Success Rate for Brown Bear Hunts

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Alaska Private Guide Service

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Smokey Don Duncan,
Master Guide #136

2008 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt Results

2008 Spring Brown Bear Narrative

We had 3 hunters. One hunter, Ted Martin, at the cabin on the lake got an 8+ bear a couple of miles behind the cabin. The other two hunters were further north at a camp between 2 lakes. Ted's friend, Billy Ray, turned down a bear early on and never got a shot at another one. We missed seeing the tracks of a 10 footer one day and he was long gone by the time we did see them. He was one of the only bears to lay tracks down low, most were high. Tom Owen saw at least 6 bears and moved on 3. The snow conditions were good and the weather decent. Maybe too good. The bears stayed up high on the peaks or rapidly went there. We stopped about 150 yards short of one bear down in the timber that we didn't know was there until we saw him 300 yards up on the mountain and running up. 2 other bears had been close by recently. Never saw them. We watched 1 bear we had moved on for several days. Each time he made a move down a chute, we moved to intercept only to see him back at the top later on.

We had hunted the area we camped in many times before but had used it primarily as a day hunt from the cabin. We have adjusted our hunt plan accordingly to give us a better chance throughout the area.

If we had some hunters later in the season, I believe we would have done excellent as the weather warmed and the snow softened.

2008 Fall Brown Bear Results Narrative

As with the fall moose season, the weather was warm, no frost, a lot of fog and drizzle. We killed 5 bears. 4 bears were taken on the river from the boat. 2 of the bears were taken the first hunting day. 2 bear hunters were moved to the river and shot bears with in 24 hours. One bear died on the mountain side and rolled down and hit the boat.

2009 Brown Bear Narrative

We did not have any spring bear hunters. The fall hunters enjoyed an earlier than ever brown bear season which now opens Sept. 1, even before moose season opens. We went in and set up camp early and began setting up new spike camps sites near new ground blinds and new tree stands. Everything was looking great. I fully expected 4 bears to hit the dirt on the first day and surely by day 2. Before the hunters arrived, we saw 8 brown bears including some big ones from the boat landing. They were on the bank looking for fish and several were seen crossing the river. Some during the middle of the day. We had to stop the boat to keep from hitting one bear on our way back to camp one evening. Several bears were feeding 50 yards from the boat landing and we set up a blind there. The Commercial Fish Division let the comm. fish boys catch too many red salmon. The reds were there and the silvers were late but they were not there in the numbers they usually are. There was no doubt the escapement numbers were way down. The bears were actually cleaning out some of the fishing holes and traveling more between fishing holes. That was not really a big concern but it did eliminate some spots. The river was dropping rapidly since it had not rained but 1 morning since we arrived 2 weeks before. The day before opening day the 2 bear only hunters arrived in Koliganek and went to camp. The bear and moose combo hunters got to Dillingham and then had to wait until 5 pm the next day to get their luggage from Penair who left it in Anchorage for at least 3 more flights. This put me and them getting to Koliganek late in the day and in to camp just before dark. The bear only hunters had waited as long as they could and were waiting to leave for their spike camps upriver when we arrived. They did their best but the bottom line was they were with the wrong guides going to the wrong camps, with the wrong boats and there was no time left to switch. Thanks Penair them sorry FKS. That evening the winds shifted 180 degrees and all the camps were now up wind and a 2 day blow of wind and rain ensued. Some of our best locations were ruined after that. The bears were still there. They just didn’t come out of the woods where we were set up in range. The 2 bear only hunters saw and could have shot bears, they just didn’t see the size bear they wanted. The first 2 days of rain had opened up the back river channels but we were back to low water and no rain after that. Eventually we had to forgo the back channels or walk them from the main river. That didn’t help. The moose & bear combo guys both shot at bears. One guy was a pistol hunter and he missed a bear twice at 44 yards. The bear jumped in the river, grabbed a fish, and stood on the bank fish in mouth. The hunter shot and the bear jumped into the willows. 2 minutes later he came out looking for the fish he dropped. The hunter shot again and missed again. And 5 minutes before that; a big bear was walking our side of the bank 35 yards away behind one over hanging bush. We were laying on the bank next to the water. When I leaned back and pointed to the bear; the hunter looked past the bush and saw the other bear 250 yards down stream. He moved around getting settled for that far off bear and spooked the one that was going to walk right by us. Later on he hunted his moose kill site which was being hit by a decent size bear. The problem was there was no way we could approach the kill site on our quiet trail with out getting busted by the wind. The bear was coming in after dark and leaving when we would walk in the morning. We probably could have gotten him sooner or later but we ran out of time.

The other hunter saw several bears including one that was at the bottom of the tree stand ladder looking up at him. At another tree stand he shot at a monster. The bear had come out where we figured and was fishing in the right spot. He came out of the water and was climbing the steep cut bank after catching the second fish and the hunter shot. Missed? Could not find any sign. The hunter killed his moose the last day of his hunt so we could not hunt his kill.

Our last bear hunter flew in to a spike camp Sept. 23. He was a day late getting there. By the time he showed up we had seen several bears from camp. With in and hour and a half of his arrival we saw a nice big one 400 yards from camp feeding along a creek. He could not pursue the bear because you can’t hunt same day airborne. The first hunting day turned up nothing of great interest but we did get some snow squalls and fresh tracking snow. The second day he shot a 7-1/2 footer at 100 yards and only 400 yards from camp. He was afraid to wait for a bigger one and risk not getting one. It was his money and his decision. It worked for him.

Conclusion. 2010 is another pink salmon run year like 2008. It should be excellent bear hunting early and late in the season. The Board of Game has opened the season earlier and they want us to kill bears; of all legal sizes. So do the area natives. I have lowered the prices to encourage brown bear hunters. We now have a very cheap base rate with a minimal kill fee not based on size. And the prices are even lower to encourage hunts later in the season. We have been “running out” of bear clients at the end of moose season the last few years. In the past when bear season opened 20 days later we always did excellent. A lot of the bears were out on the open tundra and they were fairly easy to spot and stalk. Plus we had some moose kills to watch. And for 2010 the later hunts are priced even better. Along the river, we are going to have more spike camps near bear hunting tree stands and blinds set up set up for 2010. And ways to approach them when the wind shifts like it did this year. The idea of the nearby spike camp is to be close enough you can hunt before and after daylight with out having to run a boat to get there. The camps are far enough away but close enough to walk to the hunting area. I fully expect the 2010 to be as good or better than the 2008 season and I expect the bear hunters to tag out in the first day or 2.

If you are considering a moose and brown bear combination hunt; look at the prices this way; You can hunt both animals, you are paying for a moose hunt with a kill fee on the bear, or, second animal. So basically the option to add a bear is free and you pay a kill fee if successful. It is not priced as buy a cheap bear hunt and then add a cheap moose kill fee.

2007 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt Results

We had no 2007 Spring brown bear hunters, but the 4 Fall hunters took 3 moose and 2 brown bears. |

2007 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt Results Narrative

We did not hunt spring Alaska brown bear in 2007. All of the K1 hunters were moose and brown bear combo hunters. We did not have any brown bear hunters at the new non-permit moose hunting area but they did see some dandies while moose hunting. At the K1 camp along the river system in the permit area we had 4 hunters take 3 moose. Two 62" and one 59”. The one unsuccessful hunter got on more moose (moose answered calls) but only got a wolf. We got 2 brown bears. One was 9 foot 6 inches with a 26 1/4 inch skull and the other was 8 foot with a 24 + inch skull. One hunter took his moose the last night and it took us until the next morning to butcher and hang the moose and the next day to get it out to camp, so he didn't get to hunt bear except the last night. The other hunter hunted a moose and bear kill site the 16th and the morning of the 17th before leaving camp. A huge bear, as big as the 9' 6" bear, was feeding on the carcass. We heard him fighting with another bear/s while we were working on the midnight moose. I think he killed them about 300 yards from the moose bear kill site. At least the ravens indicated so. We never saw the other big bear. We figured he was nocturnal but it may have been he was on the other kill site and time ran out before we figured it out completely. The night of the 16th he got a huge male wolf, blondish with some black, while sitting at the kill site. No one will ever forget the bears roaring that night. In my 32 years in Alaska hunting brown bear, I never heard anything like it or as loud. And we were 1.2 miles away! -- top

2006 Hunt Results

Spring hunt yielded a 8 footer and a near 9 footer in the Fall.

2005 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt Results

The spring started out early and we were there. The weather was nice and snow conditions decent. We found a den where the brown bear had come out but had not left. We kept an eye on it for about 2 days then found an 8 foot + browny about 4 miles behind the cabin and got him at 175 yards. The next hunter came in and we got on the brown bear that left the den. He was looking for moose and we followed the tracks. We got on the brown bear 3 times. He was over 8 1/2 foot according to the tracks.

The judging and shot time the client needed combined with a snow machine wreck ended the hunt before the bear got dead. The third client arrived and we tried to pick up that brown bear's tracks again and 2 other bears we had seen the night before chasing one another. The wind blew hard from the north for 6 days. The snow got rock hard and the bears were not coming out of the dens, the ones that were out held up in the timber. We saw where 3 bears had dug new dens to wait out the cold. There were no fresh tracks in the rock hard snow. When the weather changed it went from bad to worse. 60-100 MPH winds from the south with lots of rain. The snow crust rotted 6 feet deep making it tough to ride very far or fast. The lake ice shattered making it unsafe and traveling around it through the mountains was marginal even for a good rider. For 2006; I am renting two cabins on some other lakes that should move the whole operation to a more centralized location with better access to more of our guide use areas.

The Fall hunt was much better even if the weather wasn't. This was the first year that we could hunt moose and bear at the same time during the seasons overlap of 6 days. Some of the moose hunters changed to moose and bear. We ended up with 7 moose and 6 bears. On opening day 1 bear was taken from a tree stand at a salmon fishing hole at K1. At the K2 spike camp, 1 brown bear was taken from a tree stand over a moose gut pile. A day or so later we got another bear at K1 from a ground blind at a moose kill. Eventually the King Salmon camp got 2 bears out on the tundra eating berries. K1 got another brown bear on a moose gut pile about the 16th after hunting several mornings and evenings. The rain and high water hurt us hunting the salmon fishing holes by eliminating several good spots. 2 guys should have shot bears but didn't have the patience to wait and sit. 7 moose and 5 bears were taken in an 11 day period. Not bad, considering the wind and rain we had to deal with. I expect the moose + brown bear combination to be the big seller for 2006 and it shows signs of being booked early. -- top

2004 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt Results

5 Spring brown bear hunters took 4 bears. The fall was the worst season ever. 6 hunters total took one bear the first day. The bears seen didn't get shot and the bears shot at didn't get hit. The unique thing about fall 2004 was the extremely low (never been lower) water level. Typically I like dropping water levels during the fall bear season. That keeps the bears on the salmon streams longer. High water will blow the dying fish down river and the bears will go to the open tundra for berries. The combination of record numbers of fish still on the river and the dry summer with fewer berries kept almost all the bears in the brush and timber along the river. We were there and so were they, lots of them. But! They went mostly nocturnal. We had a full moon. BUT! It was going down with the sun. Sunrise and sunset are usually the prime times for bears on fish. With any extra moonlight we can hunt after dark. What if it happens again? I do not think it will happen to this extreme any time soon but if it did we would change tactics sooner. Calling, staying through mid day on the streams and stalking in the brush along with re-locating upland hunters and working the moose kill sites more aggressively. (Which is exactly what we successfully did in 2005). -- top

2003 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt Results

Thanks to the impending war with Iraq, I only booked one spring hunter. The hunter agreed to a new deal for the fall hunt. The hunters that I would normally get in the spring booked for the fall season. Instead of the usual 2-3 fall hunters I had 7 fall hunters. Five of the seven hunters got bears. 3 of the fall hunters were brown bear, moose and caribou combination hunters and they all got bears. 3 bears were taken on the first day including the spring hunter that rebooked for the fall. 2 bears were taken at the K1 jet boat base camp opening day within 1/2 mile from camp. 2 bears were taken at the new KS bear hunting jet boat base camp. The K2 fly in base camp only got 1 bear. That was rare. Usually K2 gets more Alaska brown bears than anywhere else. Of the 2 unsuccessful hunters one elected to leave 3 days early due to a large impending storm. The (last) other hunter arrived just before the storm. He tried hard but the weather never gave him much of a break. You can't find them and shoot them if you can't see them. We had rain, wind and fog practically the whole time. -- top

2002 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt Results

Nine spring hunters took eight brown bears; one 10 foot, three 9 foot, three 8 1/2 - 9 foot, and one 7 1/2 foot. Four hunters shot their brown bears the first day. The one hunter that did not kill a brown bear had plenty of chances to take bears in the 8- 9+ foot range. He had a self-imposed minimum size limit. He chased 2 that got away. Plus, we got three fall brown bears - 8 foot; 8 1/2 foot; and 9 1/2+ foot, with a 27 1/2" skull. -- top

Enjoy our photos of BIG brown bears from spring and fall hunts!!!

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Smokey Don Duncan, Owner, Master Guide #136 and P.H.
Tom O'Connor Registered Guide #1204 and Pilot
Don E. Young Registered Guide #1205
Wayne Gregory A.G., Fishing and Waterfowl Guide
299 Alvin St. Fairbanks AK 99712
Phone: 907-457-8318 Email: apgs@gci.net

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