Prince of Wales

[BayouBengal]

Hi all,
I just joined the forum after following some great information over the past few months. I just wanted to see if anyone would be willing to help me out with some information on northern Prince of Wales Island for the bear season this spring (end of May 2012). I am taking my wife and parents up to Coffman Cove and will have access to a vehicle and skiff.

Both myself and my wife served in the US Army, she is still in and Im back in school. My plan is to stick to the roads and work the alpine areas with lots and lots of walking and glassing, as we are both still young and in good shape. Being from the southern US, I have never even seen a black bear so I have been working pretty hard at the judging skills and capabilities and reading everything I can about POW in order to get ready. To be clear we are both trophy hunting and have no desire to shoot a sow or smaller bear and are more than ready to eat our tags if we dont see a large bear. Really the adventure of going to a place that is wild and beautiful and letting my dad ride a float plane is 90% of the trip.

If anyone has hunted the area before around Coffman or Thorne and would like to share some tips or guidance I would sure appreciate it. Thanks to all and have a Merry Christmas!

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Welcome aboard BB! Geaux LSU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! John

 

[StrutNut]

Welcome to the site. I have hunted black bears in MN and I am not the best judge of size other then the ears. If the bear has big ears its a younger bear and small ears and you got a better bear. We bait and cut 6 foot logs and lay them over the bait for a size reference. I can say this, I personally would not pass up a smaller bear toward the end of the trip as bear meat. at least the ones we shot, is very good. The best Brats in the world are Bear Brats! I better start bear hunting again, I miss the bear brats!

 

[brownbear932008]

I have stayed in Coffman Cove before we got skunked in that area and ended up moving south to take our bears from skiffs. If you have access to skiffs I would def. use that means to hunt them by running the shorelines in nice coves off the main channel of the straigt up there.
The alaska hunt forum has tons of POW information on there. I would think the better hunting would be toward the south. What dates are you going to be there? There are some very nice bear on that island. It is going to a draw hunt though starting I think in Sept. this year.

 

[Bambistew]

In case you didn't know, you'll have to apply for a bear tag as a NR. I think the draw odds should be good, but I don't know. Probably depends if Hunt'n Fool publishes info on it or not.

 

[brownbear932008]

Correction hope you didn't misunderstand my last post it should be starting draw hunts on POW Sept. 2012. I have a few friends who have already got thier hunt ready to roll in Mid May.

 

[BayouBengal]

Pow

Thanks for the info so far! I am aware that the draw system goes into affect in September of 2012, that is what motivated me to pull the trigger on the trip this spring, last chance to really do it on your own so I decided to take the plunge.

I will have access to a skiff, but I am pretty hesitant about using it as I know enough to know that I will get my butt in trouble because I dont know jack about tide tables and big water. I am a way more confident with map/compass/gps and my boots, parking on the roadway and walking back along the clear cuts - although getting a bear out from way back might be an interesting problem to deal with...

I definitely plan on bringing back some meat and donating the majority to local families on the island.

John, I happen to be from Shreveport as well (Haughton actually) - small world!

Thanks for all the help and please keep on sending any suggestions. Thanks again.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

I only have the limited experience of one bear hunt in SE Alaska, but from that experience a skiff is the way I would go. Where I hunted the only hunting was from where the tide was at presently to high tide. Above high tide the forest was impassible with devil's club and other obstacles.

 

[brownbear932008]

Yeah Ouch devils club is wow.... I have tried the clearcut thing in the spring up there we had no luck at all in clearcutts but saw lots of bear cruising the shorelines. We had no skiff experience when we went also. If you do the skiff the best time is evening hunts during low tide. You will quickly get familiar with the tides up there they are large tides 20-30ft. tides I think. I would try to plan for the 3rd week of May lots of bears out by then. The main thing to remember if you get on the skiff is if you do have bad weather just don't hit the water...

 

[Calvin]

I'm a POW resident. Getting high is a good plan. Everybody hammers the beaches/clearcuts. we have a ton of snow this year up high, so far. Bring snowshoes if you're serious. Some toads up high in the spring though. I'll have to get out some of my spotter pics.

June is the time for going high. Not sure if you are salvaging all the meat, but you can leave it all in June if you want. Or bring down the choice cuts. They move fast as the rut is kicking in. Understand also that hiking up to alpine is often difficult, as we don't have trails. It's also very wet so get ready to hike in full pvc, which can make some people sweat like a pig and feel claustrophobic.

Good luck.