October 3rd
My alarm goes off at 3:45 am. I live in Portland Oregon and I board a fight at 630am leaving for Anchorage Alaska. Let's back up a little. I never really thought I would be going on a Brown bear hunt, I felt they were too expensive and low success rate. About 6 months ago I was talking with an Alaska outfitter about a Sheep hunt I was interested in (bucket list stuff). The outfitter explained to me that they were booked out three years for a sheep hunt. She also told me they did have a spot open for their fall Brown Bear hunt, a very remote location on the Alaska Peninsula. She stated that they hunt creeks and river areas with spawning salmon, bears love salmon. After checking some references and doing some research I booked the hunt. Back to travel, I get to Anchorage with no trouble, I have one large duffle bag and gun case. Get to hotel and relax for the night.
October 4th,
Alarm goes off at 6am and I head back to airport. This flight is a much smaller commuter plane, it takes me to a small island on the Alaska Peninsula. The flight was awesome as the view was incredible, large knife edge mountains cover with snow, lakes, and rivers everywhere. Also on the flight were several other bear hunters and a few guides, including my guide, Mike. A very soft-spoken guy with 20 years' experience hunting in Alaska. We get to the island and after a five-minute drive we get to a bed and breakfast. This is home while you are waiting to be flown into your hunting camp. The island mainly exists to support the fishing industry. With a population of a few hundred it has a marina, small store. and a pizza joint. At this point things were a little up in the air. First hunt day is the 7th ( 3 days from now ) but we still could not fly to camp as none of the guides got their luggage, not all the luggage would fit into the airplane cargo hold. Missing bags would be shipped in asap, hopefully the next day. Also, the smaller Cub bush planes were not here due to bad weather.
October 5th
Woke up at 5am, drank coffee and chatted with a couple of the guides. At 9am the weather was beautiful, I went for a walk through the marina, a small marina but all the boats were large commercial fishing vessels rigged for salmon fishing and crabbing. I then notice two small planes flying overhead, must be our bush planes I thought. Went back to the house and everyone was getting ready to go, bags arrived, pilots arrived, and the weather was perfect. Now I am super excited, final heading to the hunting area!!! The flight in the small bush plane (just me and the pilot) took 35 minutes. Flying over snow covered mountains, ocean waters, and lots of creeks and rivers. We landed on a small grassy flat area between the tents and the ocean. Camp was already setup by my guide Mike, just two small tents, one for me and cooking, and one for Mike. Immediately I was a little nervous as I saw a huge bear trail coming right through our camp. Rest of the day was organizing and a little glassing.
To be continued...
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, but your story makes a guy almost feel it. If I can save some up for this, I will. Thanks!
