Afognak Hunt 2017
Every year I make my strategic selections for draw hunts. I am fortunate enough to have a wife who supports my passion which doubles our chances for what you might want to call the hunters lottery. Lucky for me my wife has the luck of the draw(20 mile any bull 2 years ago and copper center bison last year) and this year was no different. Our fate ... The Afognak brown bear hunt.*
I know from experience that Afognak island hunting is not for the weary or light of heart. I was fortunate enough to harvest a bull elk there two years ago and know first hand how tough it can be. Weather, terrain, and wildlife are enough to deter the best and I had to prepare not only for myself but my wife as well. Listening to the meat eaters Afognak bear attack a week prior didn't help ease the anxiety of taking the wife there for ten days.
After some great help and chauffeuring by Andrews air we were off. They have always been great to us. Weather was typical as the reports were for high winds. SUPER rough flight on the way over. It was my wife’s first float plane ride and I was a little worried. She did great and the pilot put us right in there as there was a little window. The two of us were dropped off in the wilderness of Afognak.
The fox are curious and to our advantage a nice little silver/cross fox came through camp. A .280 ackley will put quite the hurting on them from close range. I will be bringing a 22 on the next Afognak trip for sure. There were plenty of Ptarmigan along the way as well.
It’s daunting to look at the ridge lines and determine your path to the top. You think you have chosen the best route but chest high grass, Alders, salmon berry, and Devils club are absolute misery... Then you make it to the top and it doesn't seem all THAT bad although you're drenched in sweat and can feel your muscles screaming at you.
As I set my pack down to get some water my wife grabs her binos and says BEAR... and what do you know right there in the middle of the valley looks to be a nice bear. How does she get this luck? After some glassing there was a good possibility it could be a big boar. We made our stalk and got within range... this one was a monster... Unfortunately he had other plans which included deep thick alders.. Sorry story not over, wouldn't that had been nice!*
Over the course of six days Afognak graced us with its devine presence... Rain and 65 mph winds nearly blew us off the ridge. Then there was the absolute beauty of sunny days and cold, cold nights. The weather was perfect except for the full moon at night. It was like daylight all night long which is a bear hunters worst nightmare.
When we first climbed the ridge the plan was to stay up top for a couple nights to survey the area. After all the glassing and spotting of bears the decision to just sit tight and pay attention was an easy one. It was learned that between the two of us we can easily live off of a protein bar, 8 oz of water and a shared mt. house. It wasn’t ideal. But it did save us a day of hiking down to base camp and back up top again.
One evening while walking to glass on a new ridge that looked over 3 valleys, and the ocean in the distance we spotted some deer. One seemed to be a nice buck and after a bit of scrambling I had him down. Fresh deer meat and hide gave a good reason to make the trek back to base camp to refuel.
Side note: The biologist looked at the deer and said that he thinks it could have been 7-8 years old. Bases were 2” across and it had grey old face. This deer had by far the biggest body I have ever seen on a blacktail. Just another example of how everything sure grows big here on kong Island.
The imagination can reek havoc on ones mind leading to a sleepless nights listening to the deer calling out, foxes howling and barking, and something splashing all around stirring up the fish in the stream. The next morning the lake was froze on the edges and so were our waders and shoes. We had to make some decisions on wether to fly out before the lake froze or keep hunting. The decision wasn’t that hard. With little time left we needed to choose to make the arduous trek back to the ridge where the bear seemed to be plentiful or make the unknown journey down the river to the ocean were the 10 footer of our dreams could be. After soaking our shoes/chest waders for 30 minutes making them pliable enough to squeeze on and 2500 vertical feet of absolute hell later we were back to the top of the ridge. This time not being so picky....
People make it sound easy to determine the size, sex, and age of a bear.... They are liars... After watching all the videos and looking at hundreds of pictures online. It doesn't matter what type of optics you have it's hard. You find yourself wishing them bigger and older especially when nothing seems to compare to the very first one you see. The one that got away...*
It was getting to be that time of day where you make the decision to stalk and hopefully shoot or pass and this time go home empty handed but with big stories. Finally seeing something worth going after my wife and I make our approach and immediately loose him in the alders (of course). Then in the distance we see not one, not two, not three, but four grown bears headed our way... A huge sow with three of last years grown cubs. After sitting for quite a while to watch this family as they munch on tubers, my wife once again says bear! There about 250 yards away was what appeared to be an 8 to 8.5 foot boar with a deep dark coat. The problem is he was headed in the direction of the family of four. We watch the boar and waited as he heads for the alders and stays in there like they always do, then one of the cubs headed in his direction followed by momma and his two brothers. .. Well thank you little one because you just pushed our guy to a prime position of 115 yards away. This was the one .... My wife had him in her view and put one into him. I took a follow up shot as it hit the bushes.
The hunt is always easy compared to going in after one of these bears and this was no exception... There he was located deep in the alders, wedged into and damming up a creek, not forgetting about the other 5 bears which were now all well aware that the dinner bell was rung, and sunset rapidly approaching. Time was getting short and there wasn’t too much time to get the work done. Took us a while to get him out of the creek and ready for pictures. After a fire was made there was a lot of “HEY BEAR” yelling. The job was completed swiftly and without any problems. There sure was a large weight lifted from my shoulders arriving back to camp without any unwanted excitement.*
The weather was sunny and perfect the next day as fleshing the hide in the sun was the perfect end to the trip. The bio in kodiak measured the bear and it was an 8’ 4” squared bear with a 25 1/8 skull.
One could sit in simple awe while on Afognak. Big bears, big elk, big deer,big terrain. Seems to be a bit prehistoric at times. I feel very privileged to spend the time witnessing all of the glory that surrounded us and share it with the one person who truly matters. The opportunity presented in the experience along with the memories engraved in my mind was just a bonus. I would like to thank my wife for all she does and is. Couldn’t ask for more.
Every good and perfect gift comes from above. James 1:7.
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Every year I make my strategic selections for draw hunts. I am fortunate enough to have a wife who supports my passion which doubles our chances for what you might want to call the hunters lottery. Lucky for me my wife has the luck of the draw(20 mile any bull 2 years ago and copper center bison last year) and this year was no different. Our fate ... The Afognak brown bear hunt.*
I know from experience that Afognak island hunting is not for the weary or light of heart. I was fortunate enough to harvest a bull elk there two years ago and know first hand how tough it can be. Weather, terrain, and wildlife are enough to deter the best and I had to prepare not only for myself but my wife as well. Listening to the meat eaters Afognak bear attack a week prior didn't help ease the anxiety of taking the wife there for ten days.
After some great help and chauffeuring by Andrews air we were off. They have always been great to us. Weather was typical as the reports were for high winds. SUPER rough flight on the way over. It was my wife’s first float plane ride and I was a little worried. She did great and the pilot put us right in there as there was a little window. The two of us were dropped off in the wilderness of Afognak.
The fox are curious and to our advantage a nice little silver/cross fox came through camp. A .280 ackley will put quite the hurting on them from close range. I will be bringing a 22 on the next Afognak trip for sure. There were plenty of Ptarmigan along the way as well.
It’s daunting to look at the ridge lines and determine your path to the top. You think you have chosen the best route but chest high grass, Alders, salmon berry, and Devils club are absolute misery... Then you make it to the top and it doesn't seem all THAT bad although you're drenched in sweat and can feel your muscles screaming at you.
As I set my pack down to get some water my wife grabs her binos and says BEAR... and what do you know right there in the middle of the valley looks to be a nice bear. How does she get this luck? After some glassing there was a good possibility it could be a big boar. We made our stalk and got within range... this one was a monster... Unfortunately he had other plans which included deep thick alders.. Sorry story not over, wouldn't that had been nice!*
Over the course of six days Afognak graced us with its devine presence... Rain and 65 mph winds nearly blew us off the ridge. Then there was the absolute beauty of sunny days and cold, cold nights. The weather was perfect except for the full moon at night. It was like daylight all night long which is a bear hunters worst nightmare.
When we first climbed the ridge the plan was to stay up top for a couple nights to survey the area. After all the glassing and spotting of bears the decision to just sit tight and pay attention was an easy one. It was learned that between the two of us we can easily live off of a protein bar, 8 oz of water and a shared mt. house. It wasn’t ideal. But it did save us a day of hiking down to base camp and back up top again.
One evening while walking to glass on a new ridge that looked over 3 valleys, and the ocean in the distance we spotted some deer. One seemed to be a nice buck and after a bit of scrambling I had him down. Fresh deer meat and hide gave a good reason to make the trek back to base camp to refuel.
Side note: The biologist looked at the deer and said that he thinks it could have been 7-8 years old. Bases were 2” across and it had grey old face. This deer had by far the biggest body I have ever seen on a blacktail. Just another example of how everything sure grows big here on kong Island.
The imagination can reek havoc on ones mind leading to a sleepless nights listening to the deer calling out, foxes howling and barking, and something splashing all around stirring up the fish in the stream. The next morning the lake was froze on the edges and so were our waders and shoes. We had to make some decisions on wether to fly out before the lake froze or keep hunting. The decision wasn’t that hard. With little time left we needed to choose to make the arduous trek back to the ridge where the bear seemed to be plentiful or make the unknown journey down the river to the ocean were the 10 footer of our dreams could be. After soaking our shoes/chest waders for 30 minutes making them pliable enough to squeeze on and 2500 vertical feet of absolute hell later we were back to the top of the ridge. This time not being so picky....
People make it sound easy to determine the size, sex, and age of a bear.... They are liars... After watching all the videos and looking at hundreds of pictures online. It doesn't matter what type of optics you have it's hard. You find yourself wishing them bigger and older especially when nothing seems to compare to the very first one you see. The one that got away...*
It was getting to be that time of day where you make the decision to stalk and hopefully shoot or pass and this time go home empty handed but with big stories. Finally seeing something worth going after my wife and I make our approach and immediately loose him in the alders (of course). Then in the distance we see not one, not two, not three, but four grown bears headed our way... A huge sow with three of last years grown cubs. After sitting for quite a while to watch this family as they munch on tubers, my wife once again says bear! There about 250 yards away was what appeared to be an 8 to 8.5 foot boar with a deep dark coat. The problem is he was headed in the direction of the family of four. We watch the boar and waited as he heads for the alders and stays in there like they always do, then one of the cubs headed in his direction followed by momma and his two brothers. .. Well thank you little one because you just pushed our guy to a prime position of 115 yards away. This was the one .... My wife had him in her view and put one into him. I took a follow up shot as it hit the bushes.
The hunt is always easy compared to going in after one of these bears and this was no exception... There he was located deep in the alders, wedged into and damming up a creek, not forgetting about the other 5 bears which were now all well aware that the dinner bell was rung, and sunset rapidly approaching. Time was getting short and there wasn’t too much time to get the work done. Took us a while to get him out of the creek and ready for pictures. After a fire was made there was a lot of “HEY BEAR” yelling. The job was completed swiftly and without any problems. There sure was a large weight lifted from my shoulders arriving back to camp without any unwanted excitement.*
The weather was sunny and perfect the next day as fleshing the hide in the sun was the perfect end to the trip. The bio in kodiak measured the bear and it was an 8’ 4” squared bear with a 25 1/8 skull.
One could sit in simple awe while on Afognak. Big bears, big elk, big deer,big terrain. Seems to be a bit prehistoric at times. I feel very privileged to spend the time witnessing all of the glory that surrounded us and share it with the one person who truly matters. The opportunity presented in the experience along with the memories engraved in my mind was just a bonus. I would like to thank my wife for all she does and is. Couldn’t ask for more.
Every good and perfect gift comes from above. James 1:7.
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thanks for the great story and photos!
