Bill Hefner
New member
2001 SPRING BEAR REPORT #1
My outfitter friend, Tony Lee in Alaska, called me a couple of nights from his spring bear camp. The connection was bad and he said it had been raining for 20 hours straight. Also, because of several days of high winds and snow, they couldn’t fly scouting trips. This was the worse weather in over 5 years! When the winds died down they sat in the rain for a day and a half and finally got their first grizzly, which measured a nice 9 ft. 2 in. and should score in the top 25 SCI, but it wasn’t easy.
The bear was over a winter moose kill and after a long stalk the hunter took it at 40 yards with a .338 and four 210 grain Noslers. It went down on the first shot but he kept shooting until it didn’t move any more.
The first hunt got a real late start. The three 3 hunters were 3 days late getting to camp because of bad weather. The only good day to fly scouting trips resulted in sighting 10-11 good size bears, but, unfortunately, they were all in higher country. Another 6-7 bears were sighted in lower country. Two other bears were sighted over winter moose kills. One was scared by Tony’s Super Cub and took cover in a stand of trees and he never saw it again. The other one was chased off the kill by a pack of wolves.
With only 3 days left for two hunters to get their bear, it’s going to be close. I’ll keep you posted on the progress over the next several weeks.
NOTE: If you haven’t made plans for a hunt this fall, these openings are available:
AUGUST – About 12 openings for unguided, outfitted drop camp hunts for caribou (you can also include black bear & wolf) Unit 17.
SEPTEMBER – 3-4 openings for unguided, outfitted drop camp hunts for caribou (you can also include black bear & wolf) Unit 17.
SEPTEMBER – One (1) opening for early guided moose hunt (Unit 17).
SEPTEMBER – One (1) opening for late guided moose hunt (Unit 19).
Check out Tony’s websites at www.alaskaoutfittedcamps.com for unguided hunts and www.westwindguideservice.com for guided hunts. Both have current prices, photos from last year’s hunts, reference names & phone numbers and descriptions of what is provided. If you e-mail Tony, all his e-mail is being forwarded to me during his temporary absence for spring bear season. I can answer most questions since I help him out with his marketing and know quite a bit about his operation. Nothing is going to be booked until he returns in mid-May, so you have some time to get a few hunting buddies together.
Bill Hefner
St. Petersburg, FL
My outfitter friend, Tony Lee in Alaska, called me a couple of nights from his spring bear camp. The connection was bad and he said it had been raining for 20 hours straight. Also, because of several days of high winds and snow, they couldn’t fly scouting trips. This was the worse weather in over 5 years! When the winds died down they sat in the rain for a day and a half and finally got their first grizzly, which measured a nice 9 ft. 2 in. and should score in the top 25 SCI, but it wasn’t easy.
The bear was over a winter moose kill and after a long stalk the hunter took it at 40 yards with a .338 and four 210 grain Noslers. It went down on the first shot but he kept shooting until it didn’t move any more.
The first hunt got a real late start. The three 3 hunters were 3 days late getting to camp because of bad weather. The only good day to fly scouting trips resulted in sighting 10-11 good size bears, but, unfortunately, they were all in higher country. Another 6-7 bears were sighted in lower country. Two other bears were sighted over winter moose kills. One was scared by Tony’s Super Cub and took cover in a stand of trees and he never saw it again. The other one was chased off the kill by a pack of wolves.
With only 3 days left for two hunters to get their bear, it’s going to be close. I’ll keep you posted on the progress over the next several weeks.
NOTE: If you haven’t made plans for a hunt this fall, these openings are available:
AUGUST – About 12 openings for unguided, outfitted drop camp hunts for caribou (you can also include black bear & wolf) Unit 17.
SEPTEMBER – 3-4 openings for unguided, outfitted drop camp hunts for caribou (you can also include black bear & wolf) Unit 17.
SEPTEMBER – One (1) opening for early guided moose hunt (Unit 17).
SEPTEMBER – One (1) opening for late guided moose hunt (Unit 19).
Check out Tony’s websites at www.alaskaoutfittedcamps.com for unguided hunts and www.westwindguideservice.com for guided hunts. Both have current prices, photos from last year’s hunts, reference names & phone numbers and descriptions of what is provided. If you e-mail Tony, all his e-mail is being forwarded to me during his temporary absence for spring bear season. I can answer most questions since I help him out with his marketing and know quite a bit about his operation. Nothing is going to be booked until he returns in mid-May, so you have some time to get a few hunting buddies together.
Bill Hefner
St. Petersburg, FL
