Boat based black bear

[Ryansven]

We are looking at boat based black bear in Alaska. Any body got any reviews or been with swoboda charter or have any other recommendations? Thanks

 

[Rwolf]

Ninilchik Charters has been good for me on a couple of trips. DIY transporter.

 

[Ryansven]

Thank you

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

I went with Swaboda last year
Beautiful area and amazing fishing
Bear hunting was pretty blah honestly
Older boat but they did a good job

 

[Ryansven]

Blah as in just didn’t see many bears? Did you hunt around the corner on south side or on north kachemak bay side? Was weather a factor at all?

 

[LongWayAround]

I went with swoboda several years ago for deer. Besides seeming like the captain couldn't give a shit about our trip...We had the front cabin of the boat, condensation turned our "mattresses" into sponges. The stench of the crew shitter wafted into the little moist cave. Our one opportunity to fish, he encouraged us to watch DVDs...

They fed us well, the deckhand and cook worked hard, and two guys on the boat did shoot nice deer.

I would roll the dice with someone else.

 

[Ryansven]

Thanks sounds like a sound recommendation!

 

[MightyWhitey]

I went with Ninilchik charters in 23 and it was terrible. Before we ever put the boat in gear I asked how they handled who got to go after bears. They said “whoever spots a bear first and tells us they want to go after it”. Twice I spotted a bear and asked to be taken to the bank and the captain said, no let’s go catch some fish first and if he’s still there when we get back I’ll take you to him. A third time I’d spotted a bear, on our way back in on the last day as the captain was taking everybody fishing again, but I said as sternly and respectfully as I could that I was not going to drive by anymore bears I spotted to go fishing again and to point the boat towards that bear because I’m going after it and you two are taking me there now.

The short version of this was they didn’t want to let me do it because they said the bear was on native land and I only had a short window of time before high tide and I can only shoot him if he’s between the water and high tide mark. I said well you better start that skiff and head that way cuz I’m damn sure gonna try. Half way in to the bank the captain ordered to deck hand to bring me back in the bear had gotten too high up the bank. The skiff driver and I couldn’t see him due to the route I told him to take us. I wasn’t even mad because at least we tried. Well, as we were driving away headed back in, the 4 other hunters on the boat said you probably better not look at your maps. The bear was a half mile away from any native land. I could’ve hunted him the whole beach and a half mile inland. So I went to the front of the boat to have a talk with these two fools and that’s when I learned they had no maps, only word of mouth from the company owner.

I think Ninilchik charters will hire anybody with a pulse. This was that captains first bear hunt. He was a fishing captain from Florida who’d only been in AK a couple weeks.
They slept in every morning and we had to wake them up. They fought with each other constantly. They pulled us in to a cove to hunt for the evening with about 45min of daylight left because we’d be out fishing so long. We could hear them yelling at each other on the boat from where we were hunting. We never had a true morning hunt. I asked to be dropped off alone for the day multiple times so they could go fish their hearts out and the capt. wouldn’t allow it. Dishes were piled up in the sink more than they weren’t. They cooked a happy meal portion of the fish we caught and refused to cook any more like everybody had asked because “you won’t have anything to take home if we cook any more”.

There’s way more to this story, guys falling out of the skiff, deck hand sleeping in our bunks etc. I need to figure out how to show you guys the emails between me and the owner.

So in summery Ninilchik charters is a rat outfit, and I feel like the owner stole half my money through complete false advertising.
You do not set your own pace like their website says. If there’s no bears in the immediate area and they need to “save fuel because we really don’t have much”, guess what, you go fishin again. The captain dictates what happens once you’re a 6hr boat ride from the harbor. And he may or may not have clue what’s goin on.

Please don’t give those idiots any of your money.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Sounds like some total douche bag companys here.
We need a thread on shaddy outfitters that is easily put together.
There’s douche bag hunters as well but the outfit has a opportunity to respond.They cost way to much money to hire people like that.

I went with swoboda several years ago for deer. Besides seeming like the captain couldn't give a shit about our trip...We had the front cabin of the boat, condensation turned our "mattresses" into sponges. The stench of the crew shitter wafted into the little moist cave. Our one opportunity to fish, he encouraged us to watch DVDs...

They fed us well, the deckhand and cook worked hard, and two guys on the boat did shoot nice deer.

I would roll the dice with someone els

 

[LongWayAround]

@MightyWhitey

Deckhands sleeping on your bunks and guys falling out of the skiff sounds like a new level of suck.

I fished with Ninilchik in 21. They were not super friendly. Definitely a run the clients through feeling. Our captain was cool and we caught our halibut, but it definitely didn't leave me needing to go back out with them.

 

[MightyWhitey]

It was my first time doing anything like that so I was doing my best to go with the flow for most of it but I eventually had my fill of the bs. The other 4 guys were a group Id never met that apparently have done several guided trips/hunts together and they said it was the worst outfit they’d ever been with.

 

[Ryansven]

Thanks for the info sounds like strike two on companies!

Is there any worth the time and money?

 

[Gen273]

Wow, a boat hunt sounds terrible based on the stories above. Thanks for sharing. I was actually looking at websites for a boat hunt earlier in the week.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Home - Glacier Guides

glacierguidesinc.com

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I went with Ninilchik charters in 23 and it was terrible. Before we ever put the boat in gear I asked how they handled who got to go after bears. They said “whoever spots a bear first and tells us they want to go after it”. Twice I spotted a bear and asked to be taken to the bank and the captain said, no let’s go catch some fish first and if he’s still there when we get back I’ll take you to him. A third time I’d spotted a bear, on our way back in on the last day as the captain was taking everybody fishing again, but I said as sternly and respectfully as I could that I was not going to drive by anymore bears I spotted to go fishing again and to point the boat towards that bear because I’m going after it and you two are taking me there now.

The short version of this was they didn’t want to let me do it because they said the bear was on native land and I only had a short window of time before high tide and I can only shoot him if he’s between the water and high tide mark. I said well you better start that skiff and head that way cuz I’m damn sure gonna try. Half way in to the bank the captain ordered to deck hand to bring me back in the bear had gotten too high up the bank. The skiff driver and I couldn’t see him due to the route I told him to take us. I wasn’t even mad because at least we tried. Well, as we were driving away headed back in, the 4 other hunters on the boat said you probably better not look at your maps. The bear was a half mile away from any native land. I could’ve hunted him the whole beach and a half mile inland. So I went to the front of the boat to have a talk with these two fools and that’s when I learned they had no maps, only word of mouth from the company owner.

I think Ninilchik charters will hire anybody with a pulse. This was that captains first bear hunt. He was a fishing captain from Florida who’d only been in AK a couple weeks.
They slept in every morning and we had to wake them up. They fought with each other constantly. They pulled us in to a cove to hunt for the evening with about 45min of daylight left because we’d be out fishing so long. We could hear them yelling at each other on the boat from where we were hunting. We never had a true morning hunt. I asked to be dropped off alone for the day multiple times so they could go fish their hearts out and the capt. wouldn’t allow it. Dishes were piled up in the sink more than they weren’t. They cooked a happy meal portion of the fish we caught and refused to cook any more like everybody had asked because “you won’t have anything to take home if we cook any more”.

There’s way more to this story, guys falling out of the skiff, deck hand sleeping in our bunks etc. I need to figure out how to show you guys the emails between me and the owner.

So in summery Ninilchik charters is a rat outfit, and I feel like the owner stole half my money through complete false advertising.
You do not set your own pace like their website says. If there’s no bears in the immediate area and they need to “save fuel because we really don’t have much”, guess what, you go fishin again. The captain dictates what happens once you’re a 6hr boat ride from the harbor. And he may or may not have clue what’s goin on.

Please don’t give those idiots any of your money.

It really blows when you go guided and it turns out like that. The first time I went aoudad hunting, we pretty much got the west Texas version of what you got in ninilchik. We also felt like they had falsely advertised. They said what I wanted to hear when I was writing them a check for 13k.

 

[Randue]

I did a boat base hunt in Alaska for black bear; this was about twenty-five years ago.
It was a fantastic hunt. Name of the boat was "The Bear Necessity" If I remember correctly the guide's name was Dennis. We hunted out of Wrangle. His boat was very nice, everything about it was great. Two hunters on the hunt Skipper/Guide and a great professional chef cooking fantastic meals.
I've tried to look him up with no results.
Good guy, great food, good hunt.

Take care

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Whats the laws on this,especially if you have video of the crap.
I see it no different than hiring a contractor for a service and his workers doing the same thing.
Why are these guides exempt from doing what they advertise.I understand the animal isn’t a guarantee but you know dam well if they are giving 100 % effort in the pursuit of the game and 100% effort in customer service.

 

[MightyWhitey]

Not sure about the laws, but I tried to get half my money back from Ninilchik after my hunt. They jerked me around for 2 months saying we’ll take care of you after our season wraps up and we talk to the crew, said they fired both those guys, passed me off to a few different people etc. After all that they asked if I’d take less than half. So after 2 months of pissed off I said if you can’t do half I’ll just file a credit card dispute for the full amount and share my story on the internet.
Then the owner finally sent an email. I’ll put screenshots of it below. I lost the credit card dispute because they said I never spoke the words to the company that “ I want to cancel my hunt”. I told the cc company there’s no way I could’ve canceled because I was a 6-8hr boat ride away with 4 other strangers on the boat that would’ve lost their whole trip had I demanded to be taken back. They said they understood the circumstances but since I didn’t try to cancel my claim was denied.

 

[MightyWhitey]

I’ve been meaning to make my own post with all the emails and details of this mess so guys will have a little more information about how Ninilchik runs their business instead of just taking their word for it. When I booked the hunt they said “ go watch the Bearadise video on YouTube that the huntin fool guys made, that’s what it’s like”. When I asked the deckhand about that he said, that’s not quite what it seems, those guys book the same week each year and that video was a combination of two different hunts. I have no idea if that’s true or not, that guy said a few untrue things during my time with him.