My South East Alaska Bear hunt of 2023

[7mm-08]

Congratulations on the great bears and thank you for the well-done narrative. Good on you for persevering through that back pain, which is no joke. Hope your surgery goes well.

 

[majorbam]

What an awesome hunt... two trophy bears on one hunt is quite the feat... and I'm sure the success is all the sweeter that you pushed thru the pain.

Sounds like your guide service was top notch as well.

Memories of a lifetime for sure !

 

[Sizthediz]

Congratulations on a trip of a lifetime. Thank you for the story. Reminds me of my childhood reading field and stream.

 

[Grisha]

Congrats, great looking bear. SE Alaska is just a special place.

 

[Elk Chaser]

How cool! I hunted with Ed, Cole, and Zach on the earlier trip and had an absolutely amazing time. Looks like you enjoyed some of the same nice weather we had. Congrats on a couple great bears, that area is amazing!

 

[Southern Heritage]

How cool! I hunted with Ed, Cole, and Zach on the earlier trip and had an absolutely amazing time. Looks like you enjoyed some of the same nice weather we had. Congrats on a couple great bears, that area is amazing!

I killed my brown bear with back against the log you killed your black bear

 

[eddielasvegas]

Great intro and story and bears.

Congrats!


Eddie

 

[Elk Chaser]

I killed my brown bear with back against the log you killed your black bear

Very nice! That was a really neat spot, all of it is though. Top notch outfit through and through. Congrats again on the big ol bears.

 

[Smtn10pt]

Awesome bears and story! Sounds like a fantastic trip, Im sure you are happy you made it happen.

 

[adamkolesar]

Congrats to you and remaining persistent throughout your hunt!
As I was reading your story I knew you were hunting with Ed and his crew. I goat hunted w/ Ed a few years back and heard many stories about his Spring bear hunts. As you're now aware, Ed runs a top notch operation no matter what your quarry is.
He has carefully mentored his crew to provide a first rate AK experience!

 

[westonp7]

Huge bear! Congrats!

 

[Southern Heritage]

Surgery went great. I’ve Been absolutely miserable the last 3 days but today I can see some light and good enough to sit up and play on my iPad and dream about my next hunt.

 

[Stikbrandon]

Surgery went great. I’ve Been absolutely miserable the last 3 days but today I can see some light and good enough to sit up and play on my iPad and dream about my next hunt.

Hope your recovery is quick !

What did they end up doing to your back ?

 

[Southern Heritage]

I should know but honestly cant remember. I’ll ask my wife again. Nerve depressing and then a new disc that moves two directions with bars and screws. They did not fuse all three disc like they thought they may have to. Still struggling to remember everything they told me when I woke up other then they where real happy with the results. He said he had to use a 14mm which was A first.

 

[TXCO]

Congrats on two great bears! Good luck with rehab


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[twdjr]

Congrats!

 

[Bunkster_84]

Good work..great pics!! Bucket list, great story

 

[Subliminal1]

Congrats!!

 

[KnCaffre]

As I sit in a hotel I’m re living the last 8 days and the absolute treasure it has been. To start at the beginning I booked this hunt a while back with a a friend. On Martin Luther King day I was in a UTV accident shattering some bones around m L 5 Vertebrae. I was devastated and miserable. My friend had already purchased Hunting licenses and plane tickets. Deposits on the hunt have been cashed I feel a deep sense of guilt that I have screwed my friend out of thousands of dollars. So I decide I have to convince my wife and the doctor I can get through the pain and discomfort and do the surgery in June. My next hurdle is I have to call the outfitter and ask for his blessing. Who wants a gimp in camp. His response is I had a 82 year old client shoot one in 2019. Just means we have to move a little slower. So now it’s on Ive been rehabbing, walking, ice batting and sauna (just because joe Rogan does is it) every day leading up to the hunt. Now mind you im feeling good but if I lift more then 30 lbs I crumble.


Day 1) We get up the Alaska last Thursday and meet our guides and get headed out the next day by boat to the island that has base camp. On the way we hit rough water and I try not to show it but I guess my face wasn’t hiding it, I was in pain. I thought I was going to pass out my back was firing on all cylinders and my legs felt like they where full of concrete. So I prayed and prayed hard that I can make it through this trip. We get to camp and I hook a tenze unit to my back and we get settled in. Camp was your typical South East Alaska camp with huge tarps tied to trees. Bomb shelter tents with large foam pads, bistro lights hanging around which was new to me and super nice. A few hrs later we get in a small jet boat and head across the straight to glass a large tidal flat and there wasn’t a wave to be found just flat water as far as you can see. We get to our glassing spot and glass for about 5 hrs no bears.

Day 2 we go to the same spot and glass a brown bear about a 1000 yds away and make a move using the boat. We get to shore and locate the bear and about the same time he located us and he ran. He wasn’t a big bear but hey It’s the closest I had been to one. As we are walking back I take a decent fall land right on my hip. I feel it but nothing terrible. The guides are great helping me get in out of the boat but not making me feel like im 6 or 86 depending on how you look at it.

Day 3 we go back to the same river and this time work up and down looking at sign sitting in different spots. late in the afternoon we spot a black bear and get about 80 yards to it before deciding it was a little small.

Day 4 The day I won’t forget. This day we take the bigger boat to new place where we again glass tidal flats and mountain sides. I spot a set of bear tracks that went up and over the mountain which made me wonder how he could even get up there. About hr later we spot a Brown Bear working a tidal flat so we make a move with the boat then hike to edge of the flat. Now I haven’t seen a lot of Brown Bears but this one appeared to be a nice bear. Big head small ears big hump. He was 350 yards but would not come out of a ditch. So after the wind started to change and maybe 45 min of watching him we decided that finding elevation is the only the only way. There was a large dead branch blocking the only shot. As the guide moved it, it crashed down and the bear stood up and ran away. We backed out to not smell the area up and went back to our glassing knob. Im totally okay with out come however the guide was frustrated, bummed or both but life happens. About 4 hours later the same bear comes back out. We immediately take back to the same spot to make a plan.
We this time wade the river and use the elevation to help cover us to get closer. As I’m crossing the river I slip again and my back in on fire. I get with in 90 yds of the bear and I can only see his upper half due the terrain. So I get comfortable and we see this bear is bleeding from his hind end. He has a fairly fresh gash. We quickly say a few words about and decide we want the bear to feed out into more of an opening before we shoot. So I click to safety and look over my right shoulder to see two more bears. Most importantly is one bear is 50 yards and pissed. The look this bear had not at me but through me was like nothing I ever seen. His whole demeanor was nothing I had ever seen in an animal. The guide quickly said shoot that bear. So I centered him up eased by the shoulder and let him have it at about 45 yards. I reloaded shot him again as he ran and he rolled but landed on his feet never missing a stride. The 3rd shot he dropped dead as a sack of hammers. I went into re load mode and quickly finding where the the other bears are. My guide Is holding his hand out and it’s shaking and I’m in shock. As we talked I would have said with Lord as my witness it took me 3 minutes to shoot all three shots. One guide said 10 sec the other said 6 secs. What I do know is I had enough time to aim, process each shot , and place them correctly. I remember the bears legs moving through my cross hairs and trying the last shot to blow his front shoulder out to stop him from running. I’ve never been In a situation like that, where everything slows down to process but in real time it’s almost unfathomable to understand it. We get to the bear and he is dead and huge. At this point it’s 9:45 and getting dark. So we get a few pictures and wrap him in a tarp. We get back to camp to find a dead black bear my friend shot. What an excellent day.
Day 5 we go back and skin the bear. The outfitter gets the heart and I get the back straps. My friend and outfitter take the bears back to town to be sealed and I stay to hunt for my black bear. We saw 15 bears that evening 3 that looked nice but one rubbed bear just looked different. His head was massive. His ears were non existent and he swayed when he walked. He was about 550 yds and the wind switched and he quickly ran. As I waddle back to the boat I realize I’m physically shot and my back is tapping out. I think about the brown bear and that it be enough for a great trip and I can just get float plane to get me and call it a trip.



Day 6 I slept till 10:00 and hooked the Tenz unit up. We head out to the same place and look for the rubbed bear. This time the guides brought me a camp chair and I set by the river glassing. We see a few small bears and way down the river they spotted a nice size bear. We walk the 7-800 yds to get a better look and see it running off chasing an another bear. At this point we camp out on a log and wait. One of the guides walk backs to the original spot and says he will signal us if we see anything. At 8:00 pm we see him waving and make a move. Climbing up and over river banks and through knee high grass we get to him. He just smiles and says the rubbed bear is back. We move in 300 more yards and see the top of his head and back. He is 220 yds away. I set my spotter up as a rest and wait. The wind shifts and he knows something up. As he walk into the trees I take my shot. He runs into the trees and as we get below him we hear him huffing and running out of air. We roll him back down to the grass flat and relies how big he is. It’s 10:30 and dark so we head back to camp.

Day 7 we skin and quarter the bear and pack him to the boat. We get our things and wait for our ride home. Tarp laid out by the beach working on the hide.



What an absolute adventure. I learned a lot about my self and what I’m capable of. I’m not a tough as like to be. I don’t have a quitting bone in my body. The Good Lord is always watching and really blessed me with great guides, calm waters, and trip I will never forget.



My outfitter was primo expeditions out of Ketchikan Ak. Ed Toribio which I found on Rokslide that a member recommended.

Both my bears ended up being some of or the biggest bears he has taken. The state of Alaska said they were the biggest they had sealed this year.

I feel like my rugs may turn into full body mounts but we will see.



I hope you enjoyed reading this. I have terrible spelling and grammar so I’m sure it was tough read but felt like I had to share.

I very much enjoyed reading that.

 

[Southern Heritage]

I very much enjoyed reading that.

Well thank you.
beetles are working away on the skulls. Got the lowers cleaned up today.