My mosquito bites have finally healed up and it's time to recap my grizzly bear hunt with Jake Jefferson of Black River Hunting Camps. It was a 2 x 1 guided baited grizzly hunt. My hunting partner was a fellow AR member, Dale. I'm sure he will add a few comments to this thread. Jake had trail camera pictures of a couple black bears and several grizzly bears hitting the bait. He suggested that we both buy a black bear along with the grizzly tag. It was a good idea. We killed four bears, two black bears and two grizzly/brown bears.

I got to do several things that were on my bucket list on this hunt. The first was to fly in a Piper Cub with those big balloon tundra tires and land on a gravel bar on a river bed. As we banked to land on the gravel bar the glacier on the mountain came into full view and it was amazing.

I arrived at camp a day late because my American Airlines flight from Durango to Dallas was cancelled due to weather, severe thunderstorms and flooding in Dallas. I had to rebook and fly out of Albuquerque, NM.

The first night Dale and Jake sat on the bait. A small black bear and several grizzly came in. The grizzly bears were a little rubbed so Dale decided to pass as it was the first night of a 10 day hunt. On the second night all three of us were in the blind. That little black bear was there again -- she had a big rub spot on her her butt, and she was easy to recognize. She came in so often we named her Miss Piggy. Several grizzly came in -- the first was a nice sow. I had shot a nice sow on my last hunt with Jake and I wanted a big boar, so I passed on her. A boar came in but again he was rubbed again we passed. A nice black bear came in -- its hide was perfect -- Dale shot. One bullet from his 375 H&H through the lungs, the bear went about 20 yards, and we hear its death moans. That was the first time I ever heard them, it kind of gave me the creeps.

The third night of the hunt, more black bears were coming in now. I'm not sure if Miss Piggy was coming into heat but the males started to show up. I killed a nice boar black bear. The bait barrels are tied to a tree above a bench. So the bears would stand on the bench and lean into the barrels. Jake told me to go right down the spine and hit him between the shoulders. I did -- he dropped like a sack of potatoes. We walked up on him and he was alive. He was "woofin" at us. He couldn't move and he wasn't happy. I put one in his neck and that ended it. Later that night a BIG grizzly came in. He was rubbed but he was a tank of a bear. Dale was up, and he was thinking of passing the bear. I told him if he didn't want him, I would. Dale reconsidered and put the TSX behind the shoulder. He had to clip the spine because the boar dropped. Dale then put a couple in him to end it. The bear could shake his head and growl but he couldn't move. That boar was a dream bear -- he had scars all over his head, several that were fresh. There was a big scar down his chest. It was healed up but it was several feet long -- from another bear, or maybe a moose antler? He had big white claws. Jake said his skull was 25 inches.

The next night was slow, just black bears, no grizzly. That's OK as Jake was busy skinning and salting the bears that we had already killed. Have I mentioned the mosquitoes? They were thick. We had several "Thermacells," a must have in AK. If you go take extra butane and pads. You can't have too many. Jake has a toilet seat on a little folding chair. It was an adventure to go. Those little suckers will bite you in places no one has a right to. I would wear a head net and put the thermacell on the ground. It helped but those suckers are determined.

I missed a big grizzly the following night. He was cracking branches as he came in not twigs but big branches--"Big Cracks." How someone can miss a bear big enough to dunk a basketball with a rest at 100 yards is beyond me, but I did. Maybe because he was hitting the barrel with his front paw sending it crashing around the tree, much like Joe Frazier would hit the heavy bag. Maybe it was me breathing so hard I fogged up both my glasses and the Leupold. My heart was racing and I missed him twice. Both were clean misses -- we found where the bullet made furrows in the moss/dirt, just like plowing a field.

The season closed the next day in this unit. So we flew out and would hunt at another bait site Jake has in a different unit. We took a boat ride to this bait site. Jake's wife, Rudi, would come along for the last two nights. We re-baited the barrels and sat. Nothing showed up that night. We were down to my last night. Doubts were really starting to set in. Jake was confident that a bear would come in. Rudi was a little tired and she wanted to go back to the boat to take a nap. Well, about 20 minutes later I needed to go. I didn't want to go back the boat for the "seat," so I walked down the trail and moved off around 50 yards. Don't ask me how but I walked back to the trail and I missed it. I walked right by it, I guess -- so I turned around and walked back. I knew I could find the river and the boat. I could pick up the trail there. I walked around for a good 15 to 20 minutes. I fell over branches several times, cracking them. Finally I come out above the boat. Rudi is there locking the latches. Her eyes were wide, as big as saucers. She thought it was a bear circling. Jake was the there also looking for me. He thought maybe a bear had found me. Anyway we all went back to the blind. Rudi them come up with the best line of the whole trip. "Jake, maybe you should have your clients bring a roll of surveyor's tape." We laughed so hard, and the tension was broken. A couple hours later a nice sow came into the bait. I put a 220 Nolser Partition from my 30/06 behind her shoulder. She jumped and went about 15 yards and piled up. She has a beautiful unrubbed hide.

This was one of my best hunts ever. Jake and I just mesh. It was one liner after one liner. We were laughing and cutting up the entire hunt. We saw lots of bears. The food is good. Remember it's a fly in trip. Plenty of Mountain Man dinners, Chicken and Dumplings. We would have breakfast burritos -- plenty of eggs, bacon and potatoes.

If you ever want to do an AK grizzly hunt, Jake is the real deal. This was my 2nd hunt with him. I'm thinking of doing a third, maybe a fall hunt over a salmon stream.

I can email some photos if someone could post them.

Bob

Great story. Congratulations to both on your bears. Photos?

Congrats on the bears and thanks for the report!

Sounds like a fine hunt.

Outstanding! Having done a hunt similar to this, I could just picture everything that was going on. Jake is the real deal and we shared time together at the Alpine Creek Lodge on my grizzly hunt. A year later I met Rudi and Jake coming out of the Walmart in Eagle River. Yes, pictures please!

Bob, great hunt, but I can sympathize with you with the mosquitoes. On a Moose hunt, I got to camp probably a week too early, before a decent frost. They were excruciating! You couldn't open your mouth without inhaling a few, and trying to get to sleep with them buzzing around your face is near impossible. You wake up looking like a teen with severe acne! I'll be going later in the season from now on.

Pictures for Colorado Bob.

Very nice! And, yes, the ThermaCells are life savers with the mozies. Sitting in a bear blind for hours on end, you'd better have them!

Very nice. Once again congratulations to all evolved.

Bob, thanks for putting the report together. You did a great job.

I saw this hunt listed here on AR. I called Jake and talked to him and asked if he knew anyone who was looking for someone to hunt with, as this was listed as a 22 on 1 hunt. A couple of days later he called back and gave me Bob's number. Bob and I talked and decided we could at least get along for 10 days, so we booked the hunt. Bob, Jake, and I had a lot of laughs and saw lots of bares. Camp was comfortable but not like those of you who hunt Africa are used to. Everything had to go in by Super Cub.

I would definitely recommend this hunt. Jake is a true professional and a nice guy.