paulg
.375 Atomic
Posts: 2,420
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Post by paulg on Sept 7, 2017 17:59:21 GMT -5
Robb your story, pictures and smiles brought a bright spot to a dismal time right now. Thanks a bunch for sharing them. And I tell ya what, if a feller needs a good hat and lures to go with it Doug is the go to man!
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Post by kings6 on Sept 7, 2017 18:28:41 GMT -5
I think I mentioned earlier about a bear being in the adventure so I'll share that little bit. No big scares or anything to write home about but it did liven the day up a little. When we first got to the landing and start of the trail on the Sitak river there was a sign that a young brown bear had been frequenting the area so be alert. We all had whistles on our vests and had all stood around in a circle eyeing each other subtly deciding who would be the slowest runner in waders! Once we hiked the mile down the trail that was full of spruce roots, devils club and a little ursus sign we spread out at the various holes and began fishing. One of the guys was on the far end of a bar while my brother and I were fishing on the other end. There was a big spruce that had fallen down into the river between us but you could still get around the root wad. Suddenly Kevin started shouting "BEAR! and blowing his whistle like a steam punk! I looked up and a full grown blackie was coming out of the brush and was headed directly for Kevin's string of salmon while Kevin was only a few feet away. We joined the chorus and the bear spun around and ran back up the bank which gave Kevin time to grab his stringer and sprint over to where Randy and I were fishing.
As soon as Kevin got around the spruce root wad and started walking towards us I looked behind him and the bear had come back out and was now following him right towards us. Needless to say the chorus hit a new volume level of shouts and whistles with flapping arms and 'Booboo' decide the fish was not worth the racket and it jumped up the bank and disappeared. We went on fishing but we kept an eye on the access points behind us just to be safe. When we got done fishing and started our hike out we finally got to the end of the trail by the boat landing and just as Randy stepped over the last log, he looked out of the corner of his eye and there was another full size blackie on the end of the log about 8' away. The shouting started again but since I was the last in line I didn't see the critter once I popped out. I asked where the bear had been and once they told me I turned around and there it was right behind me on the trail. About that time I got a wild hair sideways up a crevasse and rather than whistle and shout I turned, screamed bloody murder and sprinted right at the poor critter like I was going to rip its lips off. Man talk about one surprised bear! That poor thing just about turned itself inside out trying to get away from that short fat mad man running at it from a few feet away all the while screaming bloody murder! It may not have been the smartest thing to do but it sure was a kick in the pants! The funny thing is we never saw another black bear along the river the rest of the week.
Later in the week I was walking down the trail between holes and I ran into a couple of young ladies from the Forest Service or Fish and Game and one of the girls was packing a big bolt rifle with the bore taped shut and a ammo slide full of bog bore cartridges. I greeted then and teasingly asked them where they had been when we had encountered Booboo earlier in the week. Boy did their ears and eyes perk up when they heard that! They wanted all the details so I jsut told then to talk to the guys at the next hole which is where by brother and Kevin were fishing.
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Post by bushog on Sept 7, 2017 19:00:28 GMT -5
All the bears decided to have their pic-a-nic somewhere else after that!
Not like you guys weren't waving dinner around going down the trail though.
Alaska trips are full of good stories......
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Post by kings6 on Sept 7, 2017 19:05:16 GMT -5
Yes sir, we were tempting them but we had to get the fish out of the woods somehow.
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cmh
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 3,745
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Post by cmh on Sept 7, 2017 19:05:21 GMT -5
😲😲😁😁
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Post by kings6 on Sept 7, 2017 19:18:12 GMT -5
Can't you just see the news story "Yakutat Yogi fends off fat fiend from lower forty eight by defending himself with claws and jaws!"😁
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Post by dougader on Sept 7, 2017 20:01:16 GMT -5
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Post by mike454 on Sept 8, 2017 8:40:21 GMT -5
Looks like great fun. Would like to take the kids up there sometime for some fishing.
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