Springtime on the Island

[Yellowknife]

Many a good Kodiak story starts with a picture of a DeHavilland Beaver at the Seaplane Basin in town. So as not to break with tradition, I’ll start mine the same way:



The goal of this spring trip was to find my dad a big Kodiak bear. He promised to be picky, and not just shoot the first one he saw. In support were myself and my buddy Wes along as cooks, packers, and camp help. We camped on the salt, with the plan of hiking up the creek into the mountains in search of bears fresh from their dens. The first morning dawned clear and calm. A rare and appreciated sight on Kodiak.



We gathered our gear and started working out way into the mountains.



I'm not an expert bear hunter, but from what I hear the key to hunting spring bears is to stay on the glass. You can’t kill them if you don't find them first.



Of course it helps if your eyes are well rested.



Hey, what’s that brown furry thing across the valley?



Big head? … check
Small ears? … check
Dished face? … check
Defined hump? .. check
Wide shoulders? … check

Guess we better go over there and have a closer look.

 

[Yellowknife]

After a careful three hour stalk / waiting game, the hunt culminated in a 30 yd shot from dads .375, followed a second later by quick followups from the two back-up guns. Fortunately the bear folded instantly. Unfortunatly the bear rolled down into the bottom of a narrow creek!



"hey dad, what happened to not shooting the first legal one you saw?"

With the bear down in a hole and half under water, skinning was an interesting chore! We finally freed him from his hide at about 8:00. We were 2.5 miles from salt as the crow flies, or about 3 miles as the hunter bushwacks. We rolled him up and strapped him to my pack. The hide was completely soaking wet, and took two of us to get off the ground. Wes and I took turns staggering towards camp about 1/3 a mile at a time.



At 10:15 darkness was upon us, and finding our footing was getting dicey. Decided to bail and come back the next day for the hide. Packing the next morning with fresh legs was better.



None of us are serious bear hunters, so when we got it back to camp we discovered we had forgotten the tape! However we were able to determine that it squared out at about “three rifle lengths”. That’s big, right?

 

[dotman]

Haha, love the three rifle lengths square .

 

[Yellowknife]

After getting it fleshed and under salt, we decided there was no way we could leave Kodiak this early. Wes held a OTC tag for the unit only 4 mile bushwack over the ridge, so we grabbed a tarp and away we went, leaving dad to guard camp.



We got to a location we could glass the next valley over but the weather started to change and we were getting hammered with the more typical wind driven Kodiak rain. We didn’t want to give up before we had sufficiently eyeballed the valley, so we holed up on the lee side of a big spruce and made some dinner and coffee while we waited it out.



The clouds started to set down on us, so we rolled out our bags and rigged a tarp for a bivy camp.



Things finally lifted enough to glass about 9:00 the next morning.



Alas, no bears were to be seen, so after lunch we reluctantly started the trek back to the beach.



We arrived in time to catch the late plane back to Kodiak.



Bear ended up measuring 28 6/16” at F&G and despite being salted and then air dried for three days, it still measured 9’ 10”. A good time was had by all, and I hope to do it again some day.
Yk

 

[gonhunting247]

Good story!, Nice Bear, Congrats!

 

[IrishnId]

Great story man. Hope to head that way someday.

 

[orionthehunter1]

Cool story and pics

 

[Becca]

Most excellent YK. I always enjoy hearing about your hunting adventures with your dad, and this was no exception. Congrats on a great adventure and an awesome bear!

 

[CentennialELK]

Great story and enjoyed the pics! Nice bear too!

 

[Mad Mountain Mike]

That's some beautiful country up there, and you're lucky to have family and friends to share it with. Congratulations to your dad on a great bear and to you and your friend for helping out on what looks to be a spectacular hunt.

 

[60x]

Awesome!! I sure miss those spring hunts and what a treat to be out there with your dad. Good stuff YK

 

[luke moffat]

Awesome stuff YK!!! Really would like to go on a spring Kodiak bear hunt sometime if myself or any or my family or friends would ever draw Thanks for sharing the story and the pics.....a wet 10' hide looks painful and if it looks that way I know it had to be that much worse!

 

[mtnclimber]

Awesome photos yk, nothing like butchering an animal in a creek to start the year off right!

 

[Slim Jim]

That's very cool YK! Great write up and pics, congrats to you and your dad.

 

[Muledeernv]

Congrats to your dad YK looks like a great time. Wish I could get up there someday. Thanks for the pics

 

[dihardhunter]

The beaver dam pic is one of the coolest I've ever seen! Incredible hunt and thanks for sharing!

 

[Yellowknife]

Thanks guys, I sure enjoyed the trip and was glad to see at least a few of the photos turned out when I got back

I'm hoping to see a few more spring trip reports on here shortly (and maybe a little less squabbling about clothes and packs?). It's time to be out in the field guys!

Yk

 

[BRobertson]

Very nice bear you folks got, sounds like a great trip with your Dad!! Treasured memories!!

I hope we are as successful in a couple of weeks on the Peninsula!!??

Bob

 

[Yellowknife]

Very nice bear you folks got, sounds like a great trip with your Dad!! Treasured memories!!

I hope we are as successful in a couple of weeks on the Peninsula!!??

Bob

This one was certainly killed well within handgun range. Looking forward to the story of your Pen hunt. Some big bears in that country for sure.

Yk

 

[60x]

So does this mean you get first shot on the goat hunt ....hehehe