Our fall hunting season for moose and brown bear in Alaska was one of ups and downs, which is often the case when talking big game hunting in the Last Frontier. Our September moose hunts in southwest Alaska started off with a bang, with 5 of 6 hunters filling tags. Three of the bull moose taken had racks spanning 60-inches or greater.
Outdoor writer, Scott Haugen, was the first to fill a moose tag, on day three of the hunt. Scott has hunted brown bear with us before, where he took a 9’ brown bear in the fall, and a 10’6” 26-year-old giant brown bear, four springs later. This was his first moose hunt with us and he wasn’t disappointed. On day one we saw 11 moose from camp, on a high point where we spent the day glassing from. Three bulls were shooters, all over 60”, one even pushed the magical 70” mark. But they were in swampy, near impossible places to reach. The next day we called quite a bit and used Montana Decoys, and at nightfall, a couple bulls showed a great deal of interest. The following morning, three bulls had crossed the river and were near our decoys. After locating a good bull for Scott, we moved in, called, played the wind and Scott connected on a 250 yard shot with his .270 Weatherby Magnum.
Two days later, Chris Stewart took his first moose, a massive, old bull we’d seen the past two seasons but could not get a shot at. We called the bull from over 1,300 yard away, and at just over 600 yards Chris made a perfect shot. Chris also scored on a big wolf on opening day of the moose season. Wolves were regularly seen from our camps.
Todd Crawford also scored on his first moose, and in the last week of the season, Mark Korpi connected on a nice bull. We see a lot of moose in the places we hunt, but the terrain can be tough to negotiate, which is why patience and persistence are a must. Going 5 for 6 is outstanding when it comes to moose hunting in remote Alaska, and we’re so happy for all of our hunters and proud of our guides who worked hard. It was a memorable season and a great team effort.
In October, our brown bear hunts started off with fast success. On opening day Randy Smoots filled his tag on the famed South Spit, with a boar sporting a 26” skull. It had a gorgeous hide. A couple days later, Matt Moser took one of the most prime, thick-furred brown bear we’ve ever seen, near our base camp.
We were seeing more bears than ever during the first few days of the Oct. season. Then a harsh storm hit. Intense winds lasted for days, followed by snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Instantly the brown bears stopped moving on the upper Peninsula, and with the rivers freezing fast, it was all we could do to get our camps broken down and safely back to base. From one camp we were breaking ice with a boat, making for a dicey trip, but we made it.
On the bright side, we are beaming with optimism as we look forward to the spring 2018 brown bear season in Alaska. With the number of bears, and big bears, we were seeing in the fall, the stage is set for what could be a banner spring season. We’ve been fortunate to take many record-class brown bears from our camps over the years, and feel the spring hunts of 2018 could be one for the books!
Due to a recent cancellation, we currently have two brown bear spots available for May 10-20, 2018. Check out our website, or drop us a note, for more details.
http://becharof.com/hunting-trips/
Happy Holidays to all!
