Alaska Black Bear - The plan has started

[NVLongbow]

Great job Randy and Troy; OYOA is true hunting. As we all know there is a big, big difference between "hunting on public land" and "go'in and get'in on private land". Keep up the good work.

Scott

 

[elk_hunter]

Yep, ditto to many previous comments. I love the fact that killing isn't the primary objective but being out and doing it on your own - opportunities to kill and actual kills are gravy. But the journey that takes you through your hunt and the memories you'll have are the real gems. And, getting to share that with Troy in person and relaying your story to the rest of us electronically is awesome. Can't wait to see the footage.

 

[Moe]

Still great story and cant wait to see video!

The whole time I was thinking "this is something I might wanna do someday?"

I'm all about the hunt and adventure too, and not just the kill; so wasn't disappointed at all in the story. Glad you made it out safe and sound and look forward to some more pics from your trip!

Moe

 

[Buschy]

Big Fin,

That was a great hunt and as always thank you for sharing.

I can't wait to get back to AK myself! Your pictures and story don't make the wait until Sept. 1 any easier.

Other than hunting later in May, what one thing would you do differently when planning for a trip back there next spring?

 

[Big Fin]

Other than hunting later in May, what one thing would you do differently when planning for a trip back there next spring?

Give myself more days. Seems most all the bear activity is a late afternoon or evening thing, so it is not like you have full days of productive time. By increasing my days, I know I would have more "peak period" time in the field.

Would give myself eight or ten days, knowing in most AK trips, I would lose at least one to four days to foul weather.

And, I would do some halibut fishing.

 

[chasendeer]

Randy
It sounds like you had a great trip. Did you enough deer to think you could have a good hunt for them in the fall?
Thanks
Jay

 

[Goldtip]

BigFin, sounds like you had a great hunt, thanks for sharing the story and the pics with us. You know as well as anyone the meat and potatoes is the hunt and the experience, the killing of a personal trophy is just the strawberry shortcake. If we got strawberry shortcake every time, we wouldn't enjoy it quite as much. Sounds you had a great trip.

 

[photofin]

working on loading pictures at the moment.....had to add another 1.5 tb drive just to find space. Will update a few images from our trip as well....though Randy has already done a great job with the story and photos. My summary: Epic trip with a great friend. We didn't come home with much more than smiles on our faces but that's what it's supposed to be all about. I'll get cranking on the photos.

 

[Bambistew]

Great story Randy!

I've yet to see a bear this spring, maybe this weekend.

 

[Spitz]

Great to follow along and feel as though we got the whole experience. Thanks for taking the time to do such a throrough write-up. Bummer no bears were harmed during the filming of this episode but it sounds like the story will still be an exceptional one and well worth the watch.

 

[Big Fin]

Gear that impressed me

There were a lot of items we were testing with this hunt. I already talked about how impressed I was with the Simms waders and wading boots. Here are some other thngs:

Mammut All Year base layers. I used both the zip top, and the bottom. These were the items I wore as my based layer everyday. Under the waders, I wore this Mammut layer, and a layer of other synthetic, then the waders and a Westcomb rain coat. Very impressive. I will be buying more of these Mammut layers, for sure.

Here is a link where you can get them from High Caliber Gear.

Mammut All Year Base Layer Zip Top



Mammut Warm Quality Pants



Both of these items far exceeded my expectations. And after a week of sweating from hiking, they did not reek of stink, as is the case with many base layers. I will be getting some more of these in different weights, for different conditions.

Another item that impressed me very much was the Westcomb rain coat.



I don't have a link to that, but it was great on the days it rained. Like all raincoats, it is not the quiet stalking material you hope for, but it worked great, and was very breathable. I had brought the rubber HH raingear, thinking it would be the only thing to keep me dry, but I never pulled it out of my bag, instead relying on the Westcomb coat.



The fabric is "event", which is very waterproof and very breathable. I know most people say you cannot have booth, but this is the closest I have found to that combination.



I know that none of the equipment you see us using is cheap. Like most things in hunting, you get what you pay for, and if you invest a little extra, your equipment is actually an investment, rather than an expense.

When you go hunting, you are well served to have invested in the better gear, one time, and have it work how and when you need it, than to have saved a few bucks and have the cheap stuff fail. Especially when the K-Mart replacement store is about five air hours away.

Quality gear seems to be commonplace with most the pictures I see guys post on this site, so I am preaching to the choir with you guys. I post this disclaimer, as I sometimes get taken to task for using gear that requires more money, but those comments usually come from people who I suspect have never went to some remote place and then had their "Blue Light Special" fail in a time of need.

 

[Big Fin]

More gear that worked

Water filtration was a huge deal for us, as we had to filter out water at a small trickle of a creek about 100 yards south of the cabin. This Platypus system is the best thing I have seen in a long time.

You load the dirty reservoir with unfiltered water, hang it above the clean water reservoir, and in about three or four minutes, you have 4 liters of filtered water. It filtered really fast, and packs down into a very small kit.


Platypus CleanStream Gravity System







I know you can this at HighCaliberGear.com. If you email or call them, ask for Carl. He is the guru on backpack hunting.

If you don't like the taste of your filtered water, and you want to improve the flavor, in addition to increasing the electrolytes try these little gems.

These NUUN Hydration tablets worked great. I was skeptical at first, but after loading some in the filtered water of my Camelback, I let Troy keep all the Gatorade powder for himself.



My favorite flavor was the Orange-Ginger.

 

[Big Fin]

Here is what the cabin looks like

It is nothing fancy, but it served its purpose for the time of the trip. I think even the Devil himself could be comfortable here, if pressed for accommodations.



Note the 85 Quart Yeti cooler shown above. The Yeti Tundra series is an amazing cooler. I have a shop full of busted coolers and coolers that don't keep things cold for very long. Anyone who wants them can stop by the house and load them up. This is the third trip that we have used Yeti Coolers. They are very, very, good. And, you can lock them with a long shaft padlock, so filling them with gear and shipping them on the airline works great.




The drying racks.


Troy is somewhere in that sleeping bag.


Bring your own Thermarest. If not, you might have to use boat cushions and life jackets, like camera guys prefer to do.


The kitchen.


The stove, after being repaired.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

Wow, a new stove in the cabin. Our stove was old and problematic. Really didn't need it except the night we were all soaked.

Randy, did you notice on the log how often the cabin is used?

Awesome trip, just wish I could have been there.

 

[Big Fin]

Randy, did you notice on the log how often the cabin is used?

Not sure if everyone who uses it leaves an entry in the Visitor's Log, but there were two entries from 2009. One in May and one in June.

We are the first entry for 2010.

The entries were funny to read.

Some complained that there were no animals to be found for photography.

One person complained that hunters were allowed to use the cabin, as if hunters are not US Taxpayers willing to pay the user fee for the cabin.

One person claimed it was too far of a walk from the ocean, to the cabin (all of about 300 yards).

Another person was upset that Alaska allows wolf hunting, after reading a post from an earlier person who mentioned he was hunting moose, but also had a wolf tag.

And many other entries that left me shaking my head as to whether or not the visitor understood this was a remote USFS cabin, or the Hyatt Regency. Some people were very disappointed with the accommodations, which I attribute to an expectation problem that they probably experience in every aspect of their daily life.

 

[noharleyyet]

Useful info on the gear stuff Randy & thanks for the cabin pics.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

Our cabin had been used once prior to us in 2009 by two guys from Portland, then we used it, then my brother used it again a month later and he thinks that was it for the year. Over the years the FS had asked my brother to take over maintenance & booking on the cabin, but he never would. I am sure ready to go back, but due to my brothers battle with cancer he will be selling both his big boats, so I don't anticipate another trip like last year, but oh what memories. My 87 year old aunt was traveling through Dodge today with her daughter and son-in-law and my brother and sister-in-law were here, so I brought out the bear hunt pictures. Keep those pictures along with the grandkids ready for any opportunity to show them off.

I have never had more fun than the 2009 SE Alaska bear hunt.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

BigFin,

You headed to the NRA convention?

 

[Lawnboy]

Wow looks like a fun hunt. I can't help but feel that the "blue light" comments were shot in my direction. Randy still hasn't forgiven me for leaking my Walmart brand camelback onto his hunting clothes You get what you pay for I guess. This might include hunting partners as well

 

[photofin]

AK scenery

This is one of my favorite shots from the trip!