ALASKA BLACK BEAR - TRIP OVERVIEW

ALASKA BLACK BEAR

Alaska recently passed a new law forbidding the hunting of black bear from a vehicle on Prince of Wales Island during the month of September. What this basically means is that the last mode of transportation that a hunter uses prior to shooting a black bear must be a boat or plane.

For instance, it would even be illegal to climb (via foot, bike, horse, atv or otherwise) a mountain, spike camp for a week, ten days or more, and hunt black bear, because the last mode of transportation that would have been used would still be considered the vehicle that you left before starting the climb up the mountain. From what we heard, the State basically wants to stop all black bear hunting in September, but does not want to hurt the guide business, hence the exceptions to the rule.

In any event, given the new rules, and after considering various options, we decided to hire a float plane to fly us into Red Bay Lake, a relatively large private lake on the north end of Prince of Wales Island. The Lake is probably two miles long and a quarter to a half mile wide.

ATTRIBUTES

The Lake is fed by a number of streams and the Lake ultimately feeds into Red Bay, which is basically part of the ocean system.The two biggest attributes of the Lake are

(1) one can rent the Red Bay Lake Cabin from the Forest Service for a little over $200.00 per week; and more importantly

(2) the streams leading into and out of the Lake are teaming with spawning salmon … and hence black bears.

Prior to committing to the trip, it is imperative to

• insure that the Red Bay Lake Cabin was available for the week,

• insure that ProMech had a Beaver available for the necessary flight,

• prearranged the timing with a local taxidermist (Louie at Tall Tale Taxidermy, (907)225-2502, was absolutely awesome and I would use nobody else) as one likely will have limited time to have the animals sealed and make arrangements for mounts/rugs, etc.,

• confirm that any necessary gear is available for rent,

• arranged for grocery purchase and delivery,

• insure that a store will be open upon arrival so that you could purchase the necessary licenses, and

• confirm with a Super 8 that they still have a freezer for meat and fish.

Steve Wolfe

ALASKA BLACK BEAR HUNT

ALASKA BLACK BEAR - HUNTING EQUIPMENT