Grizzly hunt -- pic heavy!

Just curious was this a sow or a boar??

When you left it overnight did you cover it or how did you protect it against other preditors?

Very nice coat, congrats..

It turned out to be a sow, as one would guess from the pictures that show the head in profile (more pronounced snout, less of a "dish" shape to the forehead). The area I was hunting (GMU 13) is one of the few places in Alaska where the season is open 365 days a year, and the taking of sows isn't discouraged in the least -- the Fish & Wildlife department still takes the view that the zone has far too many grizzlies in it, as evidenced by the chronic under-production of both moose and caribou.

Truth is, though, once I saw that it was good reprentative animal with fantastic hair there was no looking back :p

As for leaving it overnight, I wasn't too keen on it but there was no other choice given how little daylight we had left. We moved the bear onto some rocks in order to get air circulating underneath it and keep it as cool as possible. Fortunately, the temperature that night dropped down to 2 or 3 degrees. As for predators finding it, I just had to cross my fingers that we would get lucky, and we did. I didn't see any scavenging birds at all on that trip -- in fact, the only birds I saw were ptarmigan and a handful of bald eagles. The only four-legged scavengers I was really worried about were wolverines, which were certainly in the area based on tracks, but we ended up being safe on that account as well.
 
One piece of the puzzle missing - I hope whomever does the hide/rug does a standup job as it sure looks like a fine animal. Make sure to comeback and post pics - please.

Awesome story.
 
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