Hi guys,

I'm looking for a brown bear hunt next spring. I want bring my wife so I'm looking an outfitter who own a nice lodge with private rooom and private bathroom and where we can hunt directly from the lodge ( not spike camps or similar).
Anyone can help me?

Brian Peterson has a very comfortable lodge on Kodiak with all the ammenities.
He is an honsest first class outfitter wirh LOTS of big bears under his belt.
The drawing for his hunts is in December and odds are not that bad for non residents.
We took a boat to a secluded inlet and backpacked several miles in, but he does take nice bears close to his nice lodge or you can jump in the boat and access numerous different locales.
His website.

http://www.ugakbay.com/

thanks. I will contact him

Butch King has many private rooms and runs a good operation as well but I don't think the chances are good hunting from the lodge.

I have a private cabin that is one of my best spring hunting camps and where we hunt from the cabin and the one bedroom is for the hunter. It is clean but still rustic with an outhouse and depending on the requirements of the wife may or may not be suitable.

Phil
Thats what I like about you. No B.S. and you would reccomend someone else on the slightest chance another guide might have something the hunter wanted.

Mario - I can guarantee you if you hunted with me you would not see a toilet of any kind untill you got your bear and got out of camp.
You may consider doing a bear hunt and have your wife join you for tourist activeties here in AK after the hunt. Nearly all bear hunts requier some tent time and you are limiting your options.

Brian and Phill are both top picks for a guide. A few others might have the facileties your looking for but not much comes to mind right now. One possibility might be Mike Munsey. He has good bear hunting right out of his lodge.

Another option you may have is to hunt with baranof expeditions. They have a lodge/boat hunt. Contact them and perhaps they can work out something.
However on our trip we stayed the whole time on the boat.

On a recomendation level, I couldnt imagine 2 finer guides than Jim and Bert. I wish I could go every year with those guys.
Good luck
Calgary Guy

yes I know is not easy find the type of accomodation I'm looking in Alaska. The best combination hunting/lodging seems to be the Afognak Lodge.
Leaving a wife alone for several days when I go hunting with nothing to do is not the best...
Of course a boat based hunt can be another choice. I asked to the Rosembruchs but they are fully booked until 2012...

quote:

Originally posted by Akshooter:
Phil
Thats what I like about you. No B.S. and you would reccomend someone else on the slightest chance another guide might have something the hunter wanted.

+1 Phil is ekstremely honest, I really like that as well. Many outfitters just tell you how good they are and that all others are inferior to them..
Fortunately Phils operation seems to leave nothing to be desired in my opinion.. Thats why I will go with him in 2011.

I have hunted with both Phil Shoemaker and Brian Peterson.

Brians lodge is in beautiful Ugak bay and the lodge is very nice and comfortable. He sent me up the aptly named Rough Creek however and I slept in a tent. He did have one hunter that hunted out of the lodge each day however he went home after about 3 days because the hills were too steep for him wherever they landed on the beach. He did say he was going to get in shape and come back.

Between the two, I would think you would have a better chance getting a bear out of Phils cabin.

I have also hunted with Alaska Glacier Mountain Outfitters which is a boat (yacht) based hunt that leaves out of Valdez. They sleep and eat on the yacht and use smaller boats to cruise around.

They have a new island concession that has not been hunted for a long time and reportedly the brown bear trophy quality is excellent. In fact I just got an email today and they killed three brown bears over 9 feet in two days.

I hunted black bear with them and can attest to Gregs hunting ability and to the comfort of that boat.

Alaska Glacier Mountain Outfitters [hunts@glaciermountainoutfitters.com]

But the bottom line is that if you really want the best chance at a good bear my bet would be on Phils cabin.

I killed my bear outta rough creek too.

Mario,

My husband thinks the world of Brian Peterson. He hunted with Brian in 1987 on the Alaska Penninsula for caribou. When he returned for brown bear in 1990, Brian was still guiding on Kodiak so he hunted with someone else. In 1993 he hunted with Brian for moose. Brian also guided two of my husband's friends and they rave about Brian. We still see him every year at the S.C.I. Convention.

Best of luck on your hunt.

quote:

I killed my bear outta rough creek too.

Salmonella,
Good to hear. You got a real trophy.

Nice little hike up there wasnt it? We had to cross the creek 31 times each way and it was running pretty high due to snow melt...then there were all those round moss covered boulders. On the way back out it was too high and we had to climb over the hills through all those damn devils club and salmonberry or whatever they are stickers.

I have a short story about that area. Brian dropped the guide and I off on that black sand beach about 2 miles from the creek mouth. The guide left me to go hang the radio and some food in a tree just in case we got back and needed to spend the night.

I was standing there just admiring the incredible beauty of the place when I heard a noise behind me. Turning around I saw a big brown animal coming right for me through the weeds. My rifle was still unloaded lying against my pack. The thought ran through my mind that I was going to get killed and eaten and I had just got there.

Just then the animal turned off - it was a bison. Evidently someone had been raising them and moved away and left them to go wild. The guide had bumped this one when he was walking back to the tree.

I remember all too well what you speak of.
Never ending creek (river) crossing on those damn snot covered rocks.
Did you spend time up on the glassing knob?
Saw lots of Bison too with a big belligerent bull that ran us off the trail.
I would like to have blasted him too!
We saw tons of fox too, red, silver & cross but being spring I couldn't shoot any.
Who was your guide?
Mine was Rob Wagner.

Brian has a couple creeks like that in his area.

I think your both talking about Wild creek.
I guided a couple of hunters for brian there about 4 years ago. It really is a narly place to hunt. I did it a little differant and climbed the hill straight up out of the creek on the S.E. side from the mouth of the creek.
We got away from all the river crossings.
Both guys got their bears but it took about a week to pull it off.

thanks guys for your beautiful memories. I'm very interested not only to kill a big brown bear but also to visit places so wild and charming. For this reason I want bring my wife as is our tenth anniversary of marriage.

Salmonella,
This is the view from where we glassed most of the time. Does that look familiar to you?



Yes Rob was my guide also - this was 2002 spring hunt. He will remember that on this hunt we saw a sow brownie with a small cub chase down and kill a mountain goat. Then we watched her guard and eat the goat for a couple days- very interesting place where we often looked DOWN on mountain goats.

akshooter,
I thought they called it Rough Creek but time may have dulled my memory.



Mario,
You are going to have a great time in Alaska no matter where you go. It is incredible.

Mario,

I would recommend a yacht-based hunt if you have thoughts of bringing the wife along. The accommodations will be good, food will be good, the wife will be warm and happy and your chance at a big male bear will be as good or better than anywhere in the state.

Take care,

Griz

Palmer if you look on the map you posted it's marked wild creek on there. No matter though quite often guides and local's will have secret names for the areas there hunting. It only makes sensce they would call it rough creek because it for sure is rough.

The point on the right side of your photo is where I hunted and glassed from. one of the bears was taken on the other side out of sight of your photo and the second was taken In the middle of your photo just to the left of the very steep gorge.

akshooter, bet it was fun packing two hides out of there - along with all your gear.

Palmer,
That is exactly where we glassed from.
We saw tracks up in the snow on the left side of your photo.
I assume it was the bear I shot.
Let me share the story with you....

For years I'd dreamed of pursuing the giant coastal grizzlies of Alaska.
My late father was stationed there when he was in the Navy and used to spin yarns of his adventures there. I was always in awe when the subject turned to the giant bears.

After years of saving and sacrafice, I had researched a quality area on Kodiak and booked with a hard working outfitter.

With the blessings of my family I left California in mid April after months of training in anticipation of a two week long backpack hunt into Kodiak Island's rugged interior.
After my flight to Alaska, I overnighted with a long time friend that I had gone to school with years before.
The next morning I caught a flight to Kodiak, then a charter to the other side of the island where I was met by my guide.
I had corresponded with Rob off and on for a few months prior to my hunt, we immediatley hit it off as friends.
We ate a quick meal at the lodge, loaded our gear and jumped into a skiff that we used to cross the bay.
Opon arrival, we secured the boat, and hiked a couple of miles to a nice location where we set up an overnight camp.
At the lower elevations the early spring had melted the winter snow.
Morning breaks and we eat a quick breafast, load our backpacks and start our six mile hike to the snow covered mountains in hopes of catching a big bear emerging from his den.
We wade back and forth across a swift river covered with slippery rocks on our ascent to the high country.
Along the way we see quite a few mountain goats and the ever present bald eagles.
After several hours Rob assures me that we are getting close to our spike camp and we take a well earned break.
Just as we finish a sandwich an earth shaking rumble overwhelmes my senses.
I look up and see the entire snow covered mountainside let loose with an awe inspiring avalanche.
SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME.
Fortunatley it never crossed the river to our side, but what a rush...
That evening after reaching spike camp even though I'm dog tired, sleep does not come easy.
First light finds us high on a ridge overlooking an incredibly beautiful snow covered basin with a distinctive set of large bear tracks meandering down a distant slope.
We eventually spend two full days glassing this area, but the owner of the tracks never shows.
On the third day we set up on the lookout again.
The sky omniously darkens and intermittant sleet and hail pelt down upon us.
As a welcome break in the deluge happens upon us, Rob decides to climb up on a prominant rock about a quarter mile from me and hopes the different angle will reveal some new secrets.
He tells me to continue to glass from my spot.
Rob is gone about a half hour and the heavy sky busts out with another volly of sleet and frozen rain.
I pull out a small tarp, cover myself and quietly pass time inspecting the newly forming erosion on the blued surface of my scope rings.
The sound of the rain on the tarp is very soothing and I curl up for a quick cat nap till the weather clears.
I groggily awake to silence.
I pull back the tarp wiggle myself back up to a sitting position and am immediatley shocked into reality...

Less than fifty yards downhill of my position, I am looking at a very large coastal grizzly lumbering his way past my location.
I raise my rifle and with addrenaline pounding through my temples, decide to let him walk.
I was commited to take a superior trophy or nothing at all.
Without Rob at my side, I just couldn't tell just how good this bear was.
I stay in position and watch the beast disapear into the naked alder jungle.
Moments later with wide eyes and trembling hands, I relay the story to Rob, who had just returned from his lookout.
After hearing my wild story, we shimmie down the slope to see what the tracks in the snow look like.
Rob stoops down, asseses the tracks and proceeds to tell me that I just let a huge bear go bye.
I feel sick to my stomach and know there is a good chance that we will never see this bear again.
We quickly gather our gear and race to intercept the bear.
Within minutes we spot the bear resting in the snowy alders.
I find a small shooting lane, take a rest and find his shoulder in my 3-10 Swarovski.
I take a half breath and touch off my stainless .300 Weatherby magnum.
The 200 grain Nosler partition slams home with that familiar thud.
The great bear rolls around thrashing in the alders for a moment, then all is silent.
I put two more shots into the boiler room for insurance.
We wait about ten minutes, but we can see no movement from the bear.
We cautiously approach the bear.
With each step it gets bigger.
I am at first reluctant to touch him, having seen first hand what these giants are capable of.
I am truly overwhelmed.
This was unquestionably the trophy of my lifetime.
Chills run up and down my arms when Rob looks me in the eye and tells me that I have probably just taken a ten footer.

TRULY UNBELIEVABLE.

The bear had a hide that squared an honest ten foot one inch.
A perfect hide with no rubs, and white claws indicative of old age.
The bear was aged at fifteen years old.

TRULY UNBELIEVABLE.

Fantastic. Thanks for the story.

quote:

akshooter, bet it was fun packing two hides out of there - along with all your gear.

Actully not to bad. Brian came to pick up the first client and they packed out the bear and a deer.

I packed out the second bear but it was mostly down hill. I got a major bend in my pack frame when I decided it was smarter to roll it down a especially steep hill. what I thought would be a slow roll turned into one of those sights where it picked up speed and was making a lot of air by the time it found a place to stop.

The frame was still useable and I got it down shortly after that. Then the hunter and I made another round trip to get the camp.

salmonella,
looks like you had a great adventure. Thanks for the interesting story. Your bear was great.