Please BEAR with me, 2024 is going to be full of unBEARable surprises!!!
- Thread starter seeth07
- Start date
duckhunt
Well-known member
Absolutely awsome hunt.
seeth07
Well-known member
Are you kidding me? On the way home she was looking on Zillow for places and jobs so we can move...
You are a lucky man! Congrats again and thanks for sharing.
seeth07
Well-known member
Alright back into it. The following day, Thursday, was back to heavy rain and winds. It sure was a relief to not have to go out hunting. Plan was once again to spend the day processing bear meat and working on fleshing the hide. It was pretty much a laid back day doing just this.
So my shot was exactly what I wanted - put the bear right down on the beach. What was weird is the bullet path wasn't what I expected. My goal after studying bear anatomy was to try and get the bullet to hit right at the base of the shoulder blade figuring that this would at a minimum immobilize one front. My entry was a bit high and right of that mark but not far off. However, this didn't cause the bear to drop on site. What did was the bullet deflection from this entry straight up and through the spine with the bullet being stopped just under the hide directly above the spine. I've never seen a bullet deflect that drastic. I was flat shooting at sea level to target at sea level so it's not like the bullet entered at any sort of weird angle. The bullet was mostly intact but did only mushroom well on half of it.
We left the bullet at the carcass my mistake so we tried to return to look for it. Unfortunately the high tide had taken it away and we couldn't relocate it. It was cool going back though and seeing 3 eagles on it in which after only 8 hours since leaving the kill site, this is how it looked.
Comparison of the two skull sizes.
The knarly teeth, or what is left of them from mine.
A missing toe/claw.
Size comparison of his front paw.
Hide size comparison. I'm 6'-3".
With our coolers soon to be fully loaded with bear meat and getting stacked full with crabs too, we decided to send a few messages out to try and arrange for a day early flight pickup/boat dropoff to give us some more time in town as well as more travel flexibility. With some help we were able to get a flight at the dock at 11am on Saturday.
At the end of the day, we had everything pretty much taken care of except for the paws of my hide. We were able to do some ice moving and packing to get all meat (crab and bear) into the three hard coolers we had with her hide in a soft cooler and mine would go into the other the next morning when finished. It sure felt great to have all this time to properly do all of this without feeling rushed.
So my shot was exactly what I wanted - put the bear right down on the beach. What was weird is the bullet path wasn't what I expected. My goal after studying bear anatomy was to try and get the bullet to hit right at the base of the shoulder blade figuring that this would at a minimum immobilize one front. My entry was a bit high and right of that mark but not far off. However, this didn't cause the bear to drop on site. What did was the bullet deflection from this entry straight up and through the spine with the bullet being stopped just under the hide directly above the spine. I've never seen a bullet deflect that drastic. I was flat shooting at sea level to target at sea level so it's not like the bullet entered at any sort of weird angle. The bullet was mostly intact but did only mushroom well on half of it.
We left the bullet at the carcass my mistake so we tried to return to look for it. Unfortunately the high tide had taken it away and we couldn't relocate it. It was cool going back though and seeing 3 eagles on it in which after only 8 hours since leaving the kill site, this is how it looked.
Comparison of the two skull sizes.
The knarly teeth, or what is left of them from mine.
A missing toe/claw.
Size comparison of his front paw.
Hide size comparison. I'm 6'-3".
With our coolers soon to be fully loaded with bear meat and getting stacked full with crabs too, we decided to send a few messages out to try and arrange for a day early flight pickup/boat dropoff to give us some more time in town as well as more travel flexibility. With some help we were able to get a flight at the dock at 11am on Saturday.
At the end of the day, we had everything pretty much taken care of except for the paws of my hide. We were able to do some ice moving and packing to get all meat (crab and bear) into the three hard coolers we had with her hide in a soft cooler and mine would go into the other the next morning when finished. It sure felt great to have all this time to properly do all of this without feeling rushed.
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seeth07
Well-known member
Fridays recap is easy as we did basically nothing. Got those paws finished up and then with blasting winds and more rain, there wasn't much ambition to even try and head out into Big Bay or beyond to do some fishing.
seeth07
Well-known member
We get up by 5am on Saturday with the plan of getting things packed up and out in the boat headed to dock by 7am. It's not a super far run but if the seas were to be like they were when we went to bed, we knew we would need a bunch of extra time to carefully run the boat especially with a full load.
As luck would have it, it was calm. We were greated with not a wave and in 15 mintues we made it out of Big Bay and into the main bay. Having a bunch of extra time, we decide to get the rods out and try some jigging.
We finally catch some fish!
After that little flurry of fun, to the float dock we head and get unpacked and then I make a short run a bit further to return the boat.
We fly put and back to Ketchikan for some more R and R for a couple days before heading back to the real world on Tuesday.
As luck would have it, it was calm. We were greated with not a wave and in 15 mintues we made it out of Big Bay and into the main bay. Having a bunch of extra time, we decide to get the rods out and try some jigging.
We finally catch some fish!
After that little flurry of fun, to the float dock we head and get unpacked and then I make a short run a bit further to return the boat.
We fly put and back to Ketchikan for some more R and R for a couple days before heading back to the real world on Tuesday.
Derek44
Well-known member
Alaska will do that to ya. Haha
seeth07
Well-known member
Some crazy pictures showing just how drastic the tide changes were
seeth07
Well-known member
Checking in the bears to get sealed on Monday morning was quite different from 9 years ago when we did it last. Alaska fish and game has really decided to step up their game in data collection.
We arrived at 8:20am and we weren't done with both until just after 9:30am! I was not upset with how long this process took but rather quite impressed and certainly glad to help. I asked a lot of questions and she was more than happy to help me understand the how and why they were doing this.
The biologist first got all of our information which included detailed information regarding our hunting methods and travel as well as services used. Location of the kill all the way narrowed down to the exact lat/long coordinates.
Next she collected a ton of information about each bear.
1) Diet (what was in its mouth/throat as well as in its stomach if we opened it).
2) Color features. My wife's bear had a white chest mark. Dozens of photos were taken with a color chart reference.
3) Condition of the bears face and paws. Again lots of photos and looking at their condition and any scars/defects present.
4) Tissue samples. She said they use these to run tests and determine the health of the bear including diseases as well as analyze the fats to determine short term and long term diets. She said I cleaned the skull and hide too good because she struggled to find good samples!
5) Tooth for aging. There were only 2 available options from my bear. The first tooth broke immediately without hardly trying. The second she was extremely careful but the tooth was very decayed down in the root so she isn't even sure if they will be able to use it. Her guess is that the bear is well over 15 years old! She estimated my wife's bear is in the 5-10 range.
6) Hair samples. Used for genetics. They keep a "bear family tree" going which I thought was kind of cool.
7) Measurements. Mostly the hide square and the skull size. Her bear had a skull size of 17 9/16 and mine was 19 13/16. The hide squares were 7'-2" for mine and 6'-1" for hers. These measurements by the biologist weren't exactly precise and I'll redo them myself accurately sometime soon. Regardless, they are very respectable bears and couldn't be happier.
Pay attention Montana - If you really want to know about your mule deer herds, you should probably hire an Alaska wildlife biologist as an advisor on how to do it
We arrived at 8:20am and we weren't done with both until just after 9:30am! I was not upset with how long this process took but rather quite impressed and certainly glad to help. I asked a lot of questions and she was more than happy to help me understand the how and why they were doing this.
The biologist first got all of our information which included detailed information regarding our hunting methods and travel as well as services used. Location of the kill all the way narrowed down to the exact lat/long coordinates.
Next she collected a ton of information about each bear.
1) Diet (what was in its mouth/throat as well as in its stomach if we opened it).
2) Color features. My wife's bear had a white chest mark. Dozens of photos were taken with a color chart reference.
3) Condition of the bears face and paws. Again lots of photos and looking at their condition and any scars/defects present.
4) Tissue samples. She said they use these to run tests and determine the health of the bear including diseases as well as analyze the fats to determine short term and long term diets. She said I cleaned the skull and hide too good because she struggled to find good samples!
5) Tooth for aging. There were only 2 available options from my bear. The first tooth broke immediately without hardly trying. The second she was extremely careful but the tooth was very decayed down in the root so she isn't even sure if they will be able to use it. Her guess is that the bear is well over 15 years old! She estimated my wife's bear is in the 5-10 range.
6) Hair samples. Used for genetics. They keep a "bear family tree" going which I thought was kind of cool.
7) Measurements. Mostly the hide square and the skull size. Her bear had a skull size of 17 9/16 and mine was 19 13/16. The hide squares were 7'-2" for mine and 6'-1" for hers. These measurements by the biologist weren't exactly precise and I'll redo them myself accurately sometime soon. Regardless, they are very respectable bears and couldn't be happier.
Pay attention Montana - If you really want to know about your mule deer herds, you should probably hire an Alaska wildlife biologist as an advisor on how to do it
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seeth07
Well-known member
There were two times the tide got us.
The first was the night of my bear kill. It was two hours until low tide and the shore by where he laid was really shallow. We pushed the boat off and checked on it 30 mintues later and it was good. The next 30 mintue check and it was stuck and she was grounded on the rocks. When we were done processing, we had to wait about 30 minutes until the tide had come back up enough to get it off. Wasn't the end of the world.
The next time was right away the next morning. We really slept in and tide had already gone back out and beached the boat. We only needed it to check the crab pots that day anyways so wasn't a big deal it just delayed checking the pots for about 4 hours.
The first was the night of my bear kill. It was two hours until low tide and the shore by where he laid was really shallow. We pushed the boat off and checked on it 30 mintues later and it was good. The next 30 mintue check and it was stuck and she was grounded on the rocks. When we were done processing, we had to wait about 30 minutes until the tide had come back up enough to get it off. Wasn't the end of the world.
The next time was right away the next morning. We really slept in and tide had already gone back out and beached the boat. We only needed it to check the crab pots that day anyways so wasn't a big deal it just delayed checking the pots for about 4 hours.
birdman27
Well-known member
Might have missed someone answering, but that is an anemone, just with its tentacles sucked in
seeth07
Well-known member
Last thing I got is that since we couldn't apply for the same tag again due to AK regulations for next spring, we put in for the Kuiu Island draw for this next spring. Well, I drew. Honestly, before this hunt happened, I didn't have much ambition to actually go and hunt that tag given the 4 black bear tags we have this year. After this hunt however, I'm seriously thinking about it now!
seeth07
Well-known member
First time salting and drying my own big game hides. Decided to do it this way since I spent so much time already fleshing and cleaning them. I didn't realize how much salt such big hides would take - about 8-10# per hide. They are almost there. Putting a little bit more salt on them today in areas where its still drawing out moisture and then tomorrow I'll probably use an air compressor and brush and clean them up. Some flies laying eyes due to the crappy time of year to be doing this so want to try and blow out as many as I can. Will have to monitor it closely to ensure nothing that hatches sticks around.
The lattice under the salted hide is a good idea. Would an oscillating fan speed up the drying process as well?
I’m quite sure that I’d be in the number of folks too green behind the controls of a boat to attempt some of the crossings that you all made.
Quite the adventure, well told.
I’m quite sure that I’d be in the number of folks too green behind the controls of a boat to attempt some of the crossings that you all made.
Quite the adventure, well told.
BAKPAKR
Well-known member
Wow - your best is a monster! Congrats.
seeth07
Well-known member
I got a fan on both now and decided to move them into my enclosed trailer due to the massive amount of flies that showed up today
seeth07
Well-known member
Full bear ham brined all week and ready to hit the smoker.
