Walking into an Alaskan bear

[Foxbat]

I wrote a series of mails from Alaska to my wife from the 3 month trip I took this summer, someone at a gunstore I visited recently suggested I post some here:

As a setup for the story - I was camped in a valley above Hope, a little village on the Kenai peninsula. Out in the wild for the most part but there was a USFS campground 1 1/2 miles away along a dirt road. Hope was where a number of nuisance bears that had been forcefully deported from suburban Anchorage reappeared after trekking through the wilderness in search of human junk and had to be killed in the end. Article here

I'd had a couple of run ins with Black and brown bears before, mostly a good distance away and none wanted anything to do with me, fading into the bushes as soon as they could. The previous day I had been walking along the road, heading back from a hike when I heard the brush on either side rustling. It happens a lot up there - mostly Ptarmigan but you never know - my hand was holding my holstered bear spray. A while after some campers told me that they had seen a black bear and her yearlings on the road half a mile before they passed me. Great so I walked between a sow bear and her cub(s). The next day after a big dinner I headed out for a little walk.

I decided to walk of at least 400 calories by going to the bathroom. At 11pm..... smart.
The rain was coming in a foggy drizzle, just the kind that makes bear spray useless so I loaded my lever action and set off. It was chilly but not uncomfortable on the way. Everything was silent, no birds, insects, wind - nothing, just my breathing and the crunch of gravel underfoot. Then something rustled in the brush near me, then again and again and again. It was a little worrying but it's just something I had to deal with. Keeping an eye on where it was I kept going.

And recorded this:


If the link above doesn't work.

The fog closed in half way there and light levels dropped rapidly. I didn't pay much attention as I was trying my hardest to prevent stuff in my body exiting that very much wanted to exit. By the end it was less of a walk, more a pained waddle.

Relief gotten I set off back towards camp. Light had dropped so far and fast it was as dark as Alaska could get this season. You could see decently far but not make out many details in the mist. I thought I was clever bringing a flashlight just in case. Nope - in the mist, rain and fog it was useless, blinding me with a cone of light that reached out 5ft and hid everything further. Midnight struck and a old, black battered 4runner rolled up coming towards me. As it stopped beside me the passenger told me they had seen a black bear up ahead.

Oh fun, watch out for a black bear in the blackness. As the woods ended and it opened up to brush visibility got even worse. At least the trunks of the spruce were well defined, here I could walk past a bear and not even noticed until it slapped me into the obituaries.

I pulled out my rifle from its scabbard and ready to myself for anything that might happen. With safety off and a round chambered but all I had to do was cock the hammer to fire I advanced through the mist and the fog with the rifle held in a low ready position my pulse was high. The constantly shifting brush with dark shapes it was no help to calm my nerves. I walked on, with bats flying above me, feasting on the all you can eat bug buffet circling around my head.

Walking for what seemed like forever but most likely 20 minutes I was about three quarters of the way to camp. Then in happened. A big shape sauntered onto the road from the side facing the cliff about 20 yards from me. The only sounds I could hear were raindrops falling off the trees and, my own breathing. I aimed the rifle above and behind it's front legs, my mind going on overdrive thinking where it's heart was or of I should aim for the head, slowly back away or fire a warning shot.

In the end I managed to call the deepest "hey bear" I could after puffing up and looking as big as possible. The hey bear came out as if I had been sipping helium. I quickly followed up with a nice deep "HEY BEAR" It's head seemed to move left towards me, right and after a pause it just plodded off into the bushes with not a care in the world. I waited for about 5 minutes, still aiming at the bush where it had left then went the rest of the way back to camp, carefully doing a 180 every few moments.

Sleep didn't come easy this night....... Next time I decide to go to the bathroom that late, **** the calorie burn, I'm driving.

Lessons learned:

• Don't go out late at night in bear country alone (duh).
• Don't trust your flashlight when in fog or mist - it can blind you.
• Practice cocking/decocking at the range beforehand - I was pretty rusty.
• Practice aiming in low light without any sort of tech to help.
• Don't go solo - failed that one.
• Keep a cool head - I knew no one was camping up above me but you never know when someone might walk up.
• If someone tells me there is a bear up ahead I will thank them for offering to give me a ride up and graciously accept

Any other suggestions, what did I do wrong/could I improve on?

Bonus bear album

[Steve_In_29]

Don't go so far to poop-in-the-woods.

[RangerJoe]

Thank you for not holding your phone/camera vertically to shoot video.

[HPBrowningMK3]

Carry a Ruger 44 mag revolver loaded with hot loads with you everywhere. Especially when you are doing #2. Get used to its ferocious bark and bite.

[Foxbat]

Carry a Ruger 44 mag revolver loaded with hot loads with you everywhere. Especially when you are doing #2. Get used to its ferocious bark and bite.

I carried something with a little more punch - 454 Casull with the heaviest load buffalo bore could get me. I also kept a KSG with the Brenneke black magic slugs under the pillow as a sleep aid - a bear in Gates of the Arctic NP was said to have gotten even smarter and would collapse campers tents on them before dinner.

[TheChief]

I saw the thread name and started laughing.

I imagined hiking over some rocks and suddenly stepping onto a sleeping bear...then just going with it and jumping on their back and grabbing onto their fur with everything I had while screaming and yodeling at full volume....

imagine that poor bear, having a nice little nap...then suddenly something latches on to its back and starts screaming like a banshee....

[TheChief]

I think I killed the thread.

[sonofeugene]

Not yet. OP's story reminds me of a time years back in Glacier National Park late at night. I had to "go" before hitting the sack and grabbed my (totally inadequate) flashlight and headed off for the can. The light was poor and I alternately pointed it directly in front of me to avoid tripping and ahead to make sure I was going in the right direction. Almost all the way to the can, and after an extended period pointing the light directly in front of me, I pointed it ahead of me and froze instantly. Not more than 20 feet in front of me (and that ain't far) was a mother bear and two cubs, directly in my path. I said aloud (to mama bear), "excuse me, mam" and very slowly and deliberately backed away. I ended up pissing in the woods and thinking just how lucky I was.

[Foxbat]

I imagined hiking over some rocks and suddenly stepping onto a sleeping bear...then just going with it and jumping on their back and grabbing onto their fur with everything I had while screaming and yodeling at full volume....

imagine that poor bear, having a nice little nap...then suddenly something latches on to its back and starts screaming like a banshee....

That is giving the wrong kind of bear hug for sure.

[Foxbat]

I ended up pissing in the woods and thinking just how lucky I was.

I always kept an empty bottle of cucumber gatorade near the tent just in case something was stalking around outside. I was close when a pack of wolves was roaming around in Denali but that bottle of shame has managed to stay untainted and unused so far.