Just got back last night from an Alaskan brown bear hunt and figured I'd share.
Background-- some of you might remember last fall I posted a thread about my friend Dan, who after 23 years of applying finally drew his Wyo. bighorn tag and after a 24 mile ride into the Thorofare, took a beautiful ram. Dan, btw, was 83 at the time. So after his sheep hunt, he had drawn a Nevada mule deer tag and got a nice buck. He and I then went to West Texas in January for aoudad and in March he hunted the jungle of Mexico for ocellated turkey. Fast forward- we booked a brown bear hunt last December for June 1-8 with Jake Jefferson in Alaska.
Trip-- We both arrived in Anchorage on May 30 and Jake flew us into camp the afternoon/evening of May 31. On my flight in, we flew over 2 brown bears and 1 black bear. This was a baited brown bear hunt about 10 miles from the coast roughly 80 miles west of Big Lake. These spring hunts have almost 24 hours of daylight, so you are in the blind from about 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. While setting up the blind, we had a monster black bear feeding already. That first night, we had continuous activity from 6 or 7 different black bears and at 2 a.m. a smallish brown bear came in. That bear was really fidgety and never stayed still long enough to size it up.
Dan's bear- prior to starting the hunt, we flipped a coin to see who had first chance to shoot and we'd then alternate nights. I won so had the first opportunity on the first night of hunting. The second night Dan was in the 'hot seat'. Again, we had lots of black bear activity, but at 12:20 a.m., a brown came in that was a shooter. Dan was using a custom .375 H&H that was built on a Mauser action by Roger Green of Glenrock, WY. He was shooting Nosler 260 Partitions in a handload. He had a Hawke illuminated reticle scope. For some reason, he missed high on his first shot, the bear just stood there. Dan's second shot did the job. Broke the shoulder going in and was a complete pass through with the bullet lodging in the hide on the off-side. Bear made it about 10 yards and tipped over dead.
My turn- after Dan's bear fell, another brown came out of the brush and starting attacking it on the ground. So, it was my turn. I used a Rifles, Inc. .375 H&H which Lex built on a Remington 700 action. I don't reload but found the Federal Premium 300 grain, Trophy Bonded Bear Claws (ironic) to shoot well so that's what I used. I had a Leupold VX 6, 1-6 Firedot scope. Anyway, after beating up Dan's bear for a bit, my bear turned and stood broadside. One shot just behind the shoulder with complete pass through and he ran about 30 yards. We couldn't see it, but heard the 'death moan' so figured it was dead. The time when it is darkest this time of year up there is about 1-3 a.m. so we decided to stay put until we had better light before venturing out to check on the bears.
Once we had better light, we found Dan's bear, as mentioned, dead about 10 yards from where he shot and mine was about 30 yards away. Mine had just gotten mostly through the creek before expiring, but still had his back legs in the water. We achieved a first for Jake, who has helped take over 200 bears in his career, i.e. a double on brown bears. Both within about 5 minutes.
A couple notes- both bears squared just over 8 feet. Fish and Game measured the skulls, but didn't give us the measurements so I don't know on the skull size. Both bears were boars and while skinning, we opened the belly on my bear and found the remains of a moose calf. The next day when Jake was flying another hunter out of another camp, he flew over another brown bear tearing a moose calf apart.
While we were in camp, Jake took another hunter into another camp. The same night we got our bears, Jake had 7 brown bears come in and had 4 bears at the same time when the other hunter shot. Unfortunately, the other hunter wounded that bear, and despite, searching, including flying the area, they never found it. That hunter was using a 300 PRC, but I don't know what bullet. Jake's policy is if you wound a bear, your hunt is over so the other guy left without a bear, but with an opportunity.
So, to the title of the thread- June 8 was Dan's birthday. He turned 84 and got his 'Birthday Brownies'! He managed to get in and out of the SuperCub and made his shot count. While we were in Anchorage after the hunt, a few days ago, Dan found out he and his wife drew Colorado mule deer tags in a prime unit so he'll be heading to Colorado in October! Here's a few pics, hope you enjoy.
Background-- some of you might remember last fall I posted a thread about my friend Dan, who after 23 years of applying finally drew his Wyo. bighorn tag and after a 24 mile ride into the Thorofare, took a beautiful ram. Dan, btw, was 83 at the time. So after his sheep hunt, he had drawn a Nevada mule deer tag and got a nice buck. He and I then went to West Texas in January for aoudad and in March he hunted the jungle of Mexico for ocellated turkey. Fast forward- we booked a brown bear hunt last December for June 1-8 with Jake Jefferson in Alaska.
Trip-- We both arrived in Anchorage on May 30 and Jake flew us into camp the afternoon/evening of May 31. On my flight in, we flew over 2 brown bears and 1 black bear. This was a baited brown bear hunt about 10 miles from the coast roughly 80 miles west of Big Lake. These spring hunts have almost 24 hours of daylight, so you are in the blind from about 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. While setting up the blind, we had a monster black bear feeding already. That first night, we had continuous activity from 6 or 7 different black bears and at 2 a.m. a smallish brown bear came in. That bear was really fidgety and never stayed still long enough to size it up.
Dan's bear- prior to starting the hunt, we flipped a coin to see who had first chance to shoot and we'd then alternate nights. I won so had the first opportunity on the first night of hunting. The second night Dan was in the 'hot seat'. Again, we had lots of black bear activity, but at 12:20 a.m., a brown came in that was a shooter. Dan was using a custom .375 H&H that was built on a Mauser action by Roger Green of Glenrock, WY. He was shooting Nosler 260 Partitions in a handload. He had a Hawke illuminated reticle scope. For some reason, he missed high on his first shot, the bear just stood there. Dan's second shot did the job. Broke the shoulder going in and was a complete pass through with the bullet lodging in the hide on the off-side. Bear made it about 10 yards and tipped over dead.
My turn- after Dan's bear fell, another brown came out of the brush and starting attacking it on the ground. So, it was my turn. I used a Rifles, Inc. .375 H&H which Lex built on a Remington 700 action. I don't reload but found the Federal Premium 300 grain, Trophy Bonded Bear Claws (ironic) to shoot well so that's what I used. I had a Leupold VX 6, 1-6 Firedot scope. Anyway, after beating up Dan's bear for a bit, my bear turned and stood broadside. One shot just behind the shoulder with complete pass through and he ran about 30 yards. We couldn't see it, but heard the 'death moan' so figured it was dead. The time when it is darkest this time of year up there is about 1-3 a.m. so we decided to stay put until we had better light before venturing out to check on the bears.
Once we had better light, we found Dan's bear, as mentioned, dead about 10 yards from where he shot and mine was about 30 yards away. Mine had just gotten mostly through the creek before expiring, but still had his back legs in the water. We achieved a first for Jake, who has helped take over 200 bears in his career, i.e. a double on brown bears. Both within about 5 minutes.
A couple notes- both bears squared just over 8 feet. Fish and Game measured the skulls, but didn't give us the measurements so I don't know on the skull size. Both bears were boars and while skinning, we opened the belly on my bear and found the remains of a moose calf. The next day when Jake was flying another hunter out of another camp, he flew over another brown bear tearing a moose calf apart.
While we were in camp, Jake took another hunter into another camp. The same night we got our bears, Jake had 7 brown bears come in and had 4 bears at the same time when the other hunter shot. Unfortunately, the other hunter wounded that bear, and despite, searching, including flying the area, they never found it. That hunter was using a 300 PRC, but I don't know what bullet. Jake's policy is if you wound a bear, your hunt is over so the other guy left without a bear, but with an opportunity.
So, to the title of the thread- June 8 was Dan's birthday. He turned 84 and got his 'Birthday Brownies'! He managed to get in and out of the SuperCub and made his shot count. While we were in Anchorage after the hunt, a few days ago, Dan found out he and his wife drew Colorado mule deer tags in a prime unit so he'll be heading to Colorado in October! Here's a few pics, hope you enjoy.
