Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Minimum 'caliber' for Kodiak Brown Bear?

Do you attribute that to arrogance or ignorance?

Ignorant because arrogant perhaps......sometimes?

Sometimes you are a wealth of information!






This just isn't one of those times!

Bob, 10-4 on Phil, he probably has valve grinding compound coursing through his system as cholesterol scrubbers.

I can relate heavily to the shrinking rifle syndrome, it happened to me hunting elk in Wyo as I watch a griz work his way up another draw next to the one I was sitting atop of, dont remember if I had a 338 or 375 that day, regardless, it looked like a watergun lying across my lap as I watched death at work.

If heard and read a few stories like that Klik, I just dont want to believe folks cant get themselves ready, but plainly, some dont, thanks for the info nontheless.

Ask a number of African dangerous game PHs�..they will tell you that when their clients arrive in camp is very often the first time they have shot their big bore rifles�.

I know it happens but I just don't "get" it...


Just crazy.

The spectrum of people who 'pay to play' is actually pretty interesting if almost unbelievable at times. There are the walking Cabela's ads on the one end, to the plain speaking flannel shirt-wearing, self-made multimillionaires you'd never guess, to the guys who have every bell and whistle (and probably post really nice targets from the bench) but can't make the simplest shots without fiddling with pods, sticks, or other gimmicks, to the quiet hunter in the plainest of old tattered gear - none of it Bean, Bauer, or Cabelas (who happened to be very wealthy) but wouldn't shoot any of the good bears he was put on because they weren't what he wanted, but he didn't care because he was hunting bears (and he tipped well anyway).

He had to be the kind of client you would like more of.

Wealth is not an indicator of how comfortable a man is within himself, but sometimes the reverse is true.

I assume that�s right.



But I read countless comments and questions from everyday Alaskan resident hunters who go on long float hunts and the like who buy non-flannel fairly expensive raingear, tents (including $2K AO tents), backpacks (KUIU, etc ..), boots ($$$), scopes, binos, spotting scopes , etc � I�m talking about ordinary Alaskans who hunt a lot so they sometimes spend a little to get above-average gear of certain types.

But no hunter from the lower-48 who has ever bought any decent type of rain gear or tent (often also for hunting everywhere) and who has to �pay to play� (because of AK regs) to hunt AK BB probably has ever shown any competency at all as a hunter or even a human being at all, right?

Just because a person hires a guide (mandated by law) so he can hunt BB, doesn�t mean that he�s necessarily an idiot or someone who doesn�t prepare like the devil for such a hunt. It�s nice to ridicule, but there actually are a lot (if not a majority) of really competent hunters and people generally down here--even if they occasionally wear a non-flannel synthetic shirt.

Anyone who shows up with a rifle only bore-sighted to (as stated above) a deer camp, or to a bear camp or whatever, isn�t likely to do well whether their carrying a .17 or a .677. or whatever.

I had futilely dreamed of hunting BB since I was a little kid, when hunting such dangerous creatures as squirrels and ducks. Getting my first deer on my own as a teenager was one of my favorite memories. Later I joined the Marines and, only about five weeks later spent 2-1/2 weeks doing NOTHING but shooting. We spent around ten hours a day doing nothing but dry-firing and live shooting all day every day. That was the fun part, forgetting all the tortuous things they put us through just to try prove we could not handle it for 13 weeks (depriving us of food and sleep for days at a time while making us work all day and hump 15 miles at night), then four weeks of the same at MCT, and then more later. I shortly then ended up in a shooting war in Kuwait where people were actually shooting back at us. I only point this out because I wonder where this arrogance from people from certain backgrounds comes from again, essentially, condemning anyone who hires a guide in AK�if they own a decent pair of hip waders. Some people aren�t complete pansy fools just because they do so.

Anyone from outside of AK who can hunt BB necessarily has to pay for it--by law. Just because someone does so doesn�t mean that they are a complete pansy idiot, even if they buy a decent pair of boots or a decent rain jacket. You�re forgetting that in your �unbelievable� range of the spectrum. Before my last hunt, which was a BIG deal to me, I spent hundreds of hours and considerable funds on practicing with my rifle and martialing my gear. My 1-1 guide was amazed at how I would help with everything. When it was time to put up a tent, I was working to help. When we had to portage around some downed trees, I was working my ass off, when I could have been sitting on my ass. Point is that I am not the caricature of the hapless �pay to play� hunter you describe. More importantly, many, many others aren�t either. Sure, there are guys who show up with bore-sighted rifles of whatever caliber�big or small, and who stupidly �fiddle� with gadgets and can�t hit the side of a barn if they see some fur. But there are many who come prepared and have experiences, some of which, even if in other ways, rival you own bravery in confronting dangerous experiences.

The Mark V stock is renowned for reducing felt recoil. Believe it or not, it works for me. Add great recoil pad. Most importantly, when practicing, add a good SHOULDER PAD!!!!! I know countless people who have, shockingly tried that, and found it really, really helps. You can even add temporary, removable weight to the rifle (e.g. 1-lb bipod) when shooting for long range sessions. Even further reduces felt recoil. With all that, you can shoot a medium or big bore for hours without complaining. You don�t need to if you don�t want to, and it�s not necessary, but it's not crazy to do so. In the field, you won�t notice that you�re not shooting a .243 when aiming at a deer, elk, caribou, black bear, or brown bear--no matter what you're shooting if you're used to practicing with it.

Shoulder pad! It makes it easy.

Semper Fi there Marine Hawk. Semper Fi...

Alaska isn't the only place they make 'em tough.

BTW, when my son and I were picking up his Washington black bear hide & skull today, the taxidermist showed us an honest-to-gosh 10' brown bear skin... WOW! That's a lot of bear... I need to set aside some more change!

Regards, Guy

Semper fi Guy, and congrats on your son's hunt. You must be proud. Good dad. I took my nine-yr-old son backpacking last August where he made it over eight miles and up well-above treeline, and then we went out hunting last fall; but he didn't get a shot at anything. We are going to work hard to try to get something this year.

Kids are cool.

A .270 Winchester with 150 grain slugs. Of course, if you want up-close-and-personal, an 870 Remington cut back to 20 inches and loaded (unplugged) with alternate buckshot loads and slug loads. But, you can't hardly beat the venerable .30-06 loaded with either 200 grain or 220 grain lead core bullets. I'd opt for the 220 grain, myself.

Just shaking my head and laughing...

Oh, really? Uh huh. Just spent a consecutive 13 weeks among them, after at least four decades of doing the very same thing during the previous 40 springs, or so. But of course, if you think that a .270 Winchester can't handle a coastal Alaska brown bear, that's fine. I won't argue with your choice of heavier caliber. But, I thought we were talking about minimum under ethical fair-chase hunting conditions/situations?

As I stated earlier in the thread my son just killed a brown bear this spring with a 25-06 and 80gr TTSXs... And I killed a pretty fair bear a week earlier on Kodiak but with a 375AI.

I have seen a bunch of them die with little stuff, big stuff and stuff between...

What I am laughing about is the alternating buckshot and slugs in an 870. Having actually shot quite a pile of critters with buckshot I have a fair idea what it does. And I have finished a brown bear with an 870 shooting slugs, too.

This is a LONG way from the first time I have heard of the idea, but the first time I have heard of anyone that actually guided thinking it a good idea, for at least the last several decades.

Buckshot has no place in the alders with a bear... 00 is .33 caliber round balls... how much penetration do you suppose that gives ya?

Congrats. I've whacked Alaska-Yukon moose, Roosevelt elk and all sorts of other Alaskan big game as well as an assortment of other North American big game with a Model 77 in .25-06. Congrats to your son!!! He's quite the marksmen.

Oh, an unplugged 870 Remington loaded with alternate buckshot loads and slug loads when on-site and within the alders and while upon (up0n, mind you) a bear of any type? -- Ask your local Wildlife Protection Troopers what they prefer or ask your local area biologist or, the local wildlife technician who's monitoring the weir count on the nearby stream or, maybe, guys like Joe Klutsch, Scott Miluer, Karl Braendel or maybe even Rod Arno.