First, let me state that Alaskan Brown Bear has always been my number one dream hunt: even before I started big game hunting in 1986. A short history: The summer of 1977, between my freshman and sophomore year in college, I worked on Kodiak Island in a fish cannery, the fishermen went on strike, so I fished everyday until my left arm couldn’t reel in another fish, then I fished right handed until it tired, then fished with both hands, then rested until I could fish some more….and then fished some more: It was a great summer. While fishing along Yuyak Bay (sp) and a river about two miles away I had numerous encounters with brown bears, nothing life threatening, but definitely hair raising and it sparked my desire to hunt something other then pheasants and dove. I also learned about Alaskan coastal tides, coastal brush, and devils club, the hard way!
Forward to 2002: I read on another traditional bowhunting site (before Tradgang) where this guy had recently moved to Juneau and is looking to meet up with other traditional bowhunters. I responded that I didn’t live in Juneau but my Brother Bob who shoots traditional had recently taken a transfer with his work and was moving there in a couple of weeks. We emailed each other a couple of times, realized we had a couple of mutual friends and have touched bases off and on since. As you probably guessed, Steve posted the inquiry. It turned out that Steve and Bob worked in the same building and got to know each other over the next several years.
Forward to 2005: For three years I had been trying to make Brother Bob commit to a Brown Bear hunt but had been unable to succeed. For the 2006 hunting season he finally committed, I filled out the applications and paid the fees for both Dall Sheep and Brown Bear tags for both of us and started dreaming. As luck would have it, we both drew both tags. Unfortunately, as happens with some people, Brother Bob had changed since moving to Alaska and one of those changes was he lost his desire to hunt. This resulted in him not hunting since moving to Alaska and he did not have much of an idea where to hunt brown bear (read that again “not hunting since moving to Alaska” That folks, is my definition of an oxy-moron (spelling intended)). We spent the next several months researching different options and got some good information from our brother Bill and some of his flying buddies who had flown logging helicopters for several years in the area. However, I didn’t have much faith in our information but was committed to the hunt and wasn’t going to let Brother Bob back out. I was going regardless! This is where Steve came to the rescue and provided us with all if his hard earned knowledge of the area. He unselfishly provided us with the locations of where he had hunted brown bear, where he had seen them, how to hunt them, what supplies to take, and what precautions to taken. Believe me, this wasn’t general information, descriptions, or suggestions. We went into a totally unfamiliar area and knew exactly what to expect around each bend, where the best place to glass from was, when the best time to hunt an area was, where the unseen obstacles were, you get the idea. It was like having an exceptional guide tells us every pertinent piece of information before leaving Juneau. Once again, before I forget, THANKS STEVE!!
I will try to write some more this morning but most likely it will be later this evening after my son and daughter in-law leave before I am able complete the account my hunt.
Topic: May 2009: SOLO Alaskan Brown Bear (Read 9257 times)
