Bear Summer

[japantiger 4,051]

Started with a Barren Ground Grizzly hunt back in May in the Canadian NWT's near Inuvik and Tuk.  In June I went to SE Alaska to hunt Coastal Black Bear.  In mid-August I went back to Canada; but this time Nunavut, to Southampton Island and Baker Lake to hunt Polar Bear, Walrus, Caribou and Muskox.  

First set of photo's from the 1st hunt...temperatures never got above ~25 degrees and hovered ~10 degrees the whole time.  Winds came and went; but in general it didn't warm up enough for the bears to come out during the 10 hunting days.  Scenery is just like it says; barren ground.  About half the hunting is done over the ocean; in the snowmobile photo, the flat plane in the distance is the Arctic Ocean.    In the "midnight sun" photo, we were setting on a large lake when I took that at about 1:30 AM.   One of the other photos where the ground is more churned up is a Reindeer herd.  You might need to zoom to see them.  We covered about 90 miles/day on snowmobiles and depending on where we were went we returned to a small cabin or back into the hotel in Inuvik.  

[AUloggerhead 2,241]

You get around japantiger!  Africa, Arctic Circle ...  Love the pix & keep 'em coming.  You remind me of that old cartoon, Commander McBragg.  By any chance, are you a pipe smoker?   

 

 

[japantiger 4,051]

 

 

 

 

Alaska hunt in June was on Kuiu Island; flew into Juneau, overnighted before catching a small float plane ~150 miles South.  From there, the plan was to hunt off the main boat each day in small skiff's along the coast and up the various rivers that empty into the ocean.  The goal was to find bears after coming out of winter dens.  Hunting started at noonish each day and would go until about 11:00 pm as the light fades.  Hunting in waders and wading boots; rain every day.  Mild temps, mostly in the 40's...winds blew pretty steady and that coupled with the ice cold water meant heavier layers.   

 

[japantiger 4,051]

Start of the hunt

 

 

 

[japantiger 4,051]

 

 

[japantiger 4,051]

Bears were prevalent on the island.  In that second video, spent about 1.5 hours getting into the position where I could take a shot.  Immature males and females.  Backed away and got back on the boat.

We were 1600 yds away when the guide spotted these guys. He was in shadows up an inlet you see in the photos ..I didn't see him until we were about 1250 yds...we cruised up until we got within about 200 yds of the Inlet...bear still about 500 yds away...the wind was all wrong as we couldn't just pull up around the point and stalk in. So we were going to have to go up the inlet, get past them and stalk back down into the wind.

Cut the outboard off and let the current and wind push us into the inlet. The wind was a steady 10mph...nice and noisy and the water still a little choppy in the wide part of the inlet. I laid in the floor of the skiff out of site. The guide sat in the floor just peeking above the gunwhale steering... occasionally she'd kick on the trolling motor, but generally she let the wind and current push us silently toward the bend. This put us within about 200 yds of them as we mostly drifted past the bears on the far side of the inlet as they grazed. ..either unaware or uncaring about what was floating nearby.

From the time we entered the inlet it took about 45 minutes to drift (South to North) far enough past them to be out of site. ( It was about 6:00 pm as we entered the inlet). The inlet narrowed substantially, only about 30 yds wide, as it took a big bend to the left (west) and we trolled into the bank, anchored the boat about 200 yds up this narrowed stream. The inlet went on another 500 yds before bending right again to the N and out of site. We loaded up and began the stalk into the wind back toward the South, the direction we had come.

We we are about 500 yds as the crow flies from where the bear had been. We stalked the back side of the big bend point and came out on the bank of the main inlet...we couldn't see them as they were still about 200 yds away and around a couple of small points. The guide moved left back up the shoreline to get a view so we didn't just blunder around a corner and spook him. I was hunkered in the grass checking my 6. I hadn't seen the bear since I got into the floor of the boat.

She was gone about 10 minutes....had gotten their location fixed and was firm that the boar was a boar and mature enough. He was grazing in grass that mostly covered his  legs...

We waded the shoreline to the 2nd point up that obscured them. We were just backtracking the inlet as it opened back up to our right. We left the water and got down and crawled in the grass out of site until we got to a point we could see as the shoreline bent further right. At this point we're about 80 yds...the boar was just grazing, head down and constant motion. About 10 yds further up was a nice big rock about 15 feet wide and terraced down right to left. I slowly eased my pack on top of the rock and laid my rifle on top with me in kneeling position...a great rest. The guide put the glasses on the boar (to verify again) and be sure we had the right animal. After about 5 minutes, she gave me the go ahead to get into position, safety off. He was grazing facing to the right. At this point we just talked (whispered ) about what I could (mostly could not) see and that as soon as I could get him broadside and see his shoulder to fire. Still very windy...nice and noisy . He milled about for another 10 minutes (they are constant motion as they eat) before he moved up a little rise facing toward us and eventually he turned to our left as I could see his legs and his shoulder stick up above the grass.

He was about as perfect broadside as you could hope for. I took two breaths and fired. He spun and went down on his haunches facing to our right....he was hit well. I got back on him as I reloaded and fired again. He went down and didn't move. We waited about 10 minutes and walked up...
 

[japantiger 4,051]

[japantiger 4,051]

This is a very big Coastal Black Bear; and old...had one eye, the other had been lost in a fight recently....squared measure 8'1"; skull 20 11/16.  This is a top 25 bear.  My guide is the best in the business on this...she's a bear whisperer.

[japantiger 4,051]

In mid-August, went to Nunavut, Canada; Southampton Island; Coral Harbour community.  About 800 permanent residents, mostly Inuit.  Southampton and the area are home to large growing polar bear and Atlantic Walrus populations.  If you look in the background (right side of video in the distance about 2 miles), you see another polar bear.  

On Walrus Island, you can hear them barking, snorting and hissing.  What you can't tell from the video is the powerful smell.  From a couple hundred yards off shore the smell is powerful.

Edited September 22, 2023 by japantiger

[japantiger 4,051]

Saw him from about 3 miles away....saw two bears actually from the same spot. Both were hunkered down to get out of the wind. Winds blew 45mph and we had gusts to 70mph. Miserable in the wind. Winds were blowing left to right. The high wind worked in our favor.

 

[augolf1716 21,223]

9 hours ago, japantiger said:

Saw him from about 3 miles away....saw two bears actually from the same spot. Both were hunkered down to get out of the wind. Winds blew 45mph and we had gusts to 70mph. Miserable in the wind. Winds were blowing left to right. The high wind worked in our favor.

 

How far was the shot?

[japantiger 4,051]

We backtracked for about an hour and a half to get downwind of the bear farthest to our East. Had to cross a lot of water, two low ridgelines and just a lot of wet ground.

We got to where we thought we were about a 1/2 mile from where he was and started glassing. Wind was gusting and it started sleeting. Temps were 34. We couldn't pick him up from the base of the hillside so we climbed up to the first plateau and glassed. The guide spied him and we went back down and got all our gear.

We headed back up with the goal of getting above him and closing the gap as much as possible. The wind and sleet was loud and in our favor.  The guide felt likely 200 yds was what I should expect. We went up ~150 yds...pretty steep but footing was solid. We stopped about half way up and glassed but couldn't pick him up...so we went on higher.

We moved along the hillside confident we were higher than the bear but not wanting to stumble on him. We'd gone what we thought was far enough but still couldn't see him. At this point, we started moving downhill, slowly. Turns out we had walked to almost the exact spot where the bear was bedded down below us. We moved further off the hill and actually a little back to our east. The guide was glassing and moving a few steps at a time to get a full view. I could see parts of the bear but not the whole.

We stopped and I kneeled. We had gotten to within about 30 yards above him slightly to his left. The next thing I see is the polar bear standing up trying to catch us in the wind. He must have seen the guide...I don't think there is anyway he heard or smelled us given the wind velocity and sleet and noise. But it was clear he wasn't sure what was going on. He stood weaving back and forth for ~10 seconds. He sat down on his haunches and turned to our right. His full body exposed. The guide said to shoot him. He was starting to move again. I wracked the bolt, aimed and fired. He was still sitting on his haunches so I aimed above his shoulder where his neck connects to his body.

He fell immediately. Rolled onto his back and then slid off the small ledge he was on and rolled down about 15 feet before coming to rest on his stomach on another small ledge; his stomach facing slightly downhill. He didn't move. We waited a couple of minutes seeing if he was going to move. When he didn't we approached.   In this photo background about three miles out on that plane is where we 1st spotted him...The 2nd photo is looking back down to the East where we left the 4 wheelers and climbed up.

[japantiger 4,051]

Probably the most unusual hunt I've ever done....Atlantic Walrus

[AUDub 11,158]

On 10/4/2023 at 8:26 AM, japantiger said:

We backtracked for about an hour and a half to get downwind of the bear farthest to our East. Had to cross a lot of water, two low ridgelines and just a lot of wet ground.

We got to where we thought we were about a 1/2 mile from where he was and started glassing. Wind was gusting and it started sleeting. Temps were 34. We couldn't pick him up from the base of the hillside so we climbed up to the first plateau and glassed. The guide spied him and we went back down and got all our gear.

We headed back up with the goal of getting above him and closing the gap as much as possible. The wind and sleet was loud and in our favor.  The guide felt likely 200 yds was what I should expect. We went up ~150 yds...pretty steep but footing was solid. We stopped about half way up and glassed but couldn't pick him up...so we went on higher.

We moved along the hillside confident we were higher than the bear but not wanting to stumble on him. We'd gone what we thought was far enough but still couldn't see him. At this point, we started moving downhill, slowly. Turns out we had walked to almost the exact spot where the bear was bedded down below us. We moved further off the hill and actually a little back to our east. The guide was glassing and moving a few steps at a time to get a full view. I could see parts of the bear but not the whole.

We stopped and I kneeled. We had gotten to within about 30 yards above him slightly to his left. The next thing I see is the polar bear standing up trying to catch us in the wind. He must have seen the guide...I don't think there is anyway he heard or smelled us given the wind velocity and sleet and noise. But it was clear he wasn't sure what was going on. He stood weaving back and forth for ~10 seconds. He sat down on his haunches and turned to our right. His full body exposed. The guide said to shoot him. He was starting to move again. I wracked the bolt, aimed and fired. He was still sitting on his haunches so I aimed above his shoulder where his neck connects to his body.

He fell immediately. Rolled onto his back and then slid off the small ledge he was on and rolled down about 15 feet before coming to rest on his stomach on another small ledge; his stomach facing slightly downhill. He didn't move. We waited a couple of minutes seeing if he was going to move. When he didn't we approached.   In this photo background about three miles out on that plane is where we 1st spotted him...The 2nd photo is looking back down to the East where we left the 4 wheelers and climbed up.

Well we won’t be getting coke ads at Christmas any more from that one. 

[japantiger 4,051]

[japantiger 4,051]

Last hunt this summer

[japantiger 4,051]

Got some other photos of this guy...Shane was back behind us about 30 yds with a Nikon Zoom rig...this was just before the shot