Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Spring bear hunt -- 2021!

My second hunt was April 30th. Same spot but a week later, so there was actually some green on the beach.
We sat on the beach all evening, and got to watch a brown bear sow in one corner of the tide flat for about two hours. This is a cool bear, and this is the fourth year in a row that I've seen her. The first year was with three tiny cubs, the second year with just two bigger cubs, and last spring with the same two cubs that were at that point soon-to-be kicked out. This year she was all alone, and looking notably more relaxed than she did any previous year looking after the cubs. I do have a brown bear tag, but knowing her for the past few years on top of also knowing she's a sow gets her a pass.




Spent the night in the boat. Everything in the woods was soaking wet, so when the sun finally came out the next morning and started to warm up the meadow area things started to steam a lot. At one point it got so I couldn't see past thirty yards the steam was so thick, and the air was thick breathing in.




Saw the brownie again, this time 25 yards away...we surprised each other while walking on a narrower stretch of beach going around a corner. She stared me down for several seconds and then yawned and went along her business. As if to say "I just woke up and don't have kids and I'm too tired to deal with this -- move along". This encounter probably would've ended differently any other year with her cubs around. I was a bit too anxious to take a picture at that point.

Did not see any other bear that weekend, and left for home. We did see a pod of orcas on the way back; first ones of the year.