Hey, Hey, BooBoo!

[Big Fin]

Looks like our flight is not gonna be here to pick us up, so I’ll try to steal this weak wi-if signal and post a few details of our bear hunt.

The most spoiled I’ve ever been on a bear hunt. Lindell Boats heard I had a tag and called to see if we’d be interested in staying on the boat they had harbored nearby. As much as I’m gonna get crap for living on a 42’ boat for a week, I enjoyed the comforts of not sleeping in a small tent in this wet climate.

Jim “Hawken” Baichtal is the one who encouraged me to apply for Alaska black bear again. I’ve never bear hunted this island, so the adventure of exploring new places was alluring. He was equally supportive of the Lindell invitation. We’d use his skiff to run around the bays and islands looking for bears. He vowed he was only shooting a “special” bear, which given his collection of bears 20”+ black bear skulls, it seems he’d not be removing his Hawken from the case.

As with most Alaska trips, weather adds more suspense to the logistics. After deplaning in Ketchikan, Taquan Air told us it was too rough to land, so we’d better get to the ferry terminal, quick. They hauled us down there and we got on board with a few minutes to spare.

With me on this trip was Jace, our videographer who I first met on the docks of Petersburg while he was an intern with the USFS. When I asked for volunteers to film this hunt, Jace was first to respond. He lives SE Alaska as much as I do. And, he’s fully aware of the conditions he’d be asked to film in. Nothing like a big blast of salt water spray or a Tongass downpour to decommission a few thousand dollars worth of camera gear.

 

[justdada]

Been looking forward to hearing about this one.
Sounds like a good time so far!

 

[MT_elk]

Sounds like it's gonna be a great hunt with great accommodations! Looking forward to hearing how it unfolds!

 

[Dan O]

Hope Jim got a chance to get his Hawken out and put it to work.

 

[MNElkNut]

How did the arm work? Good as new?

 

[Big Fin]

We overnighted with Jim and Karen, then headed to the sporting goods store for a locking tag and then for groceries. We launched Jim's skiff and met up with Frank who is up here fishing and doing photo shoots with the Lindell Boat. Jim had a remote float that we could tie up on and hunt from there with his skiff.

It was about an hour run to the float. It was in a very protected location, which was good, given the wind forecast. Once we organized our gear, we had about three hours to hunt that evening. Jim knew of a small estuary that might hold bears are low tide, with this being a good evening low tide.

With about an hour of light left I noticed a black object in the back of the bay that wasn't there when I had glassed it previously. I asked Jim to get closer. He motored around a point, careful to keep our wind from hitting that small stretch of low tide. It surely was a bear and to me it looked like a good bear. Jim confirmed the impression of it being a good bear.

The plan was hatched to drop me and Jace off on a rock point where we could use the low tide beach to close the gap. Jim dropped us off and motored back out into the bigger bay to watch our stalk.

First range had us a bit over 500 yards. I set up the spotter to get my first good look at this bear. Wow, long neck, big belly, sway back, slightly rubbed, but surely a shooter in my book. I grabbed the spotter and we moved to a small point that was high enough from the tide line to have a few trees to conceal us.

Plopped down again and set up the spotter. 320 yards made this bear look even better. I told Jace that I wanted to get as close as possible. In my mind, given this was the first stalk of the hunt, it had better be a great stalk on a great bear. Additionally, I had only been cleared for shooting a week before this trip, so it was only a couple boxes of ammo that I'd been able to shoot as I tried to get my wrist to articulate in the manner needed to grip the stalk and no cant the rifle. Closer would be better for a lot of reasons.

We grabbed the gear and moved toward the next point between us and the bear. It was the last piece of cover. We were now about 220 yards. The bear was rolling over rocks and logs at the tide line and slurping up whatever unfortunate urchin was exposed by his work. This was a very good bear. If not for his slight rub, he would be a perfect bear, exceeding the size of any bear I'd taken.

I looked at Jace. I asked him what he thought. "I'd shoot him," was his response.

"Me too. Let's get to that exposed snag and shoot from there. Should be 140 yards."

Off we go. We were now fully exposed on the low tide of this beach. No cover, just the shadows of the low light hour. The bear was facing away in a small pocket of grass and logs. Our wind was perfect.

Jace followed immediately behind me as we crouched down and snuck forward. I peeked up occasionally to see what the bear was doing. He was preoccupied. This is working too good. I ranged him and we were now 175 yards. The predetermined sunken log I wanted to get to would have use closer than I guessed.

We kept our heads down, avoiding the noise of exposed kelp beds, making distance and monitoring the wind. Never does it work this good.

When we get to the dead snag, we are close enough that I don't need binos to know I want to shoot this bear. We get set up. I range him 118 yards. He's now turned our direction, but head down and feeding. I tell Jace to get ready, as once I get set up, I'm shooting. Jace confirms he's ready and rolling.

I reach behind to get my pack off my back and use for a shooting rest. As I turn back toward the bear, he's now looking at us with his head up. He's testing the wind, but the wind vector is in our favor. I hold still, knowing that even a near-sighted bear can see us from this distance on this exposed tide flat. We have no cover. There are two big blobs out here that he'd not noticed before.

I see him put his head down, so I grabbed my rifle and brought it up to my pack. Somehow, he caught that movement. He looks at us again, then turns and slowly walks away from us, disappearing into the thick alders.

Uggh. Maybe I should have just stopped at 150 yards and shot. He was big. Now he is gone.

Jim sees what has happened and beaches where he had dropped us off. When we gather, he confirms that he thought the bear saw us. The wind was good, so he didn't smell us, which means he is not scared and likely will be hanging out here for the remainder of our hunt.

Dang it. I shouldn't have tried for such a close stalk. Jace just smiled and commented that he was surprised to see how serious I was on the first bear of the hunt. Well, a bear of this size deserves all my seriousness.

Back to the boat for a great dinner and to examine the footage. Jim commented that the footage made it clear this was a bear to shoot. Time for some dinner and think about how close we had got and if I had been too greedy.



I'll see if this connection can upload a short video clip. Nope, no dice on the video upload. The image will have to suffice.

 

[Big Fin]

How did the arm work? Good as new?

Before leaving I removed a stock from one of my Howa's and spent my PT time working on a grip that would allow me to shoot well. I was surprised at the amount of articulation required of the hand/wrist to get into proper shooting form. I took that for granted, but not anymore.

At the range, my groups sucked at first. With a few shooting sessions and focus on form, it improved every day. My last three shot group was about as good as I could get, with two almost in the same hole. With what I had below, I was comfortable out to 250 yards with a good rest that took pressure off my wrist.

 

[MNElkNut]

That’s really good to hear.

 

[Caseknife]

That is a good looking bear, hope you were able to relocate him.

 

[Big Fin]

With the big bear from last night still in my mind, I was fully on board with Jim’s idea that we spend the low tide portion of our morning looking for the boar. Jace downloaded footage of the bear he had taken through the big lens at 120 yards. Definitely the kind of bear you hope to see when you come to Alaska.

We pushed off the float and headed down the shoreline to the big estuary. A slow cruise from a far distance showed nothing. At a very low tide, it was hard to see into the back of the bay with the exposed rock piles obscuring the view. This is a huge bay, so we had plenty of other places to look for him.

No luck. Back and forth, back and forth. Jim suggested we go exploring as the tide came up, then use the evening low tide period to come back here and hunt. Sounded good to me.

For the rest of the morning we cruised and glassed, cruised and glassed, beached a couple times and climbed some small knolls that allowed us to look into areas hard to glass from the boat. One small bear was sighted and we passed.

Later, we came around a corner and a coal black bear was standing in a narrow creek mouth. I motioned to Jim. He did a U-turn and tucked us behind a point that should give us a good crosswind. After Jace and I bailed out Jim retreated to deeper water to watch our stalk.

As we rounded the last point, the wind changed direction and put our scent within a 45 degree angle of the bear. Not good. I told Jace it would be a miracle of the bear was still there when we peaked over the rocks. I eased over and ranged the small deadfall he was feeding near. 51 yards. But, no bear. He surely smelled us as the wind cut back into the small cove he was feeding in.

Dang it. Jim came and retrieved us from the beach. I explained the situation and Jim agreed that the bear had likely smelled us. Oh well. Off to find another one.

As we cut across a big bay I noticed another black blob in the back of a creek mouth. I waved Jim to cut the motor. We both glassed and agreed this seemed to be a good bear, even at this distance. If he stayed there, we would have a good wind angle.

Jim got us to another rock pile to jump out. That rock pile formed the mouth of this big bay and extended far enough that I could see the bear as he changed direction and now fed toward the brushline. He looked like a really good bear. I told Jace we better hustle. Off we went.

I stopped to glass as we neared the last point of rocks and grass where I’d last seen the bear. No bear. Still a good crosswind. But, it was hitting this small point and if the wind split directions like on the last stalk, this could be bad.

We slowly creeped forward, looking and glassing after each few steps. I thought I saw something black underneath a big bleached deadfall that was debarked and warn from years of tide action. I pulled my binos. It was a bear. He was hardly moving, completely shaded by that log and some brush overhanging the beach. I ranged him; 38 yards. Holy crap, I didn’t want to get this close.

The bear rose as I tried to point him out to Jace. He had a bit of rub on his rear. He looked like a good body, but with the log obscuring much of him, I couldn’t tell for sure. I dropped to my knees and pointed to Jace. The bear stopped as if he was smelling. A strong gust hit the beach and the bear bolted just as Jace got the camera started. Crap. So close. Still not sure if he was a big one or just a nice one. Either way, it was a fun stalk.

Gotta catch a plane. (I hope)

 

[Big Fin]

In Sea-Tac between flights. Will try to add a bit more.

With the close call earlier not providing affirmative confirmation of the size of the bear and knowing I probably scared him good, we decided to head back to the big estuary by the float camp in hopes the big bear would be out where he was the night before.

As we got close, the wind was perfect. I told Jim I'd like to go in there for the evening hunt, even if the bear wasn't visible at this time. He dropped us off on a rock point. I told him to come get us around 9pm if he didn't get an inReach message before then.

Jace and I moved deep into the bay where the creek comes out to this big grass estuary. The wind was perfect for the entire half mile of opposing beach where the bear was scrounging the night before. I was sure this old boy would come out near where he was the night prior. I was wrong. He didn't come out at all.

Around 9pm Jim came buzzing down the shore. He'd not seen any bears that evening. It was very disappointing compared to the big hopes I had of a repeat of the night prior. My big chance might have just walked away, never to be seen again.

Damn it.

 

[Big Fin]

When we woke the next morning, we had a big plan for a long day. We would go hunt for the bear from the first night during the low tide of the late morning. If we didn't find him, we'd come back to the big boat for lunch. If no luck nearby, we'd pull anchor on the big boat and spend a couple days further away near the beaches where I got within 38 yards the morning before.

Well, the big boy from the fist night was absent again. We cruised a lot of other good looking beach and they were void of bears. Lots of black rocks, but no black bears. We met up with Frank and the big Lindell Boat and analyzed which bays provided the most protection for anchoring the big boat. Once settled upon, we told Frank we would head out and hunt those bays and meet him later in the day at the agreed upon anchorage.

Off we went. Jim took the 45 minute trek to where I had spooked the bear at close range yesterday. As we got close I saw a black object in a different area. I motioned Jim to slow down. We stopped and drifted. I thought this thing looked huge. Jim confirmed it was a really good bear.

It was around noon and the wind was steady from the west. If Jim dropped us off further down the beach, we would have to bushwhack through some trees, but we'd pop out in the back end of this estuary, putting us downwind of the bear.

Within a few minutes Jace and I were bailing over the side. Jim said he would wait across this huge bay until we showed up on the beach or we sent him an inReach.

As quick as we plowed through the brush, we spotted the bear near where we had last seen him. He was 255 yards, feeding away from us. We followed the creek edge, staying in the trees. He was now 210 yards and sleeping in tall grass. The wind was still great.

We had some brush in our way, so I told Jace we'd move about 40 yards to the side and wait for him to come closer. As we were getting to that spot, the bear got up and started walking away from us, feeding and digging as he went. He was now to the brushline, feeding just under some big spruce limbs.

Damn it. How can that be? He didn't see us. He didn't smell us. Just bad luck, I guess.

We sat and waited for an hour in hopes he'd feed back out. With the tide coming in and flooding parts of this estuary I told Jace I'd rather come back and hunt the outgoing/low tide in the evening. We snuck back out to the beach where Jim could see us. He picked us up and he could sense the obvious excitement in my voice.

This was the bear I wanted to hunt for the rest of the hunt. Unblemished hide, huge head, big belly, and seemingly unaware of our presence. I just needed some luck.

Below was a pic Jace got of the bear in the big lens. Not sure of his BMI, but he's definitely obese.

 

[Big Fin]

Upon picking us up, Jim suggested we go to the anchorage we agreed upon and see if Frank was there. He was just pulling the big Lindell into the bay as we got there. Once he anchored up, we tied off to his starboard side. Jace downloaded the footage from today and Jim strongly suggested we stick with that bear. Jim stated he would look for something even bigger while we hunted this one.

After lunch and a nap, the sun cleared and it was hot, at least hot by SE Alaska standards. Jim assured us no bear would be out in that heat and we'd be best to get some sleep. Given how early/late the sun rises/sets in Alaska, I was running on low sleep levels, so I concurred with his suggestion.

After a quick snack I was getting antsy. Jim woke from his nap and I told him I'd like to be back in position by 6pm. He smiled, and stated in his sly way, "I'll get you there."

In a repeat of the morning, Jace and I bailed over the bow and headed up to the treeline. Jim said he'd hunt his way back to the big boat and be here to get us at 9:15, barring an inReach to bring packs. He'd go look for a boar near where we saw a small sow in our trek over here this evening.

Jace and I knew the route and we were in position in short order. The wind was even better this evening, being a NW wind. We picked a point in the creek that created this estuary, allowing us a complete 180 degree view in front of us and allowing for us to see around a small side channel where another small creek dumped into the bigger creek just prior to arriving at the ocean.

If ever there was an ambush place and killer wind, this was it. Fingers crossed.

 

[Big Fin]

After about 20 minutes of glassing, I had identified every rock, stump, rootball, or other dark object within view. I kept focusing on where the bear had disappeared that morning, hoping he would come out for dinner. If so, we could drop down into the creek bed and sneak upwind, hopefully undetected, to within 150 yards or less.

At about 6:45 I got to looking up into that small creek arm. Something didn't look quite right. I had not seen this black hump while glassing for the last 45 minutes. Then it moved. It was the back of a bear.

I tapped Jace and pointed. Just then, the bear crawled up out of the small creek bed and rose to a small grass island. Was it him? The shadows were low enough that it was hard to tell for sure. He was 255 yards and completely undisturbed, feeding hard as he moved.

He fed down into another creek bed, bringing him a bit closer. I looked at Jace and we both smiled. Whether it was the bear we wanted, or not, if he continued on his path, Jace was going to get some world class bear footage. The light was perfect. The bear was doing what bears do. Really cool to watch.

As we continued to watch him slowly weave in and out of fallen trees, I still could not get a read on what his size was. He was always in some sort of tall grass or creek bed. Regardless, I figured it best to start going through shooting exercises and find a comfortably spot.

This small point of the creek flattened out and gave me a great prone position. The bank sloping slightly down to my left made it best to address the rifle in a natural position for a right handed shooter. I was holding on the bear's ears, using them as an object upon which to practice my breathing and get my heart rate lowered.

This is where a lot of thoughts started entering my mind. Shooting in strange positions is never easy on a live animal in the field. Add in my arm still not working or supporting much weight and I had to focus hard on not allowing the rifle to cant when I held the stock grip. After about five minutes, I had a good station augered out in this pea-sized gravel.

Jace was running three cameras; the GoPro on me, the A7 on a 100-400mm lens, and the FX3 on wide. Jace and I whispered our plans and contingencies based on where the bear moved and whether or not it was the bear from this morning.

It was 7:05 when the bear stepped up on the closer bench and now we could see him perfectly. This was the big guy from this morning, no doubt. Flawless hide. When he looked at us, his head was even bigger than I thought. This was truly a "Holy $*!# bear."

He was now 230 yards from us. He laid down and started feeding while laying on his stomach. I'd never seen this before. He would feed, then pull himself forward a couple feet, feed some more, then repeat. Then he just laid down in the tall grass for a nap.

I looked at Jace for confirmation that I wasn't talking myself into thinking this bear was more than he was. I asked Jace what he'd do. With zero hesitation he replied, "I'd shoot him!"

OK. Reality check that all was good. I told Jace if this bear kept napping once the sun went behind the mountain I would drop in the creek bed and sneak up on him and shoot him in his bed. Jace smiled and nodded his approval to my plan.

Time was ticking really slow. The bear would rise a bit, then lay back down. When he would rise, I would use the posture as a chance to practice picking a shot and getting my heart rate down, which by this time was thumping more than usual. I kept glassing and ranging. His black blob laying in the grass was now 220 yards.

Around 7:15 the bear sat up on his hinds, almost like a dog begging for a bone. Facing straight at us, I could see a double chevron on his chest, making a great target to try hold the crosshairs on while we waited. I pulled up the binos to asses his noggin from this head-on angle and close distance. Yup, a great big one - Melonhead was here.



Then he laid back down. "Come on pal, let's get this moving."

 

[Dan O]

Oh boy this is getting good!!!

 

[Big Fin]

I looked at Jace, "You gotta be @#)(%&W#E&%^@%# kidding me." That audio segment will be cut.

We waited what seemed like an hour as the bear fed and rolled, fed and rolled. It was probably only five minutes, but is sure seemed longer. Finally, the boar rolled over and was now pointed away from us.

"Shit! Wrong direction."

I told Jace to get ready, as if even a quartering shot was presented I was taking it. I waited. I waited. The bear didn't give a damn. He fed while facing away from us. Jace and I kept looking at each other, knowing the next chance would be my best.

He then turned and started to walk straight to our right. I ranged him. 204 yards. I got on the rifle and whispered to Jace to get ready.

Then, Mr. Big decided it was time to take a dump. He squatted down and did his business, closing the pocket I normally hold for on a bear.

I now had tension on the trigger. The boar got back to his normal position, slightly quartering away, then stopped to grab a bite of grass.

I don't even remember the motions of squeezing the trigger. After enough practice, instinct and muscle memory takes over. I was surprised at how quiet this new Nosler suppressor made this rifle. It was nothing more than a crack, almost surprising me.

I chambered another round and just as I got back on the bear he dropped down into the creek bed that crossed his path to the thick brush. I kept looking. Did he stay in the creek bed and get to the timber? I had lost a bear up here in 2010 that made it to the timber. I didn't want to track a bear, at late light, in the thick brush. I stood up to look for him. I asked Jace if he saw him.

Jace said he thought the bear tried to get out of the creek, but rolled down once he got on the next grass flat. I told him to keep and eye on things as I trotted out to see if I could locate the bear.

Jace was right. The old boy barely got up on the next little creek cut and expired in the tall grass, making it about 40 yards from where I hit him. He was stone dead. I waved Jace over before walking up to the bear.

Damn, he sure looked big. When Jace got to me, we both had some words of amazement as we walked up to him.

He was everything we thought he was. Big. Not a rub anywhere. Double chevron. Head that was surely going to surpass anything I had ever taken.

Jim sent an inReach to Jace asking for an update. Jace told him the bear came out. And that we could use some help. We weren't too far into the "guttin' and gillin'" when we heard Jim's boat coming around the corning and into the bay. Jim and Frank joined us for the last half of the work and helped us get him to the boat.

What an amazing day. I've never spent 45 minutes glassing a big boar from under 250 yards. The footage I've seen is amazing. Sometimes a critter reads the script and everything turns out perfectly. This time it happened to a degree I don't think we've ever experienced.

 

[Big Fin]

Some will ask the details, so here they are.

Howa SuperLite .308 Win
Nosler 165 grain Partitions
Nosler 30ALTi suppressor
Leupold V5HD 3-15x44 CDS

Shot distance 204 yards.
Complete pass through.
Recovery distance 40 yards.

When we checked him in at Game & Fish, he grossed 20 3/16.

Jim's search for an even bigger bear wouldn't take long, happening the next day. But, that story will come later.

 

[Dan O]

Congratulations he's a big bruiser!!!

 

[Bowmannate2000]

Congrats on a beautiful bear!

 

[Big Fin]

A few more pics.

Camp Lindell tied up to the float.


Jim looking at Ollin Digiscope footage and explaining his estimate of bear sizes. Frank, the cool pilot from Lindell is on the right.