I took this bear November 1st in the South Ugak Bay management area with my 375 H&H.

He measured an honest 10' 2.5" (we did it the Russian way and got 10'9"). Fish & Game measured skull at 27 7/16; nose was a bit short, but good width and mass over all.

I hunted with the Perrins family. This was my second time with them. Steve Perrins II was my guide - great guide, great person.

That's a dandy bear for sure, well furred and ruggedly handsome. Congratulations!

not to far of a pack either,,,,

Wow nice!

Congrats on a fine trophy!

More pics!

Very nice

very nice bear, very nice video.

Great pics and awesome bear.
Well put together video too.

And what a bear he is!! Congratulations!

Fantatsic! Stunning trophy and nice that you used a German rifle. I would live to hunt for another bear if I only would knew where to put the rug.

Very nice Pictures! Thanks for sharing. Looks like a great trip and Super Bear.

Beautiful bear and experience. Thanks for sharing!

Now that's a nice bear,congrats!

Thanks for the kind words. An amazing hunt!

I'm going to head back in 4 years for another!!!!

Monster Bear, big congrats, and great video, thanks for posting,
Best Regards,
Butch

Really nice bear - congratulations.

Enjoyed the video too!

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Video of Pics

Thanks - enjoyed the video.

Outstanding. I know and can appreciate the work involved. You should be proud of your accomplishment.
Thanks for sharing.

Ski+3

Sounds like an outstanding hunt and you have a world class trophy.

Thanks for sharing. Congratulations.

Any chance of the hunt details, fantastic looking Bear

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
It looks like you had a super trip and earned a world class trophy. Congratulations

Phil - I know why you use a 404 or a 458 now when you guide! Thanks for the kind words. You turn out some awesome trophies. I'll have to come get a peninsula bear and moose with you soon!

quote:

Originally posted by raamw:
Any chance of the hunt details, fantastic looking Bear

Gear:
Rifle: Mauser M03 (light profile, 7.75 lbs) in 375 H&H with hand loaded 300 gr TSXs at 2,575 fps with a Zeiss Victory Diavari 1.5-6x42 scope.
Cabin/Outhouse Pistol: Custom 6" 10mm built on a 1911 frame with a STI lower with 14 rounds 220 gr Buffalo Bore hard cast bullets
Optics: Swaro EL 10x42
Clothing: Kuiu DCS Jacket, Kenai insulated jacket, various merino wool base layers, merino socks, Cabela's liner socks, Helly Hansen 3/4 raincoat, Lacross Big Chief Insulated Hip Boots (Crocs for camp), Under Armour thermal pullover jersey, REI and Prana technical climbing pants (super thin, wind proof, stretchy, tough - didn't need long underwear bottoms, boots kept me warm and I sat on my rain coat), Deuter 60 L pack.

Location:
We hunted in Shearwater Bay, part of the South Ugak Bay game unit. We arrived in Kodiak on the 24th, checked in with F&G, and took at float plane a few hours before sunset. We spent 5.5 days in the field hunting, 2.5 days rained in. Kodiak had record rains when we were there.


Our first day of hunting was October 25th. We'd walk about 2 miles every day to a small look-out hill that sat in the middle of two mountain ranges with foothills leading up to the mountains and glass. We had cold weather with wind and intermittent mist. We saw a about 7-9 deer and one, at least from a distance, that could have been pretty good, but the mist and fog obscured his antler detail. The area was covered with tall grass, alders, and salmon berry.

We were rained/winded in the 26th and 27th. The rain got so bad the early evening of the 27th that we were concerned the cabin might be pushed into where the river met the tidal plane. The river behind us had crested its' banks for the first time and was flooding all around and under us. We constructed some dams to divert the water, but they only helped so much. We built a shelter with some tarps over some giant fallen trees about a 100 yards away in case we needed to evacuate the cabin. We called Steve's dad and he put the troopers and Coast Guard on alert and gave us their numbers and said if we called, it was truly a last resort situation and we'd need help. Right before we built the shelter, I huddled our guide and his packer for a group prayer and asked for the waters to abate. At this time the storm was directly overhead of us. When we came back from building the shelter, the river had busted another area open diverting all the area from the cabin area - God had parted the waters on a smaller scale! By morning, all the water around was completely gone and the river back to normal.

The 28th was still rain and wind, but cleared up briefly after the second hunter and guide arrived at camp; so my guide, packer, and I went out about a 3/4 of a mile from the cabin and sat on a small knoll overlooking the bay, some tidal planes, a forest, the side of the closet mountain, and some small streams that still had salmon. It was pretty misty. We saw one deer.

On the 29th, all five of us hiked to the further look-out point and spent the day glassing. We saw 5 bears and lots of deer. The only good deer (a mature big antlered 4x4) was sky-lined on top of a mountain about 4 miles away. We also had one mature 2x4 deer spot us from 250 yards and walk directly to us at 50 yards to check us out. He went about his way after watching us for a while, he wasn't concerned in the least. The weather was fantastic - clear, low wind, 50-60s.

The next day, the 30th, the other guide (Steve's dad) and bow hunter hunted up from where we sat on the 28th. They saw 9 bears that day, including 4 really good bears. They tried to stalk 2 of them, but the wind changed at the last minute. We went ahead of them in the morning and some how missed a large bear on the middle of the bay, perhaps 200 yards from our path. They said he was lying up against a log and was hard to see. Perhaps it was the bear we took later? They said he was 10'+.

We went back to the look-out hill and still had pretty good weather. We saw a few bears at distance, but nothing huge. Saw lots of deer. Around 3:30 PM, we saw a big bear about a mile out up a hill. We watched him for about 45 minutes to get a good look and decided he was over 9' so we made a stalk. Unfortunately, during the mile stalk we didn't have sight of him. When we finally crested a tall knob and looked over the area we thought he would be in and didn't see him. We knew he was still there, so we backed out and hiked back 3 miles through the eternal watery mushiness of Alaska!

We were back out to the same location on Halloween. Again saw lots of deer and 5 other bear, but our big boy didn't appear until after 3 PM again. He was in the same general area as before, but higher up and was not in a good position for a stalk. We waited and waited, but we ran out of time, so we backed out again. I also drank a 5 hour energy drink 1 hour before we left and damn near stepped on my guide the whole back and set a personal best on the hike back!

During this time Steve Sr and the other guide stayed closer to the cabin looking for bears. They saw a lot, but nothing they could get to easily.

We awoke on the Nov 1st and could see our bear all the way from the cabin door step - about 3 miles - in the same area. So we made a beeline to the area and were going to go up the same tall knob we did on the 29th. However, once we got about 2/3 of the way up it, the wind had shifted a bit so we dropped way down into a creek that ran the left of it and used the creek noise and the fact that we were further downwind to get closer to the bear. By this time the weather was getting nasty with cloud cover, winds, and mist. We moved to where we could see the bear, but he was 400 yards away. So we slowly moved up to get him within 200 yards and while doing so, lost him. We stayed put until he reappeared and again, he was at 400 yards, so we repeated and got within 200 yards. And yet again, he had moved up to 400 yards. We waited for 30 minutes or so to see what he would do and ranged some shot areas should he move into them. Just as we thought he was going to step in front of a small rise covered with Salmon berry at 200 yards, he went behind it. At this point we still didn't have a good view of the bear's size and thought he might be smaller than we initially thought. We kept waiting for him to make his move, but all we could see was his head and back and then he walked to our left into a drainage filled with alders and salmon berry - all we could make out was a shadow and then it disappeared.

At this point we decided we didn't want to wait too long because the hillside was crisscrossed with brush filled drainages and he could easily escape our view. So we moved through one drainage and up onto another clearing, but still didn't have a vantage point. So we moved one more and the Salmon berry made enough noise to wake the dead. The drainages made a Y with creeks running in them. We were at the lower left of the "Y" and he was somewhere down in the upper line/arm of the "Y". We looked and listened, but didn't see anything. We decided the bear had heard us or smelled us and moved away - we were pretty loud getting up to our current spot. In fact, we had busted out a smaller bear that was 400 yards to our left and smelling the wind. We thought it was our bear, but he was smaller when we glassed him.

We made plans to move NW about 1/4 miles to a taller, newer knob and glass for the remainder of the day. We unchambered our rifles, Matt (our packer) put his video camera up and I starting banging on the magazine of my Mauser M03 to get it back in the rifle (it's a tight fit). All of the sudden Steve says "Eric turn around, the bear is behind you." I turned around and 60 yards or less this massive bear was coming up out of the drainage on the opposite bank. "Shoot it Eric." "Is it a good bear?" "Yes, shoot it" I already had my scope dialed down to 1.5X, so I chambered a round and starting shooting offhand. The first round went through his left shoulder, both lungs, and out behind his right shoulder. He was pumping blood and trying to run up hill, but not making much progress. I put another round into his side and then with his back completely square to us, I put one in the center of his spine and he stiffened up like a cardboard bear and flipped head backwards and tumbled head over ass down into the creek creating a massive path in the brush and breaking a 4" tree. Steve threw some lead into him along the way as well. The first shot was a definite kill shot, but he had lots of steam left. Reminded me of a Cape Buffalo. Looking back, I think my 404 Jeffery or 458 Win Mag would have been more suitable for stopping him cold!

We looked down into the drainage. BIG BEAR DOWN - NO DOUBT. Steve thought at least 9.5'. He would measure 10'2.5" at camp, the honest way!

Anyway, down into the drainage and cold creek to take pictures, eat lunch, and skin the bear. And the sun came out while we were doing this. While the stream was a pain, making the bear wet and heavy, it gave us a place to wash our hands. When we were done, the sides were so steep and we had crossed some many of these drainages to get here, that we walked about 1/4 mile down through the creek in the water and slippery rocks until we picked up our trail where we had dropped down to the left of the original knob. We made a two hour hike back to the cabin, making it three hours as not to disturb the other hunter.

The next day we fleshed the hide, hung it on the cabin for pics, and then salted it right before the rain started. I stayed in that day, my feet were killing me, and took a deer hunting trip the following day. Saw 8 deer and one maybe deer, but passed.

Steve and I flew out on the 4th and the other hunter, Steve Sr, and Matt relocated to another camp in the area (North 8 miles on South Ugak Bay) with access to more rivers, ponds, and Salmon.

Fantastic hunt,great video,very well done,thanks for posting.

Congratulations!!! Thanks for posting this excellent hunting report and video!!!

very nice!

Exceptional trophy Boss, super happy for you.

Congratulations. Excellent Bear, pics and hunt report. .

Morten

Aw esome.

I will look at the video later, but that is an outstanding specimen that anyone would be absolutely thrilled to take.

What a fine coat. Leave a few for the rest of us!

What a giant, congratulations.

quote:

Originally posted by Anjin:
I will look at the video later, but that is an outstanding specimen that anyone would be absolutely thrilled to take.

What a fine coat. Leave a few for the rest of us!

Thanks! 4" coat. Should have the life size mount back in February or March. It was originally expedited for the Dallas SCI show, but the form got delayed.

Fantastic looking country and animal. Great pictures and report.

Something doesn't look right.

quote:

Originally posted by Norseman:
Something doesn't look right.

Besides not being in your house, nope. Looks exactly like he did - same pose, head, etc - before I shot him.

All that matters is that you like it!!

Delivered tonight! For scale, I'm 6'3"

Wow ..very nice bear. Congrats