Wolfpack Guides and Outfitter Testimonials

Phillip Rael

Hunting with Casey and Mike was a fantastic experience. The food, the mountains, the island, the ocean, the bears were all fantastic but the people, Casey and Mike was the best part. I arrived on the island knowing I wanted a big bear and Casey and Mike delivered. We hunted hard for 9 days putting in the time and effort needed to produce that monster boar that we were after. On the 8th day my dad said to Mike, “It’s a shame this is only a 9 day hunt because we’re having a blast.” Well come to find out there was some misunderstanding between my dad and Mike it was a scheduled 10 day hunt. 

To our great joy we called the airline moved our flights back one more day so we could take full advantage of our 10 day hunt. This sparked a new found energy and desire after seeing lots of bears and putting stocks on lots of bears but never having an opportunity to pull the trigger. 

We woke up on the morning of the 10th day hoping and praying this was the day. The morning hunt was unfruitful and we headed back to the house with that knot in your gut knowing all you will have is some great memories and no bear. We got out early for the evening hunt trying to capitalize on any opportunity. We glassed up bears in their normal spots on the island but no shooters. Finally as the sun was going down and as all our efforts had seemed to fail we found the biggest bear we’d seen in 10 days of hunting. 

As Mike was dropping us off on the shore, Casey looks at me and says, “we’re running out of daylight so we’ve got to hustle” That was the start of a dead sprint for about 400 yards down the slick shoreline as the tide was out and we had a lot of ground to cover before we were under the cover of the trees. This big ol’ boar had a sow with her that we were certain he was guarding from other males bears. While we were in the trees trying to get into position he let out a roar that I will never forget. It shook the whole forest and sent chills down my spine. I could’ve sworn those massive trees were swaying back and forth.

It only took Casey 5 minutes once we were in the trees to get into position and get a shot on this bear of a lifetime. His sow lead him out in front of us at 80 yards and he presented a beautiful broadside shot. I dropped him on the first shot and he never got up again. I’m grateful to Casey and Mike for a great hunt and I’m grateful to my dad who’s taught me all about the outdoors and instilled in me that passion and desire to be outside with the animals. 

Scott Talbott

I am writing to send my highest recommendation for WolfPack Guide and Outfitters and the Shaw family. I hunted bear with Mike and Casey in the spring of 2019.  My hunt was superb. 

Mike and Casey are great guys, they know the area, the wildlife, and all of the details on how to have an unbelievably successful hunt.   During my hunt, I saw 133 bears before I harvested a trophy boar and observed 157 bears during my time with the “WolfPack”. After harvesting my bear, I enjoyed fishing, shrimping and crabbing in some of the most beautiful waters on the planet.   

The lodge is unbelievably comfortable, scenic and has all of the accommodations of a modern facility in one of the most wild and scenic locations in the world.  Patti is clearly one of the best cooks ever and the food was far above and beyond my expectations for a wilderness hunting camp.    

I can’t say enough about the “WolfPack”, they have my very highest commendation and recommendation. Not only would I hunt there again, I would strongly recommend them to any of my family and friends. During my 35-year career dealing with the hunting industry, guides and outfitters, WolfPack Guides and Outfitters are clearly a first-class operation.

Scott Talbott

Director (Retired)

 Wyoming Game and Fish Department 

David Treiger

To The Shaw Family,

I want to again thank you for an amazing northern adventure. I can’t express poetic enough the warm hospitality your family shared with me on my hunting trip. It is unmatched in my lifetime and I consider you all family. 

I appreciated Mike telling stories about life in South East Alaska and explaining everything to me. I appreciated Patty banging pots all morning and evening and setting a beautiful table and always making me feel comfortable, welcomed and fed. (even labeling the sandwiches... adorable) I especially enjoyed my evening time and conversations with Miles whom I feel I made a unexpected friend. (of corse wife and puppy also)

Finally I appreciated Casey for for sharing all of you with me and teaching me about hunting in Alaska witch was just a fantasy for twenty or so years.

I look forward to coming back with my family fishing (if not next yr the perhaps the following) but would hope to coordinate with Miles schedule during the king run would also be good. (Fantasy or not ???)  (tell Miles I’ll bring good Tequila)

Last, I will just say Mazel Tov on the business I have absolutely no doubt you will be successful with your common sense and that wonderful family support. 

Be well all keep doing what you are doing and I hope to see you again!

David 

Hunter Bhan

Truly an Adventure of a lifetime with the best outfitters. Casey, my guide runs among the best outfitting services I have ever experienced. He's a very determined guide who will do anything and everytyhing to make sure you have the time of your life. Thank you to the whole Wolfpack crew and especially Casey for the wonderful experience. 

Steve Weeks

Ol’ Four Toes

2019 was shaping up to be a pretty uneventful year as far as my hunting schedule went. With a repair of a old rotator cuff injury slated for mid may and a long rehab after, my application strategy for the year was very conservative. I applied for a few of the later hunts, opted to build points for the most part and concentrate on getting my shoulder back in shape. Little did I know that a single phone call would change all that.

Back in 2003 I had spent the season on Admiralty Island as a fishing guide. I met a homesteader by the name of Mike Shaw who was raising his three boys there. The natives had named the boys “The Wolf pack" due to their hunting and trapping skills at a early age. Mike and middle son Casey now own and operate Wolfpack Guide and Outfitter out of their lodge on the island. We’ve kept in touch over the years and have been on a couple of adventures since then. Mike’s a man of few words so when I saw his name on caller I.D., I was immediately interested. He’s long been aware of my fascination for Brown Bears and had told me over the years that someday we would “work on that one”. Turns out, they had a hunter cancel and the Spring hunt started in less than 3 weeks. He stated the terms he was offering me and me a few days to think about it. I did what any honest hunter would do, or at least own up to, and called the brains of the outfit. After getting a resounding " things happen for a reason, you would be crazy to miss this opportunity” answer, I hung up and sent Mike a text . . “I’m in”. Reservations were made and bags were packed for #1 on my Bucket List.

I landed in Juneau, got a good night’s rest, and was at the airport early for my float plane ride to their lodge. About an hour later we touched down in Cannery Cove. Mike, Patty, and son Casey were waiting on the float. After unload and transfer of my things to their two side by sides, we headed across the tide flat and up the goat trail road that leads up to the lodge. I got settled in, finished the paperwork, and we checked my gun. Everything looked good and so my 338 was added to the big pile by the front door and there it would sit tonight because of the flying/no hunting rule. After supper we headed out to take a ride and see what was out for the evening.

The hunting strategy that Mike and Casey use is simple, safe, and extremely effective. Mike is the boat captain, Casey’s the guide. Mike’s lived there for 29 yrs and knows every channel and rock in each inlet. He’s able to sneak the boat right into shore when the need arrives, dump out Casey and the hunter, then back out. The tides are massive here and this method gives you great flexibility. On the ride Mike told me Casey had spent the last week staying out til dark spotting. We nosed up to a island that was, at this time, completely surrounded by water in one of the many inlets, stepped off the bow, and headed across the rocks to a vantage point. On the walk Casey pointed out a bald eagle nest off to the side that was built right on the ground which is pretty unusual! We reached high ground and set up with a great field of view, our glassing distance being roughly from .5 - 1.5 mile depending on direction. It wasn’t long until we spotted our first bear, a young juvenile in the back arm feeding. Not long after he wandered off, a sow showed up running out of the brush with a big boar in chase! By the time it turned too dark to see anymore, we had seen a total of 8 bears. This included a big dark one that came out right at dark.

This was a 10-day hunt so Casey prepped me to be “flexible” and at least for the first few days, we would hunt from dark till dark. There had been a lot of activity the last couple of days and he wanted to take advantage of every minute. I told him I was good for whatever he wanted to do and hoped I could keep up. First day of hunt, up and out by dawn. Mike dropped us off at the "island" and we spent a few hours sitting where we had the night before. We saw 2 bears total but nothing worth a closer look. Casey wanted to go look at some other places so we hiked back to our pick-up spot, he blew his deer call and here came our ride. We cruised several miles of coastline seeing one more medium-sized boar out on the beach scavenging.

We had Mike drop us ashore again and we walked the beachline for awhile before Casey turned left and hit a bear trail going through the timber. We followed this trail for a mile or so and finally popped out at some old beaver ponds in a hidden meadow. Nothing was sighted and after looking things over for tracks, we headed back to the beach. It was early afternoon by the time we got back to the boat so we started making our way back to the island which was several miles away. We made it back to the island, stepped off onto a familiar rock and headed to our spot. With the sun out, it was quite warm. And after looking things over pretty well, Casey looked at me and told me to wake him up in a few hrs and promptly curled up in the warm grass and sacked out. The tide was going out and I was happy to just sit and watch everything start to get exposed. Nothing was sighted. About 2 hrs later, Casey woke up, ate his lunch and was on point. I curled up in my coat in the rocks and immediately fell asleep. I had slept about a hour when Casey’s toe nudged my foot. He had been watching a bear feed out which eventually moved into an arm he could not see in to. It was a big enough bear that Casey wanted to take a closer look. So we grabbed our stuff and off we went. The tide was out far enough now that we could leave the island and travel the tide flats. We made pretty good time. Casey stopped to check the wind, adjusted our path accordingly and after going hard for half an hour, we were getting close. We worked our way up into the arm and soon we could see the bear several hundred yards ahead. We set up and after looking him over carefully with the spotting scope, Casey said it was too young so we headed back to the island.

Back at the island, I plopped down on the driftwood plank I had wedged in the rocks for a seat. We couldn't have been back 5 minutes when we looked in the direction the big dark bear had came from the night before only to see him standing on the brush line. He looked huge in my binos. Casey didn't even bother putting the spotting scope on him. He said "let’s go". The bear was probably a mile or so but with water between us, we needed to head inland first then fishhook back towards him with the wind in our face. We made good time on the tide flat and when we were within about 500 yards we stopped. There was a huge lone boulder out on the tide flat about the size of a pickup. If we could get about 50 more yards to our left, the rock would be between us and the bear. As soon as he started to feed, we crab walked the 50 yards in the open. Now the rock completely hid us. We each quietly chambered up and started to advance straight at him. We reached the boulder which happened to be about chest high and covered in moss. As we both eased up over the rock, his head snapped our way and he locked onto the rock. I estimated the distance to be just slightly over 100 yards. Casey whispered that he wanted to “look him over and to sit tight.” After a couple minutes Casey whispered," It's a nice boar, take him if you like him." I had been dreaming of this moment for almost 45 years. I made sure to take a moment and try to sear this image into my mind and retina forever. My first shot landed true and as he reared to bite at it, I reloaded and kept shooting. Two follow up shots and the beast lay still within our eyesight.

After about 10 minutes we gathered our stuff and headed towards the bear. I tried to thank Casey but by now the tears were flowing and I could hardly get out a thank you. He just gave me a big smile and nod of the head. We got to the bear and Casey held back and let me check him. I sat down to marvel at him and I could tell by Casey’s reaction that he was just as pleased as I was. He was a brute. The first thing I noticed was that one of his front claws, along with several accompanying joints of bone was missing. Boy that must have hurt! One of his front upper canines had a big chunk broken off from the gum line to the tip and decay was attacking the tooth. His face was covered in scars and he was exactly what I had hoped for and more.

Casey pulled a radio out of his pack and called Mike to let him know we had been successful. It was getting close to dark so after some quick pictures, Casey started skinning while I held things and kept my head on a swivel. After a while we could see Mike approaching with the packboard from the north where he had anchored the boat . The two of them made quick work finishing up and soon we were stuffing bear hide into the pack sack. We headed out with Casey packing a pretty stout load. It was about a 45 minute walk back to the boat and it was getting pretty dark by then. We loaded up and were back at lodge and showered up by midnight. The next day we worked on the hide and skull. I decided I would stay 3 more nights and head into town Friday morning so I could get the hide and skull sealed. The next few days were spent riding around checking out all the humpback whales, visited a sea lion haul out for pictures, and the nights were spent looking for bears until dark.

The plane showed up friday morning and soon enough we were back in Juneau. After a long taxi ride I was able to get everything taken care of and was loaded up and heading home that afternoon. After the wife picked me up, we made a detour to drop off the hide at the taxidermist before heading home.

Thanks to the Shaw family for giving me the opportunity, and to a supportive wife for living with my obsession.