# Alaskan Kodiak brown bear.



## longbow

Dang Shaun and I are beat! We had been checking a kill site for the last couple days. The first day we sneaked into 30 yards on a smaller bear and I passed on him. A bigger bear must have kicked him off. We sneaked up on the site this morning and there was a big bruiser guarding it. We were quietly discussing strategy about how to get into bowrange when he winded us. He was stomping, huffing and coming towards us. It wasn't a full out charge but I could tell things were going to get ugly fast. I said "Shaun this ain't good, give me my rifle." As soon as he turned sideways I put a bullet behind his shoulder. Now we had to track him through some thick growth. We moved so slow. We were pretty nervous. Finaly I spotted him down by a beaver **** and he was still breathing. As soon as I shot again he went ape freaking crazy! He let out a roar, bit at the bullet hole, growled and ran into the bog. I put another shot into him for insurance. We had to use a hoist and ropes to pull him out onto the bank. It took us over three hours to skin him. He was just too big to roll over and move around. He taped at a little over 9 feet. Thanks to my awesome son for backing me up on three bow stalks and for this morning.


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## Springville Shooter

Let me be the first to say: FRIGGIN AWESOME!--------SS


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## Mr Muleskinner

Holy Q(*$#*(YQ(Y$(Q*Y$*[email protected]#!!!!!

AWESOME!!!!!


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## Mr Muleskinner

Hunting pick of the year. Maybe next year too. THE bear that I want to hunt. THE hunt that I want to hunt. Man I have to do that more than anything.


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## longbow

Thanks guys.
I can't believe I was able to do this. We saw so many bears every day. This place is packed with bears. I stalked three different bears with my son in my back pocket. I messed up on one. Another, we sneaked in on a feeding bear at the effluence of a creek and it was gone when we got there. My son jumped into the lake and grabbed a salmon that was caught in some riffle and threw it up on the bank. We were going to take it home with us. We sneaked up the creek to see if he had gone up to a pool in the creek. Twenty minutes later we came back and the salmon was gone! We never saw the bear again. The next one was only about a 7+ footer so once we got in to 30 yards I decided to pass on him and sneak back out.
I really wanted to shoot my bear with a bow but once he caught us and started to come towards us there was no way I could shoot him with a bow and I couldn't pass up a bear of this size.


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## Springville Shooter

By the way Long, I'm headed up to your old stomping grounds to hunt Whitetails in a couple weeks. I just can't stay away.---------SS


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## longbow

Springville Shooter said:


> By the way Long, I'm headed up to your old stomping grounds to hunt Whitetails in a couple weeks. I just can't stay away.---------SS


That is one hunt I truly miss. Please post some pictures when you get back.


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## swbuckmaster

love it


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## wyogoob

That's the second damnest thing I ever seen.

Congrats!


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## Mr Muleskinner

Longbow do you know any guides up there that will charge a fair price? The fact that they are required has been the damper for me. If I remember correctly the tag and license is just under $600 but the guides wanted anywhere from $10k-$20k.

For that kind of money I would really expect to see somebody get eaten.


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## lunkerhunter2

Holy $ !-! | + is right:shock: That's awesome


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## Packout

That is a great ending to a great story. You should euro the skull and use the hide to make matching coats for you and your son. Those bears are huge- having them upset at 30 yards is intense! Glad you and your son are safe.


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## BPturkeys

What a great hunt. Did you need a guide or are you resident Alaskian?
Just curious, what, if anything, is done with the meat?


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## LostLouisianian

I hope you threw away your underwear, I'm sure they weren't worth cleaning out. Man that is a story and a brute !!!!


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## NHS

Way cool!!


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## bowgy

Awesome, thanks for sharing.8)


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## longbow

Mr Muleskinner said:


> Longbow do you know any guides up there that will charge a fair price? The fact that they are required has been the damper for me. If I remember correctly the tag and license is just under $600 but the guides wanted anywhere from $10k-$20k.
> 
> For that kind of money I would really expect to see somebody get eaten.


The guy that has the rights to this area is Jim Hodge. He rents a cabin close to us. I took the boat over the other day and talked to him. He's a stand-up guy. He told me he charges $18k for a two week hunt. You'd love it up here Mule.
http://www.hodgesoutfitters.com/


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## longbow

Packout said:


> That is a great ending to a great story. You should euro the skull and use the hide to make matching coats for you and your son. Those bears are huge- having them upset at 30 yards is intense! Glad you and your son are safe.


I'm going to have the hide rugged and I was thinking about a pedestal mount for the skull.


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## longbow

BPturkeys said:


> What a great hunt. Did you need a guide or are you resident Alaskian?
> Just curious, what, if anything, is done with the meat?


I'm an Alaskan resident now. I have a contract to fullfill for the next few years and then we're moving back to Utah. Lisa and I still own a house in Perry.

The meat on a fall bear around here is pretty nasty. They eat so much salmon and it effects their meat. I took some meat from a friends bear last fall and bottled it, roasted it and tried to jerky it. Nothing worked. I hear spring bear is great up here.


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## NHS

Man, I just re-read your post again. That will sure draw up your pucker string.


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## longbow

Having a son sure comes in handy sometimes. He waded into the bog and roped my bear while I sat on the dry bank and watched. He even packed out my bear hide. You know what us old guys say, "lift with your son, not with your back"


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## wyogoob

longbow said:


> Having a son sure comes in handy sometimes...................................................................................You know what us old guys say, "lift with your son, not with your back"


Great picture!

Boy, I hear ya there. My son got me through the rifle elk hunt this year.

.


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## Mtnbeer

Nice work Chuck. I knew you'd get a great bear. Course your location sure helps :mrgreen:
Looks like he has a nice hide too. Ya gonna make a rug out of him?

I know you wanted to take him with the bow, but all best laid plans are out the window once that bear's in close range. I've been there and done that with chasing a wounded boar through the woods. Exhilarating and not all that fun at the same time. Haha!

How big is the skull? I'm guessing 27 and a little something.


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## Mtnbeer

longbow said:


> The guy that has the rights to this area is Jim Hodge. He rents a cabin close to us. I took the boat over the other day and talked to him. He's a stand-up guy. He told me he charges $18k for a two week hunt. You'd love it up here Mule.
> http://www.hodgesoutfitters.com/


Jim is a good guy. I've talked with him a couple times over the years.

Muleskinner, you'd be hard pressed to find a brownie guide for less than 10 grand and most of the ones that charge that price do so because they (or their area) aren't that good.

I used to be ADF&G's advisor to the Big Game Commercial Services Board (and I wrote the regulations to reestablish that board nigh on ten-twelve years ago), so I got to know a bunch of the guides pretty well. Most of those guys don't make much money, even at 18-20 grand. Between corporation, state and/or federal permits, AV gas or boat fuel, boat/airplane payments, and various other items, there ain't much left. It's expensive to live and work in Alaska (it's part of why I don't live there anymore, even though most of my work is still there).


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## Mr Muleskinner

Mtnbeer said:


> Jim is a good guy. I've talked with him a couple times over the years.
> 
> Muleskinner, you'd be hard pressed to find a brownie guide for less than 10 grand and most of the ones that charge that price do so because they (or their area) aren't that good.
> 
> I used to be ADF&G's advisor to the Big Game Commercial Services Board (and I wrote the regulations to reestablish that board nigh on ten-twelve years ago), so I got to know a bunch of the guides pretty well. Most of those guys don't make much money, even at 18-20 grand. Between corporation, state and/or federal permits, AV gas or boat fuel, boat/airplane payments, and various other items, there ain't much left. It's expensive to live and work in Alaska (it's part of why I don't live there anymore, even though most of my work is still there).


Yea I agree. I have looked into it several times. Almost took a job up there years ago just to get residency and hunt one. Ended up starting a company here instead. I have a good friend that has lived in Wasilla for years that has tried to help me out but the demand sets the price.

Easily the dream hunt of my brother and I. We almost pulled the trigger a couple of years back and ended up using the same money and taking the family on a fishing trip near Lake Creek off of the Yentna. No regrets at all but that fire burns even worse now for the bear hunt.

This post just fueled it even more.


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## N8ON

Awesome bear and story, thanks for sharing.


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## alpinebowman

Nice job Chuck. That is one big nasty bear.


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## AF CYN

Respect!


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## martymcfly73

Awesome story congrats.


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## longbow

Mtnbeer said:


> Nice work Chuck. I knew you'd get a great bear. Course your location sure helps :mrgreen:
> Looks like he has a nice hide too. Ya gonna make a rug out of him?
> 
> I know you wanted to take him with the bow, but all best laid plans are out the window once that bear's in close range. I've been there and done that with chasing a wounded boar through the woods. Exhilarating and not all that fun at the same time. Haha!
> 
> How big is the skull? I'm guessing 27 and a little something.


I just got back from Kodiak and had the skull and hide measured and tagged at the Game and Fish. John Cry measured the skull at 25 3/8 and the hide at 9' 5"

I left the hide in Andrew Air's freezer until I find a taxidermy to do a rug. I'm thinking about sending it to a lady in Wasila. The shipping on a 138 pound hide is going to cost a bit though.


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## Mtnbeer

longbow said:


> I just got back from Kodiak and had the skull and hide measured and tagged at the Game and Fish. John Cry measured the skull at 25 3/8 and the hide at 9' 5"
> 
> I left the hide in Andrew Air's freezer until I find a taxidermy to do a rug. I'm thinking about sending it to a lady in Wasila. The shipping on a 138 pound hide is going to cost a bit though.


Wow, that's a big body for the head size. It's amazing how much the hide weighs on them buggars.

I'm sure you know this, but usually Goldstreak is the best price to get things to Anchortown. Pay a friend in beer and whisky to pick it up and take it to Wasilla. Anyways congrats again!


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## Mtnbeer

Mr Muleskinner said:


> Yea I agree. I have looked into it several times. Almost took a job up there years ago just to get residency and hunt one. Ended up starting a company here instead. I have a good friend that has lived in Wasilla for years that has tried to help me out but the demand sets the price.
> 
> Easily the dream hunt of my brother and I. We almost pulled the trigger a couple of years back and ended up using the same money and taking the family on a fishing trip near Lake Creek off of the Yentna. No regrets at all but that fire burns even worse now for the bear hunt.
> 
> This post just fueled it even more.


I hear ya. If you're going to pay for a guide to hunt Alaska, IMO, go for a good Kodiak/AK Pen brownie or Tok Mgmt Area Dall Sheep. Both are pretty expensive, but they'll be the hunt of a lifetime.

I did enjoy that resident status for a while. The things I got to do and see up there, especially with my job, would be the envy of pretty much every person on these boards, but those winters and darkness got to me eventually. I wanted a place with four seasons, so Utah ended up the winner.


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## silentstalker

Incredible story and beauty of a bear! Congrats!


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## Dunkem

Wow,that is a beast.Nice job!


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## colorcountrygunner

Man that hunt sounds intense. And I thought it was scary when I kicked a rock chuck loose from a forked aspen tree and had it charge me. Luckily I had my grandpa's sheep dogs there to save me.


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## longbow

NHS said:


> Man, I just re-read your post again. That will sure draw up your pucker string.


NHS, This did "draw up my pucker string". I've had the unfortunate occasion to have to defend myself with a firearm a few times during my life. This played out just the same as it did during those other encounters. I stayed collected, held myself together and aware (although always very nervous) and did what I had to do. But in every incidence, as soon as my Sargent/cops showed up and I realized everything was OK, I went into mild shock and had to lay with my head downhill for a bit. This time was no different. I hate to admit it but it's the truth.


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## Mr Muleskinner

longbow said:


> NHS, This did "draw up my pucker string". I've had the unfortunate occasion to have to defend myself with a firearm a few times during my life. This played out just the same as it did during those other encounters. I stayed collected, held myself together and aware (although always very nervous) and did what I had to do. But in every incidence, as soon as my Sargent/cops showed up and I realized everything was OK, I went into mild shock and had to lay with my head downhill for a bit. This time was no different. I hate to admit it but it's the truth.


Nothing wrong with that at all. Some people like to burn that fire inside. Some of us have to.


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## goofy elk

NICE Bear ..:!:..


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## scott_rn

Congrats. I'll bet that was a great experience to have with your son. 

Did your Co worker end up hunting that Moose tag?


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## longbow

scott_rn said:


> Congrats. I'll bet that was a great experience to have with your son.
> 
> Did your Co worker end up hunting that Moose tag?


Yes. She and her Dad, (my boss) got a 40+ moose up the Alexander creek area. She made a perfect hit and they spent the rest of the day packing meat. He walked up to what he called "a mountain of an animal" and sighed "Oh boy, we have work to do". Alaskan/Yukons are much bigger than Shiras!


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## Mtnbeer

Nice Chuck. Tell your boss and his daughter congrats for me. That's three people I know who were successful on that Alexander Creek hunt.


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## jshuag

LostLouisianian said:


> I hope you threw away your underwear, I'm sure they weren't worth cleaning out.


If theres anything left! Just saying. . . .


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## king eider

Congrats on a great bear! Heck of a story. I couldn't of done it. Bears freak me out.

This guy out of utah county took this brute a few seasons ago. Some sci world record or something. Massive.


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## riptheirlips

Never hunted bear, always wanted to. How old would a bear that size be? just curious how long it takes them to get to that size.


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## longbow

The biologist guessed him at 6-7 yo. My bear was 9'5" and only had a 25+ skull. He said he checked a 8' bear earlier and it was 20+yo and had a 27" skull.


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