I've been off work since Tuesday and hung around Cordova and not really wanting to chase bears by myself and waiting for people to sober up, finally made it out. Took my boat out and cruised the beaches and found a decent size bear. Beached the boat stalked the bear. Pulled the trigger of my 7mm mag and bear down. It was a lone old sow that measured 5 1/2 feet. Skull was 9 3/4 inches. Took the ferry back to modern times and drove home battling tourists deciding where to fish the Kenai and Russian Rivers along with wildlife gawkers that would not pull to the side of the road and plenty of RVs holding up traffic. Talk about frustating. It took hours to drive 180 miles from Whittier to Homer. Butchered up the bear at home, cooked up the backstraps and really enjoyed it, surprisingly. Not gamey at all and is very much like pork. Can't wait for my next meal of that bear. All the taxidermy places were closed or now only doing salmon, same thing with the meat processors. None would take a bear, too busy packing fish. Meat grinder and sausage maker is on the to buy list. Although after tonight's meal I think I won't be making as much sausage as I thought. Mostly roasts and steaks I think and then practice making a little bit of sausage.
This is the main reason that I spend a lot of time in Cordova. She's 235 feet long, weighs 1333 tons, and goes 36.5 knots in Prince William Sound going from Cordova to Whittier to Valdez. The only way in and out is by boat like the Alaska Marine Highway or by plane.
Child's Glacier is located on the Copper River 50 miles from Cordova and pretty cool to see chunks of ice the size of houses fall into the river. Lots of bears in the area, but not when I was looking for them. Mostly of the brown bear variety and the season for them closed May 31. Black Bears are open until June 30.
Plenty of these things around. This is a small one. There are a lot in Homer with a surprising amount of bulls hanging around. There antlers are budding pretty good right now.
Took the boat out just north of Cordova into Nelson Bay and drifted and glassed around.
Not long, this one walked out of the dense cover and started eating grass. Verifying she didn't have any cubs, one shot with the 7mm mag anchored her. She's got some rubs and I wasn't looking for a trophy, mostly some red meat in the freezer, not that I would have passed up a big bear. It was a first come first serve deal. Got her sealed at the fish and game office where they measure and take DNA samples. The think she was around 5 or 6 years old.
Took the ferry back to Whittier to continue the drive to Homer for 180 miles. The Whittier Tunnel is 2.5 miles long. Whittier is about 40 miles south of Anchorage and is the jumping off point to Prince William Sound. A lot of the cruise ship come to Whittier and to Seward.
It was a long drive, 4 hours, but managed to get by with the scenery.
These fish were caught last year on my friend's charter boat out of Homer. This was before I had my boat. I'll still go fishing with him though.
Justin here with a ling cod I just caught. I said, "Let's take a picture of it," so he poses with it. I should have said to take a picture of me and the fish.
Halibut need love too. 175# the end of last September.
SNEEKEE qote baxter black Its guts and love and glory 1 mortals chance at fame his legacy is rodeo and cowboy is his name
Linear Mode
