Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Bear spears

From Alaska Digital Archives

http://vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg11,3893

http://vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg11,3944

I would like to hear some descriptions of their hunting, but I don't want to do it.

Bruce

In the tanana basin it was the way to kill bear in the 1800,s .the trick was to get the bear to charge and just as he was on you you would raise your wood spear and inpale the bear on it. I would say that 20% fail ratio 80% kill ratio some spears where burned at the tip and others had horn or bone tips.I knew a man from Alatna how would Indian dance with no shirt . He shot a grizz or browie with a 38-55 winchester the bear swatted the lever action out of his hand and it broke in two. The then procided to chew on his head and hold his sholders . He pulled his hunting knife and worked it into the bears ribs killing it. So when he danced he had the huge claw marks on his sholder blades and a third of his scalp was missing also. It was said to have quite a effect on the local girls and he always had a date after the dance this a true story told to me by a family member of the kobuk or alatna river regin

I have a man in the knife making industry who is wanting to book a brown bear hunt with me and he plans on using a thrown spear. I haven't agreed - but it might be interesting.

Yeah, that might turn out interesting....

And then it will lead to the inevitable question: What is the best spear/ head/ shaft to stop a bear charge?!?!?

One held by somebody else...

A spear will probably not over penetrate

I know a guy on the KP that has killed black bears with a spear from a treestand. I saw a video of one of his kills and man was that a devistating kill. I almost felt sorry for the bear as he was rolling around with a huge foot and half slice in his side, nasty!!

I love to look through the digital archives that UAF houses.

My understanding of bear spears is that the biggest contribution of the man was courage. The bear provided the "thrust" for the spear as the butt was planted after the animal was enticed to charge. That would explain the long shaft on spear in the second pic.

Perhaps Phil could be persuaded to guide a spear hunter by that method rather than a thrown spear?

That's the way the Masai tribesmen hunted lion, back in the day...and probably still do.

I have one made by an inupiat elder from Ambler. It has a long bifacial bone point made out of the pelvis bone of a moose. It is made out of spruce and has a stop plate to preventing it from overpenetrating. They would seek about 8 inches of penetration and then hold the bear off with a hook or base that would swivel keeping the bear from getting closer.

There is a wonderful story from the Ahtna Indians from Mentasta lake about Mentasta Sam. I will include it later when I go on my prep period. Right now I am teaching my kiddos.

Sincerely,
Thomas

Guess I'll need a "back-up" spear and I learned a long time ago that you don't throw away your only weapon.

Phil, I'm kind of thinking that your "back up spear" should be chambered in .375 or so...

I have seen hunters who hunted and killed wild hogs in the Florida bush with a heavy spear while in a stand above the hog. It works but a big grizzly would not be so easy and bears can climb or even knock a stand over if it is not set up proper. If the guide backs the hunter up with a large caliber rifle, like a .375H&H he might be A-OK!

The Mentasta Sam story was told to me by Gene Henry and old elder who lived in Dot Lake but traveled between many different places and many different old timers. He passed on this last year at the age of 91 years.

Mentasta Sam was an old man who lived with his wife-Edna. They lived outside of the village. He was over 70 years old and life had been hard on him but he was a tough old bugger. The village leaders felt that Mentasta Sam was a bit out of his mind0 an old kook. He did things the old way. While they had muzzle loaders and 25-20s he used bows and arrows.

He was noted to be a tough mean old man who loved kids but would take a stick to disrespectful young bucks. It was during one of the coldest winters when a problem developed. A Grizzly invaded the village and started killing dogs and tearing into caches. A iceout grizzly is one of the most dangerous critters in the north country. Imagine hungry, in a bad mood and covered with 2 inches of ice over its fur it was one of the creatures that not many people would want to hunt with an old muzzleloader, a bow or to take a spear to it.


Two of the village young toughs decided to heroically kill the grizzlies with an old hudson bay muzzleloader and a 25-20 rifle. They made their way across the lake where the tracks of the grizzly were most common. They saw the grizzly and shot at too far a distance. They wounded the bear and ran off leaving a very mad grizzly. They returned to the village with news that they had wounded the grizzly.


Sam called a village meeting and not only were all of the men afraid of going out after the wounded Grizzly. They sat around the council fire and thought about going to find a white man with a big gun.

Finally Sam got fed up and the next day he headed out accross the lake after the wounded bear. Sam's Wife Edna went with him. He took two spears with him just in case one spear broke. The rest of the village climbed a hill near the lake so they could watch what they thought would be an end to the old devil. They walked all the way across until only the small figure of Sam with his spears was visible near the far side of the lake.

The old man made is across the lake when the wounded large adult sow grizzly covered in ice charged. He was in some small willows when she got to him. He set his bear spear with its hook and plunged the blade into the chest of the bear. It went through the ice and pierced its lung. His set the hook in and pivoted it lunged and growled until it died. During its death throes it broke the moose horn point of his spear*some spears used moose antler for points.

Just as the bear expired, another grizzly jumped out of the brush. Mentasta Sam quickly switched positions and set his other spear that impalled a two year old grizzly. Sam set the hook and the bear was pierced with the spear going all the way through it. The villagers could see the whole thing.

The old man started back across the lake and was about half way across when the villagers could see another grizzly quickly charging across the ice. The old man had dodged fate and had used up all of his luck. They all counted him out The old man made it to a finger of land near him to make his last stand. The bear made it to the finger and all of the villagers were expecting to see the end of this old warrior who was viewed as the crustiest old bugger that any of them had every heard of. The bear was lunging at them when they noticed something in the brush next the old man. Edna who had hidden in the brush had a third spear and she had set it and it plunged into the chest of the last full grown two year old iceout grizzly. She held it firm and fast until the bear breathed its last.

After that no body made fun of old Mentasta Sam who was a mean old man and they sure as heck respected Edna.

Sincerely,
Thomas

Great tale that Thomas.

Thats a great stroy Thomas. Thank you.
Bob

Phil,

Do it, take your 505 and have some fun.

Bear spears for brownies and grizzlies?

Sounds like something the bears might suggest for a little shishkabob!

That's a great story! Thanks for posting that Thomas.

That is indeed an incredible story. Thank you.

Guy