Backpack Glacier Bear (The Blue Ghost)

In the spring of 1976 I was guiding for Mike Brannon in Yakutat, (Southeastern Alaska) for brown bear, black bear, and glacier bear. There is approximately a 100 mile area in Southeast Alaska that seems to be a good location to hunt glacier bear. A glacier bear is known as the blue ghost and is one of the most of all coveted trophies for serious hunters. The glacier bear has a blue gray color, but it is actually a color phase of a black bear so you are not hunting a rare species.  

I had filled out my other hunters and now Mike was sending me on a special mission with a client named Don Woody. He had been on Mike’s spring hunts six or seven times and was still dreaming of finding a glacier bear. The bears were in the rut and we decided to backpack to a beautiful valley not far from Knight Island. Mike had an inflatable Zodiac in which Bob, the packer, and I took off in with our loaded backpacks and gear. On the way to the beach several killer whales cruised by us.   They were beautiful with high dorsal fins but were kind of scary. There is a reason they are called killer whales.  The landing on the beach was tricky because there was high surf. We followed quickly behind a big wave and made it to the beach without swamping the Zodiac and losing our gear. Then I got Bobby off safely through the surf and he went and picked up Don. Again, he made a great landing and didn’t get soaked.  One miss judgment or mistake can ruin a whole trip if your timing is off. Can’t afford to get wet in Alaska and lose your gear.

We pulled our gear and the inflatable way above the high tide and tied it up. Alaska has some of the highest tides in the world. Anchorage has the second highest tides in the world. There is a 38 foot difference between low and high in just six hours!  On the coast everything is done around the tides.

We put our packs on and headed up the canyon.  We hiked for 2 1/2 hours before finding a place to set up our camp. We then hiked up higher to a vantage point that was too good to be true. We could see forever in this beautiful part of Alaska.  Timing was great, no rain yet. Yakatak seems to have rain 15 out of 10 days! This area of Alaska can get over 200 inches of precipitation a year. I would guess you have a 10 day window to hunt here. You need to hunt after the snow melts and before all the vegetation starts growing. Once the leaves come on and the undergrowth starts growing there is too much cover to spot what you are hunting. Then there is the constant rain.  Our timing seemed to perfect. In the spring days are getting longer and it doesn’t really get dark at all. That evening we saw over a dozen bears and most of them were chasing and jumping on top of other bears as they were in the rut. One huge boar, about a 7 footer came within 300 yards of us and Don decided to take him. He made a great shot with his 300 Weatherby.  I said the genetics are here for glacier bears. This was a prime bear area. We were all excited. We were in a sacred prime bear valley.        

The next morning we were all on a vantage point glassing and looking at a few black bears that were over 1000 yards out. I decided to move up a little higher where we could see the valley a little better. I watched four wolverines high up in the snow which is unusual to see. They are so interesting to watch.  Not many people ever see them.  I could see several bears in the valley. I moved another 50 yards and changed my angle of view and I put my 10X42 Leitz binoculars on my rifle as a rest in the middle to act like a tripod to make them more steady. Then I saw the Holy Grail of bears.

There was a giant silver blue gray ghost standing on his hind legs pulling alders down and eating the new buds.   I could not believe it. I quietly called Don and Bobby over where they could see. They went crazy.  We were super quiet as the ghost was only 300 yards away.   They wanted to put a stalk on him.   I said no, he’s not going anywhere.  Let’s enjoy him and watch and decide how to get him. Then the bear dropped down on all fours and started walking towards us.  We were getting so excited.  We didn’t need to make a stalk as the bear came right to us! Don got a shooting rest and got ready to shoot. The bear came towards us and when he was approximately 100 yards away I told Don to take him.  Don made a perfect shot and the bear went down.  Just to make sure I had Don shoot him again. We were all ecstatic with euphoria. We tried to remain calm but just couldn’t hold it in. What an exciting time. We rapidly hiked down to the glacier bear and still couldn’t believe it had happened. What a trophy and hunt to remember. All our effort was definitely worth it. 

Last time I talked to Don the bear was going to be a life size mount and displayed in the Anchorage airport.

Happy Hunting!

Jaret Owens - 805-551-6815