Do it yourself black bear

[trkyman1]

Does anyone have any info on a do it yourself black bear hunt where you fly in to a rented cabin for a week? I have heard you can rent these cabins and hunt deer and black bear on your own. Any info would be great.

[Sourdough]

BLM rents cabins in some areas, and I have rented them for hunting before.  But they are in high demand during hunting season, and usually reserved by locals who know when the day is they open up for reservations for the weeks of hunting season and the locals are usually standing at the desk when they open that day.  

But check for BLM cabins on Prince William sound, The Ressurection Trail, and other areas around the state.

The best way is to contact one of the flying services, they can give yo better info on where to go and how to get there.

[Dand]

Could be that some of those cabins in SE Alaska are Forest Service. Kodiak I think they are USFWS, Kenai Peninsula might be Forest Service. I'm not positive but if you don't find them with BLM check the other agencies. SE Ak and Prince William would have deer and black bear, Kenai black bear no deer, Kodiak deer and BROWN BEAR. I used a cabin on northern Kodiak to get some deer really late in the season - bears were sleeping that winter. You might google for them.  Seems like there used to be a place in Anchorage that could put you onto the right agency but I can't think of its name right now.

[S.E.Ak]

There are 22 cabins I believe on Wrangell Island all UFS. For a first time hunt I would look hard at Coffman Cove on POW. They have cabins and skifs for a fair price.

[trkyman1]

Thanks for the info. We were looking at the tongass national forest website and looking at the rental cabins.There are so many to choose from it is just hard to pick one. We are looking to hunt black bear and do some salmon fishing on our own. I here the success rate is good on bears and even better on catching the salmon. I'm all ears if anyone else jumped a plane and did this on there own and/or can point me in a good area. I will check out the areas you guys already mentioned. Hopefully i can narrow it down.

                        Thanks

[Dand]

If you narrow down the general area, then figure out where the nearest Fish & Game office is. Call them up and ask lots of questions on fishing and hunting, best times to go etc. Some offices have good website that might help too. There are offices in Juneau, Peterburg, and Ketchikan that I know of.  I know of a few guys who like the Petersburg area for good black bears - good sized ones.

[Winter Hawk]

I have surveyed all over Prince of Wales island with the F.S.  My crew and I spent the better part of the summer of 1978 working out of the Control Lake cabin and that is still my favorite, although it is being vandalized more and more as time goes by.  It was a kit bought from Montgomery Ward, I don't remember when.

I saw the most bears up in the El Cap/Whale Pass area.  However, I also saw a BIG blackie up on Baird Peak South of Coffman Cove 9 years ago.  I made the mistake of squealing on my deer call to get his attention.  I got it alright, and the bear started towards me like I might be lunch!  I started yelling and waving, but that didn't faze him.  At about 15 yards I put a round from my NEF Handi between his front paws (the bear season hadn't started yet).  He stopped and sniffed the ground, then finally decided it was time to vamoose.  I sure felt naked with an empty single shot at that distance!

I saw what I think was the same bear a couple of weeks later on the other side of the mountain.  I was watching a couple of does lying in the muskeg when he came up a draw.  The does stood up and watched him, he paid them no attention and continued on up the ridge we were on.  I almost took him, but decided to concentrate on deer.  Good thing too, as I got a pair of nice bucks a half hour later.

-Winter Hawk-