This is a picture of a friend of mine. He is a taxidermist here in Southern Idaho. I just had to show this picture.
I can't believe how big these things are! Ron



His online photo album is here.
http://community.webshots.com/user/dan_grace

[ 02-18-2003, 02:30: Message edited by: Idaho Ron ]

When you get up close to one makes you wonder if your 338 is big enough.

good grief! they're huge!

[ 01-18-2003, 18:27: Message edited by: Elkslayer ]

Makes all that "lion vrs bear" stuff look a bit silly. These guys could kill about anything they had a hankerin' for.

How tall/heavy is the fellow in the picture??

How big is your friend?3'5"!!!!!

What is the weight of one of these mounted specimens?

Hello:
I was told by an experieced outfitter that Boar bears continue to grow as long as they live. Sows growth, on the other hand, is stunted by their having cubs. Any comment?
Griz

Is this why guys shoot the 50BMG?
VH

Great taxidermy work! I always have liked these multiple-animal mounts. The bears look great, and the white guy in the picture looks almost alive!

If he wasn't shot in the US, it must of been hell getting the CITIES permit for him! :-)

jpb

[ 01-18-2003, 21:40: Message edited by: jpb ]

jpb,
No CITIES required, you can hunt him with a Small Game License.

I need a bigger gun.

Gentlemen,
Welcome to MY world! Hey, I recognize the one in the middle and the one on the left! They are "Scarethe" and "Helloutofya!" Saw them both about 20 times the last couple of years.
Sign me in as "Lovin Alaska Since 58"
best,
bhtr

Dan is 5' 6" or 5'7" so he is kind of short. But the big dark colored one in the center is very tall.
The weight of the mounts as they are is over 300 pounds that includes each bears base.
These Bears are from Russia. The Kamchatka??? area I think, sorry for spelling.
The Hunters mostly used 338 win mags. I know the one on the left with it's arms down is the one that Dan shot. I think he used a 250 gr Nosler partition.
The hair on these bears is amazing. It is so thick. The long outer hair is kind of coarse but the inner hair is soft as down. When you look at them from behind the width of their backs is incredable. None of these bears had their "rug yanked" they all took several shots to put down. The size is what just blows me away! You have to be up close to fully appreciate them.
Ron

Ron: I think this must be the reason I never sleep well when I am in Alaska! Thanks for posting this amazing photo! I am going to be trading in my largest active Big Game Rifle (7mm Remington Magnum) for something bigger! Just on the chance one of those creatures will swim the Pacific Ocean and cross the Rockie Mountains to get to where I live! Better safe than undergunned!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Well shucks,I thought I was all set for bear with my 378 and 458.Guess I was wrong.I think I'll need a 500 A-Square for those monsters!!

We have a guy here in town who shot one of those Russian bears.He shot the "little one",and it was something over 9 feet.I know he shot it with a wrong-handed Model 70 in 416 Remington Magnum from the custom shop.Don't know what bullet he used though.

Brian.

Can anyone tell me why people carry 44 mags in bear country?
What do you think the first guy with a muzzleloader said when he had to face one. I stood in the middle of them. It is scarry to think about dealing with a wounded one in thick brush. I have a new pic I will put up soon. Ron

[ 01-19-2003, 09:16: Message edited by: Idaho Ron ]

This is a picture of me standing in the middle of them. I am 5'10. I don't know how tall they are I will post it as soon as I find out.


[ 02-18-2003, 02:31: Message edited by: Idaho Ron ]

Yep! Looks like dangerous game to me!

Nice pics Ron..

Thanks Ron for the awesome pictures. Some months ago on the pistol forum one of the members asked what pistol he should pack going into bear country...and I took a lot of heat for sort of jokingly telling him to take a "Chocolate Pistol" because if he shot a grizzly with it, he was probably going to EAT IT.

I hope everyone who dreams of taking on one of these brutes with a pistol will view your pictures.

Yes, I know a bear can be killed with a pistol. Yes, I know it has been done. But the fantasy of shooting one of these guys standing in a static pose like in Ron's photos as compared to such a bear coming at you thru an alder thicket at about 30 mph is a little different proposition!

Dreams like this make me glad I'm in Texas to night.

Why I got my Ruger 416wby for huntin moose, cause of bears like that! Glad they don't run in packs like that though!!!!

[ 01-19-2003, 14:43: Message edited by: Brent Moffitt ]

Jeeze-O-Peet! Those things are HUGE!!!!!

Very impressive to see a group photo though. Makes a black bear look like a toy store bear too.

You got that right Brent - either 416 rigby or 450 ackley for me - bigger is better with the real possibility that one of the big boys shows up - great photos - KMule

HI,

I completely agree, that is why I got a 416 Rigby and also have a 50-110 lever.I hear a lot here about a all around rifle and I think a 416 Rigby fits the bill. I have cz550 and have most the parts I want for a custom job.I also know from some of the gunsmith I have talk to a person can get the weight down to 8.5 pounds, the rifle with scope and sling around 9 pounds. I will carry this rifle for everything from deer to bear as I am going to move to Alaska in a few years. I would much rather have this than a smaller round.The bears in the picture do have around 6 or 10 inches added to there length with the pins on the ends of there feet, but I still think they are awsome. Thanks,Kev

THATS NICE
that is what you can say. THEY ARE HUGE .Thats when i would not wont a load to fail . when you are in the woods when you meet up with one of them.You better hope that the frist shot kills .
Man that make these Idaho bears look like little babys.

one shot kills when you hit the mark---> (x)

Idaho Bob

Really makes you think just how lucky we are they DON'T run in packs like a bunch a wild dogs lookin for the next dinner at that size!!

Hell, you'd have to carry a semi-auto Barret 50 at all times just in case. Kinda how they've portrayed the Raptor way back in dino days, damn that would make for a nervous existance.

I can't wait till I get a shot at one with my bow. I will post the pics

My thoughts exactly.

Ron, you asked why anyone would ever bother to carry a .44 Magnum handgun in bear country? Here's why.

http://www.fepco.com/bear_attack.html

Even with those monsters in the pictures, you put a hard cast 240 gr. SWC .44 bullet, at about 1,300 FPS up his nose/mouth and into his brain, and he's a dead bear, right then and there, no "ifs, ands, or buts" about it.

I have a Black bear skull, 19 15/16" about ten feet from this keyboard, from a 400 pound bear I killed with a .41 magnum S&W 57, and I know precisely where that "channel" is from the nose/mouth straight into the brain.

In bear country, it would be very nice while out of doors, to ALWAYS CARRY A HEAVY CALIBER RIFLE IN HAND, but, when one is working outside, doing many chores, that's not possible. Therefore, many who do live and work in bear country, carry the next best thing, a handy, powerful handgun, that is ALWAYS on their hips.

BTW, my "carry rifle" in big bear country, is a .338 Mag. with 250 gr. Nosler Partition handloads. But, when in camp, working, etc., a Magnum handgun, or my Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt with my handloads of Beartooth Bullets 300 gr. pills, is ALWAYS on my hip.

I don't kid myself that it would be difficult to stop a charging bear, but the handgun sure beats the Hell outta praying and crying.

I think it's nonsense to claim that IF one can't carry a huge rifle 24 hours a day in bear country, that if attacked, it's better to be torn all to pieces than have a good handgun and at least, TRY to fight back.

JMHO.

L.W.

That picture brings back my Bear hunt, like it was yesterday. I will make it short, because I have told it here before and don't want to bore those who have heard it. I was hunting near Cold Bay with a close friend, who was a Bear guide, my brother-in-law who lived there two years and another hunter. On the third day of the hunt we spotted a big Bear in a Salmon stream and crawled a half mile up the stream. At 90 yards I shot the 91/2 ft. Bear with a .300 Win mag using my 200 grain Nosler Partition handloads at 2900 fps. The Bear fell splashing water 20 ft. and made a tremendous roar I will never forget. Immediately, three more Bears rared up from other Salmon streams close by. We had crawled with 20 yards of one, the others were with 30 yards of us. The guide said G.D. shoot bears. We killed two more bears, one took 5-shoots the other 4-shots from a .375 H&H, and another .300, and a 30-06. The fourth left with gusto flinging sod that would weigh 10 pounds per piece behind him, much like our Ky horses on a muddy track. He also sounded like a large horse running on dirt, you could hear the footsteps and feel the ground shake plainly. I cannot describe the roar's, shooting, screaming, and general confusion, that occured, and will hear everytime I see a Bear's picture. A young Bear guides coolness, green hunters following his instructions, saved the day. We were tagged for three Bears but certainly didn't want them all at once, because each is a formidable skinning job. Well that is my story, a repeat to some of you and my apologies for that, but that picture made my hair stand on end, bringing the sounds and smells of Alaska back in living color. I hear debates on rifles adequate for the big Bears, and listen with interest. My next Alaska trip found me with a .340 Wby and my next, this fall, will find me with a .358 STA shooting a North Fork 270 grain bullet at nearly 3000 fps. I have a buddy in the ground up there that thought a 30-06 was enough gun. Good shooting.

I thought the general concensus was that Kamchatka bears were not as big as AK bears. This photo definately dispells that.

Phurley,
I hope you had a clean pair of undies with you!

Brian.

Idaho Ron,

Showed the pics to the wife. For some reason she finally gave me the blessing for the .416.

I owe you big time for this one. Ever find yourself in La Grande, I'll buy you a drink.

Pecos,

Chocolate pistol . . . VERY FUNNY. I used to work in a Salt Lake City gun store when I was in school and had a guy come in and try to buy a .357 Mag. S&W model 686 because he was "going to Alaska to hunt bear". I told him he'd better take the front sight off that gun before he left. When he asked why, I told him (with a straight face and very matter of factly) . . . "because that way, It'll hurt less when the bear shoves that gun up your ass." He changed his mind a bought a .44.

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

[ 01-23-2003, 03:12: Message edited by: JohnTheGreek ]

Goes to prove what I've always said, "There ain't no such thing as a LITTLE bear". Bear in Fairbanks

Now I know why people make 475 and 500 Linebaugh pistols, and, all of a sudden, they look REALLY inexpensive, and so does their ammo. Recoil??
What recoil???
I'm sure it would feel like a 22 with a bear like that coming for you.

OK. I guess the 375 is adequate, but, I REALLY want a 458 win mag, or Lott, now...

GREAT PICTURES, AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

DR S

Geezz, great picture Ron!

My taxidermist had a bear in that same pose in his studio when I was having my african game done, and he swore it was an 11'plus bear. I can't tell you how awesome it was to stand next to that mount and imagine shooting it with anything short of a Polaris missile!

From not caring about hunting bears a few years ago, I am getting serious about looking into a brown bear hunt in a couple years. I've put glass on a few pretty good black bears hunting the last couple years (have yet to kill one), but they were babies next to these monsters. Thanks for the pics- Sheister

Dennis,
AK bears are larger than Kamchatka bears...I book both hunts and the AK bears beat Kamchutka bears by a foot on average..

Kamchatka bear hunts are $9500. and AK hunts with Phil Shoemaker are $12,500, but Phils bears are huge and he never overhunts his area...

I fear the Russians are shooting out the area.

But the Russian Moose will scare you to death if you can find one, they are absolutly of gigantic proprotions.

As big as they are, they could never catch me. they would be slipping in shit!

Break out the 577 Tyranosaur!!!!