Sitka Hunter Killed By Bear at Nakwasina

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Category: News

Created on Thursday, 31 October 2024 15:22

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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A search for a hunter missing since Tuesday ended around midday Wednesday when search teams found his body on the hillside in Nakwasina Sound, 14 miles north of Sitka.
Alaska State Troopers said Tad Fujioka, 50, an experienced hunter and longtime Sitka resident, appeared to be the victim of a bear mauling.
Fujioka left town on a deer hunting trip to Nakwasina Monday and a search was started around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday after he was reported overdue returning. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka dispatched a helicopter crew who searched for three hours before nightfall, and found his vessel.
On Wednesday the Coast Guard helicopter resumed the search and also delivered a Sitka Fire Department team for a ground search.
Teams from the fire department and Alaska Wildlife Troopers arrived by boat to join the search Wednesday.
Searchers on the ground covered the hillside trail that Fujioka was known to use for hunting, and after three hours found his body at about the 800-foot level, between Lisa Creek and the back of the bay, on Baranof Island, Sitka Fire Chief Craig Warren said. Next of kin was notified immediately.
“Our condolences to the family,” the chief said. “Definitely not the result we were hoping for. Thanks to the volunteers at the fire department who show up day in and day out to protect our community.”
Fujioka, a commercial longliner and troller, was known as an avid outdoorsman and hunter, trapper and fisherman.
Over the years he was active advocating on behalf of Southeast Alaska fisheries, and presented evidence on behalf of the troll fishery in a recent Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit. He was chairman of the Seafood Producers Cooperative board for the past three years, and held the processor seat on the Sitka Fish and Game Advisory Committee. He was an advocate for preserving the subsistence lifestyle for Sitkans, a committee member told the Sentinel.
A post from Seafood Producers Co-op’s Alaska Gold Seafood said, “He was a generous and caring fellow, often sharing with staff and crew special meals that he had cooked up and would stop by the plant and office often to inquire about how things were going and how folks were feeling.”
    In Sitka, he also worked as the engineering and drafting manager for the City and Borough of Sitka from 2003 to 2008.