New Benelli MRl Is Varmint-Hunting Ready

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ALASKAS
PREDATORS
BIG II SMALL
STUNNING SUNSETS. CAPTIVATING TUNDRA. LUSH
RAINFORESTS and snowcapped mountains will
leave you speechless, and that's part of Alaska's
allure. It's also about weather that can kill you,
24 hours of darkness during the winter months,
and temperatures so cold you
wonder how people — let alone
animals — survive.
During the years I lived in
Alaska's Arctic region — I lived
there for much of the 1990s and
traveled throughout the state— I
got to see and experience more
than I ever dreamed possible.
The day I moved from Alaska,
part of me stayed behind. It's
one of those magical places that,
once you visit, you're never the
same, last fall, Alaska once again Ix'ckoned me,
but this time instead of antlers I was in search of
a range of predators.
High Country Bears
I've hunted black Ix-ars in many places, but
never in the heart of Alaska where the conditions
Alaska is a
big-game hunter's
Mecca, but as a
predator-hunting
destination it can
be even better.
resembled a Dall sheep hunt more than any bear
hunt I'd experienced. Flying into spike camp in
a Super Cub, the runway barely longer than my
driveway, I was relieved we found flat ground,
not only on which to set the plane, but also to
pitch our tents.
It was mid-August, and with
daylight coming at 4 a.m. and
lasting until nearly midnight,
racking up the hunting hours
wasn't a problem. Calling,
however, was. I was intent on
trying to call in one of these
mountain-dwelling black bears
with the use of predator calls,
but I had a source of competition
that proved too overbearing —
blueberries.
The locals warned me of the bumper-crop
blueberry patches looming in the hills, and
that it would be next to impossible to pull the
bears off them. They were right; either that
or my calling just wasn't convincing enough.
With bears set on gorging themselves on wild
blueberries, crowberries and cranberries, I knew
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