hi . new member thinkthis is a great site!!!my fatherhas allways wanted to hunt brown bear never got the chance. would like to treat him any ideas thanks

Well, one of you can either move here, or hire a guide.


Check out the guy who goes by 458Win, I understand he may have hunted brown bear once or twice.

All it takes is time and money. Figure around 15000 each and a couple of weeks. Figure to plan for a year or so before you go.

Lots of guides out there do your home work and pick who you think is best. Then book a hunt.

thanks for the feed back. is any area better than others thanks steve

For big bears your best to hunt the Peninsula or Kodiak, lots of guides out that way. Just do a search on the web and you should have no trouble finding a good one. Don't forget to get references and talk to a lot of people before choosing a guide. Good luck!

e-mail me. I work for an outfitter & we offer some great bear hunts.7 TO 9' Bears a real possibility.We have been 100% on Bears for a number of years.We offer spring & fall hunts for around 8000.00 for 7 days.Fully guided.Alot of Blondies are available.

7 to 9'bears a real possibility?

Isn't a 7'bear sort of like a cub if we're talking coastal brown?

Maybe I'm missing something, but on the Mulchatna, a 7'bear is tiny.

They are not coastal bears.They are inland.Who can afford 15 -20 Grand for a coastal abyway.The bears I am talking about are 1/2 the price & are Great bears.Mountain bears.Sorry you have such a problem with a 7-9' Bear.

Hey, a 9'bear anywhere is a great bear!
But a 7'bear on the Mulchatna is a cub.

Single Bears a Legal Bear.Upper Mulchatna 7' Bear abound & as far as I am concerned anything 7' & over is a moose killin S.O.B & WE ARE PROTECTING OUR MOOSE POPULATION.

They got moose in Florida?

quote:

Originally posted by Mulchatna River Mad Man:
Single Bears a Legal Bear.Upper Mulchatna 7' Bear abound & as far as I am concerned anything 7' & over is a moose killin S.O.B & WE ARE PROTECTING OUR MOOSE POPULATION.

LOL.......thats funny......OUR MOOSE!! These moose belong to the state of Alaska, not Florida.

Yes our moose.I have been guiding for an outfitter for over 10 years for Moose,Bear,Caribou & Dall Sheep.I spend months in AK Guiding & have seen the moose decline in the Late 90's due to the influx of Bears & the lack of Caribou in the Milchatna herd.Over the last couple of years in our area we have seen the #'s of moose increase & due to the 1 Bear per year per person limits we still have plebty of Bears but a whole lot better moose population.So even though my residence is in Florida over the last decade I have probably spent more time hunting than most will in a lifetime.So yes I consuder them our moose.

Still LOL now!

Like I said, these moose and all other game animals up here belong to the state of Alaska and last time I checked, Florida was not a part of Alaska.

I think I should maybe modify my thoughts a little. It is true that the Mulchatna River and Unit 17 has a lot of bears, and that is why The State of Alaska's Fish and Game Commision set the annual bag limit at one bear per year to increase bear harvest and reduce predation on game animals like moose and caribou. The feller from Florida is right, brown bears are moose killing mo-chines.

However, a 7' Mulchatna River brown bear is either a dwarf or a three year old cub just run off by his or her mama. There is at least one bear in the B&C book from a tributary of the Mulchatna drainage that has a skull just less than double the size of a 7'bear. I was always under the impression that Alaskan brown bear hunting was a trophy hunt, and therefore size matters.

To parallel, would any hunter or guide feel proud to take a 12" wide forked horn buck on a guided trophy mule deer hunt? Mind you we're not talking about putting meat in the freezer here.

TR405, if it helps any, maybe you could ask potential guides about skull sizes taken instead of rug square. Now this is definately just my opinion, and certainly worth what you pay for it, but I would think any skull over 24 or 25" could be considered a nice size for a brown bear, and certainly in Unit 17. If it helps any, Boone and Crockett requires a 28" minimum to make their book for brown bear. I think grizzly is quite another story. Again, JMO!

Kodiak Island or the Penisula for big browns.

I went to Kodiak a few years back for a spring hunt.

There is a difference between spring hunts and fall hunts, at least on Kodiak. Spring hunts the bears are spreading out from their denning areas and are a little harder to come by. A tougher hunt physically.

I have not done a fall hunt, but after talking to a lot of people that have, that is the direction I would go if I were to go again. You don't have to worry about letting a nice one go because of rubbing, and they tend to concentrate where the food is most plentiful. Big, fat with prime coats.

You may also want to look into a hunt on the Kamchatka Pennisula. Cost wise, cheaper only if you take them up on the 2 bear offer (the additional travel takes a bite out of your wallet). And there is the risk year to year that the government there will do something crazy like a last minute calcellation of the season. But from what I read, some BIG bear coming out of there.

Most important - do your homework on the outfitter and guide before committing. Alaska has some great guides, and in my book if you have to wait another year to book with them do it. They have their fair share, just like everywhere else, of guides that will take your $15,000 and not much more. Don't limit yourself to the references the outfitter and guides provide. Those are hand picked cheerleaders who in some cases get discounted hunts.

Check here and subscribe to the Hunting Report. The search feature on this site is great. You are making a large cash outlay.

Muchatna River Madman,

You said the cost for your hunts were half the cost of a brown bear hunt ($15000?). What's the outfit's name and how could I get in touch with them?

just wanted to thank everyone for there advise and opinions looks like i have a lot of home work to do!!!!

tr 405 , There are more things involved in a brown bear hunt than you can shake a stick at. Also what are your objectives. If you want to have a nice hunt with your father then often a boat based hunt is a great way to go. If you want your name in print in B&C or SCI then the Penninsula is probably where you need to be.. A trophy coastal bear starts at 8 ' square and goes up. It is like a 60 " moose. A 9 1/2- 10 plus foot bear is an absoulutely amazeing trophy.. Because of genetics the Kodiak group and penninsula have big heads.. Southeast bears are just as big body wise but have smaller skulls. To each his or her own but to me the trophy is worth what it is to you. Did the hunt mean more to you because you and your dad got to hunt together ?And spend comfortable time in some of the most georgous country on earth. Or are you a hard charging get to the top of the heap son of a gun. Is the trophy on the wall a symbol and memory of a great time , . Or is it a yard stick. Neither is bad or wrong in any way , but the 2 are VERY different and will require very different amounts of effort most probably. For a great time it is hard to beat a Southeast boat based hunt. Same with Kodiak execpt the seas can be pretty rough occasionally up there. And the wind tends to blow alot more and a bit harder. Regardless of where you hunt I take it for granted you will be useing a 405 you better with a moniker like that .. Well I hope this helps .. gumboot out..

gumboot this hunt would be to hang with my father and watch him live out a dream and maybe forfill one for me. i used to be a hard charger but recently lost agreat hunting buddy to ALS and tend to enjoy whats around me family hunting and fishing.... yes i will be using my 405 just worked up anice load using 300gr barnesX over 45.0gr of imr 4198.tr405 out

tr405 , that load sounds perfact....... I relly prefer bolt guns and hopefully a double.. But the model 95 win in 30-40 and 405 are pretty great and I would love to have and use each some day...................... Like the Savage 99 in 358 win. They are just great rifles .. I hope you have a great hunt and get nice BIG bears.. gumboot out...

Here is a pic of a client in 2006 with a 7'9" Bear .Is this not a beauitful bear.Makes a wonderful trophy.Didint think i deserved the bad wrap for the bears we hunted.But oh well I'll look forward to hunting them again next year

hi just some asking for some bear facts;

1) Is there a difference between an alaskan interior grizzly and a european grizzly (they average around 600 pounds and go up to 800)

2)Is there a difference between a kodiak bear and another coastal brown bear?

3)And is there a big price difference between an interior grizzly and a coastal brown?

If the average European grizzly averages 600 to 800 pounds than they would be closer to our coastal Brown Bears in size. Alaskan interior Grizzlies average closer to 450 pounds.
There are very minor variations in Alaskan Brown Bears - mostly having to due to distant ancestory and political affiliations - but otherwise a hunter will notice no diference.
The largest bears come from Kodiak and the Alaskan Peninsula where large grasslands offer abundant feed until the salmon runs start.
Large Boars in both of these areas can weight over a thousand pounds and the biggest, oldest males can reach nearly 1500 pounds.
there is a price difference for hunters of grizzlies and it is affected by many factors including overall success rate, logistics, supply and demand and what the market will bear.

Mr. Shoemaker,in one of the earlier posts i was told to look you up.How do you feel about the 405 and brown bear.And do you have any do's and dont's for a newbie looking to set up a hunt.With your experience any info would be greatly appreciated thanks tr405

The 405 is a superb Brown Bear round - WITH GOOD BULLETS. I am a fan of many of Hornady's bullets but the ones they load in the 405 are not tough enough for big game. X's and Woodleigh bullets are.
When setting up a hunt just be sure to check the outfitter's references and asking about experiences with outfitters on this site also seems to be a good idea.

I think the North Fork 300gr would be a good choice for the 405 as well.

They shoot good in my Win 95.
I hope to try some out on some pigs in a few weeks.

Yes it would, I forgot that one.