Alaska Black Bear

[dstark]

Has anyone on here hunted black bear on the Kenai Peninsula?
I am planning a DIY hunt for 2017. Never been to Alaska but work will take me up there next year and I'm looking to take advantage of the opportunity. Any info would be appreciated.

As I am a non resident I will not have the luxury of scouting besides Google and maybe talking to the local Fish and Game. I have done a fair amount of backcountry hunting in the Northwest so I believe my gear is dialed in other than I'll need better rain gear. I aim to do spot and stalk, with only about 4 days to dedicate but I'd be thrilled with any adult boar. My good friend will probably be going along as well. I'd love to hear from anyone with experience.

 

[alaska]

You have a lot of brown bear to worry about.

Whitter along the beach or over at Valdez in Spring along the inlet from boat is good

Fairbanks much better ........7ft interior black is my best.

 

[86alaskan]

If you want hike and see a lot of bears, go to the cooper landing area in the fall, early October. the bears will be up in the alpine feeding on blue berries and the fur should be nice and thick by then. Also take a look into the resurrection pass trail and devil's creek trail. I have had great luck in that area. you could hike either one and book the devil's creek USFS cabin up in there. If you have 4 days you will see lots of bears in there.

 

[dstark]

Got it done! Not the biggest bear on the mountain but this one has a lot of meaning for me. Ended up hunting 6 days and tagged this one on the last minute of the last day. This was my first time in Alaska and we definitely got the Alaska experience. I anticipated significant rain on the Kenai but the water exceeded my expectations to say the least. Needless to say plenty of time was spent with wet gear but all in all it was a great hunt. I couldn't believe the number of bears out there. At times I could see a dozen bears from one glassing spot. Maybe 20% of those were grizz and another 50% were sows with cubs.

The bears were all up at very high elevation. The volume of blueberries was incredible to this Idaho guy. Never seen anything like it!

 

[dstark]

The shot was at 404 yards at about a 45 degree incline. 300 Win Mag Sako A7 shooting 180gr Nosler Partition off a pile of rocks in an awkward position. Broadside impact at the rear of the shoulder double lung and no exit surprisingly. The bear was on a steep rockslide and fell/slid an estimated 500 yards before coming to a stop. Busted a few teeth on the way down and a little bruised up but no damage to the hide, the first part of the fall was rather violent so I was relieved to find the bear in reasonably good shape.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Very cool!

Steve

 

[86alaskan]

Man, that glassing spot looks so familiar. I've had the luck to see that spotting scope view before. 1 good glass and the field of view is loaded with bears. Awesome!

 

[Barrelnut]

Way to get er done! Congratulations. There's a lot of pride in doing it yourself.

That's an amazing number of bears in that one pic.

 

[cornstalker]

Congrats. Sounds like an awesome hunt. I agree with Barrelnut, that is an amazing amount of bears in one pic!!

I have to admit.... I like the turd/rifle pic too.