Posted By: Bear Creek
Alaska Family Vacation and Bear Hunt - 09/03/12 02:05 AM
Alaska family vacation and hunt
Dates: 8/8/12-8/28/12
Outfitter: Seth Kroenke w/Alaska's River Wild Lodge
Guides: Me and Mark Petritz
Rifles: Ruger M77 .338 WM shooting 225 gr TSXs
Kimber Montana 7mm-08 shooting 140 gr TSXs
This year was our tenth anniversary and we wanted to take a big family trip to someplace we'd never been before. I was sure we'd end up on a beach someplace but when my wife said she'd rather go hunting it occurred to me I'd probably better hold onto her for another 10! Anyway, we went to the DSC show where we met Seth Kroenke and his wife Jeelan who own and operate Alaska's River Wild Lodge in Port Alsworth , which is right on Lake Clark. They're our age and have three kids the same age as ours too and needless to say we really hit it off, so after a few beers we whipped out the ol' check book and made it official! The plan was to do an overnight black bear hunt with my wife, then lots of fishing and flying and then I would stay for 8 days for a brown bear hunt, while the family returned home.
As the dates approached we were really concerned about the weather which had been really, really bad!! Seth hadn't been in the air much because of the persistent storms and we were wondering if the trip would just be one very expensive bust! It wasn't. According to the locals, we had the best weather they'd seen in almost 20 years!! 65 to 75 degree days and zero rain (except for one brief moment)!
After an overnight in Anchorage we flew to Port Alsworth on Lake Clark Air.
Beautiful flight through Lake Clark pass!
Port Alsworth.
Since the weather was forecast to change in a few days we decided to get my wife's bear hunt in ASAP, so Seth and I went flying in his float plane on day 2 to scout for bears and a suitable camp site. My wife has NEVER camped outside in a tent and was more than a little apprehensive. Well, after checking out 3 or 4 lakes we found a good one and set the plane down. Within an hour, Seth and his summer helper Cole and I had a great camp set up with a big tent w/cots and pads, table, chairs, and a bottle of wine!
We flew back to the lodge for dinner and drinks, then Seth flew my wife and I back out to our beautiful camp and dropped us off. He and Jeelan, along with their summer employees, would take care of the kids (don't even think they noticed we were gone!) and all we had to do was call them on the sat phone when we were ready to get picked up. Unguided, all by ourselves, a cooler full of beer, half a case of wine, and more food than we could eat in a week......oh and no kids.....what a DREAM TRIP!
Setting up camp. Seth and Cole.
Getting dropped off
Bugs were pretty bad. My wife made a joke about me putting a bag over her head on our anniversary but I won't go there.....;-)
Next morning we headed out and hiked up the ridge and set up our glassing spot above the lake
View back at camp.
Up on the ridge.
Lunch of BBQ moose meat
We didn't see a thing all morning and after lunch we both napped but finally around 5pm I spotted a smallish bear about 400 yds below us. As luck would have it, it also started to rain, so here we were trying to move quickly downhill and get our raingear on while also trying to keep sight of this bear! We got within 230 yds and then I had to hold my pack up for her to use as a rest due to the steep downhill angle but sadly she shot over his back and that was that! He woofed and took off down into the alders, and we never saw him again. Oh well, that's hunting and frankly I don't think he would have gone over 6 feet, so some things work out for the best, eh!
We were back in camp by 8pm and skinny dipping in the lake by 8:15! A clean change of clothes, a couple glasses of wine and a phone call to Seth and the end of our little adventure was coming to an end.
The kids went for a hike while we were gone.
Dates: 8/8/12-8/28/12
Outfitter: Seth Kroenke w/Alaska's River Wild Lodge
Guides: Me and Mark Petritz
Rifles: Ruger M77 .338 WM shooting 225 gr TSXs
Kimber Montana 7mm-08 shooting 140 gr TSXs
This year was our tenth anniversary and we wanted to take a big family trip to someplace we'd never been before. I was sure we'd end up on a beach someplace but when my wife said she'd rather go hunting it occurred to me I'd probably better hold onto her for another 10! Anyway, we went to the DSC show where we met Seth Kroenke and his wife Jeelan who own and operate Alaska's River Wild Lodge in Port Alsworth , which is right on Lake Clark. They're our age and have three kids the same age as ours too and needless to say we really hit it off, so after a few beers we whipped out the ol' check book and made it official! The plan was to do an overnight black bear hunt with my wife, then lots of fishing and flying and then I would stay for 8 days for a brown bear hunt, while the family returned home.
As the dates approached we were really concerned about the weather which had been really, really bad!! Seth hadn't been in the air much because of the persistent storms and we were wondering if the trip would just be one very expensive bust! It wasn't. According to the locals, we had the best weather they'd seen in almost 20 years!! 65 to 75 degree days and zero rain (except for one brief moment)!
After an overnight in Anchorage we flew to Port Alsworth on Lake Clark Air.
Beautiful flight through Lake Clark pass!
Port Alsworth.
Since the weather was forecast to change in a few days we decided to get my wife's bear hunt in ASAP, so Seth and I went flying in his float plane on day 2 to scout for bears and a suitable camp site. My wife has NEVER camped outside in a tent and was more than a little apprehensive. Well, after checking out 3 or 4 lakes we found a good one and set the plane down. Within an hour, Seth and his summer helper Cole and I had a great camp set up with a big tent w/cots and pads, table, chairs, and a bottle of wine!
We flew back to the lodge for dinner and drinks, then Seth flew my wife and I back out to our beautiful camp and dropped us off. He and Jeelan, along with their summer employees, would take care of the kids (don't even think they noticed we were gone!) and all we had to do was call them on the sat phone when we were ready to get picked up. Unguided, all by ourselves, a cooler full of beer, half a case of wine, and more food than we could eat in a week......oh and no kids.....what a DREAM TRIP!
Setting up camp. Seth and Cole.
Getting dropped off
Bugs were pretty bad. My wife made a joke about me putting a bag over her head on our anniversary but I won't go there.....;-)
Next morning we headed out and hiked up the ridge and set up our glassing spot above the lake
View back at camp.
Up on the ridge.
Lunch of BBQ moose meat
We didn't see a thing all morning and after lunch we both napped but finally around 5pm I spotted a smallish bear about 400 yds below us. As luck would have it, it also started to rain, so here we were trying to move quickly downhill and get our raingear on while also trying to keep sight of this bear! We got within 230 yds and then I had to hold my pack up for her to use as a rest due to the steep downhill angle but sadly she shot over his back and that was that! He woofed and took off down into the alders, and we never saw him again. Oh well, that's hunting and frankly I don't think he would have gone over 6 feet, so some things work out for the best, eh!
We were back in camp by 8pm and skinny dipping in the lake by 8:15! A clean change of clothes, a couple glasses of wine and a phone call to Seth and the end of our little adventure was coming to an end.
The kids went for a hike while we were gone.