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

But wait, there's MORE!

Went out in my skiff one more time for black bear, again south of Juneau. We left Douglas harbor at about 6:30pm and after we got out of Gastineau channel it was not nice weather to be on a skiff. It wasn't raining but there was a good build up of waves in Taku inlet, down past Grand Island, and the backside of Douglas. Typical, plus swirling currents didn't help anything.
It wasn't unsafe, but it was uncomfortable. Glassing was a difficult task from the boat. Our hunt ended up following as many leeward paths as possible to keep in a bit calmer seas. We made it into two inlets I wanted to get out and hike through, but the wind/waves were not conducive to being able to safely get to shore and securely leave the boat anchored.

So we soldiered on, looking for just about any stretch of beach that could watch that would be safely accessible if a bear came out.
We finally did see what we were looking for, a big black blob moving down the beach about 3/4 mile away. We were already going slow due to the waves so we turned toward the beach so we could plan a stalk. It looked like a medium bear. Not super exciting but we still wanted a closer look to make sure.
Unfortunately as we got closer we were able to make out a small skiff against the rocks a couple hundred yards away from the bear -- very well camouflaged against the grey cliffy beaches in the fading light. We were still probably 500 yards off the beach, but turned off the engine so we would have the least chance of messing up a stalk for whatever hunter was on the beach. I did finally spot the hunter and he was probably 50 yards away from the bear. I thought I'd hear a shot, but they either decided not to take it and made themselves known, or maybe he shot it with a bow. Never heard a shot and it was too hard to see exactly what happened from that distance, but the bear suddenly bolted into the woods. We had been watching that bear for several minutes, we were downwind and drifting with the engine, so I'm pretty confident it was not us that startled the bear.
Always cool to see a bear, and I hope whoever that hunter was had success either with that bear or another very soon.

We continued and finally found a promising corner that we could walk into. It was now 8:40pm. Short on time we didn't want to anchor, and it was almost exactly high tide so we didn't want to beach the skiff unattended -- too heavy to move if high and dry. My dad decided to stay with the boat, allowing me to walk up the narrow creek with grass on either side.

This creek pretty turns a sharp corner after only about 50 yards and continues out of sight of my dad and the skiff. Wind was perfectly right in my face. This is a gnarly ice field valley and it was not warm. The farther I walked the shorter the grass got, and eventually it was replaced by snow. I did surprise a porcupine by getting 6 feet away from him. He was munching the grass too loudly and too close to the flowing creek so he didn't hear me. I kept my 'social distance' haha but when he finally noticed me he had a hilarious "I've f*ed up" face. Probably the fastest waddle I've ever seen from a porcupine.

Eventually the banks of the creek got too brushy to see and the snow was getting pretty deep. I had walked about half a mile up this creek bank. I turned around and started back to the boat. Unexpectedly, I had not taken 10 steps when I looked far down the creek and noticed a grey shadow walking along in the grass. I ranged it at 520 yards away. It took a few seconds to register what I was seeing, but then it clicked -- that's a bear -- that's a GLACIER bear -- that's a NICE glacier bear.

I now had the wind right at my back and I knew that it would only be a matter of time before I would be winded and lose the opportunity on this nice boar.
So I did the only thing I could think to do to lesson my scent signature, I hitched up my chest waders and jumped into the creek!

I was up to my waist, but now the only thing above the bank was my head. The bear would put his head down to grab some grass and I would walk down through the water. He'd lift his head to sniff the air and I'd duck down close to the water. I saw a spot that I could easily get out of the creek that would be about 100 yards from this bear and have a nice rock to rest my rifle on. I kept playing 'red light green light' with this bear until amazingly I was 100 yards away without it knowing something was wrong.

However moments after as I rolled up and out of the creek I could see that the bear was a little bit more wary. I wasn't going to make it to the rock. I crouched low to the ground and stuck my trekking pole into the ground to act as a mono-pod. As I got the bear in my scope he was already looking right at me sniffing the air. I though to myself, "as soon as he turns he's bolting". So as he turned to the woods I took my quartering toward me shot. He turned around once to bite at the bullet and then continued into the fringe. As my ears rang I listened as well as I could, and I could hear the bear raking through the brush. Then it stopped! He had made it about 50 yards into the alders.




I gutted it where it lay, and dragged it back to the beach to get a picture. My dad had heard the shot, anchored the skiff, and was walking the inflatable canoe up the creek. As simple as rolling the bear into the canoe and floating it down the creek, we were back at the boat.

Only thing left was an uncomfortable ride back to Juneau in mostly dark and high winds. But I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Totally worth it, and I am so blessed.