Alaska Black Bear - The plan has started

[Wyodeerhunter]

icb12,
if big fin wants adventure black bear hunting tell him to save all that $$$$ and just come with us around turnagain.

"its all gravy from here..." 3 hours later

ah and the creek crossing will be one to remember......

With all this snow its putting a hurt on my "shed" time so I'm dreaming of spring.

 

[rosco]

Fin, do you have the book by Chris Bantam? it is an excellent scuorce of info for the FS cabin hunter. It also lists his contact info..he may be able to help you out, i'm sure he's used the cabin your going to.

I tried to set up a FS cabin hunt a few years ago, but the cabins I was interested in were all booked, so i gave up..good luck on thid one!

 

[Ovis]

Ovis promised me that he would "make me famous" like he did with the another guy he went hunting with in AK, and, true to Ovis' word, I am now famous because of his photography.... /QUOTE]

Dood, that is awesome. I forgot we sent them all those pics.

Fin

The contact Jose sent you has skiffs and canoes, if there is a way to accommodate you, they will.

 

[Breaks Runner]

Randy, I've hunted black bears DIY in SE Alaska....its a great hunt. We saw 32 different bears in a weeks time....all black phase. We used a charter service out of Cordova.

 

[Breaks Runner]

Backpacking in.....SE Alaska, first week in May...

 

[icb12]

You hit it on the head. That is the problem with this cabin and being 60-70 water miles away. It is remote, though.



With all the camera gear, along with the normal bear hunting stuff, air is just too expensive. And, this cabin requires a very high tide for a plane to get very close. Damn tide flats.



Roger that - emails left with them.

Thanks for the input, icb.

Ahh, so im guessing farther than Kah Shakes or Castle? Don't answer that, I don't expect you to answer that on a public forum. I'll watch the show.

A boat will require just as high a tide as a plane.... Without the tide you'll be humping the gear the same distance regardless of transport. I understand the expensive part though for sure.

And you are welcome. Looking forward to seeing the plan come to fruitition and success!

Speaking of Point Baker, here it is-

I use to love coming into Pt Baker in the floatplane, crazy pilots taking off on one float seeing how many bouys they could bounce with the other one.

icb12,
if big fin wants adventure black bear hunting tell him to save all that $$$$ and just come with us around turnagain.

"its all gravy from here..." 3 hours later

ah and the creek crossing will be one to remember......

With all this snow its putting a hurt on my "shed" time so I'm dreaming of spring.

haha, That was a helluva time to confess to me that you can't swim.. and I'll bet you an eighteener of Kokanee that that green phase bear will be in the same spot on that hill this spring...

Im famous for accurately timed quotations. For instance if I had been with you today.. right about the time we were all hooked up I would have said something witty like "we'll be unstuck in no time".. while milliseconds later the State Troopers Bumper rips off with an emphatic bang, once again proving me wrong ..

....all black phase.

its rare to see a black that isn't black up here. I've never personally seen a glacier blackie, and I've only seen a cinnamon once; and that was technically a canadian beach.

 

[Big Fin]

Ahh, so im guessing farther than Kah Shakes or Castle? Don't answer that, I don't expect you to answer that on a public forum......

That would be about half way. And, the most protected part of the journey. But, given all the struggles I am having in finding a way to get where I want to go, I might end up being somewhere within that radius of Petersburg, either north, south, or west.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

Here we are doing a little cabin repair and getting set up for our week in the wilderness-

What a place to spend a week and gain memories for a lifetime-

 

[M. R. Byrd]

I use to love coming into Pt Baker in the floatplane, crazy pilots taking off on one float seeing how many bouys they could bounce with the other one.

I need to spend a little more time there and see that.

Here is a float plane taking off beside us as we came out of Port Protection-

We found the cabin to be nice. We had a little repair work on the porch to keep the rain off our cooking area. A little maintenance was needed on the heater, but once going could run you out. The cabin sleeps six, but would be cozy. In our cabin there were two bunk beds. The upper was the size of a twin bed and the bottom was about half again as wide. I would have slept on the lower with my son, but would prefer not sharing it with another man, only to wake up in the morning holding close or being held close by another guy. We solved that situation by my brother and son sleeping on the boat, which was better for our overall safety keeping someone on the water.

To keep the skiff from beaching, we sunk a rock anchor three hundred feet out and used a trolley line to put the skiff out in deep water when we were all at the cabin.

 

[Big Fin]

Been spending a lot of time planning this trip and if I could give one piece of advice it would be this, "If the cabin is still available for rent, ask yourself why - it is probably impossible to get to."

In retrospect, I might be asking for more adventure than what is reasonable. To date, cannot find a water taxi willing to take me where I want to go. Might have been better served to pick one of the cabins a little closer to civilization, but if I wanted civilization I would not have went picked Alaska.

So, it is looking like I will fly in at high tide and in the interim, hope I can coordinate with a group who can get a skiff to me. If all else fails, I will rent a Zodiac and a small motor, but not what I would prefer.

I am sure there are good bears to be had all over SE AK, so why I felt the need to go to the "ends of the earth" is somewhat of a mystery. I guess it is that desire to go a little further off the trail, to maybe find the path yet to be taken, or as some would say - "Fin just isn't too sharp."

If all else fails, I will be finding a cabin near one of the small towns where I can rent a skiff from the locals and take the skiff to the cabin. Gonna be a lot of adventure, either way.

 

[rosco]

Been spending a lot of time planning this trip and if I could give one piece of advice it would be this, "If the cabin is still available for rent, ask yourself why - it is probably impossible to get to."
.

Thats the conclusion I came to when I was looking into the FS cabin deal as well.

 

[icb12]

Good grief man, you're going waay out there. If you're considering devils elbow or Kadake... have you thought about taking the Ferry into Kake and getting a skiff from there??

If you are that far out it might be an option. I have no clue about skiff rentals in Kake though. Flying is a good choice.

Good luck! I hope you get it figured out. Nothing wrong with a zodiac.

 

[Big Fin]

Good grief man, you're going waay out there. If you're considering devils elbow or Kadake... have you thought about taking the Ferry into Kake and getting a skiff from there??

If you are that far out it might be an option. I have no clue about skiff rentals in Kake though. Flying is a good choice......

Yup, Devil's Elbow. Since it is nearly impossible to get to, I have no problem telling people where we are going. It is that hard to get to. I have all the nautical maps, and given the shallow/rocky nature of that pass, I can see why no big boats want to go in there. And why many have cautioned me about the tides creating some serious whitewater in the narrows and not to get caught in those with a skiff..

Given all the research I have done, I would probably have done it differently, saved logistical headaches, and saved money. Here would be some other places I would look if I was doing this:

Any of the Prince of Wales cabins
Portage Bay
Saltchuck
Castle River and Flats
Towers Arm
Brieland Slough
Beecher Pass
Kah Sheets Bay and Lake
Steamer Bay
Berg Bay
West Point
.........and probably a hundered others that would be easier options to get to.

All of these places have great bear hunting. Locals tell me it is not what it used to be, due to increased hunting pressure, but a look at the record book shows that many 20"+ bears have been shot on these islands in the last five years. Like most hunting, it will just take more work and effort, which is why it is so much fun.

Most of the cabins (not all) I mentioned above are $25 per night and you can fly to Petersburg and rent a skiff to get to them. Skiff rental is about $140 per day, with a boat that can haul 3 guys and all their gear.

Split that out three ways, and a week of SE AK black bear hunting costs $385 per person. Not counting food, license, and travel to Petersburg, Kethcikan, or Sitka. You are eating if you stay home, and if you go guided, you are going to have travel and license costs also, so that is why I haven't included those for comparative purposes..

Pretty hard to beat an experience like that for $385 per person for a week. Travel to any of SE towns via commerical airline (Alaska Air) runs about $500 round trip, depending upon when you make the reservation, etc. License ($85) and tags ($225) combined are $310, and since you are there, you may as well pitch in for the $55 one week fishing license. All of them are "over the counter" so no worry about drawing a tag.

If you can have more fun during a week in May than black bear hunting in Southeast Alaska, let me know what that would be. Especially for less than $1,500.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

If you can have more fun during a week in May than black bear hunting in Southeast Alaska, let me know what that would be. Especially for less than $1,500.

My trip last year was the most fun I have ever had and I can't quit thinking about it. I am ready to go back and may depending on my brother's health, since he is my ticket to SE Alaska.

 

[rosco]

Takes a 16 foot tide to get a plane into DE. too bad the cabin dont come with a boat

 

[Big Fin]

Takes a 16 foot tide to get a plane into DE. too bad the cabin dont come with a boat

Yup. To fly in, it will be in the slack period of high tide, and a unfortunately, none of the tides for that week will be over 12'. So I will be packing a lot of camera gear and hunting supplies over a big chuck of tide flats.

Yeah, I know.... Fin ain't too sharp.

 

[rosco]

LOL, looks like its only a half mile or so!..ferry to Kake is a good idea, only 26 miles vs 66 from petersburg. course you know all this!

 

[icb12]

Yup, Devil's Elbow. Since it is nearly impossible to get to, I have no problem telling people where we are going. It is that hard to get to. I have all the nautical maps, and given the shallow/rocky nature of that pass, I can see why no big boats want to go in there. And why many have cautioned me about the tides creating some serious whitewater in the narrows and not to get caught in those with a skiff..

Right on, I've been into Devils Elbow. Took a 26' aluminum in. We went for ducks.

DON"T FORGET... the stove there is an OIL stove. I forgot. Thought it was wood like so many others. Was a couple cold October nights.

They are right about the tides. I went with locals from Kake and Im not sure I would pilot a skiff in there knowing how bad it was. I've never been in the spring though so It will be cool to see your experience. From what I saw it looked like AWESOME bear hunting.

Don't bring anything home thats smaller than 7' sq

 

[Big Fin]

30 days and a wake up, and I should be shouldering my pack and rifle, scouring the beaches of Keku Straits, looking for that 7 footer than icb12 has promised will make himself available to me.

Plan is starting to come together nicely. Now just to make sure I can get all my junk packed and shipped up there before we land. When you carry as much camera junk and other gear as the OYOA crew has, you don't want to pay commercial air freight. Best to send some up beforehand.

My uncle in Haines, AK sent me the nautical charts of the area. Holy crap, I can see why nobody wants to take much of a boat in there. The channel is dredged to 4 feet deep at low tide. I have been told to expect 10 knot tides in those narrows. Not the place I care to venture with a 14' skiff. I think I will sit on the beach or be fishing the streams during those tide periods.

I am working out the transporting and skiff rental with some people who do not have websites, or I would put their links up here. When it is all said and done, I will list their contact information and let you know if they work out as good as I hope. So far, they have been extremely helpful, and very knowledgeable about the spring bear hunting gig.

Sorry Yogi, but I think you would look pretty cool on TV.

 

[icb12]

Bigfin,

How many people does OYOA travel with for something like this?

Im sure you considered it and have your reasons, but why not pile everyone into a CC pickup and toss the gear in the back and drive? From MT its about 24 hours to Prince Rupert. Hop the Ferry to Petersburg/Wrangell...

Would not have to worry about shipping gear. Ferry is usually a cheaper route. Plus the drive can be a lot of fun. I have done it many many times. We used to have a house in Bonners Ferry ID and would make the drive several times a year.

Biggest issue is making the Ferry Schedule work with your own schedule.. and it might be a little late in the game for that.

Im telling you, Hold out for a big one! (or the one you think would look the best on TV)