Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game AK Black Bear Journal 2021

Preface

It always seems somewhat misleading or at least incomplete to start these journal style posts on Day 1. Anybody that has ever hunted outside the back 40 knows that the amount of planning, preparation, research and stress that goes into pulling off an out of state adventure can be significant. I won’t bore you with the details of researching hunt units, obtaining tags, flight scheduling, car and lodging rentals, gear shopping and checks, etc. I will say that I tried to keep this hunt as simple and low stress as possible and there was still a lot of work to make that happen.

The driver for the hunt was my son Carsten. I had told him years ago that if he got his Eagle Scout award I would take him on an out of state hunt. Our original plan was to hunt pigs in Texas, something I had done a couple times before, but after he got his award in 2020 we decided to step it up a notch adventure wise and chose an unguided black bear hunt in Alaska. A couple years ago I started hunting with a friend that had previously been stationed in Alaska. He was familiar with an area that had a great bear population and decent accessibility from the road system. After talking to him the decision was made to put together a fall hunt when the berries were on and we could spot bears up high above the tree/brush line. The timing would have the local hunters more focused on moose, caribou, goats, etc. and the location would keep us from having to deal with stinky “fish” bears and better matched my preferred style of spot and stalk hunting.

We had invited my dad on this hunt and he decided to come along to fish and be the camp cook. A three-generation fishing/hunting trip seemed like a great way to spend some time before Carsten graduates high school and life makes things more complicated. The fact that my dad is not getting any younger was also not wasted on me.

We spent the summer getting things planned, studying maps, talking to people familiar with the area, figuring out Alaska regulations, finding a local guy that could “seal” the hides, etc. I started working out in July, dropped 20 pounds, and built up my cardio to where I could comfortably run 5+ miles without wanting to die. We also worked up a couple loads for our chosen rifles and spent a fair amount of time busting rocks and clay pigeons from different field positions.



My son took a Ruger 77 Stainless .30-06 in an HS Stock with a Leupold VX3 3.5-10 scope. He shot a 165 Nosler Accubond over enough H4350 to get to just under 2900. He was comfortable with the rifle and shot it very well out to 300 yards from a bipod and off a BOG shooting rest. That was the furthest we planned to shoot on this hunt and I had total confidence in his ability and the rifle.



I took a Ruger 77 Stainless Skeleton Stock .35 Whelen that also started life as a .30-06 but was re-bored to .35 Whelen and cut to 21” by JES in Oregon. It was topped by a basic Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40. Although we planned to hunt open country and almost took my stainless .300 WM, I figured the short Whelen would make a handy rig should we end up following something into the alders.



Its preferred bullet is the 225 Sierra Game King. I have ran it hotter but I found good accuracy right around 2600 with a very comfortable charge of Alliant PP MR2000. The 225 SGK has mixed reviews on “toughness” so running it a little slower didn’t seem like a bad idea and had minimal impact on holdovers at the ranges we were planning to shoot.


To the hunt…

Day 1

Our initial plan was simple. All three of us would be dropped off at the airport in Great Falls, Montana and fly together to Anchorage where we would pick up the rental SUV, run some errands around Anchorage and then spend the night at my Brother in Laws house. The airlines did not appreciate the efficiency of our plan and decided my dad should fly in six hours after Carsten and I.

We got to the airport plenty early as travelling with firearms was a new experience for me and I wanted to have time to re-adjust bags if one was a little overweight. No problems on either front and we quickly made it through check-in and security.





Carsten and I had a smooth flight to Seattle, a quick layover and another smooth flight to Anchorage. We got the rental car picked up and killed a little time hitting every gun shop we could find in Anchorage before my Brother in Law and his wife got home from work. It looked like Anchorage had the same issue with limited supplies and overpriced guns as everywhere else I have been the last couple years.

I didn’t see enough of Anchorage to get a good feel for the city but would say that a good portion of what I saw looked like a giant lower 48 Indian Reservation that happened to have some nice buildings and a BMW dealership. The number of homeless people and “camps” we saw was pretty shocking.

We made our way to the in-laws and had a nice pizza dinner from the Moose’s Tooth. They bragged it up and I have to say it lived up to the hype. Good stuff.



We chilled out for a while and Carsten worked on a little homework and got to hang out on the couch with their dog. No dogs in the house at home so this was a luxury for him.



Another quick trip to the airport to get my dad and all three of us were in Alaska together.

Day 2

We hit Fred Meyer early and loaded up on groceries for the next 8 or 9 days. I thought prices were reasonable and was surprised when we got out of there for just over a couple hundred bucks. We grabbed some breakfast with some wannabe Samoan gangsters and a garbage eating mouse at Carl’s Junior then made a quick stop at Sportsman’s for some bear spray.

Anxious to get out of Anchorage we were super excited to get on the road for our drive to our hunting area. Our hunting area is no big secret and I doubt I will be back soon, but out of respect to those who helped me put this trip together I will simply say it was a nice area with great scenery, good salmon fishing and some high country berry patches. Should narrow it down 😉
If you are from the area it won’t be hard to put together where we went.

The drive over was spectacular. I live in Montana and appraise ranches for a living so I feel like I have seen my share of pretty real estate. What I saw on this trip was simply stunning. Once you got out of the more temperate zone around Anchorage the leaves were really taking on some vibrant yellows. Between the leaves, peaks, glaciers and river valleys the road trip alone was worth the admission price.






We did stop by at one outfitter’s shop along the way that specialized in fly fishing. The gal said it was the end of their season but gave us a great map on where to catch some Silvers and handed us 8 or 9 hand tied flies that she said would work great. We tried our hardest to pay but she wouldn’t take it. I love this place!

We made it to our cabin rental and got our stuff situated. I wanted to check zero on the rifles and had a couple roads I wanted to check out and do some scouting for the next day. I wanted to glass above the brush line and, if we found what we were looking for, try to identify a route to get past the alders.

When we checked zero on the rifles I had a solo cup at 220 yards. The first shot with the Whelen sent it airborn. Good enough. Carstens shot with the .30-06 was a little low and left. We went to 100 and shot a cardboard box. His first shot at 100 went wild and his next was close to the center. I could tell he was concerned. I fired the rifle and it was between 1 and 2 inches high and dead center at 100...right where it is supposed to be. We wrote it off as nerves and I told him not to worry as even though his shots weren't on the money any of them would have been well in the vitals which was true. I could tell it still bugged him though.

We glassed a fair bit and found game at most stops.






By the time the night was over we had seen 25+ goats and six bears. None of the bears were in great locations for killing as we would likely have 3+ hours of alder thrashing to get to them and then have to deal with the same terrain going downhill heavy if we were lucky enough to connect. Pass

Day 3

Carsten and I got up early and headed up to some different country where we could start higher and glass. We looked over a lot of great areas and found bears at most places where we seriously glassed.






The only problem we had was that all the bears we were seeing were humpbacks. They are one of my favorite animals to observe and with decent optics we got plenty of opportunities to watch these high country bears do their thing. Good times. Before the day was over I believe the final brown bear count was 4.

We tried a few long distance pics through the spotter but none turned out great.



In the afternoon we ran into another hunter that said he had spotted a black bear the day before on a long ridge. He looked for it in the morning but never saw it again and was done hunting as he had to go back to work. We decided to check that ridge out in the evening and quickly spotted a black bear. It was close to a mile away and we rushed back to the rig to grab packs and rifles then beat feet to the bear’s location as light was fading fast.

We had decent wind and good terrain so it didn’t take long to close the distance. We had a giant boulder between us and the bear so we used that to get within 250 yards undetected. We had lots of time to evaluate the bear as he was working over a berry patch pretty good and gave us lots of angles. I had already made up my mind that Carsten was old enough to make his own calls on this deal and I would support him either way. It didn’t take him long to make the decision to pass as he thought the bear looked young. I concurred.



He was still unaware so we thought it would be fun to try to call him in. I pulled out an open reed call and gave some distress sounds. The little guy wanted none of that and did an about face and moved directly away from us.

We made it back to the Jeep about dark and headed to the cabin to debrief with Papa. We decided the next morning we would do a little fishing and concentrate on finding a bear in the evening which is when all of our black bear sightings had been so far. There was some good country we had only glassed briefly without seeing any bears and I wanted to give it a full evening of glassing before writing it off...

Day 4

It was nice to sleep in a little while and even nicer to have bacon, sausage and toast from the self-appointed camp cook. We headed out to do a little fishing late morning and check out some sights.

We stopped at one spot on the coast and quickly found a pile of guy lined up casting for silvers. Looked like everyone was doing a lot more fishing then catching. I watched one guy leave his truck with a fillet board, walk down into the crowd, cast between two other guys and quickly pulled out two nice silvers. Probably pissed off the guys next to him pretty good 😊

Note to self: Find out what kind of fillet board he was using.

I snagged a fish which popped off right at shore then we quickly lost interest and decided to go somewhere else. Fishing with 52 of our closest friends really isn’t our style. It was fun to watch the sea otter, sea lions and other wildlife.



As we were leaving we spotted a couple black bears right on the side of the road. It gave us a chance to look some bears over at close range to get our eyes dialed in so to speak for judging.



The one thing my buddy had told me before I left was that he wouldn’t judge me if we shot small bears because that time of year they will all be fat and look huge. Looking at this little guy on the side of the road I had to agree. At certain angles and in the heat of the moment I could easily see making a poor choice on a small bear.

We decided to check out the spot our new outfitter buddy had drawn the map for and headed that way. We put on our waders and after a short walk to the river we realized that we weren’t the only ones fishing this spot.





I secretly wanted to see a big brown close up but it is always a little unsettling when you see a track that size and brush so thick you know you would have zero reaction time. These bears aren’t hungry so it was unlikely we would have an issue but still adds a new dimension to the fishing trip.

It didn’t take long and my son hooked up and landed his first silver



…and then another.



Papa was trying to figure out how to get his fly presented properly but after a few minutes on the struggle bus he nailed a dandy.






A couple of other guys showed up and he offered them the fish which they gladly accepted.

It was getting closer to lunch time and I was anxious to get setup for our evening glassing session so we ended the fishing on a high note and headed to the cabin.



Our evening glassing session involved a mile long hike and then a multi-hour sit.



We waited to till dark and saw one big brown bear over a mile away that was in the open for probably two hours and zero black bears. When we made it back to the rig we ran into the guys my dad had given the fish to. They hunted a different side of the highway and had seen a black bear within a mile of the little bear we passed on the night before. I was beginning to think the bears had not got the word about segregation being over as some places only held blacks and some only held browns.

We decided our next hunt would be on the black side of town...

Great story!!

Thanks for sharing please keep the words and pictures flowing.

Day 5

Today was Sunday. For religious reasons we prefer not to hunt on Sunday. This was probably the laziest day I have had in many years and it felt great. We ate, watched TV, napped and ate some more. My son had never seen “Patton” so he was able to get a little culture while we took the day off.

Religious reasons aside I highly recommend scheduling enough days in a hunt for an “off” day. It is good for the body and the mind.

I have to confess that even though we still had 5+ days to hunt I was starting to get a little concerned. Much of the area we planned to hunt simply was not producing black bears and other areas were inaccessible without proper gear for a planned overnighter. I was starting to wonder where else we might be able to hunt without turning this into a death march or at least a miserable experience...

Day 6

We went back to the black side of town to hunt the same ridge we had passed a small bear on a couple days ago. As soon as we had enough light it took less than five minutes to spot a couple bears. One was noticeably larger then the other and we decided that it was worth a closer look. The bear was over a mile away and not far from the Alders so we knew time was limited before it finished feeding and headed back into the brush.

We closed the distance as quick as we could and eventually got within 500 yards. The bear was still out but had fed just over a small ridge and all that was visible was its back. We did not have enough bear visible to make a call so we decided to move closer and get above the bear. Hopefully we could peal off a few hundred yards and be in a good position if it was one worth tagging. No sooner had we decided to move and the fog rolled in. Visibility went from crystal to pea soup in about three seconds. We found a spot in some boulders out of the wind and waited it out.



It probably took close to an hour to clear and when it did the bear was gone.

We were in a good position for hunting the zone right above the alders and the wind was favorable so we decided to wait it out. The fog was still intermittent and I was half enjoying the Alaskan weather experience and half frustrated at our lack of visibility.





Around 11 I spotted another bear further to the east back towards the way we had come in the morning. It was by itself and looked to be decent sized. I only caught a short glimpse before the fog settled in again and we were once again waiting.

The fog lifted for good about 12 and after a few minutes the bear popped out again and we got a good look from 800 yards. I wasn’t comfortable saying it was a “shooter” but I was comfortable saying we should get closer. Once we were closer it would be Carsten’s call on what he wanted to do.

We left our perch and headed towards the bear. As I was watching the bear in my peripheral vision I caught the silhouette of a man on the ridge a few hundred yards above the bear. It made me feel like I was back hunting public ground in Montana!

I glassed the guy and could not see a rifle or a bucket for berries. He must have just been out for his health I guess. I was concerned that the wind might shift or he might be in view of the bear and screw the whole thing up. I mentioned this to Carsten and we made tracks as quick as possible.

After a fair amount of scrambling in the rocks and a short belly crawl we got to within 140 yards of the bear and there was no sign of the guy on the ridge. I asked Carsten what he thought of the bear. He said he couldn’t see much daylight under its belly, its ears looked to have some distance between them and the head didn’t look super big. I asked if he wanted it and he nodded. At that point we switched from evaluate mode to kill mode.



The bear was actively feeding and never stopped in a broadside position. Every time it looked like it would give a shot it would turn a bit or keep walking. I could tell the frustration was rising and Carsten later told me he was worried the other guy would still screw it up. We were in “sure-kill” range so I never even loaded my rifle and was focused on trying to get some video for Carsten of him shooting his bear.



He finally said, "as soon as it turns a bit I am going to take him". The bear turned, I agreed the position looked good, the shot broke and I heard a massive whallop. The bear dropped down all four legs at the shot, turned 90 degrees and ran toward the alders. I was sure we had a dead bear.

That was 1 p.m.

We gave it 30 minutes then hiked over to pick up the blood trail. We had marked where it when into the alders and were confident we would find a dead bear within fifty yards of the brush line. On the open rocks we found the bears trail. There was blood and small bits of fat and tissue. For sure the 165 accubond had done some damage. Carsten found the blood trail into the alders and we started tracking. It didn’t take long before the blood trail petered out and the terrain headed sharply downhill.

If you have never spent time in an Alder thicket on a steep Alaskan slope the best way I can describe it to imagine the most dense brush in your area, add a 45 degree slope, mix in some devils club, sprinkle in wet vegetation, slick rocks, fog, the threat of heavy rain and bears. In short, it sucks. If I die and the first task I am given on the other side it to follow a wounded bear into an alder thicket it will confirm that I should have made better life choices.

Every time the blood ended we would make a sweeping downhill circle and try to pick it up again. This rarely worked so we would go back to the last blood, get on ground level and pick and scour until we found some other speck of blood or an occasional bit of tissue. The blood we were finding was not the beautiful frothy blood I was hoping for. It was mostly crimson and occasionally we would find a smear of what looked like berry jam.



We were finding some blood on both sides of the trail so I was confident we had a pass-through but I was beginning to question whether we had a dead bear.

After a couple of hours of only moving this trail 50 or 60 yards I was beginning to lose hope. I sent an inReach message to my dad to tell him what was going on and asked him to pray for us. He simply replied, "done". We said a prayer on the side of that miserable hill and I said my own. I will admit that in my prayer I apologized for mostly only praying for help when I am struggling to find lost animals. Although I have normal work and family stress, most of my life is pretty simple these days and most things I think I can handle on my own. I have enough pride that it is hard for me to pray for help but I was starting to be overwhelmed by the situation. I was mostly concerned that my son’s experience might be soured by the emotions that come from losing wounded game (we never recovered the first bear I shot years ago), I was certainly concerned for the bear and I was frankly feeling like the terrain and the vegetation were kicking our butts.

I never had a moment of clarity where I “knew” where the bear was or any other such inspiration. I did feel that we should keep going back to that last blood every time and kept hearing the phrase “blessings come after the trial of your faith”. So that’s what we did. We kept grinding and working and eventually the trail got a little better. Then it got a lot worse...

We hit a complete dead end and even after going back to the blood multiple times and scouring every rock, alder, weed and blade of grass we simply could not figure out the definitive next move. There bear was mostly going downhill but would occasionally quarter, making it difficult to predict a direction. It was well after five and I called Carsten over to discuss our situation. We were halfway down a miserably steep hill and I was not sure how long it would take to get up or down. If we left now we could climb back up in the daylight and head back the way we came and resume tomorrow. Our other option was to throw a hail Mary, bust our way downhill in the hopes of bumping into the bear and have papa pick us up down the mountain (buy a Garmin inReach…they will change your life).

I was prepared to do whatever he thought was best. He said he thought we should move downhill. We were standing at the last blood and I made a mental note of the previous blood spots, guessed a line of travel and started moving quickly downhill. I told Carsten to spread out a few yards to my right to increase our odds of bumping into the bear. I doubt we had gone ten yards and I picked up good blood and a solid trail in the grass. 10-20 more yards and I saw black hair!

That was 5:50 pm. The bear had made it about 200 yards from the shot, turned around and died watching its back trail. Somewhat sobering considering you are often parting vegetation to see two feet in front of you.
A wave of relieve went over me and both of us were all smiles. We said a prayer of gratitude right then and there and I realized what could have been the worst experience of our trip would likely be one of the best and certainly something we will both remember for many years to come.

The bear was already stiff and in a rough spot so the pics don't do it justice but it turned out to be a nice 5.5’ dry sow with a beautiful hide.




I was wet, tired, my hands were cold and I was in no mood for spending extra time so I skinned it quickly and left a bunch of fat on the hide and the skull in to avoid cutting holes in the pelt. That proved to be a big mistake as the wet hide weighed more then most fourth graders and we still had a lot of slick steep country to go through to get to the Jeep. We allocated gear between both our packs as best as possible with Carsten carrying the bulk and I carrying the weight (the next day we weighed the hide and skull at the sealers house and they weighed 65 pounds). Add the pack, water, some gear, a heavy spotting scope, tripod and a rifle and I was pushing 90+ pounds and pretty maxed out. Once out of the thick brush I spent a fair amount of time sliding down on my rear end.



We got to the Jeep just after dark and I have never been so excited to see a rented SUV. The sealer was good enough to allow us to drop off the hide late at night so after some paperwork we headed home for a hot shower and hot food.



Did I mention it was nice to have a camp cook on staff?

The next day we would go back to recover the meat…

Great hunt adventure, as usual !

Great story, thanks for sharing and congratulations!

Terrific post thank you for taking us along on your adventure. And congrats to you both!

Day 7

Alaska law does not require the salvage of fall killed black bears. This fact was certainly on my mind as yesterday’s rodeo was still fresh in my mind and in my leg muscles. However, our plan all along had been to salvage the bears and we were specifically hunting “berry” bears as everyone had told us they were the best table far.

We didn’t get in any big hurry to get up the hill so we had a lazy morning then ran out to check the zero again on our rifles after the pounding they had taken in the Alders the day before.



I know Carsten’s shot had been bugging him and maybe if the rifle was off it would help provide some closure. He is a good marksman and has already tagged a lot of big game. He is naturally more calm then me and has a good track record of being both methodical and accurate when shooting game.


My first shot with the Whelen at 225 yards was a repeat performance of our first day in the area. We started him at 100 and again had some wild shots (but still in the vitals). I again shot his rifle and found it hitting right at 1.5-2 high and dead center. He confessed that he found himself flinching and closing his eyes right before pulling the trigger. He had a fair amount of time behind this rifle and this load but somewhere in the past week something had got in his head. I remember those days myself and was relieved when he concluded that when we get home he just needs more trigger time. I am glad that was the conclusion rather then getting frustrated and quitting.

We took a different trail into the bear and boned out the backstraps and the quarters. We did a quick necropsy and the bullet had come in further back then intended through the paunch and then exited close to rear offside rib. It had clipped the liver and made berry soup of her insides. We reviewed the video multiple times and concluded that the bear was in fact quartering more then we would have liked which matched the shot angle.
I should have been watching through my binos or rifle scope rather then the camera but I wasn’t. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Side note: gut punched bears that have been feeding on berries don't have that nasty fermented gut smell that ungulates do.


Once boned out there isn’t a ton of meat on an average black bear (especially if you are an idiot and leave 2” of back fat on the hide). Carsten wanted to pack it out himself and he got no objections from the old man.



Total round trip was about two hours to recover the meat.

We took it home and had some backstraps with our dinner.



Despite needing to be cooked well-done for sanitation reasons (I am a medium-rare guy on red meat) we all agreed that the flavor was legitimately good. To make transport home easier I actually BBQ’d the remainder of the meat and froze it so we could jam it into our luggage on the way home to save an extra baggage fee.

At this point the pressure was off and I was feeling good. I wanted to hunt some more but could care less about taking anything unless I thought it was a great bear in a great position. I know there is a lot of debate in the bear hunting community about shot placement. Some say go structural to break them down. Others say to shoot for vitals and plan on a short recovery trail. My first bear years ago was hit high (at the time I though high shoulder), dropped at the shot, rolled and was presumed dead. After the high fives it got up, ran and proceeded to leave the country. Even following up with a hound dog the next day we were unable to recover the bear as it was leaving the area running straight uphill.

My next couple bears were both shot in the chest without any structural trauma. One went 50 yards the other ten.

I had made up my mind that I was in the “vital zone” camp but knowing that 50-100 yard runs with lung shots are certainly possible I was beginning to question my judgement. Some of the areas we saw bears were even further from the lower trail and taking a bear out “the bottom” was likely not an option, or at least not a pleasant option. Add cliffs and near vertical terrain and even a 50-100 yard run can get ugly in a hurry.

The next day the plan was to hunt hard and if we didn’t see a good bear we would take it easy the rest of the trip, do a little glassing and focus more on fishing. I was starting to get into my head a little and was debating if I even wanted to shoot a bear in this country. That was certainly weighing on my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

Day 8

We were dropped off up high on the same ridge we had shot Carsten’s bear and seen others earlier in the week. It was overcast and drizzly as we started the hike into our first glassing spot. Visibility was poor but was occasionally “good enough” so we trudged on. We got to a good spot to wait out the day and changed into our wool clothes then added our rain proof (resistant) outer layer. I had worked up a good sweat so got to bare skin before putting on fresh dry clothes from our packs.

That cold wet wind will get your attention when you are sweaty wet and half naked on a mountain. Carsten did the same with similar results.

We had enough boulders and, at times, fog cover that we could move around if needed to stay warm but mostly it was just a dreary miserable day that was more about endurance then enjoyment.



At one point Carsten pulled out his phone and he had downloaded “Beverly Hills Ninja” on it. That is possibly the world’s dumbest movie but we sat in the cold and giggled like school girls when the fog made glassing impossible.

I really miss Chris Farley.

About 3 o’clock Carsten called uncle and we spent the next couple hours slowly working back to the pick-up point with nothing to show for it but wet clothes and some blueberries.



If you hunt Alaska I figure you gotta have some of those to “pay your dues”. I wanted a full Alaska experience and day 8 made me feel like we got it.

At this point I was perfectly happy to call it quits on the serious hunting. We had got Carsten his bear, caught nice fish, had some great “camp” time and seen some of the most beautiful country in the world. I was and am comfortable saying that adding another dead bear to the mix would not have made the trip any better or more full. Mission accomplished. Everything else would just be gravy.

That night we finished Beverly Hills Ninja and the 67 year old camp cooked laughed till it hurt too. My wife always says we are all just 12 year olds wrapped in grown men's bodies. Probably true.

The next day I planned to glass quickly in the morning and then we would focus on putting the hurt on some silvers.

Day 9

I left the cabin early by myself and drove to a glassing area. I quickly found a nice brown bear up high then found another good bear on a ridge we had only seen brown bears on to this point. Even with 60x glass I couldn’t definitively say if it was a black bear or just a dark hided brown bear. At some angles I would have bet you money it had a distinctive hump. At others I was second guessing it. Before I could be sure he quietly walked into the brush and out of my life for the time being.

I was encouraged that I may have seen a good black bear but didn’t want to get my hopes up as I wasn’t positive and I still needed to find him again.

We headed to town for lunch and I was reminded about what it was like to have the metabolism of a skinny 16 year old.



We then threw on the waders and proceeded to catch Silvers till I was personally tired of catching fish (doesn’t take much for me). Carsten was the undisputed king numbers wise and somehow managed to use the same fly the entire time. I would break a line about every other fish. We aren’t big fish eaters and the flash freeze places were closed for the season so we chose to throw everything back. I did find a little humor in knowing that we had been eating bears and throwing salmon back. Probably sounds sinful, or at least backwards, to some but it suited me just fine.









Before too long the hunter in me was getting antsy to find the mystery bear again so we packed up and Carsten and I headed up to the high ground. It may have taken a whole two minutes to find the bear again within 50 yards of where he was in the morning. Carsten also struggled to make the call but after 5-10 minutes we both agreed that there was an 87% chance this was a black bear and likely big. It was just over a mile away but a miserable alder choked canyon was between us and him. We didn’t have tons of time so going above the canyon was not really an option. We just went for it and off into the canyon we went using Alders to keep from sliding straight to the bottom. The bottom was only about 15 feet wide then we had to repeat the performance in reverse to climb up the other side. We packed light and I was sweaty mess before we got to the top.

Once out of the canyon it was pretty easy going except for an occasional patch of buck brush (I have no idea what it really is but reminds me of what we call buck brush in Montana). Back home when you see brush like that it is usually calf to knee high and not a big deal. Here it may be calf high or it may be tall enough to hide an F350. At no point is it ever low enough to rule out the possibility of hiding a sleeping brown bear. Something always on your mind.

We finally made it to where the bear was within 500 yards and found him again. We got a good look and bumped our evaluation up to 97% positive it was a black bear and 68% certain it was one I would shoot. There were several little ridges and he was one ridge over from us. We worked to his ridge and got to where I thought he should be within 300 yards. We pop over a boulder and…..nothing, nada, zip. No bear.

The wind was perfect and we had been quiet once on the ridge. I figured he was not far but feeding bears tend to wander. We thought he may have worked back toward where we spotted him earlier and started heading that way when I looked to my left and saw him come out from behind some boulders about 240 yards away. We eased behind a rock pile and got to where we had a good view for shooting and evaluation.

Here is the point where I reveal my incompetence. I make no claims of being very good at judging bears. In fact, the 4’ bear rug sitting next to my computer as I type would probably be enough to confirm that I suck at that particular part. Anyways...so here we are, within 180 yards of a broadside bear on a wide open ridge and I am debating whether he is good enough to shoot. I know he is fat but I am always a little taken back by how short they are up close. In my minds eye he should have been taller. Carsten says he thinks it’s a pretty good bear. I look the situation over and decide if I am going to kill one this is a nice spot as he has some open country to cover before making the brush, we have time to come back the next day if needed and Carsten is right next to me which he has been on every one of my other bear kills. He turns to face us and I see how wide he is and decide to pull the trigger.

I call for a range. “170 yards” Carsten whispers. I wait till he is broadside, put the crosshairs on the vitals behind the shoulder, squeeze and hear the whop. The bear turns to run and I find him in the scope and send a second one at him that anchors him within 20 yards of the first shot and he is down for good.

Seeing a dead bear on a ridge and not in an alder patch was like Christmas, my birthday and my first kiss all in one.

We started heading to the bear and I mentioned to Carsten that I was pretty sure I had shot his bear’s twin. I was good with that. We get to the bear and quickly realized we suck at judging bears. This time it worked out.





He was by far the biggest black bear we have seen and possibly the biggest I will ever kill. Why I couldn’t see that at 10x from 180 yards I will never know. Need to see more bears at closer range I guess.

When we rolled it on its side there was a ton of blood and what looked like two holes in the chest within a couple inches of each other from the 225 Sierra Game Kings. Carsten commented on the great placement of both shots. I assured him it was all in a days work when you are a professional.

Later when we skinned him out we found the second shot had actually gone through his hindquarters, shattering his femur and anchoring him. We found the jacket just under the skin on the offside. The core had separated and kept on trucking. Apparently I need to swing through the shot a bit more. The “great” placement was actually where the core and jacket from shot #1 had decided to leave the chest from two different locations. When we opened up the bear it didn't take long to tell that the first shot obliterated the top of its pumper and he was a dead bear running.

Carsten actually got the whole thing on video which was pretty neat to watch and see the anchor shot.

This time I skinned the pelt close, removed the skull and we had empty packs to start. Carsten offered to take meat and skull so we loaded him with meat till he though he was as full as he could handle and I took the hide.



This was the point where we had 5 minutes of daylight left and knew that getting home through the canyon in the dark with loaded packs was not an option. We also quickly discovered that my headlamp had been bumped to the “on” position in my pack and would only produce a dull glow. I gave Carsten the option to lead. He gave me the option to switch lights. We traded and he followed.

It was fairly open country but to get around the canyon we knew we needed to climb significantly to get to a safe crossing. We also knew there was a fair amount of buck brush and we had seen brown bears on this hill all week. We also soon discovered that flushing ptarmigan will absolutely make you lose your crap when you flush them in the dark while you are already keyed up. No soiled drawers but the first couple coveys generated some choice words.

We took our time and thanks to OnX were able to negotiate a path that was tough but reasonable. At 11 pm, 2.5 hours after we left the kill site, we made it back to the Jeep. It was great knowing we didn’t have to hike again the next day to recover the bear.
We stashed the hide and meat near the road to keep it cool and planned to come back the next day to get it to town and to the taxidermists freezer.

Falling asleep was not an issue that night..

Sounds like a fantastic adventure,can only imagine being on a trip like that with dad and son at the same time.
Great write up,and congrats to all of you.
Well done.

OUTSTANDING! Hunt and narration! Thanks for sharing it all!

MR,
Thank you for taking us along and showing us the sights and and telling us the good and the bad! Thank you for not being afraid to profess your beliefs either!

I hope that Carsten knows that he has hit the lottery mega-super prize with you for a father, but I am guessing that gratitude runs in the family blood-line.

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Day 10

We got the bear loaded up from where we stashed it and headed in to get it sealed. I decided to leave the hides with a local taxidermist and have him get them tanned for us. It was probably more expensive then hauling them home and doing some of the prep work myself but he was a good guy and helped us out a bunch with odd hours drop off and freezer space for meat and hides. He sees more bears in a season then a lot of local taxidermists will in ten years so probably doesn’t hurt to go with someone like that.

We went back and did a little more fishing but it was fairly uneventful. We all hooked a few fish but after we both had fish break our lines I remember sitting with my dad and we both agreed that one more fish would not make the day or the trip any better. Carsten was still going and I doubt he would have agreed.

We really owed our fishing success to a gal that was and is still a stranger. She gave us info she didn’t need to give and flies we would gladly have paid for. That is rare these days but perhaps less rare in special places like this.

We had gear to organize and dry out for the trip home the next day and a few souvenirs and gift shopping to do for family left at home. It was nice to have all the stress of the trip gone and just be able to enjoy being in the moment and fully relaxed. We already started to think and talk about what a good next adventure might be.

Day 11

The drive home was once again spectacular. If possible, some of the leaves were even more vibrant then the drive in. We saw more throngs of moose hunters parked and coming/going with a few nice racks in the back of trucks and strapped to specialized tracked vehicles.

The trip went smooth till we hit Palmer and got into bumper to bumper traffic. Took 2+ hours to make the short drive to Eagle River. I heard something about a gravel spill in the construction zone but am not sure. Alaska was the last place I expected that kind of traffic but there we were. It was not ideal as we had hoped to take the in-laws out to a nice dinner but instead ended up swinging through Arby’s then heading to the airport for a 1 am flight out of anchorage.

It was definitely a trip with lots of highs, a few lows, lots of laughs and lots of opportunities for growth. Time is fleeting and I realize that the chances of duplicating this trip with my dad and son get smaller and smaller as he will be getting to a busy time of his life before too long. It has been fun to watch him grow and was fun to see him hold up well to some physical, mental and emotional challenges on this hunt. I knew the time would come when he could outwalk and outhike me. This trip he could definitely get up the steep hills faster despite my months of conditioning and his years of potato chips and computer programming. Goes with the territory, I guess.

In many ways we are different people. When I was his age I was interested in shooting more rockchucks and trapping more coyotes. He is interested in learning how to write code, build robots and get into MIT. Hunting is the one thing we both enjoy doing and enjoy doing together. Hard to put a price on that type of time together.

It was tremendously nice to have my dad along. Together he and I have hunted and fished in Washington, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Montana and Alaska. He can add a bunch more places to that list of his own. He is long past the point where he needs to fill every moment with adventure. He is perfectly content to be the “camp” guy, cook meals and enjoy everyone’s stories. He has a wealth of life experience and Carsten and him have a great relationship. Although I have seen him catch a lot of fish, watching him catch his first salmon on a fly was a thrill for me and I am confident he could have ended the trip right there a happy man. Hopefully this is just one more in a long list of adventures together.

Thanks for coming along and putting up with my long-windedness!!!

Congrats. Awesome story, great pics and thanks for sharing.