Alaska Bear Hunt

[kae006]

I’m not much of a writer so this will be short but I wanted to share some photos from our trip to Alaska last month. My brother is a Major in the Air Force and is getting ready to deploy for a year, before he left we decided that him, my dad and myself would get to together for an Alaskan black bear hunting and fishing trip. We booked a 5 day 4 night trip with Ninilchik Charters out of Homer and had a blast. Ninilchik is a transporter and not a licensed hunting guide meaning they can get you to and from the areas you want to hunt however they cannot assist in the actual hunt in any way, fish are however full fishing guides. There were 6 total hunters on the boat, our group plus a single hunter from North Carolina and a two man group from Anchorage as well as the Captain and Deckhand. Due to our schedules we had to hunt the opening week of season and it was obvious the bears were just coming out of hibernation, the grasses along the shorelines hadn’t greener up yet so the bears we were finding were at much higher elevations than we had anticipated. Unfortunately, I was the only one lucky enough to bring home a bear. The solo hunter had an opportunity but missed and one other hunter shot one and had a good blood trail but ultimately was unable to locate their bear. For anyone interested in booking one of these trips in the future I’d be happy to answer any questions that I might be able to.


Leaving Omaha




Alaska Air Lounge in Seattle





I landed in anchorage the night before my Dad and brother arrived so I explored the city a bit. Enjoyed an eggs Benedict breakfast at Snow City Cafe, one salmon and one crab.



Our boat and sleeping quarters for the week. 6 guys that hunter hard and handled dozens of fish with no shower access means it started to get a little rank by the end of the trip, but the beds were surprisingly comfortable after hiking all day. Early sunrise and a 2200 sunset meant lots of good hunting light.






After leaving Homer we had about a 6 hour run to our first stop where we would catch that night’s dinner. All 6 of us quickly caught 4 black rockfish each, the Captain had us stop one short of our 5 fish limit so we could try for a Yellow Eye before going into the hunting grounds, first hole we drifted over produced for us and we were able to quickly hit our daily limit and put some grub on the table before our first hunt.

[kae006]

While we ate the Captain took us into the first cove where we would spend the majority of our time hunting. The solo hunter quickly spotted a bear a few hundred yards up one of the mountains so him and my brother set off to chase it. The Anchorage pair chose a promising valley and my dad and I decided to follow a river at the far end of the bay. The brush was super thick and full of Devil’s Brush but with the tides fluctuating 26 feet the river banks offered a nice easy hike compared to the alternatives. With the wind at our backs we didn’t expect to see much walking in so we walked a couple miles and then took a break along a nice spot on the river.









After sitting for a couple hours and letting the woods calm down we decided we would work our way back towards the boat. On the way back I spotted a bear along the banks working away from us, he ranged at 480 yards. I was able to flag down my Dad who was walking the opposite side of the river, however with limited grazing options down low the bear quickly went up the hillside before ever seeing us. We figured we would find a good spot and hope that he came back down right when I spotted him at 170 yards walking uphill. I laid down on a sandbar using my pack as a rifle rest and squeeze one off. The bear quickly slid down the hill and just as I began celebrating my dad told me had had gotten up and walking and that I needed to make a second shot. I hastily got him in my crosshairs and made a follow up shot as he was moving but then he disappeared. With the woods being so thick I stayed where I shot so I could guide him while dad walked up the mountain to look for the bear. After about an hour he was able to locate him right where I made the second shot.





With the steep incline we were able to roll the bear down the mountain and onto the shoreline where we gutted it. After that we threw a rope around him and floated him out in the river, luckily dad wore his wading pants, the river did all the work for us. When we got back to the bay we called for the skiff and the Captain picked us up, then the real work of skinning and deboning started.









Will type more in a bit, time to feed the kids

[GARY]

Good read!

[AntlerCollector]

Great write up so far. Congrats on the bear

[EliteDriver]

That's awesome! Congrats!!

[doug]

Great trip, write up, and pictures! I cant wait to see the rest!

[32drawlength]

Congrats on the big bear & write up!

Brings back memories of my bear hunts there

[kae006]

With my bear tag filled I spent the next couple days hunting with my dad and brother as well as relaxing on the boat and casting a line here and there. We got close to sealing the deal a couple times but it was like they would come out to graze for a few minutes then go back to sleeping for hours where we wouldn’t see them again. Couldn’t have asked for a better location to just enjoy being outdoors and having a job where I’m connected 24 hours a day it was great to not have cell or internet service for a few days.





I’d originally planned to ship home any fish we kept and donate the beer meat. Our captain insisted that the bear in this area were the best he’s ever had and that we had to at least try it so the next night the deckhand grilled up one of the back straps. It was chewy but the flavor was terrific. With the bears just coming out of hibernation it had very little fat and literally zero odor to the meat or the hide.



Seems like now is a good time to mention that our Deckhand was an incredible cook. He told us his dream was to eventually run his own charter and restaurant. He had an extremely small kitchen to work with but had a Blackstone griddle and a Traeger on deck that he made terrific use of at almost every meal. We had restaurant quality meals every breakfast and dinner, for lunch they packed and sent us out with sandwiches and snacks. Here’s a couple of the meals I photographed, with no shortage of Halibut and Rockfish on board he made use of them at each opportunity.

[Boss Buck]

I enjoyed, thanks for sharing. What caliber rifle where ya using?

[kae006]

We a westerly storm rolling in we were forced to get back around the peninsula a day early so we hunted til noon on Thursday and then quickly rounded everyone up and hit one of the Captain’s Halibut spots before motoring closer to Homer. It was early in the year for Halibut and fishing reports hadn’t been too favorable but we got on them after an hour or so of chumming and hammered some real monsters.

[Reaper]

That's fantastic Keith!

What gun/caliber did you use?

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[kae006]

The ride back from there was sporty to say the least, but it made the 4 hour run go by much quicker. We got back around the Peninsula in time to hit a spot that held chicken halibut to round out everyone’s limit before cozying up in Sadie Cove for the night. The final morning of the trip we decided to try some Cod before packing it in. The cod bite was crazy and it didn’t take long at all before we had about 60 in the boat.



Loaded down with fish we headed back to Homer. We had Homer Fish Processing pick up our catch at the dock and process, flash freeze, vacuum seal, then pack the fish in coolers for our flights home. The three of us each ended up with 45# of filets. We decided to get a hotel in Homer for the night so we could shower and relax before driving the four-ish hours back to Anchorage the next day. We had a moose visit our window that evening, close enough to pet him on the way by.







On our way back to Anchorage we made a stop at the Anchorage Wildlife Conservation Center where they film parts of the Alaska Animal Rescue show. Grabbed a hotel in Anchorage and caught a flight home at 0300 that morning since I had to be back at work at 0500 the following day, which was a rude awakening with the time change let alone having to go back to work after an epic trip.




We are hoping to make the trip again next year but may chase mountain goats this time around. We saw tons of them and plenty that we could have shot had they been in season, tags are OTC there.

[lmartin5]

Great write up, congratulations!

Thank you for taking us along!


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[kae006]

That's fantastic Keith!

What gun/caliber did you use?

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I actually took my father’s old Weatherby Mark V in .300 Wby for sentimental reasons. Growing up that was the rifle he would take to Colorado each year for elk hunting. It was passed down to my brother when he moved to Colorado and then me when we moved there a couple years ago. Hoping to pass it on to one of our kids one day.

[Kevin]

Yea!!! I forgot all about you saying you were going. Glad you had a great trip. Best money I’ve spent on a hunt.