Kodiak bear count down

[Greyinggrayling]

Congratulations! Thanks for the great pictures and follow up. Kodiak is a wild and wonderful place!

Is that rifle a Sako Kodiak .375H&H?

Now waiting for your report! At least a bear pic

 

[Greyinggrayling]

I will have a recap of what worked and what sucked this weekend.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Awesome. What did these bears square? You said yours isn’t big for a brown, but its head is so much bigger than the black bears I’ve killed. Thanks for this right up. I would say a Kodiak brown bear hunt is my dream hunt. Trying to do that in the next 5-10 years.

 

[Greyinggrayling]

Awesome. What did these bears square? You said yours isn’t big for a brown, but its head is so much bigger than the black bears I’ve killed. Thanks for this right up. I would say a Kodiak brown bear hunt is my dream hunt. Trying to do that in the next 5-10 years.

Both were small sows. Mine squared to about 6 and 1/2. Barren with evidence of old fighting injuries (broken canine, punctured and torn lips). Estimated to be about 8-10 years old. She has a big ole melon head. I thought she was a small boar at first. But things were happening quickly and it was getting late. My knives were even packed already.
He hasn’t squared his yet, but it is smaller and younger than mine.
We spoke to one of the other hunters that used the cabin before us, and read the cabin logs. They indicated a small sow was frequenting the cabin and had to be run off multiple times. Between my husband and me, we have removed the habituated bear. We think it was his, though, considering the way it was making a beeline into camp without fear.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

. She has a big ole melon head.

How big was the skull?

 

[Greyinggrayling]

How big was the skull?

22 raw

 

[BackCountryMulies]

Congrats, I ended up with a good sized sow as well. The extra cow tags in the area opening the day before made for a challenging bear hunt.

 

[Greyinggrayling]

Congrats, I ended up with a good sized sow as well. The extra cow tags in the area opening the day before made for a challenging bear hunt.

Those nails!
We had deer hunters all over the place while we were there. Not good for big boar hunting for sure. Just a challenging part of hunting, though. We had an exciting time.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

you hear all the "if a bear on kodiak hears a gun shot they will coming running towards it". Did you guys try shooting a round into the ground to call the bears in? Nice bears to all! 3 Less bears to deal with while out there

 

[Blind Squirrel]

What are y’all doing with the hides and skulls? I hear the brown bear meat is not tasty like a black bear, but is the fat still good for making bear grease?

 

[Greyinggrayling]

you hear all the "if a bear on kodiak hears a gun shot they will coming running towards it". Did you guys try shooting a round into the ground to call the bears in? Nice bears to all! 3 Less bears to deal with while out there

A guided hunter killed a bear nearby (within 1/4 mile hike) the day before we arrived, rumored to be about a 9 ft boar. I was hoping that shot and resulting gut pile would be attractive our first legal day, but it was not.
There was another resident bear hunter staying in the cabin and he hadn’t seen a lot of bear activity either. He was leaving out a couple of days after we arrived and clued us in on location of that gut pile. He also left us some gasoline for our boat and 6pk of beer (thank you!!!!).
Then there was the shot made by my Hubbie on the camp sow, and resulting gut pile. Nothing attracted to that over the following days either.
The trio of deer hunters who moved into the cabin after beer guy left and before we got the cabin did a lot of hiking around and did kill a couple of deer. We heard the shots, but never met these hunters so did not know location of gut piles. We learned of their treks and harvest in the cabin log book.
So…lots of traffic and lots of scent spread around in a relatively constricted area.

 

[Greyinggrayling]

What are y’all doing with the hides and skulls? I hear the brown bear meat is not tasty like a black bear, but is the fat still good for making bear grease?

These are fish bears. The meat and fat are unpalatable. It is a trophy hunt.
But we also consider it a conservation and population control effort. These bears are on an island and have no predators other than each other.
Hides - mine I may rug or do a shoulder mount. But I am open to suggestions.
His- tan and going to our cabin for a wall hanger
Skulls - display next to our blacks and grizzlies for size comparisons. But I am open to suggestions

 

[Blind Squirrel]

These are fish bears. The meat and fat are unpalatable. It is a trophy hunt.
But we also consider it a conservation and population control effort. These bears are on an island and have no predators other than each other.
Hides - mine I may rug or do a shoulder mount. But I am open to suggestions.
His- tan and going to our cabin for a wall hanger
Skulls - display next to our blacks and grizzlies for size comparisons. But I am open to suggestions

I had necklaces and earrings made out of the claws of my last black bear. I don’t know what you’ll do with the claws of the bear you shoulder mount, but that’s the only idea I’ve got.

 

[Greyinggrayling]

Winners/losers of the trip (I’ll just hit the highlights):

Winners:

1. Potty…hands down. With the biodegradable bags, it was great to only bury one bag a day, in daylight, in an inconspicuous location than try to dig three cat holes a day/night, every day. Plus, sheltered potty bucket. What’s not to love?

2. Kuiu Super Down Pro jacket and pants. When the cold wind was funneling down the river where we were sitting and glassing, I was warm. Others not so much. Overlay the Helly Hansen rain jacket and it was a great waterproof set up.

3. Neos Overshoes River Trekkers hip boots. Paired with the Helly Hanson rain jacket and I was dry. They fit my Lowas perfectly.
Edit to ad: the River Trekkers are not made anymore FYI. If you can find them used, they’re like gold. I’ve had mine for about 10 yrs. Hubbie wore his LaCrosse insulated hip boots. They performed well.

4. The North Face tents. Took the winds perfectly.

5. Our friend brought a boot dryer. We thought it was a bit much, but his waders developed a leak on day 2. His boots got wet often. The dryer came in handy for not only boots but gloves. I could have done without it, but it kept his sanity intact.

6. Airframes Alaska chairs. If you have one, you know. Best glassing chair and camp chair ever if not going ultralight.

7. I made a couple of prototype insulated pouches for keeping Peaks hot while rehydrating. We have some smaller commercially-made insulated pouches that will barely fit a Mountain House that we like, but wanted something larger for Peaks. The prototypes worked wonders. The Peaks stay super hot while “cooking,” rehydrate much more thoroughly, and there’s room to slide a couple of tortillas along the sides of the bag to warm them as well. And the pouches weigh very little. Game changer. Now that our hunting season is over, I will refine my pouches and will be good to go for snowmachine trips.


Losers:

1. The Courthouse tent. Just not wind ready. We knew it would be a little dicey, but that flat-faced front just couldn’t hack the winds. At one point I unzipped the front to go out just as a big gust arrived and the tent became a parachute and clam-shelled upward and open. We had to collapse the tent and throw bags on top until the gusts calmed down, then turned it around to get the face out of the prevailing wind. It really needs a wedge front. We will use it for interior moose camp.

2. Wiggys waders. The pair our friend was wearing lasted one day. Started getting cuts on the soles of the waders and leaked. We wouldn’t have recommended these anyway for Kodiak, but they really should have gotten more than one day’s use.

3. In-Reach weather report. Couldn’t trust it because I couldn’t determine what weather station it is coming out of. It was right maybe 50% of the time. Weather in Kodiak city is different than Larsen Bay airport, and different than where we were apparently. It was hard to plan when to take the boat out, or when to hunker down because snow was going to blow sideways in 60 mph winds. But, that’s the exciting part of being out at drop camp! I love it.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

3. In-Reach weather report. Couldn’t trust it because I couldn’t determine what weather station it is coming out of. It was right maybe 50% of the time. Weather in Kodiak city is different than Larsen Bay airport, and different than where we were apparently. It was hard to plan when to take the boat out, or when to hunker down because snow was going to blow sideways in 60 mph winds. But, that’s the exciting part of being out at drop camp! I love it.

you shouldnt trust any weather reports up here, especially on kodiak!

 

[Greyinggrayling]

you shouldnt trust any weather reports up here, especially on kodiak!

So true. Can’t even trust Anchorage weather forecast. In Anchorage.