This hunt was booked by Atkinson Hunting – my 13th with Ray and they have all been successful. Thanks again Ray but you were supposed to go with me - where were you?

The location was the area of Prince William Sound about 40 miles Northwest of Valdez, Alaska.

Valdez is a town with a lot of history. It was one of the early entry points to the gold fields, was wiped out in the 9.3 Richter 1964 earthquake and tsunami that hit Alaska and as the northernmost U.S. port that does not freeze it is the southern end of the Alaskan pipeline. Near the entrance to Valdez the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in 1989.

This was a boat based hunt. The base camp was a 3 sleeping cabin – two bath 50 foot Albin yacht named “Ruffin it†and operated by Glacier Mountain Outfitters which is owned by Greg and Petra Jennen of Fairbanks.



I was the first hunter in this season. The area had a lot of snow in March and the bears were late coming out. They just started to appear the last two days of my 6 day hunt. We only spotted 8 bears including sows during the whole hunt. Last year they seen that many the first day. Most of the bears we seen were up high on the mountains in the five to twelve foot deep soft snow where we could not get to them.



The coast is too rugged to hunt on foot so we hunted from skiffs.



The skiffs are used something like the Landrovers in Africa. You anchor the base camp then move along in the skiffs until a bear is sighted then you make a plan to approach within shooting range on foot. One is not allowed to shoot out of the skiff. Ideally, you get downwind, beach the skiff and stalk up the wind to get a shot however it doesn’t always work that simply. Usually the bear spots the skiff or the hunters before you can execute the plan and he melts into the woods along the beach. Sometimes we beached the skiff on an island or a rock and just glassed the nearby shorelines for a couple hours.

On the fifth day of the six day hunt we were heading back to “Ruffin it†when Greg spotted a boar from an impossible distance. He can really see those bears. He decided to keep the boat speed and pass it by at about ¼ mile distance and then when downwind work slowly back.



At about 100 yards I crawled up the slick kelp covered rock just offshore on the right in this picture. The bear was feeding on beach grass in this dark hole.



All we could see was his brown nose because of the dark rocks behind him and the shadows from the overhanging branches. From the angle of the nose I estimated his shoulder location. It was going to be too dark to shoot soon. By luck the 300 grain A-Frame struck his heart and exited through his lungs. Although the recoil was light it was enough to slide me down the slick rock. (I can personally testify as to how cold this water in Prince William Sound is.)



Bears in this area average 6-7 feet squared and this one at 6 foot is at the bottom end of that average however he has one of the thickest, “silkiest†pelts I have ever seen. There were no rub spots. I was very fortunate to take a bear when the odds were stacked against us however we worked very hard for it – several times staying out all day in freezing rain.

The roars of the bear indicated to Greg it had received a heart shot and we moved in quickly. Greg quickly skinned him and boned off the meat. Salvaging the meat is a requirement.

Back at “Ruffin it†and soaked to the chest we took time for a victory lap around the ship. The cook prepared another great meal topped with apple pie.

Without a doubt this is one of the most rugged, isolated and scenic area I have ever hunted.

Palmer,

Congrats! I knew there was lots of snow this spring and was wondering if your hunt might put down Greg's success rate but you got your bear anyway. Southeast AK is just spectacular.

Mark

Mark,
Yes, his 100% record is still intact however he admitted afterward that I had him worried about noon of the second to last day.

great hunt and great pictures. Seems that Glacier Guides run a very good outfit

Allen,
I couldn't send you on a unsuccesful hunt, your just too lucky for that!!

Now if you will get that rag tag bunch of misfits you run with up for a Brown Bear with Phil, we'll be up for next year or how about one of Gregs Grizzley hunts, his griz are the best I have ever seen in my lifetime.

I can't hunt anymore, this damn economy has me working day and night to keep my head above water, I need the good years to hunt in, when hunts are booked up by November again!

Palmer ,.,
Great hunt report ... .., What rifle were you shooting ...??? The Sound is an awesome place ,,, Beautiful bear ....

gumboot458

I took my .375 H and H with a 6 power scope.

A better choice might have been a 300WM with a 9 or 14 power scope.

Some of the shot situations along those beaches looked like they could be 150 to 300 yds. In fact, I had a good clear opportunity at a much bigger bear but he was 420 yards and I did not want to try it. With the 300 and a better scope I would have.

In my case I only had to shoot about 90 yds. so it worked out but if doing it again I would take the 300.

Thanks for sharing, great pictures and story.
Oh, and nice bear too!

Thanks for sharing. Nice bear, and nice pictures.

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:

Southeast AK is just spectacular.

Agreed!!!

PWS isn't in S.E. AK tho!

Palmer, did Greg get his Brown bear tags this year?
Looks like you all had a great time

Thanks
Calgary guy

Calgary guy

He said he had not got them for this year but was sure he would have them for next season. I think he said 7(?) tags for Hinchinbrook and maybe Montague islands.

Hey Allen,

Congrats on a successfull hunt!! The weather affected our Alberta Blackie hunt this month as well, but 7 of us still took 10 good bears.

One thing I don't understand though. How can you continue booking hunts with Ray over the years. Don't you know he is: (insert all the bad names here....too many to list)?!?

Congrats,

Bob

Congratulations back to you Bob - sounds like your group had a busy week. Bet it was fun listening to all the stories each night.

Actually Ray is the only one willing to put with the bunch I hunt with - besides, he has never done me wrong in more than a dozen hunts.

I have another one he booked me on coming up this September with Hannes Swannepoel and am looking forward to it and many more.

Post some pictures of your hunt when you get a chance - edit - I just looked at your web site and seen your pictures - great hunt and looks like a lot of fun.

Palmer: Nice pictures !!!,Congratulations, thanks for sharing it and I hope some day, will be so lucky like You. Regards; Guille

Congratulations on a successful hunt. Good report and great pictures.

Thought I would add a few more pictures:

This passage led to a hidden lake which was probably rarely if ever hunted.



This is the very busy harbor at Valdez.



Alaska pickup truck.



Short take off competition at Valdez airport - click on picture.

........Palmer ,, Thanks for posting the pics ..
As we are moving to Glennallen which is just 90 miles up the Richardson Hwy from Valdez , Valdez harbor is where I will be putting in at ...I was able to show my wife ,thru your pictures what it was like ...That was something she was concerned about with us moving to dry land ...

That was a pretty good take off with the Cessna ,was there much breeze blowing ??

Practically no wind - A fellow sitting next to me said there was a lot of wind last year and Paul Claus lifted a cub off in 19.5 ft (I think I heard him right). Here are a couple more:

Cool .
Were there any Helio Curriers there ...

It,s amazing how short a distance a Super Cub can take off in , And how slow they can go and stay in the air ...

For those of you who might be interested I have two spots open due to a recent cancellation with this good outfitter at 50% of the usual price...The usual price is $4200 plus license and tag...The two cancellations will go for $2400 plus $85 for lic. and $225. for a bear tag..

Hunt available June 4 to 12, 2008, sorry but thats the slot...

A rare opertunity, I posted this cancellation hunt on the classified section also.

That's a really nice pelt on that bear. Any more photos of it? Congrats on scoring...again.

Those boys really know how to jockey those bush planes. Good stuff.

Allen,

Kudos on the hunt, great narrative and awesome pix.
Thanks for taking the time to make the posting.

Don

Yukon,
It was getting dark and we had to leave time to skin him so I did not get many pictures but did have this one from the front.



gumboot458

I did not stay for both days of the airshow/fly-in but did not see any helio curriers while I was there. There were dozens of other types of planes and the people who flew in to watch had some great planes also.

There were a lot of vendors there. I bought some videos from "Long props - Big rocks" showing their hydroplaning a Husky on a river to slow it down enough to stop on a postage stamp gravel bar. Then to take off again they had to hydroplane it on the river to get enough distance.

The coast guard put on a fascinating demonstration with their rescue helicopter-they must be very talented pilots.

Allen
Well done, that is a nice bear in anybodies book.
What rifle and scope did you use.

That certainly is a nice bear. Size isn't everything.

I would like to see the bushplane competition sometime. Which video did you get...volume 1?

Tony, I took my Arnold Arms / John Ricks 375 with 6 power Leica - would take a 300 and a scope of at least 9 power if doing it again. 150 - 200 yd shots quite likely there and one that I passed up lazered at 420 (huge bear). It would have been right up your alley.

Yukon - It is called "Waterplay". I met one pilot who had flown up from Illinois just to see this competition. It is evidently the bush plane olympics.