Bear Hunting on the Alaska Peninsula 



bay. At high tide Chinitna Bay extends inland 

 some fifteen miles, but at low water is one vast 

 bog of glacial deposit. Rugged mountains rise on 

 all sides, and at the base of these mountains there 

 are long meadows which extend out to the high 

 water mark. In these meadows during the month 

 of June the bears come to feed upon the young and 

 tender salt grass. 



There was a long swell breaking on the beach 

 as we left our base of supplies, but we passed 

 safely through the line of breakers to the smooth 

 waters beyond, and now headed for the upper bay. 

 The two baidarkas kept side by side, and Blake 

 and I chatted together, but all the while kept the 

 glasses constantly fixed upon the hillsides. We 

 had hardly gone a mile before a small black bear 

 was sighted; but the wind was unfavorable, and he 

 got our scent before we could land. This looked 

 decidedly encouraging, and we continued on in the 

 best of spirits. About mid-day we went on shore, 

 lunched, and then basked in the sun until the after- 

 noon, when we again got into the baidarkas and 

 paddled further up the bay to a place where a wide 

 meadow extends out from the base of the moun- 

 tains. Here Nikolai, my head hunter, went on 

 shore with the glasses, and raising himself cau- 

 tiously above the bank, took a long look at the 



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