I'll be on a boat based brown bear hunt in early May in SE Alaska and hoping for an early spring. How does it looks far?

Phil

Man, I bet there are a lot of guides that wish they could know the answer to your question.

Our weather is like a woman, highly unpredictable at their best.

I've seen mild winters followed by a "spring" that seems like a winter that will never end. This was May 17th 2013.



In a typical spring the trees would have already had their leaves for a week and we'd have highs in the 50's to low 60's, not 4" of fresh snow.

Expect every weather possibility and make the best of it.

Not much snow below treeline this winter in N'ern SE. Didn't go apline skiing a single day this winter. Thrushes and robins were showing up in Februray. Daffodils, pussy willows, alders and blueberry bushes were all starting to bud at the end of FEB. It will be an early spring. Woody Woodpecker was banging away on the usual metal appurtenances this weekend.

Thank you Muskegman for that encouraging report!

Phil

The bears will be out regardless of the weather...

...dress for warmth and dryness, or said another way, for cold and wet

...I'm trying to catch Ironbender's post count. Was here before him so I might have a chance...

best,

"eternal optimist"

Ya big dork.

Looks like an earlier spring to me. We just had a stretch of really nice weather. Gonna blow a bit this week in the mid 40s, and then go back to 50s next week. I'm thinking the beach grass could be nice and green by the time you show up.

Well, a couple sightings out near my place. Damm early.

http://juneauempire.com/local/2015-03-12/bears-stir-early-thaw

Wondering the same thing here in Oregon so went scouting my usual haunts yesterday. Grass just beginning to emerge green, but very brown most places in the high country. No sign of insects like big black ants emerging. Lack of snow has allowed deer to winter high, so does will be fawning at high elevation, but not until June.
No bear sign spotted.

So, the big question in my mind, is how is a bear going to eat if they emerge 6 weeks or two months earlier than normal? Especially if they got a late snowstorm after this mild winter. I can see insects and ants becoming active early with warmer than normal weather, and grass greening early as well. But deer won't fawn early. Here, I would think they'd be forced to the lowest elevation possible to get the greenest vegetation available if they emerge early. Lots of questions...

Thinking this might be a good year to save on taxi fees and just make those bearskin leggings you've always wanted

We still have a good 12-14 inchs of snow here! was walking a back road, packed down by snowmobiles and found a set of bear tracks, but been in the 40& 50s this week. so there out for a look around then back to bed for awhile as nothing is green here yet!

OP, who are you hunting with?

I'm hunting with Dale Adams....first time.

Phil

Dale is a good guy, his boat is a credit to his operation, and there's a pile of bears in his area. You'll have a blast. What rifle?

Yea they'll be up and about but may go back to sleep intermittently if this on-again-off-again snow persists. I've heard of sightings already too but the food supply is still rather skimpy for them.

Pabucktail, happy to hear good things about Dale. I'll take either my .375/338 with 300 gr Swift A Frames or my .458 Win Mag with 400 gr Northforks....haven't decided yet.

Phil

The 375/338 would be perfect! It is a very under-sung cartridge. Care to elaborate on it's build?

Sure....it started life as a Ruger 77 MKII in .338 tuned and bedded in an MPI stock. I had it rebarreled by PacNor with a 24" 375/338 match grade SS barrel profiled to match the original factory barrel. Weighs 7 lbs...8 with a Leupold VX-6 1x6 and shoots under an inch. Brown bear load- 300 gr. A-Frame over 66 gr. IMR4064...2,560 FPS. Great gun!!

Phil

The .375-.338 is a good one. Had one for a while on a M70 platform. Just became too much with my cerival issues. Pretty much used the 300 NP with your same load of 66.o of 4064 and RL-15.

That will do it!

bhtr

The 338 win mag, one of the perfect elk rifles.