Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Big Kodiak

Finally, Jeff found the bear he really wanted, but it all had to happen the hard way� On the 14th day of a two-week hunt a bear was spotted above the abandoned cannery.



However, it was a brand new bear in an area we had absolutely no experience in the lay of the land and the wrinkles in the fabric of the mountain. From the base of the mountain it was obvious the wrinkle hiding the bear was doing a very good job. A lone granite streak runs through the shale of Uganik Bay and a steep but shallow cut runs down it, broken by multiple falls and immense, angular granite faces somewhat steeper than the angle of repose.

Jeff�s job was to convince me it was time to make a move, while my job was to convince him to be patient; to find the true vulnerability. At Jeff�s insistence we ran to the old cannery and took a stand directly below the bear. We could see nothing, a couple miles changes perspective dramatically. It looked like we had blown it with no idea where the bear was and little chance we were to find out when the bear showed up well out of range at over 400 yards straight above us. It was obviously a mature sow without cubs somewhere over eight feet with some weird horizontal rubs on both shoulders that showed very white.

But while she climbed fast and steady, she looked back often and being May she probably was looking at a trailing boar. After a bit he showed himself, following her exact trail at a slow waddle. Very large and dark in the fading light with dark chocolate lower legs shading to lighter brown he was significantly larger than the sow.

The boar was obviously struggling to keep up with her and she waited for him repeatedly as he stood gasping. There was no way we could catch up to them when the boar suddenly plopped down on a huge granite face. It looked like he had decided to wait for us. The sow sat down like a big dog on a boulder above him. We started up the hill as fast as we could go, very slow. The alder jungles were easier to climb than the grass due to the steepness but we were certain the bears would be gone by the time Jeff got into range.

A half hour later we reached a clearing on the brow of a ridge and could see the bears again. The sow had lain down with her head resting on crossed paws but we were still too far away. We caught our breath and slid back into the alders climbing faster with the possibility of actually getting close enough to shoot.

At the next clearing we found the bears had not moved and we were just over 150 yards away. Taking a rest on a birch stump Jeff shot hitting the boar. Immediately the boar disappeared in the alders, climbing fast. At 350 yards he came into an open area and Jeff hit him again and he tumbled back into the alders. The sow ran hard right and was out of sight immediately. The boar�s path could be followed in the alders by the waving alders but there was nothing to shoot at. We climbed past the boar which took an hour, staying well left of the creek until we were sure he was below us but we could not find blood and were uncertain where he had been.

Going a bit higher Jeff found blood on a huge granite face we had mistaken for a snow patch. We dropped downhill about 20 yards apart with Jeff in the streambed while I moved into the thick alders. The setting sun was shining strongly to my right when Jeff shouted the bear was to my right but could not see me clearly enough to shoot. I could see Jeff but not the bear until I shielded my eyes from the sun as the bear came up at me from about 25 yards and Jeff shot him in the chest. He tumbled out of my sight, snarling, as we tracked his progress downhill by the shaking alders.

Moving slowly downhill we were again unsure where he was until he came up snarling at least than 20 yards with front legs bowed and every hair on end looking as big as a house. It was obvious he would charge if he could and Jeff had spined him well back. Avoiding the skull I shot him in the back from above and again in the rump as he turned downhill.

He had made it over a large drop-off and we followed to the lip where we found him in a hole that looked impossible for skinning. We were ten feet above the bear looking almost straight down when Jeff asked if he was really dead. The bear must have heard him because he came up at us again.





A final shot ended the discussion and he rolled another 20 yards downhill onto a nearly ideal knob for skinning. It was almost 10:00, Jeff�s first shot came at 8:49, and the sun was due to set with no moon about 11:00. Bears will eat other bears and I have seen carcasses completely eaten overnight in high bear density areas but we were either sleeping on the mountain or dropping the guts and doing all we could to cool the bear before making a run for the beach. We chose to sleep on the boat.

A stick propped open the cavity and a few skinning strokes laid the legs and chest bare before we made a run for the beach, stumbling out in the dark. The lights went out at Quartz Creek Lodge right after we reached the big boat and it made us feel good thinking they might very well have been watching to make sure we were back safe before turning in.

The next day we found they had heard the entire thing, located us on the mountain and laughed at our predicament; two guides and two hunters fleshing two Terror Bay bear hides they had just returned with that day. They found it funny because they had been there and knew exactly what we were thinking.