabin, grabbed a camera and tripod, and my rifle.
Those of you who know the rules in AK understand that you can shoot an animal of lesser tag cost. Since a black bear tag costs $250 and a wolf tag costs $50, my mind is thinking that this might be a wolf episode, rather than a black bear episode.
The wolf looked at me as I was setting up the camera. At the same time, Troy returned to the cabin and asked what I was doing. I pointed to the wolf, and he muscled me out of the way and took over the important task of filming.
Now a lot of things are running through my head.
- This wolf won't stay around long enough for me to shoot him.
- How serious is the network with the new production guidelines saying we cannot air wolf hunts?
- What would people think about me bailing on the black bear to shoot my first wolf, even if it was from the convenience of the cabin porch?
- Did I recall correctly when my Uncle (an AK resident) told me that they had actually established a wolf season in SE AK, rather than the year-round season I remembered from past hunts?
Troy asked me what the plan was. I told him I would shoot it, if I knew for sure season was still open, despite my other concerns and questions. He told me to get out in front of the camera, while I made up my mind. I walked out in front, toward the wolf, and the wolf moved off about fifty yards, but kept dropping his mouse, so he would stop and pounce on it, flip it up in the air, then trot off another twenty yards and repeat himself.
This continued for about five minutes. Five minutes when my mind thought how cool it would be to shoot my first wolf, a big brown and silver wolf, on camera. I just couldn't get over the notion that season dates had changed. Finally, the wolf tired of Troy and I talking, and he trotted off across the mud flats with this breakfast in his mouth.
I told Troy I had to go in the cabin and check the regs to see if I can shoot a wolf. We had seen a ton of sign, and heard lots of howling, so I figured if they are this tame, it would be worth knowing for sure what the season dates are.
Whew, good thing I hesitated. Season closed April 30th. Not sure what the deal is with that, given the number of wolves that must exist in the area. Oh well, this was a black bear hunt, and this was the day I had promised to shoot a black bear, so all was fine with me. Was cool to watch a wolf for that long, from that close range. Should make some pretty cool footage for the show.
With that delay behind us, I told Troy my plan was to head southwest during these low tides and find that big bear who had made the huge tracks on the creek bank a couple miles south of the cabin. Figured he would be making more rounds this morning and we could make him a TV star.
We walked around the first flat, then got to the creek mouth. Crap, fresh tracks from sometime during the last 24 hours, and again, they were big. He had walked right along where our tracks had crossed the morning before. What the hell?
So, we continued with the plan. Unfortunately, the bear did not read the same plan. We find where he entered the thick woods, so we continue with our path that would take use another mile and a half south, around a big rock point that would allow us to glass another mile and a half of shore line, and way back into some far bays, not glassable from the coast.
We got there and set up for a while. Troy is asking me if I was feeling OK. I think I was, but he wasn't convinced. I must have had that "look."
We sat there for a couple hours, glassing and talking more strategy. Two Sitka Blacktails came out of the trees and grazed down the beach toward us. Finally, they disappeared back into the thick vegetation from which they had originally emerged.
We glassed a series of buckets further south down the shoreline. Not sure what they were, and wasn't about to take the time and effort to find out. Most guys had asked us what we intended to use for bait. Come again?
Not too surprised, as baiting is legal in AK. I have no problem with guys baiting bears, just was not part of what our plan had been. Some questioned why we would come this far and not take the extra effort of spreading some Purina around, to increase our odds. Hard to explain. Just not something I had planned to do on this hunt, even though I understand why others would do it.
Whether or not these buckets we saw were bait, I don't know. If it was bait, it was not attracting any bears in the time we sat there.
I convinced Troy that the big bear we had crossed tracks with this morning, was probably walking up the creek to our west, and we should go and shoot him. He laughed, almost hysterically. What did I say that was so funny?
To humor me, he loaded the cameras and we marched west. Within four hundred yards, we hit some tracks - nice tracks, but not the huge ones from further north. The front pad measured just over 5" across, which told me it would be a shooter, if there is any validity to Greenhorn's theory of "measure the front pad, add one inch, and multiply by one foot to get the hide size of the bear."
We followed the tracks until they vanished into the woods about a half mile up the creek. The woods were getting tight, and hard to see very far. And impossible to stay quiet.
I gave Troy the option of three miles of backtracking, or taking a short cut to the back of the meadow where we had seen the big tracks this morning. I told him I thought it would be about 200-300 yards, but a jungle for his tripod and camera gear.
He pointed into the woods, and off we went. Big mistake. Having crawled through these briars on other trips, I should have known better. But, it sure seemed like a good way to save some effort.
It was probably only 400 yards, but it took the better part of a half hour. What a mess. Troy didn't complain too much, just made comment of my poor woodsmanship.
But, my shortcut landed us exactly where I had expected, even if we were now soaking with sweat and our noise had scared every bear within three miles.
We sat and glassed more openings and flats from the small elevation increase this berm provided. No bears were cooperating.
It was agreed we should trudge back to the cabin, get some food, and use the tide to carry our "Ship of Fools" down the coast for the afternoon/evening hunt. Sounded great.
I told Troy I would take a short nap, since bears were not out at high noon. When I crashed it was just before 11:00 am. I awoke at 3:30. How did that happen? Not sure, but I was feeling pretty damn good, as a result.
We loaded up the skiff and headed down the coast. The west setting sun would provide some great glassing into the back bays of Kupreanof Island, which formed the east coast of this straits.
The clouds had completely disappeared. The sun was illuminating everything on the shoreline, specifically, a lot of black rocks and stumps. As the day got shorter, Troy reminded me of the bet of the day. I told him to shut it up, as until the last light is gone, there is still hope.
We did see the other two boats that were tied to the big boat out in the deeper water. I think they were guided, but not sure. They were making the same route we were. Wonder if they were seeing any bears? Didn't stop to ask, as I was in a hurry to find the one I promised to shoot today.
We returned to the cabin just in time to make the short hike to the first point of the tide flat and examine the back corners of the tide flats. No bears there, either.
Guess I would be cooking dinner and filtering water.
Hmmm. Wonder if I should have been more interested in those bears so visible the first days?
stillkickin
Well-known member
Great story Randy! Can't wait to hear the long version..
NVLongbow
Active member
I hope you write day 6 before I go to bed or I am not going to be able to sleep tonight. Go Fin Go!
Sorry Scott, they just called boarding for my flight, so gotta go. If "Uncle Boogs" had not called and talked for an hour, I would have got it finished.
I will make posting Day 6 and 7 my first task tomorrow, after getting home.
