Four of us drew tags for SE Alaska and are heading for an island off the coast near Sitka in September. I previously asked about suggested rain gear and received many excellent suggestions.

Now I'm asking about packing/shipping strategy. We intend to go light for our week of hunting, but we certainly will require a cooler or two, cooking stove, lanterns, etc. I am planning on shipping some of this stuff in my 75 Yeti ahead of time. The rest of the clothing can go in one or two bags. What I'm wondering is what kind of pack/bag is most useful both for airline gorilla baggage handlers and in probably very wet coastal conditions? Assuming one of the sealable waterproof units may be appropriate here, but not sure about durability in handling.

Also rethinking my plan for wool shirts. Should we consider synthetic shirts under the rain gear or is wool the best choice as it usually here in CO?

Thanks for your thoughts.

I'd put my all my soft gear (clothes, sleeping bag, tent, etc etc) in a dry bag and consider renting a cook stove, lanterns and such.

When I fly gear and game around the state I use Rubbermaid totes, the 22 gallon size meet the size limit. I drill holes around the top so I can use zip ties to hold the lid on or tape them down. I pack Army flyers kit bags and Cabelas Boundary Waters dry duffle bags. The Cabelas bags are great for field use, but I have had the airlines rub holes in them during transport so I try to place them in the Army duffle bags to protect them. I have a Yeti cooler and it is way to heavy to fly. The weather is September is cool enough that I just use a tote placed in a stream weighted down to act as a cooler. This is also a good way to keep the scent down on game meat and fish. For the return trip I use the totes to ship meat and hides and use the duffles for shipping gear back. I find that is is so wet around the coast that I most times just wear my Sims waders and good studded wader boots to fish and hunt in. That and a good rain jacket will keep you warm and dry even in the wettest weather and will allow you to sit without getting a wet butt. I wear fleece and poly pro under my waders.

I'd forget the lanterns and use a headlamp.

1sg is giving real good advice here. That is exactly what I have done for the past 10 years and it has worked perfect. Loose the wool and go synthetic, It will dry faster . Plan on wet. I have mailed/ taken on a plane those rubbermaid tubs and most have numerous trips on them, best 6-7 bucks you will spend.They come in handy in camp to as wash basins ,tables, some place to put clothes to dry . Lots of uses for these. I can fit my Kifaru long hunter pack inside of one of them. Good Luck

while I don't fly to get here, I fly sometimes to get where I want to be here.

as mentioned those rubbermaid totes are handy, protect your gear and doubles as camp furniture and food storage, what's not to love?

Got it. Totes and headlamps. Great thoughts to add to my list.

Just discovered today that we will fly into Petersburg on Kupreanof, then head south from there to a Kaw Sheets Bay on the southern end of the island. Anybody know about renting boats, stoves, and other equipment in the area? Can we expect to run into Brown bears on that island?

I have rented a skiff from Scandia House, 16 footer with 40 hp I think it was. Good folks to deal with.

Yes, there are brown bears on Kupreanof. Not sure if you were aware of it but there is a cabin at the mouth of Kah Sheets creek.

Having stayed in a FS cabin or two, a lantern is nice to have.

I agree, but I didn't travel from CO.

Another difference is it's Sept at a lower latitude, not Oct at a higher latitude, like I did.

If it's worth the potential problems for taz, I'm all for it!

Si on the cabin. That's the one I believe we have reserved for two weeks. We plan to hunt the stream up to a lake and some clear cuts, and along the shoreline. I'm pushing to rent a boat to cruise the shoreline.

Just figuring out all of the logistics now. We are very experienced western state hunters, but normally have lots of room in trucks and trailers to load up. So this is an entirely different expedition for at least three of us.

I have stayed at Beecher Pass and Breiland Slough cabins, you may already have this link...
http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/tongass/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=78991&actid=101

taz,

How are you getting from Pburg to the Cabin at Beechers Pass?


BTW, we stayed at that cabin many years ago to get out of some rough weather. Didn't have it reserved, but it was empty. Figured I've rented enough USFS cabins that I was okay for one freebie. I wouldn't do that except in bad weather.

I'd forget about running the shoreline in the fall and focus on going up as many fish streams as possible. I'd also try to hunt the creeks until dark.

Bummer on the fall shoreline. Was looking forward to that. Why? The bears don't like fall surf?

Any thoughts on the cabins? How are they equipped? Cots? Should we bring sleeping pads?

Apparently taking boat from town south to the bay and cabin. Know any good outfits for that trip?

Don't know about those cabins but most FS cabins have bunks (bring your own mat), table, countertop/shelves, and a wood or oil drip stove. Pretty bare bones but are like the Shangri La after a long cold day. One time in Yakutat I poked a hole in my waders and developed a nasty fever on the same day while Steelhead fishing in early April. We poached the cabins (planned on just tenting) for two days until I got straightened out. Can't say it was a life saver but saved the trip for me. Like BW said, I have paid for them enough I didn't feel to bad and it was like winning the lottery that nobody showed up.

[quote=taz4570]Bummer on the fall shoreline. Was looking forward to that. Why? The bears don't like fall surf?

Bears follow the food. Spring shoots so they are in the grass flats, fall salmon so they are in the streams. If there are brown bears around they will get run off the streams so you may see some traveling or eating grass and berries.

Looks like a wood stove in that one. You might take fire starter materials and a file to sharpen the axe, they are usually trashed.

There's no guarantee about the wood situation if indeed it's a wood heat cabin. You should call whoever is in charge of the rec cabins for the Petersburg ranger district of the USFS in order to find out specifics about cabins in case there are any vandalism or maintenance issues that come up.

Have you checked with the F&G area management biologist about the bear numbers on Woewodski Island? What's the ratio between blacks and browns? On some islands, such as Kuiu or Kuprenof, it's black bears only. Others such as Mitkof or Revella. have both.

Taz,

Can you tell us which drawing permit you guys drew?

That would help.

DL030.

Hope it means something to you folks. Some guys think the CO draw is incomprehensible!

Yeah, the regulations can get complicated, and I haven't even checked the Federal Hunting regs for that area yet. That's important because most of SE Alaska is part of the Tongass National Forest, and the toothpick cops love to make up their own rules.

The cabin we were talking about about, Beecher Pass Cabin is located on Woewodski Island. Looking at the map for DL030, Woewodski Island is not part of that hunt. You can stay there, but you can't hunt black bear on Woewodski with the DL030 permit.

Go to this website...

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntingmaps.byhuntnumber

...and type in your permit number DL030 and it will come up with a page which has two maps of the exact hunting area for that permit. To hunt Woewodski, you need DL031.

You are better off with your permit to hunt Kupreanof Island. There's no way Woewodski has enough quality black bear for 4 tags to fill.

I see there are at least 4 other cabin located in Kah Sheets Bay which are actually in your permit area. Most of the require a serious high tide to access though. But if you can research the salmon runs in the rivers nearby those cabins, you might find one that will work for you.

Another route to take is to hunt the road system out of Kake, and hike into whatever salmon streams you can access everyday. You could camp, or return to Kake each night.

If you can contact JJHack on this forum, he'd be a good source of information too.

He told us about seeing a brown bear on Kupreanof years ago. They're not suppose to be there, but someone forgot that bear can swim. SE Alaska brown bears can be very dark colored, and mistaken for black bears if not observed carefully.

Thanks, Brian.

Very good to know about the brown bear color phases. We're studying up on bear ID.

One of my parts built trail from FS one or two summers during college and knows the area pretty well. Some of the guys he worked for are still there and provided some recent intel the other day. They said to hit the streams also.

All four of us are really looking forward to this hunt, now! Spent the day in the shop working up brass and loads for three Kimber Montanas clamoring to go. Now I'm really wishing my 35 Whelen was stainless steel�

Here's a website with the tides for the Petersburg area in Sept...

http://www.ezfshn.com/tides/usa/alaska/petersburg/september/2014

The second and forth week have some pretty serious tides, including the high tides some of those cabins need to access. Of course your hunting schedule will be directly tied to the tide schedule. Nothing sucks worse than getting to the cabin at low tide after a long day, and having to hike 2 miles because there's not enough water to get the boat closer. Then again, if you get the boat to the cabin, you'll be stranded until the next high tide.

Not only will you guys by using your hunting skills, but your boating skills (in a extreme tidal area) are going to be pushed hard.

Local support will be a big help though.

Oh, Montana has a great online brown bear/black bear identification course and test.

http://fwp.mt.gov/education/hunter/bearID/

I've done the fly out hunting trips in AK and the best advice I can give it give more thought to what you don't need to bring vs what to bring. Think along the lines of back packing vs truck camping.

It's amazing how little you can get by with and still be comfortable.

I've made the mistake of bringing too much gear the first time around and I'm sure others have too.


Good luck with the hunt.