Hi, I just got back, too tired to do a full report, just wanted to thank Mark Young for setting up my brown bear hunt with John Peterson's Bristol Bay Outfitters. I want to thank both John Peterson and Jason Fawcett my guide. Jason was both an awesome guide and awesome company. I learned a lot about bear hunting from him.

Pics

From camp



Bear down in a black bog ugh!



Rick in his immaculate float plane coming to pick us up

You shot him with the Super. Didn't you.



Nice bear!

Great bear and even better country!!!

quote:

Originally posted by rnovi:
You shot him with the Super. Didn't you.



Nice bear!

Thanks! I shot him with the Rem XCR II in 375 Weatherby.

I also want to thank all of the AR members for all of their advice on guns, gear and outfitters. I truly believe that if I hadn't joined this forum, I would never have gone on this hunt.

Congratulations on a terrific brown bear!

Brett

COngrats...John is a great guy. Wonderful bear. I am on the plane headed that way now. I hope I come out as well as you did...

Best of luck!

We need more details and pictures buddy!

WOW!!! Great bear!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Ok, more details and pictures ...

I flew into Dillingham, AK on Sept 17th (a day early) and John Peterson got myself and Jason out on Sept 18th. We got in around 6 PM, had camp set up in a couple of hours. The lake was just loaded with salmon. Here's a picture of Jason in camp.





Heard bears fishing right outside of our camp that night but was too tired to care. Crashed early.

The next day the rain varied from drizzle to steady. We started glassing from camp where we saw five or six bears but nothing shootable. We took the Zodiak up to the north end of the lake and saw four more bears and found a little pool that was teeming with salmon John Peterson had told us about that had huge bear trails and prints all over it. We sat and waited until dark in the rain but no bears showed.

The next day was more of the same. We saw 10 more bears, with Jason's guidance I was getting much better at spotting bears, sometimes seeing them first and judging them. Starting to get excited.

More views from camp:





The third day we had some excitement in camp. We had a adult bear in camp first thing in the morning, couldn't judge it, since we were scrambling for our rifles lol ... It was more startled then we were and it dissappeared into the willows almost soundlessly which is just amazing. That afternoon a young bear about 300 lbs or so took an interest in Jason, he yelled at it and it took off frightened straight at me. I was about five feet from my rifle (which might as well have been five miles) so I yelled at it too laughing because he was so young and bewildered. It ran back and forth and finally ran into the willows. After it was over I realized how potentially dangerous it was, but I really didn't want to shoot the bear and he really just looked bewildered and frightened. No pictures of him, sorry ...


The fourth day I spotted a shootable boar about 8'. Jason confirmed it in his spotting scope and he set up a great stalk, which I completely blew. We were on a point with the bear working his way up the beach fishing. I couldn't see him until he was about 40 yards away. He started to present a broadside shot, I was overly careful, went to adjust my position, made a noise in the water and he took off like a rocket into the willows. I was pretty depressed, but determined to learn from my mistake.

Day 5, I spotted a larger boar at 2 PM (rare time of day to see a larger bear in this location) Jason immediately set up another stalk, we took off quietly in the Zodiak and tried to get ahead of him upwind. We succeeded but just barely, he was moving much faster than anticipated. I first saw him at 13 yards and took a frontal quartering shot (Jason ranged it after the shot). Upon the hit from my 375 Weatherby, he somersaulted twice in the water, roared and took off into the willows. We waited 40 minutes then went in after him, Jason leading myself 3 feet behind him. There was a lot of blood, a good sign, but the willows were so thick when Jason ducked under I covered him. It took about us about 10 minutes to go 30 yards very carefully when we smelled bear. A minute later we found him dead in this mini black bog in the willows. It took us about 3 hours to get the hide off of him because he had sunk into this mini black bog and it took forever to turn him. The black ooze was smelly and when we got back to Dillingham and the folks helped us unload the plane my bear got the nickname "smelly bear".


Bear pictures:





The 300g Swift A-Frame had broken the shoulder, took out both lungs and had come to rest in the hide on the far side just in front of the rear left leg.







We don't have an official measurement yet, but Jason estimated it as at least an 8 1/2 foot bear based on the rear pad. I'm real happy with it.


I had a great time and learned a hell of a lot about brown bear hunting!

I'm very happy for you Chuck but your sucess doesn't suprise me in the least. You were in a great area with a great operator.

The salmon just keep returning to this region in good numbers and ofcourse that means good bear food. I expect good bear numbers for the forseeable future. (I suppose that means the next six months!)

Congrats on the hunt! The hide looks great and that boar has some claws on him.

John and Jason are a great team, I'm glad you were able to hunt with them!

It looks like your camp is their favorite spot for Bear on the lake. I remember that spot well.

Great bear,congratulations,the hide looks great and will look great either as a rug or a life size mount.A successful brown bear is a great memory.

Excellent!

Chuck,

Big congrats! Nice bear and good shooting. Thanks for letting me assist with the hunt. Awesome country out there in the National Reserve and the bear numbers are amazing.

Mark

Great Bear, reminds me of my hunt at Cold Bay. I can still smell the Alders and Bears. Good shooting.

great pics, those lakes are one of the prettiest places i've ever been....
congrats

Hard to beat a Swift A-Frame. Nice job!

Congrats

Congrats Chuck I'm glad the hunt went so well for you.
You did your part with the shooting ETC and your choice of John as your guide, I've known him for 25 years he's a great guy.

That is a hunt you will always remember. Congratulations.

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Chuck,

Big congrats! Nice bear and good shooting. Thanks for letting me assist with the hunt. Awesome country out there in the National Reserve and the bear numbers are amazing.

Mark

Thanks again for all of your help setting this up for me Mark...

Congrats on your Brownie...

Nice Bear! Congratulations.
Looks like it was a perfect hunt.

Thanks!

Chuck:

Awesome hunt. I voted to do the brown bear before the buffalo.

See? I was right!

Yes you were. Thanks!

Chuck, great bear. Congrats! Not only good shooting but you went in the thick stuff with your guide and provided cover properly. That's an experience I'm sure you will never forget!

As much as I love hunting Africa, those Brownies sure do live in some beautiful country! Your pictures make me want to go back again!

Chuck: Glad you achieved Dream No. 1. Now on to Dream No. 2, eh?
My problem on your hunt would have been wanting to bag the hunt and just fish. Gad that's some gorgeous water!

Bill,

There is some excellent fishing there. All of that area Chuck hunted was my backyard for 22 years.

Mark

There were about 500,000 sockeye salmon in a little lake when we were there. I believe I could've caught them with my hands. Mark, the bear squared an honest (not stretched) 8 1/2' measured by D&C Expediters in Anchorage. At 13 yards he looked pretty damn big. Thanks again for booking the hunt for me. It was perfect.

Good shooting Chuck, beautiful bear. Congratulations!

congratulations! that is a beautiful bear.. 13 yards thats the way to do it!

Tim