Success Rate for Brown Bear Hunts
Alaska Private Guide Service
Smokey Don Duncan,
Master Guide #136
Success Rate for Brown Bear Hunts |
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| Brown Bear | Moose | Black Bear | Wolf | Caribou | Dall Sheep | Fishing | Waterfowl | Photography Trips | Snow Adventures | |
2007 Results 2006 Results 2005 Results 2004 Results 2003 Results 2002 Results Brown Bear Trophies
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2007 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt ResultsWe 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 NarrativeWe 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 ResultsSpring hunt yielded a 8 footer and a near 9 footer in the Fall. 2005 Alaska Brown Bear Hunt ResultsThe 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 Results5 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 ResultsThanks 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 ResultsNine 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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| Brown Bear | Moose | Black Bear | Wolf | Caribou | Dall Sheep | Fishing | Waterfowl | Photography Trips | Snow Adventures | |
Smokey Don Duncan, Owner, Master Guide #136 and P.H. All content © 1991-2008 Alaska Private Guide Service |
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