An overdue deeer hunter from Sitka was found dead Wednesday, likely from a bear mauling, Alaska State Troopers said.
Troopers were notified Tuesday evening that 50-year-old Tad Fujioka was overdue, they said in an online statement. Fujioka was alone on the trip in the area of Nakwasina Sound, north of Sitka on Baranof Island, said troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain.
Wildlife troopers, the U.S. Coast Guard and search and rescue personnel from Sitka began searching for Fujioka on Wednesday in the “remote wooded area,” troopers said. Searchers found his remains shortly before noon Wednesday, and troopers said an investigation showed “he was the likely victim of a fatal bear mauling.”
DeSpain said Fujioka had killed a deer and that there was evidence bears had been feeding on it. A Coast Guard helicopter spotted three bears at the suspected site of the deer kill and notified the teams searching on the ground, he said.
Troopers and members of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game searched for the bears until it became too dark but did not find them, DeSpain said.
“The bears consumed the deer and left the immediate area, which is remote and difficult to access,” he said in an email.
Fujioka’s body was recovered by search and rescue teams, and his family has been notified, troopers said.