A large, dark brown bear appeared on the ridge above us. The sound of Craig’s one shot was all it took for that top predator to home in on us.
Soon after being put ashore we jumped a huge buck at sixty yards that took off quartering away to the right. I told him to take it and Craig leveled off with the Whelen and fired.
I said, “You missed him, Craig!”
“What?” he said in a voice two octaves above his normal tone.
There was no time for a second shot. The buck was over the ridge and out of sight following a huge bodied doe.
We both remarked on what a huge buck that was and it was carrying the largest rack we had seen the entire week. I told him that we were going to stay with that deer and get him, as we had a good six hours before having to be back at the beach.
A quick run took us to the ridge and we began scrutinizing the country with binoculars. Soon, we spotted the buck, accompanied by the extraordinarily large doe.
We continued behind them, losing them several times due to terrain contours, then relocating them.
After more than three hours in pursuit, we rounded a hill and seemed to have lost the deer. Persistent glassing revealed that huge doe standing in long grass, browsing on ferns. After a few minutes, I was able to identify one antler of the buck, which was lying down. Not sure it was the right one, we continued to watch until the doe ambled further away. This brought the buck to his feet and, indeed, it was “the” one.
We edged as close as we could, not wanting to spook them again. The doe came back our way and the buck soon laid down. At about 300 yards, with only the head visible, Craig laid on the tundra and squeezed off a shot. The buck disappeared. The shot was true and I got it on video.
We got to the buck in what seemed like no time and were open-mouthed impressed! It was as big a Sitka buck, both in body size and antler dimension, as I had ever seen!
Shortly after reaching the buck, a large, dark brown bear appeared on the ridge above us. The sound of Craig’s one shot was all it took for that top predator to home in on us. The bear, like most big, old Kodiak bruins, patiently sat on his rump as we hurried to butcher and load the deer. As we left the site, the old fellow sauntered down to slurp up the innards.
In 2004, in his book Fair Chase in North America, Craig relates the story of our hunt and says that, “To date, he is my finest North American deer, and one of my most memorable shots.”
All hunts and guests should be so pleasurable.
(editor’s note: Jake and Craig became good friends after hunting Coues deer together in Arizona in the 80s. In November, 1992, they met up again to chase Alaskan Sitka Blacktail)
Jake Jacobson has served as dentist, biologist, fishing guide, hunting guide, boat skipper and fossil hunter during his 50 years in Alaska. He’s also been a commercial pilot for 46 years, with over 10,000 hours in Alaska, Bolivia, Rhodesia and Namibia. Along the way, he’s chronicled his adventures and misadventures in five books – Alaska Tales, Alaska Flying, Alaska Bears, Kodiak Alaska Deer, and Alaska Hunting. Each book has over 200 pages, including photos. Buy Now
