Hunting Black Bears on the Kenai Peninsula

[Alaska92]

I have the opportunity to go stay with a family member and Hunt black bears on the Kenai Peninsula. I would spot and stalk. My family member that's out there has not hunted a whole bunch he just loves to fish. I would be there at the end of May, first st of June. I don't even know where to begin. He told me bear tags are over the counter for non-residents there. Does anyone know if that is correct? I would plan to glass and hike. Even thinking about backpacking in and staying. I know there's a ton of brown bears/grizzlies in the area so I would not want to do that alone. I would love to hear any advice or what to expect. Including what the glassing situation is, likely hood of spotting a bear by spot and stalk. I would even love to hear thoughts on general areas through pm but I'm not expecting that. I pretty much don't know anything about it up there. I also have an area that he suggested that I would like to run by some people to see if they think it's a good option. Thanks for any advice.

Looks like you got a lot of good advice. I’ll add a couple things. That time frame is the rut for bears. Expect to see some “chasing”. Boars will be on the move. Study closely for cubs if you spot a bear. Sows with cubs are illegal and sometimes the cubs are out of sight for periods of time. I’ve seen them up in a tree a fair distance from mom. Glass late. There is a lot of daylight that time of year. Another hint. Moose are dropping calves around that time. Call. Calf in distress or really anything that resembles it, can be productive. Be aware of brown bears. There’s plenty of them in 7 and 15. I would concentrate on 7.

 

[Jdog]

Plenty of bears on the Kenai penn…usually they will require a bit of work. Buddy took a nice one from the road years ago. Glassed it from a parking lot—2-3 hrs hike up then we were skinning him out a 6 footr black bear.

Plenty of black bears between Anchorage & Wasilla as well.

 

[Yooper25]

I’ll be doing some bear hunting on the Kenai peninsula this spring too. As for the fishing you can usually get halibut. Usually pretty consistent fishing from boat but you can also get them occasionally surf fishing.