USA: Brown Bears On AK Peninsula

[Scott CWO]

Hey guys I just returned from guiding on the Alaskan Peninsula for Mel Gillis on his huge Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge area. Both my hunters got great bears. On day three, Travis took a 10’2” bear with a 28 11/16” skull (28” is the B&C All-Time Record Book minimum). This bear came to 15 yards but it was too thick for a bow shot so Travis used my extra rifle (a custom .338 Win Mag) while I backed him up with my .458 Lott.

My second hunter, Brad, took a great 9’9” bear with a 26 4/8” skull (26” is the B&C Awards Book minimum) on day 8 after a couple failed stalks on big bears earlier in the hunt. We generally don’t shoot bears under 9 foot.

On our most active day, we spotted 19 different bears on Travis’ hunt and 15 different bears on Brad’s hunt. We fly out of the Sandy River Lodge to spike camp cabins and tents via Super Cub aircraft.

If anyone is interested in the spring of 2020, let me know. The AK Peninsula is open to bear hunting on the even year springs and odd year falls.

 

[Scott CWO]

Here is the 9’9” bear.

 

[Scott CWO]

 

[Scott CWO]

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Two awesome bears, congratulations! Those thick alders in the background of the first photo bring back some bad memories from my time in Alaska.

 

[CAustin]

Great looking bears!

 

[cpr0312]

WOW! Some great bears! I hope to be able to do this hunt one day

 

[Scott CWO]

Two awesome bears, congratulations! Those thick alders in the background of the first photo bring back some bad memories from my time in Alaska.

Thanks! If you want to try again, we are 100% harvest on 9’ plus bears unless someone wounds one.

 

[Scott CWO]

WOW! Some great bears! I hope to be able to do this hunt one day

Mel and I are easy to work with so if you want to make smaller deposits, we don’t require a 50% deposit or even close.

 

[harden]

GREAT BEARS SCOTT !!! CONGRATS !!!

 

[Brent in Az]

Fantastic beasts.!

 

[Velo Dog]

Beauties !

 

[Shootist43]

Yep, you're correct, those are BIG BEAR.

 

[spike.t]

Nice Scott. What's the weather like then.......?

 

[jeff]

Awesome bears, congrats to the hunters and guide!!

 

[Scott CWO]

Nice Scott. What's the weather like then.......?

Of the 13 days in the field, we lost 1.5 to heavy rain. I don’t hunt/glass in heavy rain. Can’t keep the binocular lenses reasonably dry and the bears usually aren’t moving. Only had one day/night of heavy wind. It is common to get some showers each day for a portion of the day. We wear breathable chest waders and wading boots so we can cross the bigger rivers and they are really dry and comfortable while glassing. Just sit anywhere and you don’t get wet. I take a Helly Hansen Impertech vinyl rain jacket and some type of a GoreTex jacket. GoreTex will eventually soak up so I only use it for showers or not at all. Sometimes I daily rotate them so I always have something dry to wear.

 

[Lee M]

What a rush it would be at 15 yards with a bow in hand. Would be glad to have the .458 Lott nearby!

 

[Scott CWO]

What a rush it would be at 15 yards with a bow in hand. Would be glad to have the .458 Lott nearby!

Yes and I didn’t tell the whole story. The wind was swirling and shifting and he caught a whiff of us at 200 yards (I saw him stop and stick his nose straight up in the air). He then looked up on the hillside and saw us. We were glassing him from a small elevated open spot in the alders. He immediately came on a beeline straight to us. We could see alders shaking and hear him huffing as he came but could no longer see him because of the thick alder. At 15 yards he stopped and we could just make out his shape in the alder but it was too thick for an arrow and he was looking right at us. Since 1998, I have only witnessed something like this behavior once before in 2006 when a sow in estrus followed my backtrail while scent-tracking me from 500 yards to 20 yards. One round from the .458 Lott into the dirt beside her finally changed her mind and sent her running away. Weird. Most brown bears are very alarmed by human scent and immediately flee. Maybe after a week in the bush, I smelled like an old boar!? Lol.

 

[flatwater bill]

Brent............fantastic beasts
Scott..............where to find them
thanks for the post...................love the snowcapped mtns, big square headed bears.............congrats to all.............FWB

 

[Lee M]

What was the bow and arrow combo that was being used for this hunt? Would love to give this a go some year.