2020 Hunts- Deer, Mt Goat, Bears, Sheep, Bou, Moose

[wildwilderness]

We had to cut the log to get the bear out and sit him up for pictures!

 

[wildwilderness]

While skinning the bear I found the rest of the arrow just under the hide on the opposite Ham. The bear must have been quartering to me more than I thought. It was very odd that the vanes had been bitten off though with blood on them - My thought as to what happened is the arrow went in at least to the vanes-

I recall at the shot it appeared the arrow went all the way in- the bear did a 180 and we found the vanes about 20 yds down the trail. The arrow must have pushed back out enough for the boar to bite it. then the bear took off again and this time the rest of the shaft and Broadhead worked its way in deeper to the opposite ham with every move until it came to the far hide. That’s like 3-4’ of penetration and the bear died close. Pretty good hemorrhage all along the path of the Broadhead- still very sharp!

you can see where we found the arrow in this pic

 

[wildwilderness]

Alaska had closed Non Residents from hunting in May. My oldest had plans with two buddies to come up for Black Bears as a senior Graduation trip. Luckily the state implemented the Covid testing option and in June they were able to travel.

The two new baits were looking good for bears and Caleb was very patient as a good friend to not let anyone hunt them until his friends got their bears first. It did make for a lot of dog food runs til they came

First up was Braden with his 1st bear ever

 

[wildwilderness]

Next up Justus who had come up the year before and got skunked (mainly because he didn’t buy a tag til after Caleb shot a bear ) We made extra sure this year to have a hot bait for him to hunt.

He made a great shot and also got his first bear! A nice boar.

 

[akbrett]

what were the measurements on the brownie??

 

[wildwilderness]

Last up was my son Caleb. Not to be outdone he shot the biggest bear on the baits. Now the Black bears don’t get big here, probably because of all the Brown bears, genetics, who knows but it rare to see a big one like the SE. this one went 6’ nose to tail but was very old.

 

[wildwilderness]

They had a super long blood trail but stuck with it. The skull went 18 2/8” when sealed.

Being a dentist I’m always interested in the teeth- these were very worn, a couple were missing and gums healed over and a big broken canine! Will have to see what the official age comes back as.

 

[wildwilderness]

what were the measurements on the brownie??

The bear was on the younger side, rough measurements 8’4” tip to tail and 9’ claw to claw. He had a good noggin on him and had it officially P&Y scored at 26 5/16”

Maybe I can plan a trip to the AK Peninsula or draw Kodiak some day for a real brute 10’ and a 28” skull, but for my first Brown Bear and with my Bow I am super pleased with it

 

[wildwilderness]

By now the Kings were running good I. The Deshka River so we had to go out with my Brother in Law Jim who runs the Deshka Landing Charters. Last year the state allowed catch and release for kings.

 

[wildwilderness]

I do have to say Kings are great fighters, by my youngest has caught enough to learn how to handle them.

 

[MasterTimo]

Great thread there! Thanks for sharing this.

 

[wildwilderness]

Well we had some Good luck with the older boys, now is some Bad and Ugly, since that’s how hunting goes...

My youngest just started bow hunting this year. He shot his first bear last year with a rifle so he wanted to archery this year. Well here was his first chance and you can see he missed low

 

[SLA]

Great thread and pics! Thanks for sharing and good job to all.

 

[Voyageur]

Thank you for sharing these adventures! Great stories and just what I needed to glide thru this last third of winter.

 

[wildwilderness]

That same night my 12 yr old boy had a second chance at the other bear- this time it was ugly- as in we thought he made a good shot, couldn’t get a second arrow in. We tracked all night and came back the next day with the family and couldn’t find the bear . We found the arrow with what looked like dark blood but only 2 specks on the ground.

my guess is the arrow went lower than we thought and maybe missed vitals. Emotionally tough for him.

 

[wildwilderness]

I had my son shoot a bunch and try to figure out what happened. At 20 yds he was shoot a bit low so we adjusted the sight a touch to see if that helped. Short draw length and light poundage has a bigger trajectory. We decided to give it another go.

Once again we had a bear come in. I tried to talk him through the shot but the bear fever was real, and all the emotions, coupled with weird shot angles etc in a blind he missed high

 

[ColeyG]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Buck197]

I am hating on you right now, with pure jealousy. Thank you so much for sharing all of this. I am envious. Theres is absolutely nothing better than taking the year from hell, and owning it. Keep sharing these great adventures please.

 

[Scoot]

Absolutely great thread! I can relate to the struggles of a 12 year old hunter! My son struggled mightily to shoot his first deer. Shot lights out on targets, but missed a lot of deer. It did finally come together though, as I'm sure it will for your son (maybe in an upcoming post-- hopefully!)

 

[wildwilderness]

I wasn’t sure if we should be done hunting after all that stretch but my son said he wanted to give it one more go with his rifle.

I checked the zero and it was dead on and we went one more time. Once again Snakebit I don’t know what happened, as he is usually a good shot and smoked his bear last year. But after that shot it looked like the bear was hit but we found no blood and no bear that day and all the next looking.
He was a bit of an emotional wreck after all that and ready to be done.