Alaska Brown Bear 2010

[FullCryHounds]

I left Denver on May 2nd and flew to Kenai where my buddy Ron picked me up.
We stopped at Air Service and checked weather for the Peninsula. It looked good for the following day. On the 3rd, we loaded up the Cub and headed down to Bear Lake Lodge about 500 miles down the Alaskan Peninsula. The ice pack was still up next to the shore most of the way but after Walrus point, the ice cleared. There were a lot of whales just south of the ice pack waiting for it to clear so they could make their way north to their feeding grounds.

[FullCryHounds]

We did manage to find two dead walruses on the way down and so we landed on the beach and cut out the tusks. (A lot harder job then it sounds like)

[FullCryHounds]

Bear Lake was still frozen when we arrived about 7 hours later and there was snow everywhere. The following day, we flew down to HooDoo lake and it too was froze over. We did see some bear tracks in the lower elevations and down by the beach. HooDoo Hilton, our 12x14 foot cabin, had made it through another tough winter and everything inside was in order so no major repairs like in past years. The ropes on the cabin are to hold it down in 100mph winds. We spent the next few days provisioning the cabin with fuel, food, and propane. We loaded up the 15hp boat motor and got it down there also.

[FullCryHounds]

On the 7th, Todd, our packer showed up along with some of the other guides that would be guiding out of the Lodge. Bear Lake Lodge was started in 1964 by Don Johnson and is run today by his son Warren. The lodge has a long list of distinguished guests that have hunted there throughout the years including Arnold Palmer, Chuck Yeager, and the prince of Saudi Arabia (he was the ambassador to the US at the time) who booked the entire lodge for his trip. He brought along his entire entourage of 30 friends and security guards to enjoy his trip. He did get a nice bear and I understand everyone thought he was a nice guy. I heard his monthly income from the family fortune was 20 million. His body guards all carried automatic weapons.
The season started on May 10th and our first two clients were from the D.C. area. I had hunted with Marc before out of Kotzebue several years earlier where he had taken a nice Grizzly. This trip proved to be pretty tough but I knew Marc was up to the challenge. He was eager to go and not at all afraid to do some hiking. Since the lake was frozen, we ended up hiking up a valley to the south about 4 miles. One of the ways you hunt these bears in the spring is to look for their tracks coming down from the top of the mountains where they den. On the fourth day, I spotted a new track we hadn’t seen the previous day another mile up the valley. The track came down a ridge and looked like it ended. I glassed the surrounding area but kept coming back to this track. I couldn’t see where the track left this one area. I concentrated on this spot for some time and finally spotted what I thought was the top of the bears back. I watched it for 10 minutes and finally he raised his head. There was a low rise in front of this bear and he was lying down behind it. The stalk was on! We dropped down the ridge we were on and took off up the valley. We got to 450 yards and he was still sleeping in the snow field. We continued up the hill to a rock outcropping and I checked the range. 196 yards. I got Marc set up for the shot by getting him to lay down and use the top of the ridge to rest his rifle on. Marc’s first shot looked like it completely missed. The bear stood up on his front feet and looked around. The bear was next to a large ravine and if he made it down there, we’d never see him again. Marc shot again but I didn’t hear it hit. I shot and broke his back. The bear tried pulling himself toward the ravine with his front feet and Marc put one in his vitals and it was over. Walking up on his bear, Marc couldn’t believe how big he was. I told him I thought he would go close to 10’. While we skinned him out, we watched a Wolverine heading to the top of a huge mountain we were next to. Not sure why the Wolverines and bears hang out at the top of these mountains that are covered in snow but that’s where most of them are this time of year. We took the skull with us and got back to the cabin several hours later. The next day, we took Todd, our packer back up and packed out that hide. We later weighed it at 186 lbs. Todd is an animal, that’s all I can say. We were at least 4 miles from the lake where we could get the boat to so that’s where we headed to. This hike was pretty tough without a heavy load, rough tundra, wet bogs and crossing the river at least a half a dozen times. Todd used to be a linebacker for Iowa a few years ago and is built like one. Great guy to have in camp and always in a great mood. Todd completed his requirements to get his Alaskan guide license so he’ll be guiding for us this fall.

[FullCryHounds]

We ended up getting two more bears for our other clients. One at the other end of the lake after it cleared off and the other, two hours before he had to leave to catch a flight. One bear was 8 and a half, the other 9 and a half. One of my clients made a bad hit on his bear and it started to take off, I shot and hit it in the front shoulder before it went over the hill. We started up the hill and the client couldn’t make it so Todd and I went up hoping we would find him dead. Didn’t happen. We first made a large half circle on the uphill side to see if he made it up the hill. We didn’t find anything so I went back down and picked up the blood trail. I followed it about 300 yards where it went down into a large ravine then up the other side. I figured this ravine may have slowed him down. On the other side we hit a large Alder patch about 50 yards wide. Alders are like a jungle and very difficult to get through let alone trying to get away from a pissed off bear so Todd and I started around it to see if he made it out. We didn’t get far when Todd heard a noise, looked up to see the bear coming at us. Todd put one in his throat about 10 yards from us and dropped him. He had a broken shoulder and a hole in his neck from the clients first shot but didn’t hit anything vital. We found where the bear must have heard us coming and he turned around inside that Alder patch and was either waiting for us or just couldn’t go much further.

[FullCryHounds]

When we were getting the cabin ready for our hunt, we were flying up the valley a couple of miles to our lake, we spotted two tents. They were no where near a place you could land and we were surprised to see them there. Another outfitter had set them up, right on the border to the refuge. We have the exclusive rights to hunt inside the refuge so we weren’t too happy to see another camp so close to our little bit of heaven. Several days later, the outfitter crashed his super cub while trying to land in the tundra next to these tents. The plane was totaled but fortunately no one was hurt. The outfitter borrowed another plane and about a week later we lent him an extra prop for that plane after he bent the original one. Not a good year for this poor guy. I heard Cabela’s books his hunts.
The weather this year was cold, windy and about 3-4 weeks behind a normal year. A lot of other outfitters down that way had a tough time finding bears. Most bears were still in their dens. We never did see any sows and cubs which are the last to come out.
We helped pull camps out on the 25th on a blue bird day, the first we’d seen all month. The weather report called for another low to head up the peninsula the next day so late that afternoon, we loaded up the cub and headed back to Soldotna. We landed around 11:30 that night.
The pictures I’ve posted, were all taken on other years out of the same camp. Flying home out of Anchorage, I always pack my expensive gear in my day pack and carry it on. Binocs, spotting scope, camera, etc. I also had a set of Walrus tusks with me.
I carry this pack on every flight because I can’t afford to replace these items. TSA went through my bag several times and when I got home, my HD video camera was gone. I called the TSA office in Anchorage and asked the guy to look at the surveillance video to see if we could find out where my camera ended up. He was very helpful, and did offer to look at the video. Unfortunately, that overhead camera was inoperable the morning I went through.
Well, someone has a very nice camera with some really nice video and pictures from this year. So I’m sorry I don’t have those to show you.

[FullCryHounds]

I had some really neat pictures of our camp fox that had some great meals of our steaks and other meat he dug up out of our stash in the snow. On another day, just before the lake cleared off, the winds came up and I looked out to see our boat on top of a 10 foot wall of ice that had blown into our beach.
We did manage a few days of fishing. Ron and I flew a few miles north to the Sandy River and had a great day of Steelhead fishing, a first for me. HooDoo Lake is full of 4-6lb Arctic Char and they were hungry. Todd and I caught 25 fish in less then 10 minutes one day. By far the best fishing I’ve ever had. We would go out and catch a couple dozen fish, clean them, then send them back to the lodge for everyone else to enjoy. Hopefully some of them made it out to spike camps also. It paid off, the girls at the lodge sent us some great steaks and king crab one day!

Alaska in an incredible place I hope everyone gets a chance to hunt up there some time. Everything is so remote, you never see another hunter and the game is plentiful. If you ever get the chance to go, take time to enjoy all the other aspects of your hunt. By far the most enjoyable to me is the flying. We always fly low and get to see a lot of game and other things that you don’t always get to enjoy when flying. Coming down the Peninsula, we were never higher then 100 feet flying down the beach. If you see something interesting, you simply land on the 800 mile long runway below you. We found old Japanese glass balls that were used back in the 30s-40s as fishing buoys. Some of them are wrapped in the original rope they used to protect them. Years ago, someone at the lodge found a human skull that had washed up. It’s now sitting in the lodge with hundreds of other interesting items that hang all over the walls and rafters. Old guns found in the field, dozens of sets of walrus tusks and huge bear traps. I’d love to know what the story is on many of these items.

Overall a great trip, looking forward to spring 2012.

[grouse]

That sounds like a great time ,thanks for sharing your adventure

[JasonBB]

wow what a great adventure thx for sharing it with us,do you have anymore pictures?

[pegleg]

thats one of the greatest places in the world and americans are luckt to have it as a state. my only wish is our ancestors would have managed to collect a state or two in africa to call our own. however with all the loss of intellect in the american people it probably would only be a shadow of what africa can really be. it's really to bad about your camera. those pictures are the some of te best trophies a guy can collect. they revitalize the memories even years later. i have picttures that bring back smells and sounds to me and our quite worthless to anyone else.

[tylers dad]

Thanks for posting Dean. I always look forward to your Alaska trip.

[Benny G]

Dean, Sounds like a great adventure. For those of us who have never gone to Alaska, we can live out the adventures through your sharing. Thanks.

[spruce mountain]

Great story,Thanks for posting.

[Cat track]

Great story as always dean