This is how my hunt went.
We got to Tok, had a few beers and got the gear ready. The next morning, woke up and went to the drop off point. The locals helped us out alot. In all we had 4 4 wheelers, 3 six-wheelers and a polaris ranger. To say we brought alot of crap was an understatement
.
Drove in 10miles to a cabin that a guy in fairbanks was nice enough to let us use.
We got there, got comfortable and checked out the spotting hill. Lets just say this cabin was nice, it wasnt a shanty.
The next day we set the bait out. Now folks, these folks have a different idea of bait. We brought out 3 drums. One had a moose head from the last falls hunt. One had moose guts, one had parts of ducks that werent identifiable. Oh it smelled ripe. We also took some bacon grease out to sweeten it.
2 days after we set the bait out we had our first hit (that we seen). Now the spotting hill was a mile away. if we seen a bear through the spotting scope, we rode an ATV to for about 3/4 miles to a "lower spotting hill". If the bear was still there, we went up from there to see if we could kill it.
On the first hit, I went up and had no luck. I dont know what went wrong but hey thats hunting. A couple of hours later my buddy went up after another bear. This was the best part of the trip. He got the bear, but he seen his hear him and took off on a run. He shot that bear as it was running up hill. The best part was I watched it through a spotting scope. I hopped on a 6 wheeler and helped him out with the hard work.
Then it got hot. For 10 days nothing was moving. We stripped down to our skivies and played cribbage, periodically sending "sentries" up to the spotting hill to look for bear. we took a few rides out to look different areas for bears or sign and seen nothing recent. In the shade it was in the 80's and to warm for most critters to be moving. Then we headed to Porcupine creek. it was hot and need to get cooled off. This creek still had ice on the shores and we stripped off and had a dip. The water was cold as all get out but it refreshed us.
2 days ago went up to the sight to retrieve the barrels. It smelled worse then before. I threw up but oh well, shit happens. On the way up we seen a bear on the site. it was a cooler day but still warm. we put on the stalk. The bear elluded us again. It was real dry, leaves crackling and the wind was changing every 5 seconds. I would have been surprised if the bear was still there, besides I didnt even bring my rifle along.
The reason this was the best hunt was because of the fellowship involved. Everybody got along and we had fun. Ages ranged from 29-63 and it was a common bond. Locals came out of the wood work to help us out and didnt even stay to hunt, they just helped to haul gear out and turnaround and head to town. We got 1 bear out of 4 hunters but thats OK with me. it was worth it. I made alot of great friends and had a good time. A total stranger let me use his 4wheeler so we wouldnt have to double up on the ride.
I'll post pics, hopefully tomorrow I'll get them developed. great hunt, great memories, what more can you ask for.
We got to Tok, had a few beers and got the gear ready. The next morning, woke up and went to the drop off point. The locals helped us out alot. In all we had 4 4 wheelers, 3 six-wheelers and a polaris ranger. To say we brought alot of crap was an understatement
.Drove in 10miles to a cabin that a guy in fairbanks was nice enough to let us use.
We got there, got comfortable and checked out the spotting hill. Lets just say this cabin was nice, it wasnt a shanty.
The next day we set the bait out. Now folks, these folks have a different idea of bait. We brought out 3 drums. One had a moose head from the last falls hunt. One had moose guts, one had parts of ducks that werent identifiable. Oh it smelled ripe. We also took some bacon grease out to sweeten it.
2 days after we set the bait out we had our first hit (that we seen). Now the spotting hill was a mile away. if we seen a bear through the spotting scope, we rode an ATV to for about 3/4 miles to a "lower spotting hill". If the bear was still there, we went up from there to see if we could kill it.
On the first hit, I went up and had no luck. I dont know what went wrong but hey thats hunting. A couple of hours later my buddy went up after another bear. This was the best part of the trip. He got the bear, but he seen his hear him and took off on a run. He shot that bear as it was running up hill. The best part was I watched it through a spotting scope. I hopped on a 6 wheeler and helped him out with the hard work.
Then it got hot. For 10 days nothing was moving. We stripped down to our skivies and played cribbage, periodically sending "sentries" up to the spotting hill to look for bear. we took a few rides out to look different areas for bears or sign and seen nothing recent. In the shade it was in the 80's and to warm for most critters to be moving. Then we headed to Porcupine creek. it was hot and need to get cooled off. This creek still had ice on the shores and we stripped off and had a dip. The water was cold as all get out but it refreshed us.
2 days ago went up to the sight to retrieve the barrels. It smelled worse then before. I threw up but oh well, shit happens. On the way up we seen a bear on the site. it was a cooler day but still warm. we put on the stalk. The bear elluded us again. It was real dry, leaves crackling and the wind was changing every 5 seconds. I would have been surprised if the bear was still there, besides I didnt even bring my rifle along.
The reason this was the best hunt was because of the fellowship involved. Everybody got along and we had fun. Ages ranged from 29-63 and it was a common bond. Locals came out of the wood work to help us out and didnt even stay to hunt, they just helped to haul gear out and turnaround and head to town. We got 1 bear out of 4 hunters but thats OK with me. it was worth it. I made alot of great friends and had a good time. A total stranger let me use his 4wheeler so we wouldnt have to double up on the ride.
I'll post pics, hopefully tomorrow I'll get them developed. great hunt, great memories, what more can you ask for.
