I will be in Fairbank's in late Apr-early May and will have weekends off.
Will black bears be in season then?
I will be hunting with archery equipment so is there any special licences that I will need for that area?
Will I have to have a guide?
Is the hunting on base (Eielson AFB) any good?

Thank you for any help or info provided

Elwood
SMSgt Darren Ellingwood

Go here for some info:

http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/

Black bear season is open, but the dates you list could be a little early depending on the weather. Most years you don't start to see a lot of bears until about the middle of May although there will be some out earlier. The easiest way to hunt bears in the interior is over a bait stand, so if you can hook up with someone that has one it would be a benefit. I believe baiting opens April 15 and requires a special permit to set up a station, however you can hunt on someone else’s stand with their permission without the permit as long as you do not assist with the maintenance of the site. Check the regs to be sure as I do not have them in front of me and I don’t bait. There are some areas around the interior where you can do a spot and stalk but most of the terrain is to thick for that type of hunting. Along rivers can be very productive. If you can get a couple days, head south and do some spot and stalk hunting along the Richardson Highway down around the area of Pump Station 12 south to Valdez.

Eielson has a tremendous amount of land to hunt.
Brigidier Road behind the base offers alot of land to hunt. As AKJD suggested hunt with a resident,preferable another GI in the unit you will be assigned to. Have a good TDY and good luck!

L Wood: There is no closed season on Black Bears in the interior of Alaska. The proplem is that most Black Bears don't show up till mid May. The roads behind Eielson are pretty muddy at that time also. If you go out and glass the southern slopes you may find a Black Bear or Grizzly that has recently come out of hybernation and is eating grass. The grass acts as a laxative at that time and they eat a lot of it.

Thanks for the help guys. I am trying all approaches to hunt with a resident there or someone assigned there. It may come down to just taking my archery equipment and hoping for the best. I don't think that I will go on my first bear hunt alone. Thanks again

Elwood

Yukon Training Area is full of black bear/grizzly/moose.....which is a 10 min drive form the base!

No guide needed for Black bear....but you need to attend bear baiting clinic.

Pump Station 8 area close to the old launch sites is popular.