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Old Pie Face finally
meets his demise. Read on and learn more about this challenging hunt, and the
'Pie Face' legacy.
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I stalked this bruin for nearly two weeks, mostly out of a 16 foot skiff
in
Anuk Bay, Kodiak, Alaska. I and my hunting partner, Elmer Jeske, spotted
him several times, but once we started stalking him ashore and through the
thick alders, he managed to always elude us. This particular bear had a
reputation and was known to the Islanders as "Pie Face". He
mauled one
man and killed two others during his reign of terror as Anuk Bay's King of
the Kodiak's! His territory included an old cattle farm, and lots of black
tail
deer. Near the end of two weeks, Elmer and I spotted old "Pie
Face" way
up the side of a hill. We pulled the skiff ashore and began our stalk, but
as
before, once in the area of the big bruin, he was nowhere to be
seen.
Finally Elmer and I split and while taking in the warmth of the sun and
the
gorgeous view of Anuk Bay and my little skiff sitting down below, I
decided
to take a picture. I snapped the shutter and at that instant I heard a
branch
break behind me. There he was, 50 short feet away standing on his hind
legs looking more ferocious than anything I had ever seen before. I
squared around, raised my .338 and let loose - wham, right in the brisket
and he never flinched. I let go another round and again this giant of a
bear
hardly moved. I chambered and shot a third time which put the bear on the
move heading up and over the hill...I shot a final round but
the bear had disappeared over the top. My partner was now back and he
covered me as I continued the stalk. As I reached the hill's summit, there
the bear laid, his reign of terror had come to an end. He measured 10 1/2
feet, and he bore the scars of many a battle with man and beast. He had
been shot in the eye many years previous, about ten years prior to be
exact so that would've been 1958. The scar from that wound spans the
front of his skull to this day.
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