Randy comes to wake me up at 8.00am. We have to go and collect the inflatable we used for crossing the lake during the goat hunt, and left behind on the shore. We shan't be needing it again; we will weigh anchor today, and return to Valdez. According to the weather forecast, a big storm is approaching. There is virtually no chance of a successful hunt, and we don't want to spend the winter here. Once more Randy warns me to put on everything I've got as it is again very cold. Still, I take my Blaser from the gun rack, as you never know what fate has in store for you.
We get into the motorboat and head for the lake. There is a thin layer of ice forming over the water in the Sound. The icebergs, which it took us 15mins. to reach yesterday, are now much closer to the ship.
Even though it is still only September, in south Alaska winter has set in.
Thick fog blankets the water. The mountain peaks are shrouded in cloud. If we'd set out two days later than we actually did, I don't think we would have come back with a goat. I'd rather not imagine what the weather is like up there right now; the very thought makes me start to shiver.
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We proceed through the mist slowly.
The sea-otters are in a good mood today. They don't seem bothered about swimming in all the ice. They are so unafraid, I feel I could almost stroke them. There are definitely two species in the world that I would never hunt, even if there were millions of them around. One is the wolf, and the other the otter. I just don't understand; how can anyone shoot an otter?
Again, we moore on the strip of land separating the lake from the sea.
We won't be staying long, so we don't have to worry about securing the boat too thoroughly, and don't have to go through all the complicated landing maneuvers we did last time. We walk to the lake's shore and collect the inflatable.
When we get back to the motorboat, Randy takes out the Ruger that I was admiring yesterday.
He agrees with me that, for hunting grizzly, the .30caliber group is big enough. But in this area,
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hunting for big brown bears, a bullet with a bigger diameter is preferable. The bear has to be shot the moment it steps out of the forest onto the shore, where it is going to catch fish. If the shot is off-target, or the gun is too small, then the bear might well escape back into the forest, which will be a real headache for the hunters. Randy says that, sometimes, the Alaskan Brown Bear has amazing powers of survival. This spring Greg had to shoot a bear, wounded by a client, five times with his .375; each shot was on target, and yet they still had to go and search for it in the forest.
When they eventually found it, they could see bullet tracks that were, according to Randy, big enough to fit a hot dog into.
I'd like to try out his gun. We pick a distant rock; I place the Ruger firmly against my shoulder, and fire. I was a bit wary of the recoil - which is why I aimed low - but it wasn't that bad at all, even though it is a light, plastic-butted gun. With my second shot I was braver, and knock the rock over.
This gun has no kick, it just gives a lazy shove.
If I do come back to Alaska to hunt grizzly and brown bear, I will certainly use Greg's team again.
I don't have the time, patience, or money, to waste hunting with bad organizers. After all our hunts together, Randy and I have got to know each other's ways, and I honestly hope that it will be he who takes the photograph of me when I have bagged my first brown bear. Until then I have plenty of time to decide what caliber, and type of ammunition I will bring with me.
Back on the ship, using a satellite phone, we call up Petra to ask her, with Jenn, to organize my departure and hotel reservations.