DIY Alaska coastal black bear

Just got back from a trip that took me 2 years to plan. My buddy and I did a DIY black bear hunt out of Ketchikan with a friend we have that lives up there. Instead of fighting for tags on Prince of Whales island we opted for the unit right next to it with better draw odds. I shot a nice boar that measured 18.25 and my friend got bear fever and missed 2.... We ended up seeing 9 bear total, 4 of which were Brown bear. 1 of them was a beast. We lived off of Dungeness crab, tiger prawns, yellow eyed snapper and reindeer sausage, and drank purified stream water. It was probably the coolest week of my life. I tried getting better pics of the grizzly but once we got to about 300 yards with the boat she started jumping on her front feet and growling at us. I felt really small once she started that up.

Congrats on a nice bear and an awesome trip! I'm envious. You guys ate better than I do in my real life.

Looks like an awsome trip. Congrats.

What an awesome trip....thanks for sharing

Thanks guys! And don't worry Grizz, I'm back to chicken breasts and hotdogs with the kids... ...

Awesome!!

Sounds like a dream trip. Congrats.

Great bear Capt. Congrats

Great trip!!

How were the logistics getting the meat/hide/skull back??

duckhunter, it was really pretty simple. Flying up I checked a 70 quart coleman cooler. It had my bedroll, and waders in it along with an REI duffle bag. After checking the hide in with fish and game I salted it and tight rolled, then froze as well as froze the skull and meat. Fish and game gave me the document to present to Alaska air for declaration of contents, they never even looked at it. I packed it all into the cooler and I gorilla taped it shut and checked my duffle bag as a second checked bag. 40 dollar checked bag fee vs shipping costs seemed pretty reasonable. And I had it home next day in my freezer. It went very smoothly. My hunting pack was my carry on and I forgot a live round in my coat pocket when I packed it. TSA got a little squirrely on that but let me through at any rate.

Awesome to hear it!! This type of trip is on the future agenda. At a closer date I'm headed up for Blacktail in 2022.

Congrats!!

great trip !!!

Sounds like a great trip

What a great trip

I love that state!

Great job!!

Awesome!

that's outstanding, a lifetime memory, thanks for sharing

Sounds like an awesome trip!

My Dream trip. Congrats.