Boat Based Black/Brown Bear Hunt – Alaska

Dates – May 19-25, 2019

Outfitter and Guide– Scott Newman – Alaska Bear Guides, LLC, www.alaskabearguide.com , info@alaskabearguide.com , assistant – Jim Boyce

Non-agent Agent – Jerry Huffaker, Taxidermist (more on this later)

Hunt Area – Petersburg, Alaska area near Admiralty Island

Game Sought- Black Bear, Brown Bear

Game Taken – Black Bear

Weapon and Optics – H-S Precision Takedown in .300 Win Mag, using 180 grain Federal Triple Shok bullets. Scope is a Swarovski Z6I 2.5-15x44 with turrets. I love the illuminated reticles.

Unique Aspect – From a boat and in an area near the base of a glacier that was calving icebergs. Also, this is a temperate rainforest in the Tongass National Forest. Weather was hot for this time of year – 70-80F each day. Very dry as well.

The flowers were stunning – these are lupines



Executive Summary

I am .5 for 4 on bear hunts. I am 0 for 4 on what I was after. I have been after all of them and taken one small female black bear (guide was convinced it was big, I was not and shot anyway. My mistake. More on this later). I have been on wild goose/bear chases when it comes to bears. Grizzly, brown, sure thing black bear hunts etc. I have been on them and decided that this was a waste of time and money.

I relayed this to Jerry Huffaker, a good friend and world champion taxidermist. He suggested Scott Newman, a one-man outfit in Alaska that he had hunted with a few times. I called Scott reluctantly and liked what I heard – no promises other than we would see bears. No promises we would kill a black or brown. He even tried to convince me that the brown bear option was a remote chance due to the time of year, but that we would try. Finally, a realistic guide.

Anyway, my wife and I went. I killed a really big and really cool cinnamon color phase black bear that went 20+ years old. It squared 7’ 2” by 7’ 2”. No luck on seeing brown bears, but that is hunting. Great trip.



Details

I am sick and tired and broke from chasing bears. I have been on several hunts and not seen a shootable bear yet – brown, black, purple, whatever. I have been misled on chances of success and I have shot a small female black bear in the process. A total train wreck repeated several times. The last wreck was an Alaska Peninsula brown bear hunt that yielded nothing but bad feelings over the way the hunt was managed.

So, I had basically given up on bear hunting and was thinking of going to Romania for a bear hunt. At least there, you will not get over-shot areas, horrible weather or a week plus in a tent in a desolate place. Jerry Huffaker is a world champion taxidermist from Abilene, Texas whom I have been working with for several years. Each time I got back from a disaster bear hunt, he would check to see if I had a skin or if the bear had mine. I told him – Never again. I am done with bears and Alaska and areas that are shot out or guides that don’t know bears from porcupines. He suggested calling Scott Newman in Petersburg, Alaska. Jerry had hunted with him several times and said was an honest and hard-working a guy as he had met. I trust Jerry. Jerry hunts with his own hard -earned money and knows good from bad when it comes to hunts. Jerry has killed bears with Scott before. Plus, we would hunt from a boat making it a good hunt to bring my wife.

On my last bear disaster, we went to the Alaskan Peninsula to the “best” brown bear area where the bears are 9’ or bigger and success was 85% or higher always. Well, that hunt was bad. The guide worked hard but had never been in the area. The outfitter is very well known and a good guy, but had not done any homework on the area he stuck us in. It was supposed to be loaded with salmon and, hence bears. There were no salmon, and this was a surprise to him when he flew us in. Further, we were supposed to be moved if we did not see bears. We were not moved even though others were. I had my wife with me as well. The weather was terrible, as we expected. We sat for 8 days in rain and wind looking at nothing. We saw two sows with cubs, one moose and that was about it. Never again. I later learned that the success ratios were not quite so high nor are the sizes of bears. Never again. One hunter stayed 16 days to kill his bear. His hunt partner killed a small sow. Never again.

So, reluctantly and hopefully, I sized Scott up and decided to book a black bear hunt. He offered a brown bear on trophy fee only basis should we get lucky in this area. This was the second outfitter I have dealt with in Canada or Alaska that has been 100% crystal clear on expectations, success, and what will happen on the hunt. The other is Darwin Cary of Scoop Lake Outfitters. The rest (I have been on 4 other hunts up north) have not measured up to that standard. I have been on “ok” hunts and a couple of train wrecks. The “ok” hunts went fine but were less than I expected. On those, I likely had too high of expectations due to lack of experience in this part of the world. The disasters were all out disasters by any measure.

Scott was very clear. We would see black bears. There are loads in the area. Would we see big ones? No promises other than he would tell me what I was looking at and let me decide. On brown bears, no promises as there are few in the area but when you see one it would likely be an old boar. I bought a tag and hunted on a trophy fee basis only.

Further, I opted to have the boat all to myself and not hunt 2x1. This added cost but I had my wife joining me and really did not want to share a boat with someone I don’t know. It was worth it. Scott had Jim Boyce, a Viet Nam era Navy Seal as the cook and helper. Jim was a great guy, getting up there in years but a solid bear guide and boat man. My wife enjoyed him as well due to his Viet Nam experience. My wife’s dad was a fighter pilot in Nam, so she and Jim had a lot of stories to tell.

Here is the Chester B – the boat we called home for a week





We towed these support boats as well –



The daily drill was to get up, cruise around based on tides and look for bears on the shores of the many islands. We did not see a lot of bears. We had a couple of days where we saw no bears. The weather was hotter and dryer than normal and hence, the bears stayed in the dense forest until just before dark. By about 8pm or so, we often would see bears start to come to the shores. So, this became the daily drill. We would hunt late and get up late, loaf around, sight see and then hunt. We saw whales, loads of marine birds, seals and icebergs. There was a huge glacier that dumped/ended in the area we hunted, so we saw a lot of floating ice. This was cool as I had never seen that before.



Valentines pic for the lovers in this crowd...



Glassing a lot






Sidebar – The Marina – I am not a boat person. I have never owned one and never really liked being in a boat. Not sure why, just don’t like them. Probably because I have never handled a boat or enjoyed boating. I swim well but boats are not my idea of fun. Same for horses. Anyway, the marina that Scott called home base was fascinating. I had no idea there so many different kinds of working boats. Some were pleasure boats, but the majority were fishing or crabbing or transport or research boats. Below are some pictures of what I saw.

Typical boat in the marina





Very fancy boat from Hawaii in the marina – owner was re-varnishing it. Looked to cost upwards of $500,000 according to the folks in the area



No so fancy boat – used for duck hunting. I would hesitate to get in this one.



No so sure I would ride in a boat with nails falling out –



Appropriate for a marina – don’t swim under boats



This guy likes to fish



This guy is mixed up on where to use a skateboard



Not my idea of a boat for open water –





Back to the hunt. On one of the evening cruises, we spotted a large black bear on the beach from about 2000 yards out. We eased in for a closer look. Both Scott and Jim thought it was decent. Then, Jim spotted movement on the edge of the forest and just out of view. He said it was bear and looked very nice. I have no idea how a guide can glance at a bear or deer or whatever for two seconds and just know it is good. In reality, that is the reason I hire a guide. They see game all the time, they should/must know what is big and what is not. Me, I have seen maybe three bears in my life. I have no idea what “big” or “mature” looks like.

Another sidebar - In the summary above, I mentioned a small female black bear that I shot. The story behind that is I was hunting with an “experienced” and long-term outfitter in the Wrangell Mountains for Dall Sheep and grizzly. I was told to expect “no problem” getting a full curl ram but that griz were hit or miss. I was also told to buy a bear tag that was good for either black or brown but not both. My partner and I had two guides. The older one appeared experienced (by his count, he had guided for 15+ years, in the off season he ran a coffee truck that trailed behind county fairs and such), had hunted this drainage before and knew what to do. The other guide was young, about 30, full of energy and carrying a new Ruger .338 WM. He carried at “port arms” all the time as he was nervous about brown bears. I came to learn this was his very first hunt and I was his very first client. The outfitter had been in the area for 40 years. I could list his name and you would know it. Yet, somehow, I get paired with a newbie. He was not yet an apprentice even. However, I did not learn this until day 8 of the hunt but had suspicions.

On day one, we hiked a couple of drainages looking for sheep. We saw a bunch, but no legal rams. On the way back to camp, we spot a bear in the bushes eating berries. He whisper yells at me, “A big griz! Get ready to shoot!”. I get ready, look at the bear at 100 yards and tell him, “That looks awfully black to be a grizzly.” He says, “Shoot! It is a big grizzly!” I look again and tell him, “Are you sure?”. “Yes” he said. So, I shoot. We walk up. It is a small, female black bear…. I ask, “This is a black bear, right? And a female? And pretty small?” He shrugs his shoulders.

We skin out the miniature bear, put the hide in my front pants pocket, take the hide and skull to camp. The older guide looks at him and then me. He says, “Well, what did you shoot, a marmot?” I looked at the newbie and he was staring a hole in his boots. Due to weather, we spend the next 7 days in our tents due to fog and rain. On day 9 of the hunt, base camp calls and tells us to be ready to leave at 5pm as a new storm is coming and he has other hunters to get out. Fortunately, the fog clears enough for us to look at the mountains around us and we spot a small but legal ram. The lead guide says we are going for it. We bust it up the hill, I shoot the ram (32” x 37” with 13 ½” base, barely full cur on one side) and we get it off the mountain in time to fly out one day early. My partner never sees anything to shoot.

At this point, I am pretty sour on Alaska as I thought I was hunting with the best but turns out “the best” put me with a newbie and the overall experience was not that good. So, fast forward a few years, I try Alaska and Canada again with mixed success. For me the biggest issue in these type hunts is the over shot areas and the inexperienced guides that this type of hunting attracts. With short seasons, guides cannot get enough experience to be experienced unless they stay at it for years and years. The guides cannot make enough money hunting, so they have other jobs as well. It is a perfect bad storm scenario – hunters that want sheep and bears, outfitters that have a lot of money tied up in planes and areas, guides that are really not guides -that forces the outfitters to sell as many hunts as they can to make ends meet. I do not have a solution, just see the problem.

Back to Scott and the hunt We get on a smaller boat, make our way to the beach and stalk the bears. We get close and see the black bear first. He is “ok” but nothing special. Scott says we can do better. We then inch forward and look up a creek. There is a very reddish-brown bear grazing. He looks rolly polly and thick. Scot says to get ready to shoot. I ask, “Is this a brown bear or black bear? Could it be a female brown bear?” Scott looks the bear over and says, “Great question.” We look a little longer and he finally says that it has the face of a black bear but a bit of a brown bear body. I ask, “Is this a cinnamon phase black bear?” Scott says, “We don’t see many brown black bears here, haven’t seen one in a long time. I think this is one. I am sure this is one. Shoot.” I do.

The bear hunches and runs into the woods. We listen and hear a death groan and heavy breathing. Scott suggests we step back, wait till the morning then go in. It is 9:30pm and getting hazy. I agree and we leave.

This is how thick the vegetation is/was –



Next day, we go to this spot and find the dead bear about 20 yards in the forest jungle piled up at the base of a tree. We hack our way in due to the foliage and find a stunningly nice cinnamon phase black bear….



While skinning out the bear, we hear voices. It seems a tourist boat sees our boat and comes ashore to see what they can see. They have a dog that smells the bear and gets excited. We holler at them from concealment in the bush that they need to leave and get their dog out of here. They depart post haste. Not sure what they were doing, but suspect they were headed to see the glacier and icebergs, then saw our boat and decided to have a look. Weird.

We have four more days to hunt and spend it cruising and cruising and cruising looking for a brown bear. No luck at all. We see a few more black bears, lots of scenery, and a moose, a beaver and icebergs. Disappointing but we knew the chances for a brown were slim.

Boat Based Hunts – I like them. I really like having a decent meal and a bed and shower each day. Call me soft, but the boat is a nice place to go when the weather turns to muck. Plus, we could access the internet from the boat. I still really am not a boat person, but I will do this again. A big plus was the great food. We had the biggest and best king crab I have tasted. Jim cooked some fish stew and halibut one night that was killer. I gained weight and enjoyed the down time.

Scott Newman – A native of Petersburg. A native of the water. A native of the bear hunting fraternity. Honest and serious about what he does. He fishes, he guides, he does tours. He just loves that part of the world and will likely never leave. I suspect he has a load of money tied up in boats, planes and engines – like any Alaska guide/outfitter. But he is different. He does the work himself and puts himself on the line on his hunts. I hope to do a boat-based mountain goat/Sitka deer hunt with him in the future. He is the real deal.



Tongass Area – Stunning! Looks like the rainforest of Cameroon but no ants. Lots of flying bugs and things that suck blood, but stunning. We saw tons of flowers everywhere. We were there for the peak of the lupine blooms. Lupines are lot like Texas Bluebonnets but bigger, a lot bigger. See the pictures to bear this out. Due to the short growing season, when the sun shines and the freezing stops. Monster trees, monster plants, really impressive.







Tides – Here, the tides go up and down about 10’-15’. That was new to me. Petersburg is on a major waterway but protected from the ocean. At the marina, the dock was built so it could rise and fall the full amount of the tide. Very ingenious and clever the way they did it. On the pillars/posts on the dock, massive number of anemones and urchins were living growing. It was like a National Geographic special to see all of the sea creatures that live on the docks. You can see the water marks on the dock in this pic.



Closing Thoughts

1. Alaska and Canada hunting is a crap shoot made crappier by the constraints guides and outfitters work under – short seasons, expensive logistics and high expectations of clients. The hard part is finding the hunt that fits you/me. Experience gained is expensive if you are not 100% sure of who and what you are dealing with. I will research and interview in greater detail any outfitter I hunt with again IF I go back to the north country.

2. Boat based hunts are really nice. I am tired of small tents, crappy food and no hot water. Call me soft but that is where I am. You can I have my spot on a Brooks Range backpack hunt unless you are carrying my pack.

3. Would I go again? Yes and no. I would not do another black bear hunt but would hunt goats and deer from the boat. Scott offers brown bear hunts on Admiralty Island, but the boat will have other hunters on it. If I can get a friend to go, I will go. Boat hunts are far better, for me, than a small tent in a bad spot in bad weather.




Being an avid birder, below is a list of the birds we saw

Pigeon
Bald Eagles – lots
Crow
Barn Swallow
Pigeon Guillemot
European Starling
Thick-billed Murre
Pintail Ducks
Canada Geese
Savannah Sparrow
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Greater Scaup
Mallards
Northern Harrier
Common Shoveler Duck
Cassin’s Auklet
Stellar Jay
Marbled Murrellet
Common Merganser
Common Goldeneye
Robin
Surf Scooter
Northern Flicker
Common Raven
Belted Kingfisher
Tree Swallow

Great bear great story.

Glad you got one.

That's a dandy bear. Nice shot placement. Are you doing a rug or full body mount?

I've wanted to do a boat hunt. Maybe for deer, no interest in shooting another black bear---killed them in Colorado

Nice Bear indeed! We did a DIY boat based hunt out of POW a few years ago. Great experience and beautiful country.

quote:

Originally posted by Colorado Bob:
That's a dandy bear. Nice shot placement. Are you doing a rug or full body mount?

I've wanted to do a boat hunt. Maybe for deer, no interest in shooting another black bear---killed them in Colorado

Wife says full mount is ok! Hooray for me...
He does boat based deer and goat hunts too.

Ross,

Southeast Alaska is one of my favorite places. I've known Scott for a long time. Jerry Huffaker introduced me to him many years ago although we do not work together. I would have been very surprised if you did not have an excellent hunt with Scott. I agree a boat based hunt can be very nice and my preference in SE. I hunted goats and black bear in SE and loved it but I could not have imagined doing it from a tent camp.

Congrats on a beautiful cinnamon bear I honestly didn't know they existed in SE.

Mark

Nice bear , I enjoyed your report ...

Congrats on a very nice bear!

Good report. I love Alaska. Never done a boat hunt, but maybe one of these days. Someday I want to do a deer hunt on Kodiak; never done that.

Ross,
Congratulations on the bear. Great hunt report - thanks for posting it.
Jeff

Thanks for the pics!

Wow ,great story and awesome photography.Congrats on your bear.I have shot many black bear here in Wi.We do not have Cinnamon phased black bears and I sure would like to hunt them.On my bucket list,OB

Thank you for the story and the photos. beautiful bear
tim

Thanks for the report. I will definitely give him a call.

Drop the “S” off the web link:

http://alaskabearguide.com/

Awesome report. Thank you for writing it. Congratulations on finally bagging your bear.

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to post those pics. I love Alaska, the pics. of cool looking boats by cool looking harbors brought back a lot of memories.

Well done Ross. Your wife is a real trooper- wading through a mud flat sitting on a boulder.

Always enjoy your hunt reports, Mr. Dogcat. Many thanks to you for taking the time to pout up the reports, and a hearty congrats to you on your success. In 2006 I did a land based hunt in the Tongass area for black bear and also was fortunate enough to take a beautiful cinnamon colored specimen. Look forward to reading about and seeing some more great pics of your next adventure.

P.S. Your report from Tholo was the main reason I ended up going there, and both my wife and I have nothing but fond memories to cherish from that trip. So, your reports aren't just enjoyed: they're sometimes acted on...

Man Ross, you have had some bad luck.

I get it. Tents and bad weather suck the older one gets. I just bailed early on a brown bear hunt because I got deathly ill. I am sure sleeping on the ground and the weather didn’t help. I saw 5 shooter bears today in half a day before I decided I was just too sick to do it.

I get the guide thing as well. Been there done that. I had a great guide in AK about 25 years ago until a griz charged. He came unglued . The worst I had was in BC. He got lost. Misidentified a female mountain goat. I feel your pain.

I hope you have better luck in the future. Trips like those are no fun.

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Ross, Great report as always. Congratulations on your bear (although I no zero about bears!)
Super pictures too. Love the lupine picture. Some of my favourite flowers.

Guys, this report, whilst not only being a great report and photographs, highlights to me one of the main benefits and assets of AR. Honest and frank hunters hunting stories and experiences - good and bad. I, being Europe / Africa based, have learned more about bears and Alaska guides and outfitters from this report than I knew before and most likely more than any outfitter would have told me on the phone or email. I have been thinking of a bear hunt for some time and now know some of the pitfalls and the questions that need to be asked!

Thanks again Ross for a superb report as ever and thanks Saeed for AR !

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