Black Bear Hunting in SE Alaska

[JoseCuervo]

Anybody out there know the probability of killing a bear in SE Alaska on the last week of June, with a decent hide? Is it possible, or are they all rubbed off? And how soon do they start growing the rubs back?

My guess is Canada experience might be the same. Is there any worry for the 2003 HuntTalk trip to Canada, that you will find bare bear skins???

 

[montana boy]

elk gunner,

I would be worried about waitting till june on a year like this. We are having a really mild winter. If it keeps going like this the bears will be coming out any time, if some arent already emerging. There have been interior grizzly sightings already.

Im not an expert, but to get the best hide quality you want to start hunting for south east blackies early April to the middle of May. Like I said before especially this year.

good luck,

 

[JoseCuervo]

MT,
Thanks, and what about the idea, that this is an early spring, they emerge in April, rub in May, and by the end of June they have grown new hair back in, resulting in no rub spots, or at least a finer hair? (AS you can see, I am trying to talk myself into thinking it is worth going early, as I will be up their fishing on July 2)

 

[muskeg]

This is not a "early year" for SE. We had mixed rain and snow yesterday, with heavy snow from 600 or 800 feet elevation again. The average den elevation in SE is about 1500 feet elevation and it is still plenty of winter up there. These Bears know not to come out too early. There is no food till the Beach Sedge gets a good start. This spring is pretty normal. For every 1 Bear you will see in mid April you will see 10 in mid May. There are a few stirring now I'm sure. Emergence takes place from now through mid May. I don't know of any pilots reporting any sightings or tracks yet. No garbage Bear reports in Ketchikan yet. But I’m sure there are a few out. Especially on the POW west side beaches where they traditionally come out a little earlier than the rest of S SE. Some come out of den Rubbed. Late June is pushing it because what you see is not what you get back from the tan. Their biological clock has said 'shed'. But if the cold / rain continues a late June hide is possible. Bears can be hard to find because they follow the spring greenup and most have usually left the beaches by mid to late June. The thing that makes good spring hunting is the draw to the open beaches and tidal flats for the fresh (salt coated) Sedges where there is visibility. Jungle hunting is very difficult with very low distance visibility.

Most years when the season reopens on Sept 1 the hides generally are not prime. If we have had a wet cold summer they can be medium. They are hunted then because they are concentrated on the fish and there is visibility on the river and creek corridors. In early and late Sept they start leaving the fish and are once again hard to find. High alpine can be hunted then as they work the last of the berry crop and move into the dening areas.
muskeg excursions