07 December 2014, 04:29
hvrhunterDETAILS:
Species: Alaskan Brown Bear
Hunt Dates: September 28, 2014-October 14, 2014
Outfitter: R&R Alaska Peninsula Guide Service --Rod Schuh
Guide: Justin DuBay
Size of Trophy: 10'7" Skull over 28 waiting for score
DETAILS:
Species: Alaskan Brown Bear
Hunt Dates: September 28, 2014-October 14, 2014
Outfitter: R&R Alaska Peninsula Guide Service --Rod Schuh
Guide: Justin DuBay
Size of Trophy: 10'7" Skull over 28 waiting for score
Gun: 375 H&H Reloads 285 gr Grand Slam with 75 gr Winchester 760 Powder
Scope: 1.5x5 Leupold
I put in for this limited entry draw for 10 years.
We flew in on the 28th of September 3 days before the season opened to glass for bears. I had put in for this limited permit hunt for the previous 10 years. On the flight in we flew over a dead whale on the Bering Sea side of the island and we landed 3 1/2 miles inland on this cinder patch to set up camp.
Rod is an excellent pilot and operates a top notch guide service. Requests for supplies were fulfilled quickly and this is one of the reasons that I like to hunt with outfitters that own their own planes.
Bomb Shelter Tent with electric fence
Justin has guided for Rod Schuh and hunted on this island for seventeen years. Each day we hiked 2 miles to either a east ridge or a west ridge depending upon the wind direction to set up and glass for bears in the area of the dead whale. Justin was quiet yet personable. He is a professional in every aspect.
This bear walked by while we were setting up our tent. He was 300 yards away heading for the dead whale 3 1/2 miles away. It was easy to spot the bears due to the openness of the tundra. In our area, we had no thick brush or alders. We spotted an average of 26 bears per day. Our hunt focused on the dead whale. Justin knew that there was a big bear feeding on the whale because at times nearly 30 bears would leave the whale and come up onto the tundra to eat berries and sleep. We are still 1 1/2 miles from the dead whale. We could not see the whale because of the sand dunes. Besides the bears we had wolves that were trying to get to the whale, but we never observed them having any success getting whale meat. The caribou on the island have been decimated by the wolves, but we did see small groups on occasion.
On the first day glassing it was apparent that this hunt could end on the first day of the season. I did not want that to happen as I wanted to experience the entire aspect of brown bear hunting including some bad weather, wind, rain, etc. I had trained for a hunt not a shoot. And I was prepared mentally to go the distance.
We watched bears fish for salmon in these lagoons. When the ears would lay down to sleep they would disappear due to the tall grass.
I have on 6 Upper layers of clothing: Silk top, Capelene shirt, alpaca sweater, puffy jacket, Sitka storm front jacket, wiggy's 3/4 length rain parka. Bottom Layer: silk long underwear, Sitka storm front pants, glacier socks. Footwear: Kolflach plastic boots and outdoor research gaiters. I never got cold. We would sit for 6-8 hours glassing.
This volcano vented ash everyday that we were there. And we could also see Isanostki Volcano in the distance, which is also active.
Humidity never dropped below 50% and reached as high as 86% after it had rained. We got rain and spitting snow 6-10 times per day while glassing. Wind was common. I would hunker down inside my parka. The temperature was in the 40's.
On the day we flew out there was a brief window of opportunity to take off due to high winds. This is the surf with 22 MPH winds. I found orange buoys 3/4 miles inland. I could not figure out how they landed in their resting place until on the windy days I saw how far inland the surf came.
The Final Choice
As we walked up to this bear there was no ground shrinkage and Justin said we got a 10 footer. The bear was so massive that we had great difficulty rolling him over for pictures. Justin called Rod on the Sat Phone to tell him that we needed help and Rod flew in within the hour from Cold Bay and as he flew over us we looked up to see a 9+ foot bear walking in to us at 40 yards regardless of our scent. After much yelling and a warning shot the 9+footer turned and left us.
This bear's head was so massive that Justin had to lift the head so that I could slide underneath it for this photo.
After skinning this bear, Justin packed the hide to the beach and I carried the skull. The hide weighed more than the guide at 157 pounds. With the Super Cub on the beach we were able to fly the bear hide and skull out to Cold Bay. We hiked the 3 1/2 miles to the tent some in darkness to wait for our ride out. All in all that day we hiked 11 miles according to the GPS. For the next three days, I got a taste of real Unimak weather, as we were tentbound.
This bear is my North American hunting career fulfillment. This bear and hunt was beyond my expectations and I know that I can hunt the rest of my life and not even see another bear like this.
Due to the price to change the airfare by two days, Rod put me in touch with a local duck hunting guide. We hunted brandt for two days. We were successful both days for brandt and ptarmigan. It is a little unnerving going to the duck blind early in the morning and bumping into a brown bear.
We hunted the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that borders Cold Bay.
