Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska DIY AK black bear - options?

Been looking at DIY options for a black bear hunt in Alaska for a while now. It seems 3 exist: A) Fly to Anchor town, grab a 4 WD, head down Rt 1, hunt in unit 7 or 15. B) Fly to Petersburg/Wrangell/Craig, rent a boat, hunt the shorelines, C) Rent a USFS cabin and hunt around the cabin or acquire some kind of floating vessel. There is always the option of hunting a 'DIY' with some type of outfitter (i.e. Coffman Cove).

I'm leaning to flying to SE AK, rent a boat, and hunt shoreline/flats. I have 3-4 areas picked out for possible camping/hunting. I'm focusing on areas 15-30 water miles from town and smaller bays in an attempt to get away from people and away from bigger boats.

I was born/raised in NW PA and am no stranger to big water having fished the Great Lakes most of my adult life - but we don't have tides, currents, or other tidal weirdness. If a guy was smart about moving around in a 16-18 foot open bow boat, what are the safety concerns along the bays/inlets in SE AK?

Any other comments welcome from those that have hunted AK black bears.

Thanks.

Unit 2 is non resident draw but if you get drawn I'd go with Coffman cove adventures. He is for the DIY guy and you'll be well taken care of by Mike.

Since going to a draw in lower SE, there is very little hunting pressure at all for bears in the spring. You used to see the army of camo show up around bear season, but I haven't seen that in years.

I'd focus on drawing POW, as the bears are just getting bigger at this point and they need killing. Rent a 4x4 and a boat and have a hell of a time. You don't need a very big boat as many of the areas are protected and inside waters. Just use your brain and watch the forecast. When it's windy, hike down into estuaries from the road system. Like I said, not much pressure anymore for spring bears on POW.

Interesting on the spring time pressure. I talked to a couple guys that have done a SE AK spring hunt and they indicated they ran into people. Sounds like it may have been in the pre-drawing days.

As far as POW, that is good to know. I have 3-4 areas picked out in unit 3 because I was also trying to stay 'inside' and be a bit more protected. Back to the map and google Earth <G>

I looked at Coffman Cove and wouldn't rule them out. In fact, I have a call into Mike to inquire a bit more about his services. I'm trying to talk my wife into going. She'd stay in a tent but it might be a bit more enticing if she had a shower and hot food to eat.

Keep the thoughts coming!

Thanks.

Sounds like a great hunt. I have to put something like that together one of these years. Good luck.

As Calvin said, watch the weather and the tides.

I beached an 18' skiff to take a crap one time. In the time it took me to sheit the boat was almost high and dry. When that tide gets going, it gets going. You have to see a 19' shift in a few hours to truly appreciate it.

What is the actual best time of year to hunt the spring bears?

In the fall

Those tides are just amazing to someone thats used to a foot or two for sure. Dingy would either be way high and dry or we'd have to pay out I don't recall how many feet of rope and make sure it was tied above the high tide mark...

Wife almost lost her good camera in valdez..put it on a big high and dry boulder while catching salmon and I was gone to get more lures and line on our honeymoon, and she never realized the boulder was now and island.... LOL. This in a matter of the time it took to drive from the oil terminus to town and back and probably not on a huge tide if I"d have to guess...

But I always heard it was best during hibernation.

Best time would be mid to late May IMO. Memorial Day is always a good bet.

'Fall' was pretty funny........

Weeks 2 and 3 of May is what I'm planning given everyone I've talked to. Later you, the bigger the chance of a rubbed bear.

2nd and 3rd weeks should be about right, but remember, no matter how much they rub their skull size stays the same.

As long as its not a dink and has a nice hide, I'd be skippy happy. A 5.5 - 6 foot bear likely die from Nosler poisoning...........