Of all the outdoor activities for which Alaska holds fame, hunting is perhaps most iconic. Hunters from around the world flock to experience Alaska’s challenges. Throughout Alaska, the coming of Spring offers an opportunity to pursue recently emerged black bears and brown bears. The Chugach Mountains of South Central Alaska, pose an added challenge for a spot-and-stock DIY Alaska spring black bear hunt.
Since arriving to Alaska, spot and stalk harvesting of a black bear ranked at the top of my goals. While bait hunting is legal during designated season, my primary goal was to harvest a black bear through spot and stalk methods within the Chugach mountain range. With much assistance from Devin, I spent the first year and half of residency exploring new hunting areas and learning the region. Many weekends were spent post-holing through snow filled trails to no avail. Nevertheless through study and time in the field, our knowledge grew deeper. I began to learn the appropriate areas to find bears and methods to use while spot and stalk hunting.
Early May is the early season for Alaska Spring black bear hunting. This year, snow still covers many of the mountain tops and trails in the first weekend of May. While the bears may be out, the snow limits access for hunters on the Chugach trails.
Knowing that the lower elevation areas would melt out first, I began scouting trips in late March to check on conditions. These trips helped me identify the areas where snow receded first and where grass would soon follow. If you are planning a DIY Alaska Spring black bear hunt, you need to find trail to access terrain you can glass. Look for grassy knowles where Alaska Spring black bear may be grazing.
This year, on the last weekend of April I began seriously looking for a Chugach black bear. While hunting one particular drainage I glassed up a mature looking bear. The black bear was feeding in a glade of fresh grass, below the alpine line. After watching him a few moments I decided to make my stalk.
The difficulty of hunting bears below alpine is it becomes easy to lose them during the stalk. Alders and trees create a web of obstacles for the pursuing hunter. Judging how far one is from the bear becomes difficult, and at times dangerous. On this day, I ended up a surprising 30 yards from the bear, with no real shot opportunity before it winded me.
The next weekend, I returned to the same area. Early in my efforts I glassed a sow black bear with two cubs, higher in elevation than the previous week’s bear. The three bears grazed and worked the green grassy knoll just above alpine. I watched them all morning, as the tucked in and out of cover. Meanwhile, I continued to observe the surrounding areas and grass patches – hoping for another independent bear. Sows with cubs are illegal to harvest in Alaska, nor of any hunting interest to me.
After hours glassing in a chilly wind, a large boar came slowly cruising up the mountain side. Having recently confirmed the sows location, I knew this was a different and larger bear. Perhaps too quickly, I prepared for a shot – not wanting to lose the bear as it moved into the alders.
As it briefly turned to me I squeezed a quartering away shot from my 7mm Remington Magnum Tikka T3X. The bear tumbled down the hillside, vying for stability along the way. I quickly tried to place a follow up shot to no success. Unfortunately, I had made a less than ideal shot, hitting the bears shoulder instead of vitals. The bear had ability along the way. I quickly tried to place a follow up shot to no success. Unfortunately, I had made a less than ideal shot, hitting the bears shoulder instead of vitals. The bear experienced a large tumble down the hill, but would go on to slip away from the immediate area. From my initial assessment, I believed the bear, given time, would expire and could be tracked. Every ethical hunters worst nightmare is losing a wounded animal.
After letting the area settle, I made my way to the high ground where my bullet had impacted the bear. Tracking from the high ground offered the physical advantage of working downhill. Moreover, the high ground gave me a proper vantage point to track from the same direction of travel as the bear. I found my first trace of blood in this area. The lack of bubbles in the blood confirmed I had not penetrated the vitals.
Working my way downhill I tracked a solid blood trail that led me down the bear’s path of tumble and through the alder trail it used to slip away. Smears of blood on branches confirmed the muscle wound and the bear’s struggle to get away. Staying on the trail I crossed a small stream and found the bear had mostly maintained its same elevation. Moments stumped me on the track, as I searched for the next evidence of track or blood.
It was at a lull in the trail that my hunting buddy arrived on the scene ready to assist in the recovery effort. The arrival of Pat to the scene was a large relief. However, his arrival also coincided with a gap in the blood trail. After reaching last blood and sure sign of tracks, we made no progress for hours. Perhaps the bears fur and fat were beginning to clot the wound, making blood tracking more difficult.
After hours spent observing and diligently coming the area to no success, things were beginning to look grim. We made our way back to the main trail to reassess and reattack our blood trail from previous points. Just as our hope for recovery seemed most uncertain, two hikers and their dogs came along the main trail.
As the hiker couple approached we warned them about the wounded bear in the area. To our surprise, the hiker, Gabe, offered if his dog could help get us back on trail. It is legal to use dogs to recover bears in Alaska. Leigh, a deustch drathaar was Gabe’s trained bird dog, a field hunting breed. Fate, luck, and kind-hearted Alaskan hospitality were on our side.
We re-approached our blood trail taking Gabe and Leigh to last blood. Pat and I remained ignorantly uncertain about the dogs capabilities and we feared that we had blown up the trail too much with our scent. Notwithstanding, Leigh soon began her investigative work through the scene. She circled around and then began to make out a solid line. Gabe and Leigh led us down the proposed path as we scoured for blood sign along the way.
At one birch tree Gabe, color blind, turned and asked if a smear looked like blood to me. Coming around the tree, I chuckled with amazement at the large blood stain. Our confidence grew. We followed the trail about another 400 meters, picking up a few more signs of blood along the way. Then Leigh stopped wagged around. Gabe looked up hill and said “I think that’s your bear”.
The black bear was there, laying in a brush patch. I was skeptical he was fully dispatched. As I moved to the side for a better angle, I began to see the bear slowly stir, close to death. For our safety and for the ethical treatment of the bear, I placed my finishing shots in the bears vitals. The bear made a final dash fifteen yards downhill just past us. Leigh barked excitedly, having been the hero of the day. The bear had passed, and we celebrated in relief and excitement.
What followed was a gritty processing on a dirty mountain slope. As twilight descended, Pat and I made a horrendous single trip packout of the meat, skull, and hide through a dimly lit woods. No doubt it was one of the most uncomfortable packs either of us had carried, and we suffered every step of the way. As was after 11 PM when we finally reached our vehicles. We were smoked, scraped up and stoked about a memory that we will carry for all our days. The time when an Alaskan and his dog saved the day.
- This hunt was one of numerous humbling lessons.
- 1. Marksmanship – My less than ideal shot prevented a fast ethical kill. Patience and the fundamentals can always be improved I know I can be better in the future.
- 2. Patience on the trail – Blood tracking is a time consuming process that requires diligence before every step. Perhaps more patience could have sped up our recovery in the long run and prevented any need for further assistance.
- 3. Call the right hunting buddy – When situations are shitty and there’s a chance of a lost animal, having a hunting buddy arrive to the scene who’s ready to grit it out pays off. Pat was that hunting buddy and was willing to put in the work. He’s a great friend and exactly what a hunting partner should be.
- 4. Alaskans and hunting breed dogs are the best – There’s an unparalleled culture of woodsmanship here that’s coupled with a sincere willingness to help others. Gabe, his wife, and their dog Leigh were more than generous for offering to help our recovery. Moreover, Gabe loved the opportunity as much as we were grateful for the help. I am sincerely humbled by the keenness of field dogs and the fellowship of such a fellow outdoorsman.
- 5. Bears are resilient – While bears have always captivated me, I have a learned appreciation for how tenacious these animals truly can be. This boar traveled far on his wounds. He struggled doggedly for survival, a quality not lost on this hunter. While processing him, I found numerous bird shot pellets in his legs, signifying that he had tangled with someone before and survived the experience. Bears are burly masters of the mountains and magical creatures. To pursue Alaska Spring black bear in the wilderness of Alaska is the opportunity of a lifetime. To execute a DIY Alaska Spring black bear hunt is all the more fulfilling.
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