So as the story plays out....I've been planning this hunt, as some of you know, since spring 2011. Once I received notice that I had successfully drawn for a Frazer Lake Kodiak Tag, being a resident for my entire life..44yrs...I've been actively putting in for Frazer, Karluk and Red lakes for damn near 20 years...so as you can only imagine it was a dream come true for me to finally draw!
I was originally supposed to be accompanied by two other close hunting buddies and my brother from out of state....but as most hunts go when down to the wire, only my close friend and life long hunting partner Craig Rose was able to go. I had marked my calender and reserved the North Frazer Lake Cabin from the Kodiak Wildlife Refuge back in November 11' and had begun flight service preparations with Kodiak Island Air owner/operator Bob Stanford at the 2011 Alaska Sportsmens show. (Awesome pilot, excellent costumer service, and an all around great guy) . As all Alaskans know, this past winter was far from average....Deep snow and excessive cold weather played havoc on the state as well as the Kodiak region. Frazer Lake in particular was frozen deeper and longer this year more then ever, and was my major concern this spring. Accessing the cabins at either end of the lake was in question right up until the day of departure, Apr 27th...but because of Bobs desire to provide me the best possible service, he flew the lake the day before my arrival and determined that there was just enough open water to slide in and drop the two of us off with all our gear for a ten day hunt. Upon our arrival, we came to find out that another party of three (one hunter) from Fairbanks, had originally rented the cabin on the South end of the lake but was unable to land....so their flight service had no choice but to place them at our end of the lake. Craig and I were genuinely disappointed....but quickly decided that we weren't going to let that bring us down. As a matter of fact, the other hunters turned out to be acquaintances of other friends we both knew from the Fairbanks area and were very respectful of the difficult camping situation. By the end of our hunt, we had made new friends and bonded as most Alaskans and fellow hunters do.
Hunt Day 1, Sat...We awoke to poor weather, wind gusting 20-30 mph from the North, cloud cover at 1500 ft. and snow/rain/sun mix thru the day. We hiked 1.5 miles north and set up on a ridge 800 feet off the lake with a commanding view of the north valley, creek bed and ridge lines across from the East shore line. After hopelessly scanning and searching for activity all day...we returned to our VERY comfortable and cozy cabin with an oil drip stove and bunk beds. lemme tell ya, a FAR cry from a Cabela tent with a propane space heater....More like a high dollar lodge in comparison
That evening we realized that glassing from the cabin was far more productive and easier then trompin around laying down human scent all over the valley.
Day 2, 3 and 4 Sat - Tues...Due to high winds and miserable weather in general...we were forced to stay close to the cabin. In those three days, we spotted 4 bears all at our end of the lake. Unfortunately due to the direction the wind was blowing and the fact that the lake ice had not receded enough, our stalking options were little to none! At that point all the bears had been spotted at above 2000' in the deep n steep. We opted to wait out the weather and hope for warm days to open leads on the lake for access across. I had brought fishing gear and tried my luck but the local fins just wouldn't have it!
On the afternoon of day 4 we spotted a large bruin at about 2700'...he was noticeably larger and darker then all the other bears we'd seen. We nick named him "Dark Chocolate" due to his unbelievably dark thick hide. With my rented 15x56 Swarovski Binos from Optics4rent.com I was able to determine that he was more then just the average bear and was clearly in the 10' range. but as the the weather became worse and worse, we decided to wait out a stalk as we were certain he was untouchable where he was.
Hunt Day 5, Weds...We awoke to yet another poor weather day...but decided that sitting in camp eating pre-prepaired Burritos and munching on snacks all day was NOT the way we wanted to spend the remaining portion of my hunt. With a little help from the man upstairs, the ice had melted just enough to get the inflatable and my 5 horse kicker around to the opposite side of the lake. We hiked about 2/3 rds the way up the mountain and got on a smaller bear that was badly rubbed. We spent three hours trying to see better angles to determine if he was worth taking, but we both decided that his hide was just too far gone and not worth the effort. We retreated to the boat and made our way back to the cabin around 10 pm and were greeted by our camp mates who had been focusing on a valley to the east. They had seen some activity but nothing close by worth making a stalk on.
Day 6...Thurs was again a miserable Kodiak day....wind in excess of 40 mph with less then clear skies was our demise. We were forced to hunker down in our home away from home....lack of sleep was NOT an issue
I can honestly say I caught up on a lot of the sleep I�d missed the previous weeks prior to the hunt...it was kinda nice actually!!! Thank God for ear plugs though....old Craiger can lift the roof with his snoring!!!
Strangely enough, that evening around 7:30 the weather lifted, with the sun braking out and the wind laying down somewhat. We spotted two new bears down lower in the valley and negotiated an attack plan for myself and the other tag holder in the other hunting party. We had decided to attempt a group effort on achieving our goal...and time was beginning to run out. If the weather was favorable Friday morning we were going to cut across the lake, get up high above the area and sit out the day awaiting visual contact of one or both bears........
Day 7 Friday arrived with the worse weather the week had shown us....with wind/rain and snow we decided to forgo the trip across the lake as the wind was definitely not in our favor. Craig and I packed our gear for a day on the mountain and returned to the bench just north of the cabin we had sat on the first day in camp....only this time we went about a mile further north to obtain a clearer view of the farthest northeast valley bordering our unit. We sat staring into the driving wind and snow for 8 hours only to be nearly attacked by a rabid cross fox that responded so quickly to a rabbit in distress call that both Craig and I nearly jumped out of our skin...( OK, truth is....after 8 seconds of squealing on my predator call, that critter came flying outta the alders at about ten yards away and bounded straight at me at eye level...catching me completely off guard...scared little poop pellets out of me!! Makes for a great storythat only Craig can tell correctly) needless to say we laughed hard about that for several minutes!! At that point, we had seen nothing but new tracks miles away in the snow but nothing standing in them! We headed back to our little cabin in the woods to confirm the fluid level on our clear bottle of encouragement.
Upon arrival around 8 pm, our camp mates confirmed that the bears we had seen the night before were finally out and about and in the same general area as the night before. We watched, we talked, we planned, we drank....we decided that we were once again going to approach the area in the morning regardless of weather conditions...and simply spend the day awaiting there evening arrival.
About 9:10 Craig and I retired to our cozy nest....threw two Moose steak, mushroom, corn,cheese, stuffing and black bean burritos on the stove....topped off our liquid encouragements and sat at the table with east facing windows. I placed the camcorder atop two rolls of toilet paper as to elevate its view finder for "self recording"...pressed play and began to share the days adventures. With all the "Cabin" time we had endured that week, I had become quite aware of the surrounding topography in that direction. The mouth of the small creek that drains into Frazer Lake...The beaver pond and den that had been built by the local talent and the hillside yonder way that was sparsely painted with a stand of Cottonwood Trees that had not yet budded. As I sat there, making fun of myself for freaking out over the 17 lb cross fox that responded to my distress call earier that day.....I noticed a new Dark spot just beyond the tree line in the Cottonwoods...It was large...Very Large....HUGE as a matter of fact...so damn huge that at 3/4 of a mile away, I didn�t need my Binos to clearly see that it was a bear the size of a VW Bug! Dark Brown and moving right to left....I exclaimed to Craig that there was a bear...right there!!! of course, you have to understand that throughout the past 20 plus years that Craig and I have been friends, we have spent countless hunting trips together....laughing, joking, pulling pranks on each other etc. so it was completely expected to do just that one more time.....our trip just wouldn't have been legit without it!! But this time, I grabbed my binos...bounded out the front door and got a more clear eyes view of the Bruin that was held up just a stones throw away from our cabin. (OK, maybe not a stones throw...but then again...in correlation, could Sarah really see Russia from her front doorstep??? I think you get my point) Bottom line...The [bleep] literally hit the fan at that point and we both went full on scramble mode Retard!!!.....Hip boots, CHECK! back packs, CHECK! camcorder, CHECK!! guns and ammo, CHECK!CHECK!!! out the door we went, booging up the creek about a quarter mile and crossing at a shallow spot...entering the bog on a well beaten bear path that drained from the hills to the creek bed. We begain our criss cross stalk from dwarf birch tree to clump of grass to sparse alders....Craig had looked at his watch just before crossing the creek and the time was shortly after 9:30pm. We congregated at the last clump of alders between us and the last seen spot of the big bruin. 280 yards to the front of the cottonwood patch holding the last spot we had seen him. Hell, at that point it could have been a sow because we really didn�t have the time to examine him from the front porch of the cabin....we just knew he was BIG!!!
9:50 pm....we stood there...patiently waiting to see if he would show himself............... Had we let him slip by while stumble fartin the creek bank then crossing?? 10:15...variable winds from left to right, not the best conditions but not directly at our backs either...one small patch of brush about 100 yards ahead and to the right of us..Craig whispers to me..."if he doesn't show in 7 minutes, we should pull out and not stink up the area...lets see if we can get to that patch of grass over there". At that point I did not want to fail...but I've hunted enough in my lifetime to know that bears, especially big mature Brown Bears are about the keenest when it comes to smell....and if he caught our scent...about the last we would see of him would be his ass!
We had no cover, no way of telling if he was still just inside the brush line...and most importantly we we're running out of daylight. Slowly, we made our way to the right...closing the distance to within less then 200 yards, as I carefully chose the path of least resistance, I looked up only to see my once in a lifetime trophy giving me the stink eye from 175 yards. There was a small opening only about 5 yards wide that you could clearly see him...and I... he! 10:25 pm...I dropped to my ass, pulled off my Alaska Range Pack and placed it to my left...earlier in the week I had removed the hoop style extension from the frame as to provide better move ability through the thick alders... I cycled a 225 grain Barnes Triple Shock round into my Ruger Mark II M77 and raised my scope power to 6. Craig had removed his pack and steadied his gun as back-up. It was more then evident that this bear...who I am officially naming "Dark Chocolate" as I�m positive that he is the same Bruin that had been spotted days before on the same mountain side, only 2200' higher, was in fantastic condition! His head filled my scope even at 175 yards. His body lay diagonal to me with his right side in clear view. I placed the cross hairs from my Burris scope on his shoulder and took a reeeeeeeeally long deep breath...Booooom, Whooomp! my gun reported with a muzzle blast.....Booooooom,Whoooomp again, followed by a third shot from Craigs' .375 H & H...Booom!!!! but no connection this time......Silence, no movement, calm.......what seemed like a full minute went by, but in all actuality was closer to ten seconds. I immediately reloaded my rifle after ejecting the third round accidentally from excitement. The bear had rolled out of sight....Craig and I both started cheering and jumping up and down in joy....but thank God Craig had his wits about himself and looked back up towards where the bear had last been seen...only to see him busting brush from right to left trying to get the hell outta Dodge...Craig and I both dropped a load into him while on the run, anchoring him to the base of a cottonwood tree and ending an estimated 12 year life span in the Frazer lake region of the Kodiak Refuge. Dark Chocolate was Down !!! We approached him with caution, confirmed his demise and took pictures till midnight and stumbled into camp just shortly after midnight. Ask me if I slept that night......and I'd respond with �Thats a stupid question�
We came back Saturday, day 8 to take more pics, skin out my trophy and pack the bruin back to camp. Crazy as it was, the weather that day was the best we had seen all week....sunny, mild wind and warm. We laid out the hyde on a 10x12 tarp and the dang bear covered it from top to bottom! After doing a rudimentary measurment of the salted skin he squared at 9'10� with a green scoring of his skull just over 28 inches. Hyde weight was somewhere in the ball park of 150 lbs.
That night was awesome to say the least. In all essence, I was prepaired to come home empty handed, as I am on every hunt. Most people don't quite understand that, but as my father had shared with me years ago as a young boy...�It's the whole hunt that leaves a person with respect for our way of life. If you enter the woods or a creek or ocean with the determination of bringing something home every time, then you have lost the meaning to the whole event. But, on the rare occasion that the moons line up and god shine his grace upon you, then and only then, success will be measured in a whole other fashion �
This time, I came home well rested, with great memories and a possible Boone and Crockett trophy to boot!!! I'd say God shined pretty darn hard
Hope you all enjoyed my hunt as much as I did!!! Load up the fire boys....its a bit cold out...:)))
Glen Trombley
