Flying into Camp
It's day number one of our Alaskan grizzly bear hunt. I've got a tag and my cousin, Jared, here's got a tag. We just landed a few hours ago. We got camp set up. Of course, we can't hunt today because it's the same day we flew in,
but the good news is, we've already seen one bear and lots of bear sign.
So we're feeling pretty good about tomorrow.
Jared, what are you thinking?
I'm excited, man. We've seen a lot of tracks. Seen some birds flying around eating some fish on the bank, so I think it's going to be a good day.
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Alaskan Grizzly Bear Hunt - Day One of Hunting
It's the morning of day two and we finally get to hunt. We're going to head up to this spot where we saw a bunch of dead fish and seagulls. It looks really good. We actually saw a bear last night in there. We’re gonna go in there and hoping to maybe see him this morning. If not, we'll kind of probably wait him out for tonight.
I’m on him but I’m not going to shoot him.
Nice shot!
Is he down?
He went in that brush and then popped out for that one second. And I’m like just break the wall.
They get pissed off, don’t they?
Yeah, man.
That’s what’s fun with bears. They spin trying to figure out what the hell's hurting them instead of running off.
Oh my gosh! That's a big bear.
It didn't take long at all.
No. That thing’s big. He's freaking heavy dude. His belly's like right here, dude. On the ground.
I wasn't going to shoot him while he was walking. He finally stopped. And in fact, it just happened so quick Jake, couldn't get the camera on him for the kill shot. I'll probably never forgive him for that. But that's okay.
I'm done day one, but Jared’s got a tag and we're 100% confident we'll get him a bear too. So we're going to go check this bear out.
Now, what an awesome hunt. This has been a lifelong dream of mine. I actually hunted grizzly bears back in 2007 and wasn't able to capitalize.
But man, finally got it done on day one. And I don't think there are very many hunts where I've actually killed out on opening morning. I guess it's not technically opening morning for grizzly bears, but it was opening morning for me since we couldn't the same day that we fly.
I'm just tickled to death. This is kind of what I always dreamed of - getting a bear like this. That's just got a beautiful, beautiful pelt, blonde highlights. I mean just a real awesome representative of an Arctic grizzly.
Hunting - Day Two
Alaskan Grizzly Bear Morning Hunt
Well, it’s the morning of the second day. We got Mike’s bear yesterday morning and then we saw another five Grizzlies last night. We had some opportunities, but we kind of lost sight of a few of them. Bears were popping in and out, then a sow and some cubs came into the mix. And we didn't want to take any chances. Obviously, we don't want to shoot a sow with cubs.
One we're pretty sure is a big boar when we looked back at the footage. So we're hoping to find that big guy over on the river. Just eating breakfast and we’ll be getting out soon. We're going to give it heck today and see what we can pull out. Hopefully, we can get her done. I think if we can get up behind there that's close enough to where we can observe everything.
Right, I agree that’s a perfect spot.
Did you get that?
Dude, I just freaking pounded a wolf.That is sick!
Not super big, but they're cool. A black wolf, man.
Way cool.
Stoked.
We're going to go to work on this wolf right now and head back to camp. We'll get some lunch and get ready for the evening hunt. We feel pretty good about tonight. Finally got this area figured out.
Hunting - Day Two
Alaskan Grizzly Bear Evening Hunt
We just got down to this point and saw a couple bears. It looks like it's just the sow and her two cubs. She's acting a little funny. So we think that there's a couple bears around - not too far off. So we're gonna keep glassing - maybe move a little bit - and see if we can pick up these other bears. Hopefully, we can get a shot off tonight.Are you going to hit it?
Missed.
Well, tonight was a little bit eventful. Mike ranged him right around 343, so close to 350. And we're shooting these 375s. Quite the pope for that.
So we laid down and held it just right at the top of the hump. It was dark and the was scope was fogged because it's been raining. I felt like I was pretty comfortable, but it was a little bit hard to see.
I squoze a shot off and our cameraman had the camera going. He said that the shot was just in front of it, so I might have flinched or something.
But the bear ran off and we've confirmed - no hit. So we're going to be back at it tomorrow.
Hunting - Day Three
Hell yeah.
You guys both think you got one in him?
I think so. It sounded like it.
Conclusion of Our Alaskan Grizzly Bear Hunt
By the time we got over here to check for blood, it was pitch black. We just elected to come back this morning and I think it was a good call on Josh's part to do that. We came and found the bear right away.
Not much sleep for me, but you know, it was worth it. We're all safe. We tracked it down pretty quick. Jake, our cameraman, actually spotted it.
It's got a beautiful blonde coat here with black legs.
It's been a great trip. We're super, super excited. Our spirits are high we ended on a high note and we’re celebrating. It’s been a great trip. We've killed some nice bears and got the bonus wolf.
Brad Saalsaa with Alaskan Wilderness Charters runs a great operation. Our guide, Josh, has been just awesome. He's taken really good care of us. He's cooked for us. He's skinned the bears. And we got that wolf the other day and that was pretty cool. It's just been an awesome, awesome trip and we recommend getting setup with Brad.
Make sure to purchase SKRE's Great Alaskan Bundle when you are getting your gear together for your trip to the Alaskan wilderness.