I was really hoping to run into some sheep, but being that I had not harvested any big game animals in Alaska for myself, I was happy to go home with anything. So with my pack laden with a full camp, complete with tent and several days worth of food, I departed that afternoon determined for success. I had traveled first by boat and then took off hiking. It was a two mile hike before I even reached the base of the mountain, but even before that I had spotted some game. A big lone black bear was tearing across the mountain top to the North of my position. I was tempted at first, but the going looked much more difficult in that direction, and the bear was moving around too much. So I decided to continue on my route, with a goal in mind to get to and camp for the night.

Following the ravine, I saved a-lot of bushwhacking, but climbing and scrambling over rocks and stream trail made up for that. The top was accomplished as well as an increased heart rate. The going got easier, but unfortunately I had developed hot spots on my feet due to wet socks from stream crossings and boggy territory. So upon reaching a good vantage point of some promising country, I sat down and relaxed for a bit, glassing the surrounding area. Almost immediately my heart jumped as black became visible in my binoculars, but then disappointment ensued as I spotted one, then two, little black spots nearby. It was a sow black bear with two cubs. Although they were not pursue-able, it was still encouraging to see many animals. The last time I had been up hunting this area, I had only seen a sow and cub, so already in the first few hours I was setting new records.

I was munching on a granola bar, AKA dinner, when I heard rocks falling. With the shape of the ravines and the echo, it seemed as though it was coming from right around the corner, but further inspection revealed several white spots dotting a far slope. Dall sheep, nine of them, but all ewes and lambs, no rams in the bunch. So apparently this area I was exploring was a nursery. Not what I was hoping for, but still just loving the sight of those beautiful white masters of the peaks. The weather was quite warm, and I was able to remove layers, but I was extremely grateful for my full upper body bug net. It was not very stylish or as good to see through, but it did the trick to keep back the horrible biting flies called White Socks. You just have to get used to them constantly buzzing all around your head, which can drive one crazy.

The evening was beginning, so I descended from my perch into the small valley, in search of another vantage point that had some sort of level dirt in which to catch some Z’s for the night. I accomplished the feat, but as soon as I sat down to have a look around, something blond came into focus in the binoculars. It was a grizzly bear. I was not expecting to see a grizzly up that high, since the salmon were dieing aplenty in the rivers below, and offered ample food for the bruins that time of year, but that one preferred to scrounge for berries instead. I had a brief debate in my head on whether or not to pursue the bear. It would be a subsistence hunt, and would require me to harvest all the meat, and the reputation for grizzly bear meat was not good. The hot spots on my feet were also on the borderline of becoming blisters. The excuses went on and on and nearly won out, but finally, a decision was agreed upon.

I hoisted my pack, tightened the straps, and began to close the 1/2 mile distance that separated me from the bear. He seemed to be just feeding in a small berry patch and I figured he would stay there long enough for me to make the stalk. The wind seemed to be in my favor, but it changed around a bit during the stalk. Thankfully I had no alders or bushes to wade through, but it was wrought with shale and a steep incline. At the top, there was a small gully that I hiked through, and then up the other side, angling towards where the bear was last seen, with the ridge of the slope keeping me out of sight. The wind had changed for the better, and as I moved closer, it was right in my face. Getting to within 400 yards, I dropped my heavy pack and continued slowly with not but my rifle, walking stick and range finder. I edged my way around the slope step by step, trying to keep my footfalls soft, not knowing how far he could have moved. I eased my way around and looked into the ravine that he was feeding in, but there was nothing.

I began to wonder where he could have gone, either down the hill, or up, so I walked a few more steps closer, craning my neck to see further. But then I happened to gaze right above me, and there he was, and close too, just feeding away from me up the slope. I quickly dropped down just out of sight, and got my rangefinder out. easing back up, the finder read forty yards. I could not believe it, I was so close to such a powerful and beautiful predator. I knew that it was not a big bear, but at that point I was not worried about that, I was intent on a successful harvest, which was what I had set out to do. So I set up my walking stick as an uphill rest for my rifle. I had already loaded a bullet into the chamber, so I took aim, with the bear filling the scope, and waited for him to turn broadside and offer a good clean shot. I did not have to wait long though, and he fed into position. The shot rang true, and the bear did nothing but drop and begin to roll down the slope. I put another shell into the ball of fur, just to be sure. I was so stunned and excited I could not even speak.

The bear stopped a few yards down, and I rushed to the scene to evaluate the result. I was so happy, but I was still speechless. So all I did was smile and take it all in. It didn’t take long to retrieve my pack, take pictures and set up my camp on a small semi flat spot. Since it was nearly dark when I shot, I decided to wait till the next day to proceed with hard work portion of the hunt. I did not sleep well on my little side mountain spot, but I was successful, on the first day, and that got me through. The next day I arose before the sun, to beat the heat and the bugs, and got it all done and in my pack in only a few hours, just as the first bugs showed up. The hike down did not take long either, and I had a beautiful sunny day to keep my spirits up through the incredibly tough job of packing out a bear hide and meat and all the gear, but every step was worth it.

Sitting in the boat, with my sore feet soaking in the cold lake water,  I thought back to the whole experience, as short as it was, and how I had finally broken the lack of big game harvest for myself. It was a good feeling, and thankfully the meat was equally as good, making it a double whammy. I think it was because of the small size of the bear and him not eating rotten salmon that kept the meat pretty solid and hearty. So if you are questioning keeping mountain grizzly meat, I say take it and enjoy the other part of the harvest that does not end up on the wall. Also this bear was taken with a 300 WSM, which to some may be too small of a caliber for grizzly, but I say, its not the size of the bullet hole, but the accuracy of the shot. All in all it was great experience, which did not need a successful harvest to make it so, but it definitely was a nice bonus.

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My first client was Terry, who had never been to Alaska hunting before, and it was my privilege to be the one insuring that he went home successful. The first few days of the hunt proved to be slow, and we only saw a couple bears. Not the best way to start a hunt, but that’s the way it goes. We did have some pretty nice weather though, and that made up for the lack of bears a little. You never know when the wind or even snow will fly with both the Bering sea and the Pacific fighting with each other, with us in the middle. So we would take every nice day we can get. The third day we decided to check out the side valley, which had provided a great resource of bears last year, and it looked promising. We did not see any bears all day though, which made it tough. So we were just starting to head back to camp, when I decided to look up on the hill one more time, and sure enough, there was a bear, feeding on some grass on the south facing slope.

It was difficult at first to see just how big he really was, but by looking at the alders being dwarfed by him, I reasoned that he was worth a stalk, so Stalk we did. The hiking seems to go by faster when you are in pursuit of a big bear, but that does not mean that it is not hard. It was a long mile to cover to just get close enough. By the time we got there, the bear had been feeding, and we had thought that he had left the area, but once I got my spotting scope out and tracked him down, he was sleeping, in a slight depression, which gave us the much needed time required to finish the stalk. As we worked our way up the steep hill, it reminded me of sheep hunting, except there was a slight lack of stable boots that are usually present on a sheep hunt. And we were crawling though brush, which also never happens on a sheep hunt. We had no way of knowing where the bear was, but rather just went off of instinct. I had just cleared the brush, and I glanced over and saw the looming shape of a bear to the right of us, just walking through the brush back up hill. Terry was just making his way over to me, and the bear must have heard us because he was being very cautious and glancing our way. As soon as the shooting sticks were in place, we had just enough time to grab ear plugs and get a good rest. Seconds later the bear stepped out from the brush, 90 yards away. I said “shoot” and bear dropped, but then started down the hill. My gun roared and Terrys again. The black ball of fur quit stirring, and our cheers rose into the air.

As we walked towards the enormous animal that lay in the brush, I could not contain my excitement. It all happened so quickly, and made our hearts race, but then it was over. I did not realize the bear was so big, but when we lifted the paws, or at least tried to, we immediately realized the trophy quality, and the sheer mass of bear. It was incredible, a giant for sure. We were a quarter mile from our packs, and it was right at sundown, so darkness was rapidly approaching. So we got the bear all set up, which was not much, because with a bear that big, you don’t do much moving around. He must have weighed around a thousand pounds. So we headed down the hill, gathered our packs, and departed three miles back to camp. We would take care of the hard work and pictures the next day. It was so nice to finally make it to our tent and cot, after stumbling through the dark. We were worn out from the long day and the tough stalk, and we got some much needed rest.

We woke up quite late, and had a good breakfast, and then headed back to the bear. The evenings were cold, and bears don’t put off too much scent to attract other predators, especially up on a hill, so it was no problem to take care of the bear the next day.  It took quite some time to get all the pictures and videos done, but the bear was so big, we needed many pictures from all sides to capture his massive size. It decided to snow and sleet off and on through out the whole process, so we had to alternate between rain jacket and fleece. thankfully we had both of us to work on skinning of the bear, but it still took two whole hours, which was nearly twice as long as it usually takes for an average bear. But this bear was above average, and although I was not excited to be having to pack it out, it was a labor of love. I know Terry was very pleased with the big bear, and we just continued to re-live the stalk and the shots of the previous day, and it was a great feeling to have success only a few days into the hunt.

Once we arrived back at the camp, I set to fleshing and turning the hide on the face and head. It is a process of splitting critical areas of the face, such as the eyes, lips, ears and nose so they do not get rotten. It’s a preparation process for the taxidermist, that starts with the fleshing, then leads to salting the hide, to remove all moisture, and then sent to a tanner to be preserved for mounting into a full mount or a rug. This process takes some time and a detailed eye, but it went well, and once it was done, we set to measuring the hide. As soon as I set the ten foot tape measure from paw to paw, I could not believe when it did not even reach the end of the wrist. it was over eleven feet from claw tip to claw tip, and it was 9 ft 6″ from nose to tail, so squared, it ended up being 10’3″, which when I found that out my jaw nearly slammed the tundra! I could not believe that we had a bear that was over 10 feet! And the skull measured over 28 inches, which is the width and the length added together. The skull size is what they go off of for a Record book bear, and 28 is the minimum, so that makes it a Boone and Crockett Record book  bear. But you know what, even if it wasn’t, the experience and just how big the bear was, was enough for me, and the score is just a plus. I am one to much rather have a great experience than just a big animal, and we had both.

This was only the first hunt, with two more to go. A Father and son from Mexico, which kept the excitement going. Head to Part 2 for the rest of the story.

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Too much Fog, must turn around! Although those words were not spoken, you could see it on the pilot, Dave Wilder’s face, as he throttled forward and pulled left on the steering wheel of the Cessna 206, throwing us all to the mercy of pulling G’s. The bushes were so close, if the windows were open, I am sure we could have grabbed a handful of leaves. Barely making it out of that valley we entered another one, that looked a little bit more promising, at least that’s what the passengers were hopping, not knowing if they could grab onto the seat backs any harder for fear of bursting veins in their hands. We were on our way through the mountains separating the Bering Sea from the Pacific Ocean, called the Alaska peninsula. This was not my first bronco ride in a small plane in Alaska, so I was not too worried, but that does not mean that I was enjoying myself. The ride was not over, but after 3 hours in a seat, we were  wishing it would be soon. We ended up cruising along a river, nearly water skiing, ending up at the Pacific finally, but with several miles of beach still to go to arrive at the base camp for the Peninsula Bear hunts. Before it was all done, we had a few more hair raising, or rather, stomach raising, moments that would keep our heads swimming for most of the day. The plane passengers consisted of three guides, Joe Billings, Eric Lantzer, and myself, and then Jason House who we named our assistant client.

After being safely on solid ground once again, we were met by Jessi Markiss, who had been left at the base camp for two weeks, to repair and rebuild the main cabin, which had become a home for bears over the previous winter. He had done a mighty fine job, and it didn’t take much time till we were all moved in and feeling comfy in the newly redone “Stepovak Bay Hilton”. It was a few days before any clients arrived, so the following day we built some blinds to be used by the bow-hunters. While setting up one of these blinds, I accidentally called in a huge bull moose, to 80 yards. This was accomplished by walking through the brush, with two empty water jugs, which sounded like a bull raking his antlers, a common sound during the rut. It was quite a rush, but I did not have a camera to capture the unique moment.  Back at base camp, food was sorted, camp gear set out, and water jugs filled up at a stream located at my spike camp. A few of the guides were dropped off at their respective spike camps, while I worked around the base camp. The first round of clients arrived on the 30th of September, the day before the season opened. Three bow-hunters, and one rifle hunter. Jason, also a rifle hunter, had arrived with us, and was already in the field, watching from a hill, where they spotted 50 bears in one hour, on one river! It was shaping up to be a great season. The weather was typical for the peninsula, raining and windy, but slightly warm, and visible enough to make the short Super Cub flight to my spike camp. The location was picturesque, with water falls cascading down the valley walls, and magnificent glaciers wrapped in jagged rock. My first client was Mike Blair, who had a lifelong dream of hunting bears in Alaska, so early the next morning we headed out to make that dream a reality.

Our mornings start well before sunrise, with a breakfast and coffee, before donning our gear, and trekking out to our local spotting knob. It was only a 15 minute walk from our camp, so it wasn’t long before we spotted our first bear. But it was only a small one, traveling the nearby creek. In only a few hours we spotted about 15 bears, including sows and cubs, and also two cow moose and one big bull. We put a stalk on one of the big bears we spotted, but the distance prevented us from arriving at the spot before he was gone. At about midday we headed back to camp for lunch and a nap. In the afternoon we headed back out, to our hill, to see what was on the move. We spotted about ten bears, but none gave us a good pursuit option. Although, in a side valley, we saw a bear feeding on grass, but by then it was too dark to go after him, so we decided against it. The next day we followed the same routine, but with a few less bears, but the same bear in the side valley, only up higher. We decided to go and sit in that valley anyway, to see if the bear was prone to return to the valley floor. Sure enough, it wasn’t but an hour or so before Mike spotted the bear, right across the creek from us, about 300 yards. We were excited, but calm, setting up our shooting rests. The bear was fat, and dark, and in the size range that Mike was looking for, so we agreed that it was a shooter, but we needed to wait for the bear to feed a bit closer. It didn’t take long, before he was 240 yards away. All I had to do was say the word, and Mikes 375 roared to life. The first shot was a good one, but it took two more from his gun, and two from mine, to finish the job. Bears are tough animals, and when it was tearing through the grass, I was glad for the 240 yards that separated us. The shouts and back slaps ensued, and we quickly got to the bear, shaking hands, and actually touching an animal that could tear your face off. It is an amazing feeling. Mike was one happy camper. Due to the approaching darkness, and many other bears around, we left the bear to come back in the morning.

The following day was raining, but even that could not dampen our spirits. Many pictures were taken, and we relived the moment over and over. I was very happy to have aided mike in fulfilling his lifelong dream of hunting the big bruins. We worked together to complete the job, and pack the bear back to camp. It was a bit later when Preston arrived, to bring us back to base camp. We were greeted there by two of the bow hunters, that had also been successful, and had taken bears on opening day. They had quite the stories to tell, shooting a bear standing up at 2 yards with a bow, that will make your legs shake a little. It was a few days until the next plane arrived, so we filled time by fleshing (Removing flesh from the hide) and salting hides, (to remove moisture and dry out for shipping), playing cards, and eating. Tough life for sure. When the next round of clients came in, I went back to my camp with Nick Busche, and Berg Hansen. Berg was along to film Nick’s hunt. We were a good team, and ended up getting a bear near camp on the first day. All of it was gotten on film as well, which was great. But just as quickly as they came in, they flew out and Preston flew Jason, the assistant client, into my camp. I was happy for the opportunity to hunt with Jason, owner of Antler Shack, who is quite a character, mainly in the comedy arena, but also a multi-faceted artist, who builds antler art, and has a beetle farm for cleaning skulls. So it was a pleasure to have him in camp, and to have another chance to hunt the hunters.

Since it is against the law to fly and hunt the same day, we could not shoot anything, but we decided to head to the hill, to see what we could see. We spotted a few bears along the river, but nothing big.  We did see a big old bull moose, walking past our camp, which we tried to call in, but he was too wise for us. For a change of scenery we went over to the side valley that Mike had had his bear harvest. The carcass had not been eaten much,  from what we could see through our binoculars, so we hiked up the valley a ways. It was Jason that was looking back to the carcass when he spotted a bear! It looked big and dark, but it was hard to be sure in the fading light. Sneaking closer we watched the bear walk through the brush towards the carcass, take a few bites and then begin to paw at the ground and start to bury the carcass. This was something I had seen pictures of but never witnessed. We could hardly contain ourselves as we hiked back to camp. We got up early the next morning, however the weather was nasty, with heavy rain, so we decided to wait it out in our sleeping bags. It wasn’t till after lunch that we ventured out to the side valley. Just as we got within sight of the carcass, we saw fur. It was the bear. Sleeping on top of the carcass that he had buried. It was incredible, for a bear to be out in mid day, in the sun, sleeping on a carcass. It proved to be the perfect scenario for us to get close. Circling back, we were able to crawl up to within 70 yards of the bear. Then it became a waiting game.

For over an hour we waited, with more than one anxiety attack every few minutes when he would lift his massive head and look around lazily, and us getting ready, and then as he put his head back down, we would wait again. All the while I had Jason’s video camera rolling. Not only was this an incredible experience, we were going to get it all on film. It seemed like forever, but finally, he slowly got up, stretching his front legs, but he never got up any higher than that. With a whisper of “I’m Gonna Dump Him”, his muzzle blast nearly blew me away, but it did its job, and the bear dropped like a rock. His roars were loud, but i don’t think they were as loud as us. One more shot in the back quieted him, but he was paralyzed from the first shot so he was not going anywhere. The camera was rolling and victory was sweet. Whenever walking up to a bear, they always looks smaller than you think, but once we saw those feet, and the head, we knew we had ourselves a Monster, or in the words of Jason, “A Tank”. We could not believe it, and it was quite some time before we actually calmed down enough to take any pictures or more video. We did not know exactly how big it was, but it was huge, definitely the biggest bear I had ever been involved with.  The pile that he had made was about 3 ft tall, and he had cleared an area at least 50 ft. in diameter. Cameras clicked away, I think more than on a red carpet at the Oscars. We even hailed Preston on the radio, and had a fly-by of approval. And to wrap it all up, it was a beautiful sunny day, which is pretty rare for the Peninsula. We got back to camp by dark, tired and still excited. We could hardly sleep, but we did, and in the morning we headed back to base camp.

Once there I only had a short while working on the big bear hide, before I was called out to Eric’s Camp. The river there had flooded, and the bear that they had shot was unreachable due to the high waters. So in pouring rain, and hard winds, Preston literally “dropped” into a little gravel bar,  and sent me from there to retrieve the bear. He was able to fly Eric to there as well, and together we skinned the bear. The Super Cub only holds one passenger with gear, so we had to wait our turn to fly back to base camp. Once there we had to finish the process of taking care of the hide, which involves a lot of knife work. We helped each other though, and got done before the night was out. The next day brought yet another round of clients, and the departure of those that were done. only one hunter left empty handed, but he will be back to pursue those brownies again in the near future. One of the hunters that arrived was from Canada, and he was my fourth client. We returned to my camp again, hopping to continue the quick successes we were having there. Sure enough we saw a bear on one of the carcasses while retrieving water. The next morning we went up the side valley again, and after waiting for a while, spotted a bear on the carcass. He ended up bedding down in the brush just above the torn up area. A wide sweep through the brush, and a stalk up the hill brought us to 100 yards. A similar situation to Jason’s Bear, but we only had to wait a little while before the bear got up, and Tim put him down with one shot. Once again, excitement was exuded, and pictures and memories were created. It was not as big of a bear as Jason’s but still a good bear. We made it back to base camp the following day, and we were met by yet another successful hunter, who had harvested an awesome big bear. The weather cleared up and was nice all the way until we left a couple days later.

We left the area 5 days early, which was greatly appreciated due to the fact that it was a very long hunting/guiding season for us, and I was happy to be at the end of it. Those small comforts of a warm shower, and a soft bed, are luxuries to guys like us that spend more than 60 days out in the field, in a tent, on cots or on the ground, and it was a great thing to come back to. The season wrapped up nicely with 10 bears taken on the Peninsula. The work continued back here at the Lodge, drying hides and such, but many great memories were created, and it was yet again another season come and gone, but it will always be something that is thrilling and heart pounding, to hunt the hunters.

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The Sun beat down upon our already sweaty backs, causing our minds to wander to thoughts of cold drinks and rest under the shade. However those thoughts would have to remain only that, for we were on the trail of the canny and keen eyed Dall Ram. It was opening morning of the 2005 sheep season, and already the action was hot, almost as hot as the unusually hot sun that was making the creeks roar with extra enthusiasm. Preston Cavner was the Guide, Garry Hurless was the client, and I was in training, and what better way then by experiencing it first hand. The day Prior had been spent hiking in and out of rain showers, Scouting for an opening morning shot at a dandy ram. Due to the non-existence of night this far north, it was possible to shoot a ram at 12:01 in the morning. We found a few nice rams, but they lived up to their name and eluded us.

In the morning we headed up this new canyon, and already passed up a long shot at a good 8-year-old ram. Being as it was the first day we kept our options open. After a tough climb, we reached a nice hill in the middle of a huge basin and decided to set up camp, with a tremendous amount of area to observe. Throughout the day we continued to see several rams, but none caught our attention. Due to bad weather back in the town of Kaktovik, Preston decided to get his airplane in a more secure location, and headed back, leaving me in charge of the hunt. Being as it was that Garry and I were good friends and neighbors, we were up for the change. We went to sleep with thoughts of white sheep and curly horns.

Awaking to another sunny day, I prepared breakfast of oatmeal and bagels, and ventured out of the tent to glass, while Garry sipped his coffee. Immediately I spotted a nice ram, along with another juvenile. It was only four hundred yards away, but on the opposite side of the canyon. Quickly and quietly I hurried back to the tent to alert Garry, who was by this time ready for action. We both looked at the Ram through the spotting scope and it was easy to see by his long points that this was a good one. Evaluating the situation, we agreed that stalking was the better option rather than risking a long shot. So we descended from our lofty perch, as the rams began to move from their beds and proceeded to feed. By the time we reached the bottom and began up the other side, the rams were out of sight. The climb was not nearly as easy as the decent, but slowly and surely we kept on. Even Garry’s age of 63 didn’t hold him back from completing the task at hand.

Due to the sheep’s 8-power vision, it is nearly impossible to approach in plain sight, so we went from gully to gully in the direction of the rams last seen location. However when we reached the peak, they were nowhere to be seen. It was by then mid day, and pushing 70 degrees, which is quite warm for the Brooks Range. We decided to descend a bit to check in the cliffs, which would be the only shaded spot for the rams. Gently we edged our way along the top of the cliffs searching every nook and cranny. Nearly giving up, I ventured out to the last end of the cliff, and peaked out over the edge. Sure enough there was the ram for which we sought, staring right through me from his bed. It only took a split second for the ram to jump up and high tail it out. Quickly I yelled to Garry to shoot. Quick with his hands and an excellent marksman, Garry made quick work with his rifle, and stopped the ram in his tracks. And just like that it was done. All of the hard laborious climbing and heavy packs faded from our mind, as we approached this fallen king of the mountain tops. Our judgments of his size proved correct, and his full curl, and complete tips made for an excellent trophy. Although it was a long 4 miles back to the main camp, it was all down hill and even the hike could not put a frown on Garry’s face.

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Top Ten Alaskan Hunting Guide Gear
When I go out into the wilderness, hundreds of miles from civilization, there are certain things that I never leave without. Although my list of Items will vary depending on time of year, location, and type of animal that is being pursued, these are my mainstays, and also many other guides in Alaska. Some of this gear is quite expensive, and there are some comparable items, the quality of these cannot be beat.

#1 – Barneys Freighter frame pack
http://www.barneyssports.com
#2 – Jetboil Personal Cooking System
http://www.rei.com
#3 – Helly Hansen Impertech Raingear, top and bottom
http://www.hellyhansengear.com
#4 – Swarovski Spotting Scope,
http://www.swarovskioptik.at/
#5 – Mountain Hardwear, Compressor Insulated Pants
http://www.mountainhardwear.com/
#6 – North Face, Redpoint Insulated Jacket
http://www.thenorthface.com
#7 – McNett Tenacious Tape Sealing And Repair Tape
http://www.Backcountry.com
#8 – Victorinox Paring Knife, Straight, Curved, and Pointed
http://www.target.com
#9 – Gerber Compact Sport 400 Multi-Tool
http://www.cabelas.com
#10 – Golite Sleeping Bag
http://www.golite.com

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