In flying to a hunting site like Ketchikan, Alaska for our September black bear, deer and fishing hunt here are a few things to remember. The flying experience is usually completely out of our control. If I fail to give enough time to go through customs and transfer luggage from one airline to another I greatly increase the odds of a problem happening. If I pack inappropriately according to the airline rule, again, I’m asking for trouble.
The four of us are leaving Salt Lake City airport on September 5th and returning the 13th. I always think of leaving on a hunt like traveling to a foreign country and give myself at least two hours to get to the boarding gates. Now with extra security lines it may be longer.
Our original plan to fly to Petersburg, Alaska and float plane from there was changed for several reasons. The main reason being we couldn’t get ourselves to Petersburg or back to Salt Lake City in one day. The cost of an extra two days on top of the hunt is a big consideration for us. Not to mention the flight to Ketchikan, Alaska was $400-500 cheaper than Petersburg.
The adjustment to hunting the Prince of Wales Island of the coast of southern Alaska allowed us to fly to Ketchikan. This flight can be done in one day. Flights change all the time and next year it may be different, but that extra night in Seattle or elsewhere is costly in dollars and time.
The basic rules for carrying a firearm on a commercial flight are: (Remember each airline and or country can be a little different)
1. Rifle must be in a hard lockable case (I do not know about a revolver—but it will be way more strict) Read the rest of this entry »
Our ongoing personal list for the 2008 Prince of Wales Island, Alaska black bear hunt. We’ll be in a small forest service cabin on a lake with well over 5 miles of salmon streams to hunt and fish on. (Salmon Lake Cabin—Karta River system)
1. Rifle/scope, scope covers, sling - (I don’t like scope covers, but in this case it is inevitable—they keep water out and in. I can shoot a scope that’s wet but not one that’s foggy)
2. 40 rounds of ammunition - (sight your gun in after the airplane ride) It has to be in it’s original containers for commercial flying! Pack it separate from your gun.
3. Binoculars - (don’t forget these)
4. Spotting scope - (We’ll have two. One for each group) They are expensive and heavy so make the younger guys carry them.
5. Sleeping bag, air mattress - (Not a huge one) The great big bed mattresses are not good-too heavy and would take up the whole cabin. I think our cabin is 16ft X 20ft. Therm-a-Rest, Slumberjack or the new Exped Downmat 7 Sleeping Pad that I Iove and blogged about.
6. Small Pillow - The small down squish-able ones the size of a loaf of bread or just use your sweater, if you’re a good sleeper. Do not take the one off your bed!
7. Small backpack - There are a lot of backpacks out there. We’ll be carrying lunch, waders, and emergent stuff, so we’ll need one that’s not tiny. I like ones with real back support and I want it to be as big as the air Read the rest of this entry »
On our first Petersburg, Alaska bear hunting experience we lived with our water purifier. It was an essential part of life.
We have some experience on the water purifiers and came up with what we like and recommend. It’s possible to have each person take a little personal purifier but we did well having a camp, bigger volume, unit and used the filtered water for everything.
Fuel up there is just too valuable to be boiling water. Plus, if it’s raining all the time it makes fires a nightmare at base camp. This Katadyn Base Camp Water Filter (large for a group) is great and kept us ahead on water.
This is a simple water filter that can be used at base camp.
It’s a one-gallon rubberized container with a filter at the bottom. You fill it with stream water and the water slowly (over 15 minutes) filters through the filter, down a plastic tube and into a cooking pot or your canteen.Read the rest of this entry »
I love being a gun owner. In fact, I think each hunter in the country should own another gun each year just to keep the juices flowing. With ownership comes some responsibility. Guns are something your great grandkids may receive from you. You may have your great grandfather’s guns. My dad brought a Japanese rifle back from the south pacific as WWII ended. I now own it. It’s clean oiled and works. I love it.
This may be one of the most valuable bear hunting tips that I provide.
Bear hunting can bring out the worst in a gun. The thicker the bear population, likely, the denser the forest and the more damp the environment. On a coastal Alaska bear hunt my son Jed was using my .300 Win. Mag with a blued barrel and wood stock. It is a nice Ruger bolt action rifle. No kidding, we had to clean off rust daily to keep up and when I got home I took it completely apart and found bad stuff that required a lot of work.
Here are some suggestions for keeping your gun in good shape. Remember, I’m no museum guy just a hunter with experience. As a general rule metal likes oil and wood hates it. Skin carries oil with enzymes in them that can eat metal. Water is the main killer.
This solvent should last you a while
To prepare for a hunt I use Hoppe’s Gun Solvent to clean the entire rifle. This takes off the excess oil, acids, and most stains. I try and separate the wood stock from the metal pieces as much as possible. The metal I then treat with light high quality oil, like Remington Oil. At this point I do not want excess oil. The stock is treated with a wood oil, wax or preservative to seal it little.Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve blogged before on bear attacks and now everyone must have heard about the girl biker who was mauled by a grizzly outside of Anchorage Alaska on a 24 hour bike race. She must have surprised the grizzly bear and that is when the trouble started.
I feel bad and I felt worse when I spent the time reading 5-6 comments people sent in to the local newspaper. Most suggestions were to get rid of the humans and thus end the bear attacks.
Warning sign posted outside of the bear attack scene.
Last year I was grizzly bear hunting in British Columbia with Harry Leuenberger of Baldy Mountain Outfitters. That day I was a spotter for a stalk on a big black bear. I was walking down an easy trail, an old logging road, through dense cover. Around the corner I came and in one, maybe two seconds, I had a face-to-face encounter with a grizzly. Read the rest of this entry »
On our black bear hunt on Kupreanof Island in Petersburg, Alaska we carried multiple GPS units with us. They saved our bacon many times, boy are we glad we had them!
Here is a close up view of our GPS trail.
On the way back from the location marked KILLyou’ll notice that the return path swerves back and forth multiple times. This happened because the weather at the time of return was quite violent and it was about 11:00 PM. We couldn’t see five feet in front of us, so, Frank held the GPS unit close to his face and would yell Read the rest of this entry »
A fellow Bear Bum sent me this article about a Florida Black Bear rescue. Pretty cool considering this guy dragged a nice bear out of the Gulf of Mexico near Alligator Point. I guess the bear was wandering around a neighborhood and when tranquilized went darting into the Gulf.
Crazy. This guy is a nut. As the bear started snoozing he jumped in and dragged it to shore.
The adult black bear can weigh from 150 to 600+ lbs. This bear is no joke weighing 375 lbs. This weight seems to be slightly above average for adult male Florida Black Bears.
This is a great five-minute video of a grizzly bear sow and her two cubs interacting with a wolf. The wolf seems to be having fun and playing with the grizzly bears. At one point the wolf appears to grab the cub’s leg lightly, but lets go.
I have no doubt that if the sow had not been there the wolf would have taken off with a cub. But, since the sow is close the cubs show a tremendous amount of courage. This is quite entertaining.
It is interesting to note the bluff charge of the grizzly.
This video was taken for the USGS Northern Divide Project for scientific and educational use. Cameras were triggered by motion sensors. Wildlife should never be approached.
Not a bear hunting tip, but fun to watch either way.
For many years I’ve tried to find the best pair of hunting boot. I can remember as a 13 year old going on a two-week elk hunt in the wilderness of Idaho and wearing my canvas gym shoes. I couldn’t do that now. While I lived in Pocatello I purchased perhaps my first pair of real hunting boots. They were a leather work boot and I have many fond memories while in those boots. Now I’ve tried, Danners, Lowa, Schnees and the list goes on. Usually into about the third hunt with a pair of boots I start to like them.
I think my feet aren’t as tough as they used to be. The canvas gym shoes were nicer for the 13 year old me Read the rest of this entry »
I recently read an article on a hunting site (Chifuti Safaris) by Craig Boddington about the choice in rifle caliber for a given animal. He mentioned the desire for owning another rifle as one of the motivating factors in rifle selection. For example, if you were hunting cape buffalo and wanted a BIG gun like say a .500 Jeffrey, Mr Boddington’s thought was to get it. You might ever only shoot one shot at an animal from the big .500 but it would work well on the buffalo and it would be your gun and souvenir of a wonderful hunt.
What about big coastal black bears like the ones we’ll be seeing in September on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Which gun is best? Should you get a special gun for the job or just take the old ‘06?
I have my preferences and some experience. I don’t think bears are extremely hard to kill but they can be a nightmare to nail to the ground. Since bears can get lost in the thick undergrowth fast or turn hostil quickly I like big heavy bullets. Fast is pretty good but a 7mm or .280 remington, to me, is an elk gun. Elk never chew on you. I prefer the 30 caliber magnums or bigger.
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that I Iove and 
- The small down squish-able ones the size of a loaf of bread or just use your sweater, if you’re a good sleeper. Do not take the one off your bed!
. At this point I do not want excess oil. The stock is treated with a wood oil, wax or preservative to seal it little.
