DIY Black Bear May '14

I am doing a DIY Black Bear hunt near Ketchikan in May. A friend of mine and I are taking our Dad's and we are really excited about it.

Any tips or suggestions from those that may have done this before? Clothes, Gear, anything like that? What did you do with meat?

Just trying to get a few more ideas of what we can expect.

Thanks!!

Here is where we are staying.

http://www.alaskanfishingcabin.com/

We will be hunting out of skiffs that the lodge gives us.

If you don't mind me asking how much does something like this cost? We have been talking about doing this for a little while now. By the way I hunted elk on Fish Lake last November.

I did my first DIY Black Bear hunt in Alaska in 2002. I hunted out of Juneau. I rented a 18' boat at the Juneau harbor and took off to one of the islands across the bay. In hindsight this was foolish as the boat was not big enough for where I took it. Had any kind of weather come up while I crossed the bay I would have been in trouble. I had at the time very little experience with boats. Had a great hunt though. It was a true adventure. I would treat it just like any other hunt only with more water proofing in mind. Obviously good rain gear. I would also recommend a good pair of hip boots. Hunting out of a skiff I would recommend a good comfortable life jacket or floatation device. The less cumbersome the more likely you are to use it. Since you are hunting out of a lodge you should be good to go on a dry place to sleep and eat. A lot of people seem to think if you hunt AK you need a stainless and composite stock rifle. I have been 4 times each with the same Rem 700 BDL and have not had any problems with my gun. Bring a bunch of gun wipes and you will be fine.

Here is a pic of the bear I took.

The hunt lasted about 1 hour. I found this guy hanging out in a small tidal flat in what looked like a field of lettuce. As you can see from the pic I did not bring much in the way of specialized gear. The quality of my gear has upgraded as the years have worn on. I spent the next 3 days fishing for Dolly's.
I used most of the meat to make sausage. The brats were the best. I had a couple of roasts that I did not care for much but that was most likely my lack of cooking skills more than anything. Check out Steven Rinellas website Meateater.com. He has great bear recipes. He renders the fat to make bear lard as well.

My goodness Mulecreek, I'm glad you made it back alive. As a resident of Alaska, I can say with great authority, don't step off your front porch without being prepared for the worst, especially on the water. And don't shoot the first yearling sow you see. There's plenty of huge blackies up here.

And for FishlakeElkHunter, HAVE A BLAST! and be safe.

longbow, a group of us have been looking into flying up there and staying at a house or lodge. In short we are just trying to find the cheapest way to get up there, stay there, and hunt some bears. Any ideas at all?

LAST EDITED ON Mar-08-14 AT 00:30AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Mar-08-14 AT 00:27?AM (MST)

Any ideas? I sure do!

-A flight from SLC to Ketchikan Alaska - $645 as of 3/28/14.
https://www.google.com/flights/#sea...o+ketchikan+flights;d=2014-03-24;r=2014-03-28

-Inter-Island Ferry from Ketchikan to Hollis (Price of Wales island) - $46.25 http://www.interislandferry.com/rates.html

-Rent a truck in Hollis on Prince of Wales - $510 a week. http://www.harentals.com/Prices.html

- Drive to Craig or Klawak and get groceries, license $85, bear tag $225 (draw tag), Sitka blacktail deer $150 per tag, (no draw).
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntlicense.prices

- Stay at Ruth Ann's, about $100 a night.
http://www.travelpod.com/hotel/Ruth_Anns_Hotel-Craig.html

- Or a forest service cabin on Control Lake. $25-$45 a night.
http://www.recreation.gov/camping/C...ode=NRSO&parkId=71881&topTabIndex=CampingSpot


There's all your homework done for you. Now that's a cheap DIY hunt in Alaska!

wow thank you very much! This sounds more like it. how hard is it to draw that bear tab? I honestly think we will try and do this hunt by next spring.

also what are the dates on the bear hunt?

LAST EDITED ON Mar-08-14 AT 00:56AM (MST)[p]I even did the math for you:

If you have four guys it will be $1303 per person if you stay at Ruth Ann's and $1172.50 per person if you stay in the cabin at Control lake. This doesn't include food, gas and shipping extra meat home. I'm sure you have a billion question so feel free to PM me here or email me at [email protected]

P.S. If you happen to to stay at Ruth Ann's in room 230 and you see a puke stain on the carpet...that was me. Sorry.

Haha a little too much partying huh? Thanks for all the help I will send you a pm or an email in the next couple days. I am going to run everything by the guys. was that flight price a one way or 2 way?

I think the draw was %100 for non residents. You better check on that. The dates are from the first week in May to the last week in June. It would be a good idea to get a wolf tag too. They're cheap tags and the seasons overlap. If you don't draw a bear tag, just come up and hunt Sitka blacktails. You can get three deer and you don't have to draw for tags. Good luck.

The flights I quoted were round trip from Salt Lake City, Utah.


For long distance dial 1-800-338-EDGE

Wow, Longbow6360, that is very informative and great to see a local give some very informative information. Great to see you go out of your way. Your a stand up guy. With them prices and information it makes me consider that hunt down the road.

I love the bear hunt and do it every spring in Idaho. We may have to change the scenary one of these years.