Alaska Grizzly Bear Hunt 2019

Glad you got your bear, looks like it was about to get cold. Beautiful bear.


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You have every reason to be pleased with that bruin. Congratulations, David.
 
There is something special about hunting and harvesting a grizzly bear!
Must be experienced first hand to appreciate.
Hard to put into words for those who have not done so.
 
Blkram":pyaalerc said:
There is something special about hunting and harvesting a grizzly bear!
Must be experienced first hand to appreciate.
Hard to put into words for those who have not done so.
Click to expand...

So true. What an amazing animal and I'm truly blessed to had this opportunity. I know that after I got my bear and we were finally comfortable that he was done, my emotions got the better of me and I shed a few tears. I think it was for the whole experience and for that beautiful animal. My father passed away 7 years ago and he told me that he wanted me to spoil myself and finally do something for ME, and he knew how much a trip like this would mean to me, so he made me promise to do it. I finally did, and I am so happy that I did.
 
I hunted with Ovis Outfitters out of Wasilla Alaska. A husband and wife team that are just fantastic people. Originally came from Montana so you know they can't be half bad. The outfitter told me that for 5 weeks straight it had been clouds and rain, sometimes snow for all of that time. It continued on my hunt. The first day after being dropped at spike camp with my guide out in the middle of nowhere on the North side of the Brooks Range, we set the tent up as quickly as we could and got all of our gear stashed inside and got warmed up and dry. The rain continued and visibility was very poor.

The next day same thing. We couldn't see 50 yards at times. Had to hunker down in the tent for the whole day. So goes the first day of hunting. The next day it was still raining, but not hard, and we could see half a mile at times or more so I just had to get out. My guide was also excited to go.
We went up on a ridge above spike camp to an area where the outfitter had suggested would be a good spot to glass from. We sat there glassing for a long time without seeing anything.

Not wanting to spread our scent around, but wanting to at least glass the back side of the ridge, we worked our way up over the top so we could see into the next drainage which was a huge canyon. We worked our way slowly down the ridge on the other side glassing as we went. We got down the ridge maybe half a mile from camp when we found a fantastic spot to glass from. We had not been there for very long when all of a sudden about 300 yards away a grizzly bear just materialized out of the fog. He was feeding along on roots on the other side of the creek. We had the wind in our advantage, we were above the bear, and he had no idea we were there.

We closed the distance to 158 yards and I got set up with my rifle laying on top of a pack. Had to wait what seemed like hours, but was roughly 5 minutes before the bear fed in a position where he was perfectly broadside. I held tight against his shoulder and shot. He spun around, did two somersaults, and that was it. Never moved again. My bear was absolutely gorgeous. I could not be happier with him.

I had a great time on my trip. It was for me the hunt of a lifetime. I almost got a wolf a few days later, but that's another story. Days later back at base camp I got to fish for Arctic char and graying. It was fantastic and the cook at the base camp was amazing. I highly recommend these folks if someone wants to hunt of fish in Alaska.

David

P.S.
I did a review of Ovis Outfitters in another section if anyone wants to read it. Really good people those two that make up this team are!
 
Truly enjoyed your account of the hunt, David. Again, congratulations and well done.
 
I forgot to mention in my description something that you northern folks in Alaska and Canada can attest to is the tundra. Oh my it can be fun. A lot of it was what I can only describe as walking on soft ground that has a really soft 4" thick sponge on top. It seems with every step that it sucks the forward thrust out of your legs. It really takes a lot of energy to walk on the stuff for any real distances. Kind of like walking on a really soft sandy beach.

Oh and that fails to speak to the tussocks! Oh my those who have never walked in them you are in for a treat. Think patches of grass and roots sitting on top of an area maybe a foot in diameter, some bigger, some smaller. Make those about knee high on the top. Now there will be open areas in between one tussock to the next and this distance will never be the same from on tussock to another. Then throw in the fact that they grow randomly as you would expect, and there is no straight "rows" of tussocks, nothing like that!

Now also you need to know that they may or may not support your body weight if you try and maneuver through them by stepping from one tussock to the next. Not recommended at least not as far as I could see. These things will support you mostly, but they roll and rock with your body weight in any direction possible. That mostly just depends on what side of your foot has the most body weight on it. Yes you can really take a tumble or twist an ankle. The "easiest" way to go through them I think was to try and step over them and sort of go around them at the same time. Kind of like walking in deep crusted snow that comes up to your knees. Throw in the fact that you might try to walk in a straight line towards a distant desired location, but know that this line will be anything but straight. If could track your course it would look like an extremely intoxicated person trying to walk in a straight line. You might as well just accept the fact that 1.5 mile away spot where you last spotted a wolf will take you at least 2 miles of real travel to reach your destination.

Oh my what fun but you know what, it was all part of the journey and the adventure!
 
Yes, hiking in the tundra is a real experience! LOL
The tussocks are very interesting and cannot always be trusted...
They get even more interesting when they are in muskeg! You just never know if they will support you, and you cannot trust that there will be bottom between them, or if there is, how deep it will be!
Just ask me how I know! LOL
Hip boots are a good idea, but in some instances will not be enough! I think that neoprene chest waders would be better...not to mention warmer!
 
:grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :lol:
Blkram":26fdxm9q said:
Yes, hiking in the tundra is a real experience! LOL
The tussocks are very interesting and cannot always be trusted...
They get even more interesting when they are in muskeg! You just never know if they will support you, and you cannot trust that there will be bottom between them, or if there is, how deep it will be!
Just ask me how I know! LOL
Hip boots are a good idea, but in some instances will not be enough! I think that neoprene chest waders would be better...not to mention warmer!
Click to expand...
 
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