Well after having the heck scared
out of us, we got back on the boat and began to look for more bears.
Earlier in the week we had found a whale carcass and had attempted a
stalk on a nice bear. The bad weather kept us from making the trek
down to the carcass until day 7. We were skunked that day but
wanted to try it again today. The weather was so nice the trip
only took 1 ½ hours and it was smooth sailing.
As we came into the bay, Luke and
his dad, Roy,
spotted a couple of bears. The wind was in our favor but there was no surf and
things were very quiet. We would have to be careful on this stalk or the jig
would be up. The skiff was docked a half mile from the bears and we moved along
the beach as quickly as we could.
Once we got to the carcass we saw
one bear feeding feverishly on the whale. The boar was even wallowing on the
carcass. You can imagine the smell coming off the whale which had been dead for
weeks. By the way, Luke thought it might have been a killer whale, an orca.
Having rehearsed what we would do,
we took our places. Luke got to my left with the rifle in the ready position.
Shelby was
behind me and had the video camera running. A Carbon Express Maxima arrow with
an NAP Thunderhead was loaded on the BowTech Tribute bow.
The boar was 30 yards
away; a sow was behind some rocks out of sight. We watched the boar for a
while because he didn’t offer a good shot. I wanted either a broadside or
quartering away shot.
At last he turned sideways
quartering away. I settled the Spot-Hogg sight pin on his ribs and squeezed the
release trigger. The arrow hit in the ribs and angled forward to the offside
shoulder. The boar let out a tremendous growl and staggered away.
He fell only
15 yards from where he was shot. We measured it later because we were so
impressed by the quickness of the kill. He was dead in
seconds.
Roy and Shelby proud smiles
The sow wouldn’t leave the area.
After some yelling and arm waving we got her to leave and we made our way to my
trophy. He had a thick blond hide and a big head. His weight was in the
500-600 pound range. Luke thought he probably hadn’t been out of hibernation
too long and hadn’t been able to put on the weight his frame would support. We
took lots of pictures before we loaded the boar into the boat. The ocean was
smooth but I wouldn’t have cared if we had 10 foot waves; it was the best ride
of our visit.
Roy knows the value of a good guide. Luke certainly came through.
I’ll give a wrap up report on how
our equipment performed later. But I want to thank all of those companies that
provided equipment for us to use and test on this
hunt.
After months of preparation Roy has his Brown Bear
I want to thank the people at
Afognak Wilderness Lodge. The Randalls are great people and were a pleasure to
spend time with. The mother and father, Shannon and Roy, were very cordial to
us. Luke, our guide, is an excellent guide and an equally good person. Josh,
the other son, also guides and has the same warmth as the rest of the family.
They treated Shelby and I with a lot of attention and
kindness and it was appreciated. If you have an interest in hunting brown bears
you should contact the Randalls, they have a website.
Of course, I can’t overlook Shelby
who not only did a super job of videoing the hunt but provided a lot of support
before and during the hunt. She’s a real pal and hunting partner in addition to
being a super wife.
