OCEAN FISHING If you want to combine bear viewing with ocean-fishing for halibut and salmon, then you’ll love spending a day with Rob Maw or his father Roland Maw, owners of Harvest Time Charters. Roland is a former bear researcher, college professor, and State Park Director, as well as a sport-fishing guide and commercial fisherman. He’s not only superbly knowledgeable about wildlife and wildlife management, but a wonderful storyteller with great personal charm. Contact them at harvesttimecharters.com Rob at 775/721-6955; Roland at 907/ ___-____. RIVER FISHING If you prefer to do your fishing and bear watching from a river boat, then three of the most popular guides are Ron Aldridge (262-7585, caribou-unlimited.com), Al Schadle, and Joe Connors. Both Ron and Al are fine storytellers with treasure troves of exciting anecdotes. Ron’s stories often focus on hunting, whereas Al’s also draw on decades of experience as a game warden. We haven’t heard anything about Joe’s stories, but he is renown for helping clients fill their coolers with salmon. On the central Kenai Peninsula, your best source of fishing supplies and equipment is:  If your fishing trip is a success, you may want professional help to assure that your catch arrives home in prime condition. This may require vac packing, deep freezing and shipping. Expect top quality assistance from:  HUNTING BVA does not oppose hunting for sport, meat or trophies. However, we do strongly oppose non-fair-chase hunting of bears and other animals -- for instance * hunting animals which have learned to trust viewers, * hunting animals at “baits” -- e.g., hunting bears over donut piles. * hunting with the assistance of tracking dogs. In our opinion, those practices remove the sport from sport-hunting, degrading it into little more than slaughter. One reason we don’t oppose hunting is that a high proportion of people living in bear habitat depend on wild meat for food. Just as important, wildlife conservation depends heavily on political and financial support by hunters (and anglers). In the event that you do choose to hunt, Ron is a renown big game (and fishing) guide. Both Ron and Kenny are superb taxidermists. And both have generously contributed animal skulls to BVA’s wildlife education kit.
Other Recreation
Wolves can make short work of a bear cub
(c) 1972  S. Stringham
A beaver can inflict deep bites on any predator, including a bear.
(c) 1972  S. Stringham
     If you aren’t lucky enough to see bears in the wild, visit the Pratt Museum in Homer, where you can watch bears at McNeil Falls via a remote video feed.  The video cam can be operated from the museum to allow you to zoom or pan.  Bears are most abundant at McNeil Falls during July.  At other times, you may be able to watch archived footage at the Museum.
 
   Even if your main focus is bear viewing, you or other members of your party might be interested in other activities before or after watching bears.  Alaska offers a wide range of exciting choices.
 
 
OTHER WILDLIFE VIEWING
 
    Alaska offers many wonderful opportunities for watching other wildlife (e.g., Dall sheep, mountain goats, caribou and moose, Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, orcas, beluga whales, humpback whales, and a wide range of birds such as puffins and eagles.)  
 
 
Free-Ranging Wildlife
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Captive Wildlife
 
 
 
                          
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                        
 
 
                                                                                        
 
 
    For captive marine life, your best bets are the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward, home of sea otter, seal, Stellar sea lion, a wide range of sea birds, and an amazing array of other creatures from Alaska’s seas and tide pools.  
 
Scenic Flights and Cruises
 
 
HISTORY, CULTURE, and MORE
 
THIS WEBPAGE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    Alaska has numerous fine museums.  Two of the best are on Kodiak Island, in the town of Kodiak:  the Baranof Museum, which focuses on Russian America (prior to the Civil War), and the Alutiiq Museum, which focuses on the history of the Alutiiq people of Kodiak and its environs.  There is also an exceptionally fine museum of Alaska history and culture, focusing on the Tlingit and Haida natives of Southeast Alaska, located on the campus of Sheldon Jackson College, in Sitka.
HARVESTING
        Alaska also boasts some of the world’s most bountiful fishing and hunting.
Tlingit bear carvings, Southeast Alaska.
A great way to see not only bears, but marine mammals (sea otter, sea lion, seals, whales) as well as sea birds (e.g., horned and tufted puffins). 1-800-532-8338 katmaibears@alaska.netmailto:katmaibears@alaska.netshapeimage_6_link_0
Tour Resurrection Bay to see marine mammals, sea birds, and occasional black bears or mountain goats. Orca (killer) whales seen from the Harvest Time Charters boat harvesttimecharters.com
CONTENTS
 
Other Viewing (terrestrial and marine)
  1. ★    Free ranging wildlife
  2. ★    Captive wildlife
  3. ★    Scenic flights and cruises
History, Culture and More
Festivals
Harvesting
  1. ★    Ocean fishing
  2. ★    River fishing
  3. ★    Hunting
 
FESTIVALS
    The spring (1st week of May) Shorebird Festival in Homer is but one of the exciting festivals that celebrate Alaska’s natural and cultural heritage.  Other events include Frontier Days in Fairbanks, and the annual Statehood celebration in Sitka.
caribou-unlimited.com REGIONS & COMMUNITIES MAP VIEWING SITES LIST VENDORS HOMEPAGE
Background Info on Each Service or Product  Businesses Catering to Bear Viewers (c) 2006 WildWatch, LLC../Bear%20Viewing%20Services%20%26%20Products/What%20to%20Know%20Before%20You%20Buy.html
To read viewer comments
about computing services,
or to add your own comments,
go to BVA’s Blog site by clicking below
 
Once at the blog site homepage, click on the tab (top of page)
for Computing.  
Once you reach that page,
if the listing for a particular vendor is not visible,
you can check for it using the search window.