who would be a good guide for a brown bear hunt?

So, where do you want to hunt? Inland, mountain grizz, or the larger coastal brownies? Do you want a fixed wall tent camp on the peninsula, or do you want a floating, boat- based hunt in SA Alaska? How many days do you want to devote to the hunt? What is your Budget? Got to give us a getter clue to start us off with advice/ Chaz

Kelly Vrem and you cannot go wrong,have hunted with him 4 times,his areas are great and his guides are second to none.Do a search for Kelly Vrem on yahoo or Rough and Ready Outfitters. Both spring and fall hunts are great . He has areas that have huge bears,both my father and I have taken HONEST 10' browns with him. His hunting is hard but all brown bear hunting is.Good luck with the search.
Wesley Timmerman

Well, I guess my question was pretty vague: I want a coastal brownie; as far as accomodations I don't know except have read about the boat based hunts more often; Hunting days I suppose about what you would spend on a PG hunt in africa 5-10 days; budget, hell I don't know, I have no idea about rates in NA these days.

i would say that the most common range for the going rate is $13-17K.

i would go with dan montgomery, 100% success rate, 21 day hunt. i think you will find most outfitters offer 7-14 days.

good luck.

Ditto..Dan Montgomery.. His commitment to his Hunters is very unique.. What I saw Him do last Year for His Clients puts him at another level for Customer Service.. I would venture that the Mold was broke after Dan was Poured..
AK

Getting a brownie hunt for the price of a week long Plains Game Hunt isn't going to happen, unless you only want to hunt a couple of days. Cold zero is pretty close on the prices. I don't know if you will want to hunt for 21 days, but your average brown bear hunt is going to start at around $12K for a 10 or 14 day hunt. Remember, the coast and Island bears are the most expensive hunts. A lot of the better guides are getting $14,000-$15,000 or more.

Thanks: The reference to the PG hunt referred to duration. I had no idea that brownies were a 21 day hunt-thought average duration would be about 10 days. I have lived in weather that never gets below 70f for so long that the thought of 21 days in the cold makes my bones hurt!

to be sure, most of dan's b.b. hunters are done in less than 7 days.

however, i think it is comforting to know that if you still have the steam and do not have a bear after 10 or 14 days, that you have the option of staying the full length of the season to get your bear instead of being told on day 10 "i am sorry you did not get a bear, your plane leaves in an hour".

I would have a hard time taking 3 weeks off work to hunt just 1 species of big game.

Brian Chick/ I would recommend you check rferences for prior 3 years on any outfitter; look for repeat clients-that speaks volumes! 10 day hunt is pretty standard for boat hunts in SE Alaska. I am returning for my 2nd boat hunt with Master Guide Brad Dennison this spring; this one for Black Bear; I hunted brwonies with him in '03. My hunting partner has hunted with Brad 3 times. I had a less than satisfactory boat hunt in '95 with another guide (yes I got a bear then too), so NOW I know what a quality hunt should be. PM me if you like/ Chaz

Dale Adams. 1-907-747-6108

I had a great Moose hunt with Dennis Harms of Chugiak. His brochure shows only Brown Bear hunts now on Kodiak. I know he has some of the better areas to hunt if you are interested in Big Bears. I don't have his info at hand now, but could look it up if you are interested. Good shooting.

started looking for my self awhile back on avg.10to 14 days norm 9000to20000to start with most

kindly suggest the outfitter who can get me the big grizzly a 9 to 10 footer.thankx

This state has a number of good guides - and most of them mentioned here so far are very good.

If you are a hunter looking for information you will first need to decide whether you want an interior Grizzly - which average between 6 and 8 foot ( 22-24" skull)
Or a coastal Brown Bear ( which is the same species as the Grizzly but better fed a much larger ) and average 8 1/2 - 9 foot ( 24-26 " skull) but can reach over 10 foot and over 28" skull size.

For Brown bears the boat based hunts in the SE portion of the state are the most comfortable and bears run between 8 1/2 to 9 foot
or if you want the very largest you go to Kodiak or the Alaska peninsula, and if you want the very best chance for a big one find a guide with an exclusive USFWS permit.

Just another suggestion
You can call Tom Shankster Alaska Throphy Hunts
He has spring and fall mountain griz and a spring Brown Bear hunt.
Lots of good guys to choose from
Larry

458 win thank u my friend,im really intersted in the big one that would b in kodiac penisula,kindly tell me what is usfws pemits...and elk8810 my friend do u have phone no of tom shankster plz.thank u so much.

The federal US Fish & Wildlife Service ( USFWS ) manages the wildlife refuges on the Alaskan peninsula. (and most of Kodiak island as well)
Their lands encompass virtually all the highland regions where the bear den and spend the majority of the time.

The National Park Service also has some land ( Katmai and Aniakchak) but hunting is prohibited on NPS lands.

During the summer you can find bears spread out over most of the peninsula but generally the best hunting is on USFWS lands and on those the guides have exclusive concessions.

On the rest of the state lands there is no limit to the number of guides or guide camps allowed.

There are also a few areas controlled by native organizatons and they lease their areas to a few guides.

Hope this helps explain the land status of the Peninsula. It might also be of interest to hunters that officially the Alaska F&G has designated and manages the entire peninsula game unit ( unit 9) as trophy bear habitat.

Here you go
Web www.tsakhunts.com

Tom Shankster 720-244-8454
akhunts148@aol.com
Larry Kolek 575-791-9840
elk88101@hotmail.com

You won't find any better than Phil Shoemaker, aka 458Win

There are a number of top notch guides to choose from.References and repeat clients are your best indicator of quality. Next,look at their areas. Skull sizes are exact-squared hides can be a template for chicanery.Check with the Ak Fish and Game Dept.They keep accurate skull measurement records of all legally tagged brown bears.Typically, if you do your homework, you get what you pay for. Do your due diligence and then go for it. I've been blessed to have hunted the lower peninsula 4 times and I've enjoyed great success.It's a very special part of the world!

All good information
Now do your homework
Good luck
Larry