Wanted Brown Bear Hunt

[Scott CWO]

9’8”

 

[Scott CWO]

Sure signs of old age. Missing canine and worn off teeth.

 

[degoins]

wow what a monster!!!! congrats!!

 

[1dirthawker]

whats funny is, everyone wants a 10 ft bear, but...genetically speaking, there are only so many of them. just like not every one is going to be 6' 4" tall. there are only so many bears out there that will ever grow to that size.

and then, actually finding one and then having THAT bear be in a situation that you have an opportunity to hunt/shoot him. a lot of things that need to come together to deliver a big boar to the salt.

nice work @Scott CWO

 

[calling4life]

I pretend like I would like to go call brown bears, and I would, but if I did it, I feel like I'd find myself thinking otherwise.

Way out of my price range but I love seeing the pictures and hearing about the animals.

 

[WAB]

I pretend like I would like to go call brown bears, and I would, but if I did it, I feel like I'd find myself thinking otherwise.

Way out of my price range but I love seeing the pictures and hearing about the animals.

I done a bit of calling for them. My experience was that they typically circled downwind and came in quiet. Then there was the day a big boar came in hot. It totally froze the guy I had taken out, he could not fire his weapon.

 

[Scott CWO]

whats funny is, everyone wants a 10 ft bear, but...genetically speaking, there are only so many of them. just like not every one is going to be 6' 4" tall. there are only so many bears out there that will ever grow to that size.

and then, actually finding one and then having THAT bear be in a situation that you have an opportunity to hunt/shoot him. a lot of things that need to come together to deliver a big boar to the salt.

nice work @Scott CWO

Yes that’s exactly right. Bears grow a lot like people. The bear in the above picture with the worn teeth never quite reached 10’ unstretched but most hunters would be crazy not to shoot it.

 

[1dirthawker]

The bear in the above picture with the worn teeth never quite reached 10’ unstretched but most hunters would be crazy not to shoot it.

agreed,

the ONLY book bear that i have guided was 9'6". old bear, was exactly square both ways, which NEVER happens. was 9'6'x9'6". they are always wider than long, but not this old boy, looked similar to your bear with the bad teeth.

regardless, my hunter was very happy, was a very difficult hunt for him 65+ and not in shape, so, he got a great bear and was excited about it.

 

[Dragan N.]

Of all the animals in North America and outside of Africa for that matter, I find brown bears to be the most fascinating and impressive. I never really understood the obsession with wild sheep, they're not that big and are often overshadowed by wild goats. Brown bears are a different story. I can't give you much information other than Alaska has known to produce the most 10-11 footers, whereas Russia has a consistently higher average for a much cheaper price. It all depends on preference.

Link's Wild Safaris; Deltana Outfitters and Mountain Monarchs of Alaska have produced the biggest bears.

Its the opposite actually. Look at the SCI database when it comes to skull size: https://my.safariclub.org/record-book/minimums/
The biggest Kamchatka bear scored 30 11/16" while the biggest Alaskan brown bear scored 31 2/16. The second biggest Alaskan brown bear scored 30 11/16". But look for the Alaskan brown bear all of the top 10 bears scored over 30" while for the Kamchatka bears only 2 are over 30". The 10th ranked Kamchatkan bear for instance scores 28 11/16. Now mind you the Kamchatka records are pretty incomplete- probably because a lot less Russians are entering brown bear skulls in the record books than Americans are. But the average when looking at SCI entries is way lower for Kamchatka. Although the biggest ones for the 2 are pretty close.

Now there is a caveat here- skull size does not necessarily equate to body size. You may find a big bodied bear that has a small skull/head, you might also find a small bodied bear with a huge head/skull. But i think as a general rule of thumb a big bodied bear would also be assumed to have a big skull. So while the two are not perfectly correlated, i think that a 28" skull score is generally equated to a bear squaring 10 feet. The advantage of using skull size as a measurement is that it is pretty much impossible to stretch a skull and exaggerate its size. However, it is pretty easy to stretch a hide and exaggerate the size.

Although if I had to guess I would assume that the Kamchatka and Alaskan peninsula bears are pretty much the same in size...

 

[WAB]

Although I have spent more time hunting coastal bears, I think the interior grizzly may be a more interesting hunt, and to my eye, the hide is much more appealing. However, an 8’ bear is a big bear in the interior, so if your heart is set on a 10’ bear you’d better head to the peninsula or Kodiak and chase a brownie.

 

[Alaska Luke]

I suggest you think about the experience you want more than the bear size. I've seen guides who park a hunter on a bait for 10 days. Now I hunt over bait, it's fun. But until you see the bear you are just sitting in the woods. Its more satisfying for me because I put my own bait out etc. With a guide I'd prefer a hunt where I get to move around a bit more. If you don't kill a bear at least you had an adventure exploring.

 

[WAB]

I suggest you think about the experience you want more than the bear size. I've seen guides who park a hunter on a bait for 10 days. Now I hunt over bait, it's fun. But until you see the bear you are just sitting in the woods. Its more satisfying for me because I put my own bait out etc. With a guide I'd prefer a hunt where I get to move around a bit more. If you don't kill a bear at least you had an adventure exploring.

The area around Tok was the only area legal for baiting griz when I was up there. Has that expanded?

 

[Alaska Luke]

Yep there is baiting in a couple units now. Not sure exactly how many. Definitely unit 13 is for grizzly and black bears. In my area it's so thick a bait is about the only way to see a bear. Fun but not the Alaska mountain adventure you might be looking for.

 

[Scott CWO]

Just got home this morning from the Alaska Peninsula. It was an early spring and the boars were more dispersed already and a lot of them rubbed already. It took some persistence but both hunters got big bears with real good hides. 10’3” & 9’6”.

First one shown was 35 yards. Second bear 150 yards.

 

[Scott CWO]

 

[Scott CWO]

8.5” front pads.

 

[Scott CWO]

Didn’t measure the pads on this bear.

 

[degoins]

Dang what monsters!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Hustad]

Thank you. Those are great bears, congrats! I ended up booking with Cash Joyce of Vast Alaska.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Wonder how much one of those “green” bear hides weigh and how far do you have to pack it out?