Bear Bums – Bear Hunting

I mentioned many aspects of our upcoming bear hunt in my last post and thought you might want some of my insight on a few items. Really I’d like your insight on the same stuff! Two years ago five of us traveled to Petersburg, Alaska on this type of a self guided bear hunt. Looking back we really scabbed stuff together, each of us in different ways. Our least efficient packed item seemed to be the sleeping stuff and our best was perhaps optics and rifles. The forest service cabin at Salmon Lake, where we’re headed in September, claims it has room for six. We can see that realistically four will be a crowd. I think a good self guided hunt like this requires a lot of thought and a roomy, organized cabin helps.

It’s nice to have big, soft, warm sleeping stuff but I think with effort one can be very comfortable without using up your luggage or cabin space on sleeping pads and bags. The coast of Alaska has nasty weather but is not famous for being bitter cold if we can stay dry. I mentioned the Downmat 7, that I used on an elk hunt last fall and on a spring black bear hunt this year. Small, light and SOFT. Can you tell I’m impressed with this pad? Here are some of the pros and cons that I noticed:

Pros: Lightweight, easy to carry, very comfortable, warm, soft, no unnecessary deflation,

Cons: Pumping it up takes a little time (3-5 minutes), expensive, a little narrow.

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Now I can take a lighter bag and save room. If all of us do this we’ve organized our cabin and increased our comfort.

My first NWT Dall sheep hunt, with NWT Outfitters, found me with a pair of Steiner’s binoculars. I missed out on enjoying the 6 hours a day of glassing and I participated poorly in the finding of game. I swore I’d never do that again. Now the grand kids play with the Steiner’s and I hide the Swarovski’s for hunting. I’ve since found Zeiss, Leica and Swarovski to all be worth what they cost. I realize the old rule is to buy what you can afford in binoculars, but, I would make sure you can afford one of these three brands. I think it adds a whole additional dimension to hunting. Especially when you are on a hunt that requires a lot of time glassing….like bear hunting.

I spent 30 minutes packing this afternoon in preparation for the family summer trip for 2 weeks. Odd, I’ve spent more time than that on this little blog. It’s going to be a good bear hunt.