Bear Bums - Bear Hunting

The design on this bear hunting blog has raised a question or two with a sympathetic non-hunter. Last Christmas I received from Lynne, my wife, a computer generated caricature of me in a hunting setting. So, that’s me in the design/painting. I like it. A guy named Bryan Beaux Beus is the computer animator, artist person. Check it out. Here’s a bear and little deer from the painting.

Yesterday one of the blog readers asked about bear attacks. This spring I shot a bear while bear hunting on the coast of Alaska. The black bear showed no aggression but no fear, and was shot at approximately 5 yards. That’s not real common but not surprising. I’ve watched hundreds of bears, harvested dozens and been chased by a few.

When I hear things like; “he’s a bear expert”, or “you’re safe, you have a gun”, or “leave them alone and you don’t have to worry”, I laugh or become concerned. Bears are very independent and very unpredictable. There are situations that increase the likelihood of creating a hostile reaction from a bear. Read the rest of this entry »

I grew up hunting in Idaho and Wyoming and now live and hunt mostly in Utah. When we take rain gear it can be about anything because it seldom rains in this high desert country. I look at snow differently (not like rain). Our upcoming self guided black bear hunt to the coast of Alaska is different. It will rain enough there to not allow us to ignore the wet, and we’ll be isolated enough we cannot exclude the need to stay dry.

My 1^st hunt to the coast of Alaska was a brown bear hunt to Yakutat and it rained inches per day and if I recall it didn’t stop at all. I had the very best Gore-Tex outfits and that kept me good and wet. Now on that coast I only use rubber. Read the rest of this entry »

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: Read the rest of this entry »

Four of us are committed to a self guided bear hunt, sitka black tail hunt and fishing trip to Alaska in September of this year. Here are some of the tricks we’ve discovered to make it possible. As with most hunting, camping, fishing, survival experiences, other people are the best source of help.

The four of us are staying in a forest service cabin named Salmon Lake Cabin on Prince of Wales Island off the coast of Alaska near Ketchikan, and Petersburg Alaska. Alaska has literally hundreds of these cabins in their forests. One can book the cabins six months in advance at www.recreation.gov. Timing and location are everything for a successful hunt and we, after months of preparation, feel good about this selection. Read the rest of this entry »