Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska 2020 Southeast AK Black Bear

I made it happen again this year! Harvested on May 6th, and I've been giddy ever since. I hope y'all don't mind another story.

I had one evening plus the whole next day to make it happen. My buddy and I got to our preferred tidal flat at about 19:00 on the first night, sat in this corner I like with nothing to show but a lot of new mosquito bites. While walking back out to the boat anchored in the bay, at around 21:30, we rounded a corner and saw our first bear. It looked like a black bear, but was also brown in color. First thought was a cinnamon bear, but light was fading fast. We got our glass up and tried our best to feel confident about what we were looking at, but it just didn't happen. Eventually the swirling breeze gave us up and it bolted. While finishing our walk back to the boat we startled a wolf that was stalking geese in the flats. It was really curious about us, and walked around us to get a good scent on us, coming as close as about 40 yards. My buddy kept his rifle up, and the wolf gave me enough time to load the pdf of the hunting regs on my phone, sadly to confirm that we missed the end of wolf season by 5 days. Lucky wolf, and the first one I've encountered in the wild! As we rowed back to the boat in darkness we were able to notice three other bears roaming the rocks. Too dark to tell, but we assumed a sow with cubs.

Back on the beach before first light the next day, crunching through frost, we decided to glass the area that the cinnamon bear went in the woods the night before, but that didn't pan out. So as it gradually got warmer we moved around to another spot. Sat there for most of the morning. We had to switch positions by a half mile about every couple hours because the wind kept changing direction. Sitting in the mud and grass in the tide flat made me glad for the used waders I found at a second-hand store this winter. Big upgrade from xtra-tufs and wool pants.
We took an early afternoon break back on the boat to nap and give the flats a break from any scent we'd been blowing around.

Back on the beach at 17:00, and my buddy and I each found grassy spots in the middle of the flats where we could cover the most area with binos.

At 19:45 I watched a brown bear sow with 2, 2-year cubs pop out of the woods and onto the beach about 500yards downwind from me. 99% sure those were the three bears we'd seen after dark the night before. It was pretty amazing being totally hidden from sight in the grass but watching that mama immediately stare straight at me. Smart bear, smelly me.

At 20:20, this black patch of moss I'd been watching in the shadow of the fringe suddenly looked...blacker. Oh boy, this was it! He just stood there and sniffed for the first few minutes, then started thrashing the trees in the fringe while deciding to come out into the open. I got to watch him stomping and huffing around for a good 10 minutes before he committed to the meadow. I had to keep shifting my shooting position to stay clear of the grasses in the flight path, but with gun rested on my pack and crouched over, it was go time.
230yds with 180gr GMX out of my .300WSM, and it smacked 'em good -- double lung through and through. He bucked up and then bolted for the woods again, but he only made it ten yards before piling up, right back where I had first seen him in the fringe.
A lot of interesting scars on his head. He even had a few semi-healed holes in his jowls from something clamping down on his snout. Was a scrapper for sure. No rubs at all, and the fur still on his paws was not even worn down -- I don't think he was awake for long. Fish and Game estimated he was about 10-11 years old.
We boned him out as fast as we could, singing camp songs (that sow and cubs were still down the beach). Hiked out, two trips in the row boat, motored back to town, and got back just in time for our 2am appointment on the grid back in the harbor. Long, great day.

I couldn't me more thrilled, and can't think of a better way to spend a day sitting on the beach here in AK.

Wow. That’s a dandy bear. Well done!

Congratulations.

Great hunt, Thanks for sharing

Nice bear and hunting story. Congratulations Alan!

Good deal.

Nice bear. CA Ridgeline with thread protector on?

I just started playing with the 180 GMX in my 300 WM. Certainly has potential.

It's a fierce edge with the thread protector. I don't like shooting next to my buddy with the brake.

The GMX worked very well. Exit wound marginally bigger than entrance, but the lungs were jelly. I think you'll be happy.

Sounds like you're hunting on the mainland somewhere between Petersburg and Juneau. Only place I know where you'll find black, cinnamon phase black and brown bears in the same area.

Sounds like you had a blast!

I did a Black bear hunt up there about 15 years ago. I know I had fun on that hunt.

Good times in Alaska.

Perhaps!

Right on! Nice to have the option to unscrew the brake. I like the carbon barrel for the beach hunts My barrel doesn’t rust. Want a carbon barreled 7 RM next. Not sure what brand.

Pretty bruin - congrats!

That's a dandy black bear----Nice

Nice write-up. Congrats!

Big noggin! Congrats!!!

Good work!

FWIW, I like the fierce a lot. They feel smoother IMO than the CA. I really like the sako action they're based on, and it shoots lights out. However, mine is an older one and the stock does not feel as good as the CA stocks. Perhaps newer ones have that better. The carbon fury would be high on my list of rifles to consider in 7MM Mag. Only reason I do not have one in a non-magnum caliber is because the barrels are longer than I'd want in 7mm-08 or 6.5CM.

You're right, though, the carbon barrel is great to have in the wet salty weather and conditions.

Okay, here's a write-up for bear #2 for the season!

My dad has not ever had the chance to take a bear, and after getting mine a couple weeks ago it was now my goal to get him on a bear this spring.
We had taken the skiff out on a few evening/morning adventures, and had seen several bears along the way, but for various reasons none of them had worked out yet.
He had never been bear hunting before this year, so he's faced a learning curve figuring out the best way to not scare 'em.

On the 21st we went out one last time. Because of my work schedule I couldn't take the next morning off, so I knew if we got one it would be a late night. After work, we motored down to an inlet where we had seen a big brown bear boar the previous week (both of us have brown and black bear tags this year) and got on the beach at about 20:00. We immediately started playing the wind to get our best chance, which caused us to start in this tidal flat on the wrong side of where we wanted to be. Oh well.
When we were pulling in to the bay we scared one bear off the beach -- all we saw was its butt, so could not tell what we missed out on there.

We had about an hour to be on the beach before it was time to head back, and because of the short time frame I thought it best to walk along in the creek gullies with the wind to our faces and see how far back we could walk in this flat during that time. This particular tide flat is an interesting one -- it seems to be several weeks behind the others in terms of spring. Still snow on the beach, and a cold wind running down the valley. We snuck our way through the flats and eventually rounded a prominent corner about a mile into our walk. As if it had read the script, there was the bear! Mowing down the grass about 30 yards in and away from the edge of the woods. The breeze at this point was perfect, and we were able to get to the edge of the flats and stalk in to about 170 yards. We got about 5 minutes to watch it while it was totally oblivious to our being there. It was hard to tell if this was a brown bear or a black bear, but the lack of a prominent hump on the shoulders, tall rump, and face shape led me to believe we were looking at a color phase black bear.

Either way it was my dad's choice, and he was super excited to get a shot at this bear. Ultimately he had a tag for both and decided he wanted it. I was there as the 'guide' and pack horse. We got him set up prone on my hunting pack, got a final range on it, and he took the shot. Slightly quartering away lung shot with his .338WM and nosler partitions. The bear took off for the woods and got as far as the fringe. There was a steep hill with alders immediately in from the flats, and the bear couldn't make it up that hill before slumping over and getting tangled part way up. It was now 9:26, 4 minutes before our turn-around time. Getting dark fast, we gutted him out and dragged him back to the creek. Luckily for us, this creek stayed deep enough winding all the way back to the bay, so we were able to go back and grab the canoe, pull it up the creek, load the bear in, and float it out. Back to the skiff at 11:15, and back to the harbor at 1:45. The fading twilight on the water made it easy to see any logs in the water and the porpoise and sea lions as we drove past them.

We skinned him out early the next morning before I had work, and my dad continued to butcher the bear. At first glance it really does look like a brown bear, but looking closer all the evidence said black bear. In addition to what we had already observed, we could now see that tooth wear put this as an older bear (and if it was a grizz, would've been a good deal bigger) and the claws were shorter and more curved. We also got to compare the skull to my black bear from a couple weeks ago, and it was really hard to see any difference that would suggest brown bear. We got it sealed right before the holiday weekend, and ADF&G in Juneau confirmed what I had been thinking. So the second bear for my family this year is a pretty awesome blonde/brown color phase!

Again, so thankful for the opportunities I have in AK, grateful to have the time to take my dad out, and what a cool way to finish spring bear.

Nice!