Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Spring bear

I plan on going out next week to see what is out and about. I will mostly be hunting brownies. However if a black bear is seen he is getting bagged. No bait.

This is my brownie from last spring.

Pard went out flying Saturdy morning up Peters Creek and Ship Creek valleys, saw big tracks coming down the top of the mountain in Peters Creek and another set in Ship near a big berry patch all torn to heck. I've been waiting a long time for this....

Matt, I spotted a fair one on 3/13 and might go back Saturday to look for him. Ya still got a snowmachine? (I know stupid question)

With a fresh batch of snow I think it's going to be a little bit before they start showing themselves. I was thinking about hiking into Artic Valley this weekend but I think I'll wait a little longer before I try that.

I'm gearing up for a Spring Coastal Black Bear hunt out of Sitka. Will be hunting with Bruce Parker, and I 'm really looking forward to it...

Kamiahkid,

Good luck! What arsenal are you bringing?

Yoter,

Give me a call or email me. Sent you a message also.

I got 9 Bears to tag this spring ....

I'm getting a couple pair of snowshoes for the first hunt that starts one week from today ..... if that tells you anything !!!!!!!!!

The wife already had 2 blackies turned into her. I know one was from the glenallen area. Hearing stuff like that is making the next 2 weeks drag on.

Thought I'd bring my ol' Remington 700 7mm RM with stoked up with 140 gr Barnes Tipped TSX. That should do the trick.

I am going to Wrangell May 10. Looking at the weather forecast for the next 10 days, there is sun and highs of around 50 - 56 degrees.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/coldandflu/tenday/USAK0268?from=36hr_topnav_flu

Will this bring out the brown bears? I am getting all lathered up!

After many weeks of scouting/flying my hunt area we finally found 2 dens, 1 was vacant and the other had 2 bears on it, more than likely a sow and cub. Their finally satrting to show themselves so it's time to get busy and fill my tag. Good luck to all of those pursuing bears this spring!

I could have shot a nice Chocolate Boar yesterday but decided not to. I went out by myself yesterday for a ride/bearhunt(if the situation was right). Well it was a beautiful day to be out.











I saw two recently evacuated dens in a valley and lots of tracks in this valley. I spent about 3 hours glassing this valley from one side and didn't see a thing. On my way out I decided to stop at a spot I had glassed from previously for one more look. And wouldn't you know it there was mr. bear who decided to move of his moose kill hidden under a tree out into the open to soak up some sun.

I made a plan of action which involved going back up the valley and through another valley to come around the far mountain and up over the top to get down on top of the bear on the other side of the valley. Well my plan worked out just as it was supposed to. I parked the machine on the other side of a little rise and walked over the rise to the edge. I looked over the edge and their was the bear exactly 200 yards away, unaware of my prescence.



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[img]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj299/skudrunner/DSC02025.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj299/skudrunner/DSC02027.jpg[/img]

The next 30 - 45 minutes was spent debating wether or not to shoot him. I had a very steady shot of 200 yards and had the safety off and my finger on the trigger once. Ultimately I did not take the shot.

I decided not to take the shot for several reasons. It was starting to get late and did not have a whole lot of sunlight left and would probably end up coming out of ther after dark or spending the night which wasn't an option. I was by myself. I did not have a sled and my machine was already loaded pretty good with gear. I did not know if I could get the bear out of there or not. I am kicking myself a little bit for not taking him. However, he was on a moose kill and i figure he could be there for a few days. So I might head back out in the next couple of days with a partner or two and see if he is still there. I will update later wether or not I went back and if so the results.

Skudrunner, Enjoyed the pics. How big is this boar? What are you carrying for bear medicine? I'll be up next year to hunt the big boys and help out the moose population. Thanks for the posting. DeBull

I am not 100% sure on the size. My bear last year was 8 1/2 feet, and I think this one is at least is big maybe a little bigger. From 200 yards and the fact that he was laying down the entire time made it a little diffucult to judge. As for gun, I was packing a .338wm with 225 grain accubonds.

Thanks for the pics. It sounds like you made a good choice for the right reasons. Better than regretting dropping the hammer, IMO. Good luck.

Great pics skudrunner, I hope you go back and nail that bear. I was going to head out on Sunday but all this new snow pushed that back a bit. The 2 bears I saw last week were definetly a sow and cub, we watched them as they left their den then found another bear further up the valley. He was about 1200 feet lower and digging in the snow, don't know if that was his den or not but he was having a good time digging. I am hoping to fly out again this week to look for more bears and I have a feeling they are starting to move again after this new snowfall.

Looking forward to results.

Well, results are in.





Two of my buddies and myself went out at 5:00 P.M. on Monday to see if we could catch that bear on the moose kill. We got to our vantage point and the bear was nowhere in sight. We spent the next hour or two glassing this valley looking for the bear figureing it hadn't gone too far considering half the moose had not been eaten. We couldn't spot the bear and could not make out any fresh tracks leaving the site. After a couple hours we decided to back out and go around the other side of the mountain and into another little valley to look around a little bit. Once we got around and started through a little saddle into the upper end of the valley we came across some fresh tracks that apeared to be multiple small bears. Nevertheless my buddy unhitched the sled and we left it at the top of the saddle. We then started to follow the tracks. We didn't have to go more than a hundred yards and we ran into a sow and two cubs on the side of the mountain. We stopped and shut the machines down to watch the bears for a minute. After a couple of minutes we heard something behind us that sounded like something running across the snow. All three of us whipped around expecting to be looking at a charging bear. Instead of a ball of fur coming at us it was the sled flying down the hill and right past us. After we cleaned our shorts we cruised around to the other side of the valley. After we got on top of the ridge we looked across to where that sow and cubs had been. About 300 yards from where the sow and cubs had been was another bear. At first we thought it was the sow and cubs. But after glassing for a minute we could not find the cubs anywhere. We decided that this bear was a different bear. The bear was on the side of the mountain working it's way back down the valley towards the moose kill. So we decided to go back around the mountain to our original position and set up to set up an ambush assuming the bear was coming back to the moose kill. It worked out perfect. The bear walked by below us at the base of the mountain at 200 yards not having a clue we were there. Right at 9:00 P.M. my buddy shot her in the spine and dropped it like a rock. However it took 3 more shots to finish the job. By this time the sun was starting to go behind the mountain. To our suprise we rolled the bear over and there were no nuts. This was a big sow. She squared an honest 8 feet. She had several broken teeth and the ones that were not broken were very worn. We quickly took some pictures and went to work skinning and quartering her out. We loaded the hide and all the meat in the sled and got out of there just as it was getting dark. We made it back to the truck loaded up the machines and i made it home at about 11:20. I had to listen the wife give me the (I was worried about you. You said you would be home before dark speech). Then took the fastest shower of my life and made it to work @ 11:55 P.M. just in time. It was a long night at work. But I slept great today.

Congrats man!!! Nice Job!!

Way to go man! Nice looking bear too!