May 2009: SOLO Alaskan Brown Bear

[Steve H.]

I had more stalks than I mentioned in 2007, some close and some not even close but I had a great time and so it ended, bearless again.


Stay tunned for 2008.  To heck with 9 yards, how about a CLOSE range encounter?!  

I GUARANTEE some chilling brown bear story is coming your way, LOL!!!

[jcar315]

more, More, MORE!!! Can't get enough bear hunting stories. The pic of your bow in the foreground with the thicket you were in is great! Really gives a sense for what it might be like.

[AZStickman]

Great story Walt and Steve!!! Thanks for taking the time and effort to share it.... Terry

[Stripstrike1]

           

[Toklat1]

Your a modern day Russell Annabel with stick & string!  

[Steve H.]

During the years I had a mental conflict brewing with the way that I was hunting and Walt may have (or may not) have realized this as well.  When you bowhunt brown bears by stalking you are taking an offense position and the bow is an offensive weapon.

By carrying a firearm in the other hand I was carrying a defensive weapon and I found it was inconsistent with the attitude I needed to carry in my mind and it adversely affected how I moved in the woods and my mental level I needed for hunt mode.  I was out of balance (I know, most of you think this anyway bowhunting brown bears solo, lol)

So starting in 2008 I compromised and went to a handgun for deep backup.  Instead of going the route of uncontrollable hand-canon I went a different route.  The reality is that brown bears on Chichagof Island are MOSTLY 200-450 pound animals in the spring.  I am a semi-autoloader shooter so I went to a Glock 20 in 10mm loaded super hot which is approximately equivalent to a .41 Magnum.  I carry 15 rounds at 200 grains a piece for a total of 3,000 grains of lead, over three times as much lead as I carried with my .375 H&H Magnum buffalo rifle!  I would probably rethink this position in the big bear areas such as Kodiak, Unimak, etc.  Now MANY of those bears are BIG!

On brown bear hunts I am more concerned with the bear that I don’t know is there versus the one I am stalking.  BTW, I know more guys injured while bowhunting hogs than brown bears (any of you know my buddy Streling?).  I also realize that the likelihood of getting to any gun is iffy at best and that is why I key in on bears with the right attitude!

[tradtusker]

what a great thread !
keep it coming Steve
would love to hunt a griz some day

[paleFace]

wish i could have been in your back pocket with my video camera... what a hunt!    

[swp]

Thanks for sharing all this Steve, it is GREAT reading!

[Walt Francis]

Steve,
 I had the same thought as you regarding carrying a sidearm, when my bear hunt resumed on the mainland the shotgun was left at Bob's and replaced with the .44 mag.  There is no doubt in my mind that I would have closed the gap on the first brown bear if I had not been hampered with the shotgun.  Several time during the stalk I almost left it lying on the beach.
I was lucky whit with the terrain during my stalk, the ten to fifteen yards next to the brush was mostly sand mixed with grapefruit to basketball sized rocks.  Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with the barnacles and other creatures present in most tidal flats.

[Shaun]

This is getting really good, keep it coming.

[Steve H.]

Ok, I am back and have a few minutes.

Walt:  The density of bears on the ABC Islands is really high compared to the mainland so opportunity for an encounter is way higher as well.  I am surprised you even saw a brown bear on the mainland and it would be hard to justify carrying anything extra like a 10# big bore.

[Steve H.]

The year 2008 was my second year back to Otter Island.  I set my camp at the same site and was really pleased that towards the end of 2007 I had discovered a narrow saddle of sand and gravel strung between Otter Island and a little islet that was connected at low tide but was a rocky islet of its own at high tide.  This find helped me anchor my boat in a better, more secure location where it would rest on less abrasive surfaces that a big jumble of rocks and would always be closer to a good place to drag the boat back to water at any given time.  Once in the early days I had my boat go down with the lowering tide onto a huge boulder and almost tip over when part rested high and dry and the rest continued to go down with the lowering tide.  Potentially bad news!

 

[Steve H.]

Here is one of my reach my camera out and take a picture of myself for posterity shots.  I believe this was taken at the big bay that I have described a few times earlier.  This bay produces so many bear sightings that is hard not to spend a lot of time there.

 

I spotted a nice bear with dark chocolate fur and a second smaller bear along the same stretch of beach where I had the close encounters in 2007.  The dark brown bear was just a little bit bigger than the bear last year…..I started to think it actually may be the same dark brown bear in his favorite hangout!  I saw both bears on several occasions but the wind was always blowing into the bay on a high tide where it was difficult to get the wind right for a stalk.  

Several days later after a lot of rain both bears were out feeding in the flats and I had a favorable opportunity to loop deep into the bay for a stalk.  I took a few quick minutes and investigated an old trapper’s cabin on the east side of the bay before continuing on.  There is a river that flows thru the tidal zone and at low tide its mouth is ¾ mile deeper in the flat than at high tide.  I was about six feet from wading across the river and on my tip toes trying to keep water from going over the tops of my hipboots but no such luck.  I stopped and stripped and dumped the water out and wrung out my wet britches and went on.

I made the tree line and worked my way adjacent to the smaller bear.  The bear was about 60-70 yards out from the treeline and the larger darker bear was working our way although 150 yards out in the flat.  The smaller bear growled.  The dark bear finally got too close and the smaller bear broke for cover…….remember who is sitting just inside of the closest cover?!

[Steve H.]

Picture this, I am inside the treeline and a brown bear is running DIRECTLY to me!  Oh crap, decision time.  Nock and arrow or draw the Glock?  I knocked a Grizzly tipped arrow (59# laminated longbow this year) and waited, not knowing if the smaller bar was being chased….were TWO bears about ready to run over the top of me?

[Steve H.]

The small bear enters the treeline 16 FEET away from me!

[Steve H.]

I start my draw and the devil pinches the bars tail and he is off.  I never really know what happen as it is brushy at the treeline and I can’t see if the larger dark bear is the devil that pinched the smaller bears tail or not.  In the photo I was standing where the small piece of orange flagging is on the ground.  The bear was standing at the small piece of orange flagging on the ground on the left side of the photo.

 

[Steve H.]

Now that the bears are all gone, the dangerous part of this story begins, seriously.......

[Steve H.]

I head back across the tidal flat as darkness descends upon the earth.  I reach the river and quickly realize that there is no way I am getting across.  The rains have flowed out of the high country and the river is swollen and moving swiftly out to sea.  I am soaking wet and can’t get across until the after the water subsides and that may be hours away at best but conditions could get worse. The tide is starting to ebb and flow back into the bay.  I am trapped.

[unclewhit]

Steve,
You are one heck of a story teller. You really know how to keep the reader on the edge of his seat.