Alaska brown bear hunt

[starbailey]

So I mentioned to a friend of mine that guides a lot in Alaska I wouldn’t mind hunting a brown bear with him at some time. He said some years they tag out fairly quick as they usually only take 2-4 hunters and if I could be available on short notice he could give me a call to come up.  “Sure” I said not thinking much of it at the time.... Well May 12th I get a call from his boss Dan Montgomery of Alaska Trophy Adventures telling me they have just tagged out their two spring bear hunters both with 10+ foot B&C bears and I better get to Port Heiden ASAP! Season runs through the 25th so I figured why not roll the dice.

[KNOPHISH]

Sounds epic, I think you’ll do well with those guys.

[Skyvalhunter]

Go for it. My Kodiak hunt was similar in that the outfitter my friend guides for told my friend he had a cancellation. So I got a 16k hunt for 11k. My hunt was a fall hunt. I Have never been
thrilled about bear hunting per se but figured it was a once in a lifetime hunt for me so why not. It was a great time and I was able to take a deer also. I think you should do it if can get the time.

[redi]

Well how was the hunt?

[starbailey]

I haven’t been a big “bear” guy since the baiting ban started but I knew it would be a great time hanging with a couple friends for a week or so.
4 days later I was landing in Port Heiden with an Alaskan brown bear tag in my pocket. Dan informed me they had seen several “good” bears but we needed to wait for the wind to be right to hunt them. I told him I was just after a good bore hopefully not rubbed. 1 1/2 day later with a wind change I flew out to the first camp on the Bearing Sea coast.
 With 20-25 mph winds & rain for 3 days it was quite the adventure. We seen 7 bears, 2 fox, 1 wolf & a multitude of whales. We let 1 sow pass at 4-500 yards on hunt day 2. Day 3 we made a 3 mile stalk on a bore & sow. Once we finally got the boar to stand (143yards away) it was obvious I was not going to shoot this bear. To young and horribly rubbed. Hank said those are the type of bears hed let clients shoot if he didn’t want to be a bear guide anymore.

[starbailey]

Sorry about the pics. First time posting from my phone.
Day 4 & wind went bad. ( blowing out to the flats) Dan came in late that evening and moved us to where they had seen a 9 1/2 footer earlier. That night I glasses him up coming out of the willows to feed on the tideland grass flats. Wind was strong & perfect for an AM stalk.
 As in hunting things change as did the wind that night. He was out feeding that morning but he coughs our scent at over a mile and literally was gone! The nose on these beasts are amazing!
We hung out at that camp 2 more days. We seen bear every day but they were just to far out to chase. 5-8 miles of tidal flats & rivers would have been miserable with a full camp as there wouldn’t have been time to get back in 1 day.

[Karl Blanchard]

Tagging. Big bears are so awesome!

[starbailey]

Day 6 and Dan flew in to check on us. We explained we could see 5-7 different bears out on the flats but just couldn’t get to them without a boat.(we tried hiking 2 different times) He had Rick(assistant guide) climb in with him to go back to Port Heiden.
Next morning I was up and glassing at 5am. I just had that feeling today was the day. I caught our 9 1/2 footer sneaking back into the willow brush after a night of feeding. Dang it! Hank and I knew this bear had our number (scent) and it would be worthless going after.
We we’re settling into our second cup of coffee when we heard an outboard motor. Rick & Dan worked all night to get a skiff running and in the water. Game on.
 We packed a few things and climbed into the skiff. Even at high tide the going was slow as we didn’t want to get very far out into the bay as the wind was still blowing 20-25mph crashing waves over the side! Now these are the adventures I love to be part of. I wasn’t to worry as the water never was over a couple feet deep and we did a lot of walking & pulling.

[starbailey]

3 hours and 5 stops later we finally arrived at what we thought was the “island” we had been seeing bears on. I was convinced it was further on the main land but was smart enough to listen to my guides. We pulled the boat up on the sand bar and through out the anchor, grabbed packed and started walking. We only went a couple hundred yards before seeing lots of bear sign. Hank quickly glassed up a couple sleeping in the grass 500 yards away. Our wind was good so we stayed put trying to get a feel for how big they were. After 5-10 min Hank was confident these were 2 outcast (2 year old cubs kicked loose from momma). At the time I was looking further to our right & had mentioned seeing something laying in the grass. We walked a little closer before putting up the spotting scope for a closer look. 1 quick glance & it was obviously a bear.
The wind made getting closer easy and we set up at 159 yards for a closer look. The color was tight for a boar, lots of hair, small ears, he showed a short wide snout. Time to get closer! We set up again at 92 yards! The waiting game...... He rolled on his back several times showing big powerful arms. Hair on him looked perfect with no rubs. His head looked huge in my scope. “You want to get closer?” Hank asked!
Nope close enough for me.

[CementFinisher]

tag 

[bugs n bones]

Bring that skull home in yiur carry on , don’t leave it up there to be done

[Timberstalker]

We need another post!

[jackelope]

I think Plat is helping him write this story.

[pd]

Where did he go?  (The author, not the boar!)

The Big Tease again?  Oh no.

[starbailey]

We yelled at him to get up. Not once , not twice but 3,4 times! He’d lift his head or turn over but really gave two *censored*s of the 3 guys 92 yards away. Finally 2 hours later he rolls over, gets up and starred directly at us and gives “the look.” I’m in the scope and ask Hank if I can shoot yet as he looks huge to me. “Yep, take him!”
First shot hits right in the crease passing through & breaking off side shoulder. Down he goes. I’m thinking is that it? He gets back to his feet so I give him another 180 accubond from the 300 Ultra and that put him on the move. Another a little far back but into the lungs as he turns to leave. At that point he’s slowing down but I give him one more to the back hip and he disappears. Wow! That was cool. I reload and we give each other high fives. We wait a couple minutes but there is no movement from the “ditch” he fell into. We did the walk up poke him in the butt, then poke in the eye. Yes he was done!
What an amazing animal lay before us. I was amazed at his size. His head was huge!  Hank was amazed his hair was so nice. He said he must have just come out of his den as it was probably the second best hair he’s ever seen. Bummer he was piled up in this tidal ditch/creek and there was no getting him out for better pics.

[starbailey]

We’re able to move the 1000-1100 lbs very little for pics. I’ve walked up on several moose and not been overly impressed by their size but I was amazed at the body on this bear. What a tank these things are and the size of his head!
I have to hand it to Hank & Rick on getting him skinned out in that mud hole. We got one side skinned then had to pull his quarters off that side so we could roll him over to do the other.
After 3 hours we had the hide & head off on dry ground. Once we started skinning the head we realized his mouth was all messed up. He must have been in a fight early in life that had broke his lower jaw ripping one lower canine totally out. This resulted in very little wear on his upper canines which were extremely long for a 20+ year old boar.

[starbailey]

A close up on his mouth a few more.

[carpsniperg2]

Beautiful bear man! What a fat head! Thanks for sharing.

[LastLookTaxidermy]

Congratulations! That skull is going to be really neat once it’s cleaned up!

[Timberstalker]

What a behemoth!
So awesome.

[Skyvalhunter]

What kind of shape was the hide in? Was it rubbed much?

[starbailey]

After getting the hide off and head skinned out Hank shoved that whole wet muddy thing into his Barnie’s pack. Rick & I struggled to pick it up so Hank could slide into it for the trudge back to the boat. I had the huge task of packing the skull. The stream crossings were especially tough for Hank as he’d sink up to his knees with 150+ lbs on his back. It didn’t take us long to be able to see the boat and to realize it was high and dry on the sand bar. High tide was still an hour away and it was getting late. Non of us wanted to battle 30-40 mph winds & white caps in the dark so we decided to stay the night. We had came prepared with a tent, sleeping bags, snack food & water. We got the tens set up and had a bite to eat then made a call to Dan letting him know we were successful in taking a bear & were staying the night. 
 The night went quickly and we woke the next morning to a beautiful clear day but the winds were still 30+ mph. Calling Dan he said gusts at Port Heiden were in the 45 mph range so flying was not an option and it would be best to see if they’d die down before attempting the boat.
I figured we’d have a good chance to leave that evening at high tide. I was wrong. The wind continued to blow and our day ended with a couple snickers for dinner and a long night listening to the wind batter the tent.
We woke to the sound of a plane flying over us the next morning. The wind had died down to 20mph at Port Heiden so Dan mad a dash for us. I was the first to jump in and off we went. Dan made 3 more trips for Hank, Rick and the bear. To say I was happy to be off “bear” island is an understatement. The boat & tent were left to retrieve on a calmer day.
After a shower and breakfast we took my bear out to dry as we looked at the skull. The pain he would have been in after getting his jaw broken would have been horrendous. I wasn’t to concerned with the size “score” of him as I was just after a good bear with good hair and to hang out with friends but we put a tape on him anyway. His skull went 27 13/16 and he squared 9’6”. To say he was the smallest bear (the others were 10’1 & 10’3) Alaska Trophy Adventures took this year is a testament of the hard work Dan, Hank & Rick put in to finding the best trophies for their clients. I couldn’t have been happier with the total adventure!

[starbailey]

What kind of shape was the hide in? Was it rubbed much?
[/quote]

Zero rubs! Hank said it was the second best hide he’s seen in 50-60 kills.

[Jpmiller]

Very cool, congrats on a great adventure and great bear

[hunter399]

Looks like a bigin....
Great lookin bear....
Congrats 👌

[Ironhead]

What a tank of a Bear, hard to believe he survived so long with a face like that. Those upper canines are cool. Congrats Bryan.

[Karl Blanchard]

Outstanding!!!! Big congrats! I want one 

[elkrack]

Congrats! Is a full body mount in the works? Those long canines are awesome! 

[hard hunter]

Awesome bear, congrats

[Yakirack]

Sweet indeed! Congrats.

[jackelope]

Holy hell that’s a big bear. Congrats and thanks for sharing!

[Caseyd]

Amazing  new hunt added to the bucket list

[Alchase]

Congratulations on an incredible bear!
Thank you for sharing it with us.

[starbailey]

 Is a full body mount in the works? Those long canines are awesome! 
My wife said no bear mounts in the house so OF COURSE I'm going to life size him!

[Karl Blanchard]

Is a full body mount in the works? Those long canines are awesome! 
My wife said no bear mounts in the house so OF COURSE I'm going to life size him!

 

[Bob33]

Congratulations. That's a beast.

[elkrack]

Is a full body mount in the works? Those long canines are awesome! 
My wife said no bear mounts in the house so OF COURSE I'm going to life size him!

Please record the coming home ceremony 

[pianoman9701]

Best of luck. How exciting!

[bearhunter99]

Congrats on a great bear!  Nothing like walking up to a big brown bear!