A friend just got back from a bear hunt in AK. They hunted rivers during the second bear season. The guide had told them that 10 footers were common and that is what they should expect. 5-days of hunting = no bears.

So... Where and when is the best place/time to go for a truly great hunting experience and opportunities to take large costal browns or grizzly? Fall? Spring? Where? Not looking for silver and china at dinner, but a truly wild hunting experience. Will someone recommend a giude and lodge service?

Thanks

Doublegun,

I had a good hunt this year with Jerry Austin of Austins Alaska Adventures. He hunts up near Nome so the bears are not as big as other areas but it is a great hunt and you will see lots of bears. I took a nine footer on the third day of a late August hunt.I think his website is.

http://www.alaskahuntinguides.com

E-mail me for any details if you wish

BigB

http://www.westernalaskahunting.com

Bob Hannon

Please see my Alaskan bear photo in the big game hunting forum. My grizz will finish Top 100 in the all-time B&C book. 5 of 6 hunters Bob took this year killed B&C bears.

I have spent a good bit of time researching this subject. What I came up with and ended up hunting was the spring season on the Alaska Peninsula.

Anytime someone is telling you that 10' bears are common I would have to ask them their definition of common. Or I suppose it depends on who is strecthing/measuring the hide. I was thrilled to take a true 9' 6" with a 26 +" head.

A true 9' + boar is a big bear make no doubt about it, and I would bet darn few hunters would pass on such that had an unrubbed hide. In that situation you better be ready to eat your tag. This is not to say that there aren't some true 10' bears, but they also aren't behind every Alder patch.

To my thinking and somewhat from the records from bears taken on the Peninsula I have reviewed from Alaska Fish and Game dept. The spring season has some edge for likly hood of taking a large headed boar. Spring season offers more hours of daylight to hunt additional the hair tends to be longer, assuming an unrubbed hide, as do the claws.

Another thing to consider is do you want to do a boat based hunt or hunt from a spike camp.

If you are considering this hunt put some time into research, I think you will find that the consistant producers that also provide a quaility hunt, tend to be booked a year or more in advance.

Phil Shoemaker posts here and having spoke with several fellas he has hunted is one I would look into. I hunted May 2004 with Gary LaRose and had a great hunt took a great bear and think highly of his services and area.

HBH

HBH

Your research is spot on and the bear you shot is excellent. You might go back several times and never see a bigger bear.

The first guide I ever used was on Kodiak Is. he had been in business since the sixties and had taken two bears over 11" and quite a few 10" plus but his average was just over 9'. What that means is that he shot a pile of bears over all those years well under 9". No! Your right 10' bears are not common and a guide or agent that tells you otherwise is full of it.

We offer a couple of hunts one on Bristol bay and another in S.E. Alaska where if a guy is selective he could reasonably expect a bear of about 9'and I think that is reasonable anywhere. Skull sizes are bigger on the Peninsula and Kodiak. On the other hand access is more limited and outfitters are booked further ahead there.

Mark

5 days isn't enough time. A bear hunt is expensive, and I would book for 10 days at the least.

Bob Hannon is an excellent guide, and you probably have a better chance of putting an interior bear/tundra bear in the book right now.

I think the tundra Grizzlies are better looking bears as well.

Any guide that says 10 footers are common is FOS, and would be criteria for me to cross that guy off my list of prospective guides. A good recomendation is to contact the biologist for the area you plan to hunt and find out what the size of the bears that have been sealed in previous years have been. In Kodiak there may be one 10 footer taken per year, and the majority of bears taken are in the 8' and under range. True 10 footers are few and far between, even 9 footers are very respectable trophies.

Thank you for the advice and feedback. My friend can already testify to the fact that this particular outfitter is FOS and he will not be booking with him again. The 5-day hunt was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Three years ago my friend booked a moose hunt with the same guy. Very few moose seen but my buddy did manage to take a very big bull. The guy takes the horns and cape back to his base camp and before he can ship it to the taxidermist one of the village dogs gets a hold of it and eats the nose and lips off of it. So my buddy has to wait until they find a big enough moose to use for the mount. He just got the mount back - three years after the hunt. He was supposed to be giving my buddy a deal on the bear hunt, but 5-days for $5k is not a real deal if you really need 10-days.

Realistically, it will be a couple of years before he and I go on a bear hunt so we have some time to research and ask around. For the price of one of these hunts, we will invest a fair amount of time and effore before we put down any deposit. I figue that I'll get one crack at a hunt like this and I want to make sure that I get the most out of it.

Thanks,

Double gun

a 5 day hunt would be a mistake. like said above 10 days or more is better.

bob hannon has a good reputation. i would like to hunt with him. never heard a bad word about him...

quote:

Originally posted by cold zero:
a 5 day hunt would be a mistake. like said above 10 days or more is better.

bob hannon has a good reputation. i would like to hunt with him. never heard a bad word about him...

I personally know Bob and have hunted with him. He is married into a Native family and has rights to areas that other outfitters don't. His Tundra Grizz are monsters. Bob is a huge guy and I hate to say this, but there is no telling how long he will be around. Go hunt with him if you can.

lightning;

thanks for posting the info on bob. his wes site no worky to good. no email to contact him. will try phone next.

if you speak to him give him my email from my profile. woul like to get info and maybe talk with him. an maybe you too?

many thanks.

c.z. out

Big Bears???? Keep in mind if any guide promises 10 foot bears he is full of "bear poop" If a 10 foot bear was easy, the mark would be 11 foot. Best advice is hunt where bears live and get lucky. Here is a bear we took last fall in western Alaska. Went # 17 in P&Y and the guy shot it at 9 yards.

Sorry guys, Somehow hit the wrong key and posted my last message before I attached the photo. Anyway, this bear was taken last fall in western Alaska. Its a good place for bears but the don't go 10 foot in this area. Ron's bear scored # 17 in P&Y and was just over 9 foot. I do have a hunt available for this spring if your interested contact me off the form and we can talk.
Don

I lived here since 1977. I photographed bears at McNeil river three times and at Katmai National Park once. These are areas where hunting is not permitted. I doubt I seen more than 3 different 10 foot bears even at McNeil. In the wild, alive or shot by other hunters, I have never seen a confirmed 10 footer.

First off I'll agree that honest ten foot bears are not common anywhere but -- by the time an old boar grows to that size he is smart enough to avoid the places hunters typically look. If you know how and where to hunt, big (10') bears are more common than those posting here would have you believe. Every year I see probably a half dozen bears that would honestly square ten foot. Both Kodiak and the peninsula have big bears and pilot/guides flying around the Cold Bay and Black Lake area can tell you of often seeing really big boars. From my experience "ten foot", in virtually every case, means a bear with a 28 " skull.

have you considered hunting in SE alaska? good numbers of bears, weather moderate, comfortable hunts from boats as base camp. 10 day hunts are almost always the rule. pm me & i can recommend a great guide. i will be going back with him in 2007/ chaz

I think it would be fair to say that there are even fewer guides out there that can produce a ten footer than there are ten foot brownies out there to be found..........

Joe