AK Black Bear Journal 2021 - 09/22/21
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…
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…