It’s time to start planning your 2013 Spring bear hunt! We already have over two weeks fully booked on the base camp boat Cathy G and several hunter drop offs on the water taxi too. So far it doesn’t look like a record snow year like last year which we hope will make for an early break up. Last spring in bear season we were dealing with snow as deep as 30 feet in some places. It was the first year I had hunters that found bears which had starved to death, unable to dig through the deep snow for food once they had emerged from their dens. I would still recommend bringing snow shoes, sleds and snow shovels this year, especially for those who are planning to hunt the early part of the season. There is still space on the hunting base camp boat up to May 25th and we also have some openings left for water taxi drop offs. We have several groups of hunters coming out on their own boats and staying on the Cathy G too. We offer all the luxuries of home, located in the wilderness of Prince William Sound at the best price and with no hidden charges. If you are planning a water taxi drop off bring a raft or rent one from Alaska Adventure Tours. A raft will increase your chances of a successful hunt as often deep streams or cliffs can impede your ability to traverse the terrain. You will also find spotting from the water more productive and the raft will be handy to recover your bear, if harvested far from camp. Expect to get wet if you are camping. Soft gun cases are like sponges; pack your gear in water proof bags or totes - I prefer the locking lid Rubbermaid totes. Bring some fire wood in an old water proof bag or tote as the wood that you find around camp will be wet and needs to be dried before it’ll burn well. Most of the camp sites are located on Forest Service Land and over the years I’ve had hunters complain that the people before them have trashed the camp sites. In recent years the Forest Service has been cleaning up old camp sites and if people continue to trash the area, I am sure some new rule will be adopted restricting where you can camp. I would like to encourage hunters to clean up any trash they see, even if it was left by another group and also scatter the remnants of your camp fire such as the rocks around it. If you tie tent line to trees or lines to hang game, remove then when you leave the area. Often when picking up a group of hunters I do a walk through the camp area to ensure nobody forgot anything. Unfortunately there are those few who ruin it for the rest of us. Last fall somebody cut down the large hemlocks at the main campsite in Jackpot Bay and left behind several bags of trash. The Jackpot Bay area has also been targeted by bear poachers recently using snares. If you come across a snare site, take photos and record the GPS coordinates for the Alaska Wildlife Troopers so they can go and find it. Several years ago a bear poaching ring was busted in Prince William Sound and they mostly used snares. The only part of the bears they harvested was the gall bladders and paws. There are far more hunters roaming around Prince William Sound than Troopers but if we work together we can get rid of these poachers and protect the resources for future generations.
On a lighter note, I’d like to thank everyone who came to enjoy the deer roast on the Cathy G in the Seward Boat Harbor during the Polar Bear Jump weekend. If anybody is coming down to Seward this winter, give us a call and we’d be happy to give you a tour of the Cathy G. We’ll be heading out in April for the shrimpers – give us a call for exact locations. From October 1st the Cathy G will be anchored off around the north east end of Montague Island for deer season. We have several lodging packages on the web site available with a couple weeks still open and remember with Aquetec LLC, there are no hidden fees or added taxes - our prices are exact.
Matt
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