Below is an article and photos that BigBBear had published in Big Bame Adventures. He sent it to me for posting, enjoy.

Scarface


We were now at a cross between a fast walk and crawling as needed across the broken ground of the Alaska Peninsula. I had dropped my pack a hundred yards back so I would have no interference with taking the shot. As we crossed the last stream and came out of the alders, there he was, a dark chocolate bear standing on all fours rubbing against the brush. At 70 yards, his size was immense. Now was the time to keep my cool and make all the waiting and hard work pay off.

This story actually begins in 1999 on my first hunt for the Alaskan Brown Bear. It was a fall hunt with Litzen Guide Service. My guide for this hunt was the outfitter Mike Litzen himself. The hunting was great when we got used to the ever changing climate of the Peninsula. A great feature of this hunt was the camp, or better the “Patricia Ann†a 58 foot limit seiner skippered and expertly “chefed†by Hubert McCollom. By living on the boat, we were able to dry out each night, change locations as needed, and enjoy the camaraderie of all the hunters and stories each night. For some reason this fall, the big bears were able to avoid us and my friend Ray and I both harvested 8’+: bears. Respectable, yes but not as large as we wanted. As we left Sand Point on our flight to Anchorage, we vowed to return when our four year wait was up and concentrate on nothing but big bears.

Some plans just work out and here we were in the back half of the 2004 Brown Bear season waiting for our opportunity to board the Patricia Ann with Litzen Guide Service and begin hunting the great brown bears of Alaska. Because the season is 16 days it allowed for the first four hunters to have an opportunity to harvest bears leaving ample time for my friend and I to hunt and have the boat all to ourselves. An additional benefit of hunting later was the probability of better weather which should make the bears more active.

Finally on the morning of May 17th we were able to board the Patricia Ann and begin hunting. Of the four hunters before us, 3 had tagged out with one hunter remaining in the field. Mike Litzen jokingly told me he had upgraded my guide from 1999 (himself) with Brad Waitman. Brad had tremendous amounts of “bear time†with having 43 brown bears harvested by him and his hunters during his guiding career. With him as a guide how could I miss? We spent the remainder of the day glassing the various grassy slopes and drainages hoping to find a large boar to no avail. That night we had the encouraging news and enjoyed congratulating Jim (4th and last hunter) on his trophy 9’6†boar which had a skull of 28 ¼. Now it was just the two of us with 8 days to hunt and a beautiful trophy spread out on the deck for us all to see and set our sights and goals on. The only thing required was patience, luck, and a change for the better in the weather. Most of the time for the first four hunters, the weather had been a steady southeast 15-25 mph which generally means a lot of moisture jokingly called “Aleutian mistâ€. With this weather, it makes glassing very difficult and the bears just do not seem to move.


During the first half of our hunt we had mediocre weather and were able to hunt 1 good day out of 4. One of those days was excellent as Brad and I sat high up on a knob and glassed the valley for a trophy boar. We had an incredible vista and could probably see 10 square miles of valley. There were two main drainages that came together in a “Y†and in about 30 days would be seeing the first of the runs of silver salmon. If there was ever perfect bear county this was it. Far up in one of the drainages, Brad picked up a bear in his Leicas. It was about 3 miles away and all we could tell was that it was very dark, large, and obviously a boar. The bear was actually coming down the valley towards us so we waited and watched to see what our strategy should be. As the bear entered the valley we had dropped elevation so we could make a fast move if necessary to cut him off. By this time, we had assessed that he was a good boar and one that we would go after. The bear made a left turn at the “Y†and began to use the wind searching for a willing sow. Now, it would be a footrace and this bear could cover ground in a hurry. Brad whispered to me that he was not sure we could catch the bear but we would sure as hell try. Off we go, hoping he will stop for a siesta, romance, or both. As we get near the last sighting of the bear, we loosen pack straps, check our rifles and make sure we are ready if he is still around. At this point we cannot see him and decide to gain a little elevation. As we begin to move up, I look over to my right I see the backside of a bear and grab Brad by the pack to get his attention. He assures me it is the bear we are after and we begin our stalk. As the bear is feeding directly away from us we get to within about 70 yards and lay down to take the shot. As I am getting ready, a sixth sense comes to the bear, he looks around, not sure that he sees us, but he gets uncomfortable and simply walks into the alders. The only shot I had was a crippling shot which is not sporting and dangerous at best. We cannot believe our misfortune in actually catching up to the bear only to have the opportunity for a shot disappear.

Our next plan is to gain more elevation in this area in case he reappears. Neither of us thinks the bear really knew what we were because we had a strong wind blowing out of the valley away from the bear. We sit and wait for about 3 hours watching a young sow showing obvious interest in something in the brush. We think it might be the boar and hope he will ultimately show himself. Higher up the valley above the playful sow is another sow asleep with two cubs. She eventually gets wise to us and crosses the top of the mountain, cubs in tow. Plans are to get back to the boat about 9:00 PM so we begin our trek out at around 7. As we are walking out through the grass on the main bear trail, Brad looks behind me and says Holy S___! the bear is behind us. Sure enough, there he was about 300 yards back walking down the same bear trail as us. We got ready for a second opportunity hoping the gods were smiling on us but it was not to be. As the bear cut our tracks he went ballistic with our scent. Seemingly he knew exactly which direction we were going because he did an about face and left on a dead run for the alders he had just come from. As he ran/waddled up the bank, Brad commented on how fat he was and how he labored to even run up the bank. He told me to take a good look because we would probably never see that bear again. As we talked and agreed that this bear would easily go 10 feet concern began to set in that I might have had and missed my only chance at a true trophy. But, that is what trophy hunting is all about. Some you win, some you lose.


As we joined the rest of the team on the boat and shared our story, they were appreciative that I had held back and not taken a bad shot possibly wounding the bear and creating risks and danger for us all. That being some condolence, I knew I had 4 more days to hunt and felt certain that we would get another chance. Anyone that has hunted the Alaskan Peninsula knows the weather can be friend or foe. We were unlucky to receive the later by having a stiff South East blow the next three days. All we could do was fish for halibut and cod and hope the weather would turn for the better.

On May 25th, our last day to hunt because it was the last day of the season, we awoke to more of the same weather. All we needed was a break, but it looked like it would not happen. Would it break so we could hunt effectively or not, only time would tell? Our guides Joel Doner and Brad Waitman had a lot of combined years at hunting these Alaskan giants knew that if we had gone ashore this morning or the days before with poor visibility, we would have decreased our chances significantly by leaving our scent all over the country. They were wise to hold off and at 1:14 PM in the afternoon Brad and I hit the beach for what would be our last afternoon hunting. We decided to hunt in the same valley where we had seen the large boar and missed our chance. We had not been on our glassing knob very long when Brad looked across the bay where Ray and Joel were hunting and spotted a large dark bear out in the green grass. The distance was about 6 miles and having good optics was key to effectively watching the events unfold. We only hoped they could see the bear as well. As we continued to watch, they began their stalk As we waited for them to take the shot the bear simply walked back into the alders. They did not see it but only knew it had left the green grass and after a while went back to their glassing spot. No sooner had they sat down than the big bear came back out. Brad and I got a chuckle out of the amount of exercise they were putting in but were glad to see them again stalking the bear. It was not long before we saw the bear go down for a few seconds only to pop back up and escape into the alders. With our vantage point we were able to see exactly where the bear entered the alders in his escape.

Now that the bear was hit and after some time passed, we called them on the radio to see what they were going to do. Joel did not know exactly where the bear had exited the field, and hearing growling in the thicket decided to leave the bear for some time to expire. It looked like about a 4 mile walk around the beach to where we could meet them at the skiff and provide help so I suggested to Brad we abandon our knob and go give them a hand. We estimated about 2-3 hours to get down from the knob, across the creek, and around the bay. While we were looking for a way to cross the mouth of the creek, I noticed a very dark bear cross the creek and begin a trek up the valley. Brad’s first impression was not a large bear but as the bear shook the water off, he suddenly grew larger. It did not take us long to determine he was a nice trophy and it being the last hours of the last day, well go figure. We began our descent while keeping a vigil on the bears location and direction.

The wind was beginning to swirl and we could not afford to get upwind of the bear as he made his way up the valley. We covered more than half a mile crossing several creeks until we reached the point at the opening of this story. It is now clear why I has shed my pack, tucked binoculars in my vest, and made ready for the final stalk. I could not afford any mistakes or taking too much time as had happened earlier. We crawled to about 70 yards and prepared for action. With the energy expended just to get to this point, keeping the crosshairs still was a challenge. Knowing that this would be my last chance, I quickly placed a trophy bonded bear claw from my 375 H&H followed by a second behind the shoulder. The bear did not want to quit and went into a violent spin in an attempt to bite his shoulder and the things that were causing him pain. After another shot, he was down. I had no idea really how big the bear was until Brad and I walked up on him. He was absolutely huge and covered in many old and new battle scars. His face was one only a mother could love. After high fives and the comprehension that we were done, we began to look him over. He had loose, torn skin on his right front paw that had been injured in a fight and had grown back as a loose flap, a fresh cut over his left eye and fresh cuts on his back. He had recently been in one hell of a battle. What a fight that would have been to see. This was the trophy I had returned to the Peninsula for and how glad I was to see it over. A fitting name for this bear was SCARFACE. After skinning the bear squared out at an unfleshed 10’ with a 28 3/16†skull. The realization of what we had just accomplished suddenly came to light. Words cannot describe this experience and the true appreciation of such a great trophy.

That night we had the traditional toasts but it was not a complete celebration as Ray and Joel had left their bear for the night because of the risk factor in losing some of their own skin as well as pushing the bear too far and not being able to recover him. It was a long, sleepless night for the both of them. The next morning we all left early, rifles ready and began the search to recover Ray’s bear. The fact that Brad and I had seen where he entered the alders helped get us on the track. This bear, hit four times solidly had left no blood trail. Luckily, we found the bear about 50 yards into the alders in the approximate area where they heard him making sounds the day before. He was a very large boar, one that would make any trophy hunter proud. Now it was time for high fives and congrats all the way around. Last day, last hours, and two trophy bears. Double Lucky is the word. We were certainly fortunate to be with great friends, have two great guides like Brad and Joel. We cannot wait to return.

that my friend is a large bear.

many congrats..

Congradulations on an Awesome Bear!!!!!!

That is a whole-lotta-bear! Holy smoke! Wow!

Great bear!

Beauty! Thanks for posting the pics, and even more so the story.

Some day...

Great bear. Thanks for sharing!!

only in my dreams good job!

T Carr ----- Thanks for posting and BigBear, congrats for a fine hunt and trophy to cherish for the rest of your life. It brought back all my memories of my Brown Bear hunt at Cold Bay. Every time I look at the rug in front of my fireplace, I get that rush I got the day I shot the Bear.

Phurly and all. Thanks for positive feedback. This was my first real shot at writing a story so I would appreciate any cricicism both positive and negative. As many of you know hunting a brown bear and seeing that first track is just one of those rushes you cannot quite describe but will remember forever. I plan to go back in 2008.

Phurly, Cold Bay is not so far from where I was Sand Point. I think cold Bay is next stop and actually last real village before no mans land. Hope your hunt went well. Sounds like it did.

BigBBear ----- Now I understand your handle on AR, nothing in this world compares to the Big Brown in my opinion. You described that first sighting of a track quite well. The first track I saw in the sand was remarkable, particularly the claw marks. I said to myself that, hey that is not a deer track, in fact he can fight back. My hair stood up on my neck at that point and didn't go down for the rest of the hunt. Even the smells of the Salmon, the sounds of the gulls and ducks and geese still bring back those feelings today. Africa and the Cape Buffalo were close but not quite the to the same intensity for me. I still consider the guide my friend, he came down to hunt with my brother-in-law and me, my Bear hunt was a pay back deal. They talked of the Sand Point people quite a lot. Thanks for the good story and pictures. Terry helped me a great deal on my African pictures. Good shooting.

That is a BEAR ! And nice story to boot.

What are you going to do with him? you have a large house/ceiling?

I thought you had to go to Kamchatka to get that size

Congratulations and thanks

Sheephunter, I actually think the bears on Kamtcaka are smaller than Alaska. Best skulls are known to come from Kodiak but big bears can be found in many places in Alaska. I will go read a prior post and I can show you the bear mounted with me beside it. I was following your threads on the messed up Tanzania hunt. Any luck yet. You probably do not want to start another one here but if you want to PM me feel free. Photo of mount to follow.

BigBBear,

I always kept this picture in my bear file for the future:




DOnt know whether Kodiaks would win in the ring

I think they are from Kamchatka

Not sure if that is you or your size but three of those guys are big boys for sure. I have no personal experience with Kamchatka so I may be wrong. I have seen many at Taxidermists and they seem to be a very good Kamchatka bear at 9'. Again, I could be wrong. I would love to go there and hunt however. Have you been and if so with who?

Great story, and congrats on a very nice bear! Considering how few honest 10' bears are taken, that is definately a trophy of a lifetime.

One never knows with the hunter sitting behind the bear exactly how big the bear is, but that second photo removes all doubt, that's a biggun!

BigBBear,
You got a big one,dont think any different.
The only reason I put the picture up is because of your comment re size.
The fellow in the picture is NOT me !
I have only an inland Grizzly on the wall so far,and he aint big at all.
One reason being that he turned out to be a she after the shot :>

If you are seriously interested in Russiam bears,
maybe somebody here can clue you in,I shall also see what info I kept

cheers


edit:

Ok,
I found the source for the picture and kamchatka bear discussion:


https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../418108291#418108291
Idaho Ron : http://community.webshots.com/user/dan_grace

BigBBear

That bear is a truly awesome trophy and you had a great hunt. Congrats to you and your buddy. What a brute.

I'm no expert but in talking with Tom Hardesty owner of Atcheson Taxidermy he told me the average size of the Kamchatka bears he sees has steadily declined. So it might seem that Alaska is still the home of the biggest of the big bears.

Mark

quote:

WOW!! I think I will take the .416 Rigby should I ever venture out after these bears!!

Frans