Short SE Alaska Bear Hunt

[Steve O]

Seems I have had the worst luck lately on my hunts.  Lots of good planning to all be ruined by my job.  Well, my latest trip to Alaska ended early in just about the same way   :(  

I did get to see some beautiful things and am sure I have converted yet another hunter to the TallTines tribe, but no bears were harmed in the following...

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

Well Steve....sorry to hear that! Guess we'll have to get you a world record color phase blackie next spring to make up for it. I'm sure the rest of the fall will be good to you...Ryan

[Steve O]

I like Alaska.  I like REMOTE Alaska much better.  I have seen a lot of our 49th state from the Kenai Peninsula up to Fairbanks.  Two spots that I have not experienced were the Brooks Range in the far north and until this past week, the extreme SE Alaska; the Prince of Wales region.  I've always thought one of the boat based hunts would be grand, but they are  grand in the way of expense also.  Not wanting to brave the ocean on my own in the spring, I figured a fall hunt with the black bears homing in on the salmon in the streams would be doable.  So for the past 4 years, I have been researching how to get the POW experience without the POW crowds.

My final plan was to charter a float plane to an island off POW.  We would land on a series of lakes connected to the ocean.  Inflatable rafts would give us the flexibility to find which of the many streams the bears were focusing on for thier meals and put us where we could ambush them from base camp.

It started off as a grand adventure for 4 in one of the many Forest Service Cabins that are scattered thruought the Tongass National Forest, almost ended up as a solo trip, but in the last month became a trip for two.  It was nice to have a partner      

Here is a shot of the gear I took for two weeks in the bush (minus clothes, my TallTines, and waders).

 


The left group is my Kifaru 4 man tipi and stove along with a couple of silnylon tarps.

Next to that to the right is two weeks worth of food, jetboil for cooking, water purifier, lights and other misc camp items.

The next group to the right of that includes various fire making and starting eqpt along with knives and first aid kit.

The final group on the right was my 5lb ultralight inflatable raft.  An Alpacka unrigged Explorer.

[doug77]

Hey Steve O glad to see your back hope you had a good hunt. I not complaining but I'm sitll looking for a job.

doug77

[Steve O]

Ryan--   :D   --I am definitely counting on you next spring!  Good luck with your elk hunt!

Douggie--I know you are just waiting till AFTER whitetail season to put your nose back on the grindstone!    

[Mike Vines]

Atleast you made it to Alaska.  It is a place I can only dream of, atleast for now.  In your picture above you mentioned that little pile of stuff is your food for 2 weeks.  What the heck is in that pile that will keep you fed for 2 weeks?

[Steve O]

The plan was to get out in the bush a few days before bear season opened and check out all the streams we could access and find the bears.

For those that don't know, the POW region of SE Alaska is a RAIN FOREST!  It was a great test of all my Sitka Gear...that stuff just plain works!  I was expecting rain all the time.  We got that!  What I was not expecting was bad storms--we had a night of 2 inches of rain and 60mph winds.

So, here is camp:

 


We set up a latrine in one direction and a covered kitchen/eating area with bear bags containing our food securly hung in the trees in the other.  We did not want to have our only shelter shredded while we were out hunting by a bear with more of a taste for Mountain House than salmon.

[doug77]

come on I need to get to bed. I have a hard day planned tomorrow

doug77

[Steve O]

Mike,

Here is a better shot of the food:

 

On the left is my home made trail mix (dried fruits, pistachios, cashews, almonds, pecans, and dark chocholate M&M's) along with 30 energy bars of various brands and a couple of Mountain House Ice Cream Sandwiches for celebration.

The next group to the right contains various Mountain House, Backpackers Pantry, and my homemade dehydrated meals for dinners.

To the right of them is more fixins for lunches with a variety of fish in a pouch, potatoes, noodles, and single serve hamburger helpers.

To the right of that is all my breakfasts.  These include instant oatmeals supplemented with dried fruits, nuts, and jerky as well as some packages of cold cereal with Carnation brand powdered milk and the fruit and nuts.  Plus a couple MH bacon and eggs.

The last group on the right is my stove--a JetBoil--that boils the water with SUPER efficiency.  2 cups to a rolling boil in 2 minutes and I cooked all the meas for both of us for 6 days on one cannister of fuel.  Also coffee and tea packets and some french vanilla powder.  Starbucks have these packets of instant coffeee called Via; they are awesome.

There is food here for two weeks plus a couple days days in case we would get stuck!  LOTS of food!

[Steve O]

Hey, it is only 6pm Alaska time...

Here is a shot of the flight in:


 


and a pause in the action for a TallTines commercial    :

 


Seriously, in that shot, you can see I am wearing a pair of waist high waders.  PERFECT.  Hip boots are too short for exploring and chest waders are too big and hot.  Stocking foot with good supportive felt soled boots made me like a mountain goat in the streams.  Beware; Alaska is outlawing felt soled wading shoes in 2012 to help stop the spread of invasive species.

[Steve O]

Base camp was my 4 man Kifaru Tipi.  It was good for the two of us.

 


The tipi is set up for a wood stove.  That is a great asset to heat things up and dry off a little.  There was plenty of driftwood to cut up.

 

Once the wood was piled up inside the shelter of the tipi, it dried out quickly.


The tipi was set up on the beach.  This was not an ideal spot, but the best we could find.  Everything else was either mature timber, rock, or sponge that you would step on and sink in 6 inches oozing water out the whole time.  We were able to get down thru the gravel of the beach and got solid footing for the pegs.  Solid enough to make it just fine thru the big storms we got.  Here is my buddy wondering if we are going to make it:

 


Another cool thing was he brought Mike Mitten's book for inspiration:

 

[Steve O]

As I said, the first few days were to be used for scouting:

 


 

 

[talltines]

Sorry to hear things didn't quite turn out as planned SteveO.  In talking to you since you returned I have to say that your positive attitude even when things didn't go your way is an inspiration to me.  I have a feeling the results will be a little, make that A LOT different in Manitoba.  Glad you had a safe trip and I'm looking forward to our hunt next spring bud!!

[Steve O]

If you are going to be scouting out the streams, you really, really should bring along your fishing pole...


   
Spawning male Sockeye Salmon


   
Spawning female Sockeye Salmon

   


   

Coho Salmon male


   


   

We are blessed here in Michigan to have a good salmon fishery and I have fished for them in the streams a LOT.  What I saw in Alaska amazed me.  When one of us would hook a fish and it spooked some of the others, the entire river would look like it was rising 6 inches and you could see the wave of fish run up stream.  THOUSANDS of fish in a pool!

Of the 10 or so streams we found on the lakes, this was the only one that contained the Sockeye and Coho salmon.  It was also the widest and deepest and the only one containg salmon that was devoid of bear sign.  

The bears were concentrating on the Pink Salmon also known as "Humpys" for the pronounced hunp on the spawning males back.  I have some video of a male but only have still pics of a spawning female.  The Pinks start out chrome from the ocean as well, but turn a different shade than the Sockeye for spawning.

   

[Steve O]

Brian--thanks for making me a bow I have the ultimate confidence in to perform in the WORST field conditions.  One of the reasons the trip was abbreviated was becasue my friend's high dollar ILF bow was not able to stand up to the harsh SE Alaska enviornment.  The wood handle failed.

He shot my TT quite a bit in camp and was amazed by the speed and accuracy of the set up.  Perfect flight with the vanes and elevated rest.


 


 


 


When your life depends on hanging on to your boat while you are dragging it UP the rapids, your bow plays second fiddle.  My TT was slammed around pretty hard on this trip and the worst thing that happened were a few "character" marks on the camo finish.

[Steve O]

Our plan was to head up stream until we found bear sign and a good ambush spot.  We would hunt one of these the first night depending on the wind and after the first sit, press further up stream to see if we could find a better spot with more action.

 


 


 
Bear feeding site


Salmon processing
 

[Steve O]

The whole area was EXTREMELY thick.  This is a shot of a hole in the brus that I could actually see over 20 yards.  It was so rare, I  had  to get a pic!

 


A shot from one of my stands.  Over looking a pile of salmon carcasses while standing on the other side of the river on the other.  Sorry it is so blurry; I use a waterproof Olympus camera, but it is so wet and humid here it is impossible to keep the lens clear all the time.

 

[Mudd]

Wow! What an adventure!! It speaks well of Tall Tines to stand up to all it went through.

It also speaks well of you and your partner to do as well.

I sure hate it that equipment failure(partners bow) made for a shortened adventure.

Thanks for your attention to detail. Others can learn much from your documentation.

Your pictures are awesome as well!!

Thank you!

God bless,Mudd

[Steve O]

This was a very, very difficult hunt. It was tough logistically and it was tough technically--I don't have to deal with tides here in Michigan!  Tides would take the narrows between the lakes from something you could paddle back and forth accross to a raging class IV rapid.  

I knew that it would be like that going into it, but it has been said many times, "The tougher the journey, the sweeter the reward."  I thought we had a 50/50 shot at bringing home a bear while planning this trip.  After that first week, I knew that was VERY optimistic thinking.  When my partner lost his bow and used the sat phone to check on things at home and found out he had big trouble at the business he owns, it was a very easy decision to pack it in and chalk this one up as an excellent fishing trip!  In addition to being able to hook into a salmon on every cast, we caught Dolly Vardon and Cutthroat trout in the rivers and lakes.  We we also treated to some of the most rugged an beautiful country a guy could ask to see.


A few more of my favorite shots:


 


 


 


 


 

[Whip]

Cool stuff Steve - what dreams are made of!  Too bad it was shortened a bit from the original plan, but you still did a lot more than most people ever will.  Sounds like quite an adventure!