Just wondering which one you would pick, if you could only do one - Grizzly in Alaska or Cape Buffalo.

Not a gun writter... but, I've hunted both and as much as I love to hunt Griz, hunting Cape Buffalo far surpassed the grizzly experience. The country is the challenge, usually, when hunting Grizzly. The animal is more the challenge in Cape Buff hunting. Just my humble opinion. In any case, they're both great!

This is not a trick question and there is no right answer but having done, and enjoyed, both I certainly hold a definite opinion

Without a doubt - brown bear (grizzly) in Alaska.

I have no interest in shooting a bovine, regardless of how ill-tempered, as a sporting proposition. Different strokes for different folks.

458Win - I am hoping you are on the Bear side - I would love to hunt bears with you!

That is my opinion as well!

No wrong or right, just personal preference: bears.

I've done both, and very slightly prefer buffalo. This isn't so much because of the animal but because of the country. As much as I love Alaska, it really isn't fundamentally different than much the rest of northern North America, especially many parts of Montana, where I live. Africa is very different in climate, plants and other animals than any part of North America, and the wildlife is vastly more abundant and diverse.

I have done neither and, at this point in my life, probably won't get the chance to hunt either of them. That said, I was trying to book a hunt for Cape Buffalo when the recent recession trashed my retirement funds. Given the chance again, it would be a buff.

I would agree with John...I would love to visit Africa. I've never talked to anyone that has hunted Africa that wasn't ready to go back right away.

I'm sure not saying a grizzly hunt would not be outstanding!

Bear

Grizz for me, I just don't have a desire to go to Africa. Now a trip to AK would be a dream hunt!

Cape buffalo

Hobson's choice. Never hunted Grizzly but it MUST be fascinating. I will tell you though from an overall experience, it's tough to beat an African safari.

I think I would choose buffalo..

Griz....

I just don't have any desire to go to Africa right now.

I would take the bear hunt if it was one or the other.Truth is I would rather hunt New Zealand more than Alaska or Africa.

I used to be really excited for a cape buffalo, but that interest has waned. Maybe it's too much time spent with cattle....I just have little interest in hunting them now. At least not until lots of other game is crossed off the list.

Bear for me.

Yep, it would be bear with Phil for me.

Funny, that was going to be my exact post (well, almost exactly).

The only African animal I truly desire to hunt is Buff. And I could spend my entire life satisfied never having hunted grizzly (or Buffalo for that matter)... but I'd prefer Buffalo.

Never "hunted" grizzly, but I killed one from about 15' or so (in a tree with grizzly below me) in 1960. All together, I'd go for the Cape Buffalo now. Less difficult to hunt, but the adrenalin level is high!

For me it would be one of the giant bears like those that Phil hangs around with

I choose the Buff. The outfitter would offer you many additional animals while you hunted the Buff. You could hunt 8-10 species in just a couple of weeks.
The cost would be pretty close to just the one bear.

Grizzly but it will be on horseback in NE BC. Have done grizzly in BC near Golden. Great trip. Buffalo will come later after I retire and after the BC bear hunt and other more rigorous hunts.

Both would be fantastic of course but I think that I would treaure the trip to Africa more. Ask me again in a couple of years and I might give you a different answer.

Of the two choices presented by the OP, I would choose Cape Buffalo.

However, there are multiple species that I would consider as more worthy of the "Once-In-A-Lifetime" title. Coincidentally, most of those are also found in Africa - Mountain Nyala, Lord Derby Eland, Bongo, and Roan make my list. Marco Polo Sheep and free-range Alpine Ibex would be in the running, as well.

Mr. Barsness hit it right on the noggin! I have done nine African hunts - all a month long - all after the peak hunting season. It was in a bush camp - no running water- no bathrooms - you eat what you shoot, as did the camp personnel - and it was the most unbelievable time I have lived. There were many days when my friend and PH, Terry Roach, and I never took the rifles out of the cases - we lived an entire day at waterholes, sitting on a mountainside - reading poetry out loud and watching elephant walk past us at ten feet. Amazing. My limited bear hunting was good, but not comparable to the time spent in the land where man was born.

Find a great PH, pay him what he is worth, listen, talk, shoot well. You will never remember it all, but twenty years later one moment will come back, a smell, the same feeling of the sun warming your back but now you are standing on a stream with a fly rod in your hand. Rats - now I gotta go look at the bank account. I might have one more trip left in me.

Terry


Terry

Hope you can muster up one more trip Terry ; you made me grin

Well having hunted both, I have no real interest for either anymore, now Sitka Black Tail Deer well that is a whole different ball of wax, to be able to retire to were those live and just hunt those and catch a few Salmon Halibut Ling Cod and rock fish would make for a joyful existence.

Yes?

4xbear,

Well done....

Whale

Hunting North America is way too expensive in comparison to Africa. Given that left leg would probably prelude me from easily traversing rocky beaches or hummocky muskeg, I would vote for buffalo. Pre-injury, I probably would have voted for Grizz.

I've hunted the big bears twice and both times were unforgettable experiences. I would do it again, although for a long time I said I would not.

They pull at you.

But I have not been to Africa and today would go there before another bear hunt,simply for the experience and something very different from North America.

Thank you Sir. How is the knee?

Having seen big bears from the inside numbering fairly well up in double digits, interior and coastal versions, the change to cape buffalo might be a good option...

But there was this time we stumbled into a mess of Sitkalidak Slow Elk (feral bovines) and saw some serious attitudes come to the surface... Thinking they might pass for a good substitute for CB for now.

Besides, I drew a tag for Uganik Bay, Kodiak Island, for this coming spring... Guess I will be forced to use the tag in my pocket before looking elsewhere.

Then again my buddy did kill what may have been the biggest bear in the unit two years ago.

If it was jut a hunt for one animal, it would be griz. If it was a full experience hut like Cape Buffalo and plains game, I would go for the African safari.

Grizzly Bear. For me, the hunting challenge of the terrain and weather are just as important as the trophy itself.

"There's a Grizzly!" Those three words tell it all for me....

Done the Cape Buffalo, haven't done the Griz so can't compare the two. Buffalo would be hard to beat though�.

That said Buffalo don't scare me.


Griz do�...

As others have stated, I have zero interest in bovines. I've always found bears fascinating so would rather have a trophy grizzly if limited to just those two choices.

However, I would take an African Safari just for the experience and photos. Matter of fact, I could be perfectly content with a photo safari without having to shoot a thing.

I don't know if I'd do either. Nothing against them, but if I were going to spend big bucks on a "lifetime" hunt, my first choice might be Arizona / New Mexico reservation elk.

I'd like to go to Alaska but I'm more interested in fly fishing and just roaming around seeing the sights and taking pictures. So far as Alaska hunting, my first choice would probably be Sitka blacktail. Caribou second, maybe.

Africa is much the same. Not sure I'd want to hunt my first trip, just go see the sights, take some pictures, hope to fish (I guess Africa has fish?) a little, and see the place first, then decide what/if I want to hunt.

Tom

4xbear,

The knee is 90%, maybe even a little better. But not being able to do any real hiking this fall put my aerobic condition behind where it normally would be. A stationery bicycle, rowing machine and moderate weights aren't the same as going up and down with a pack and rifle!

Mule Deer, Glad to hear it is getting better. I have a bum knee as well and am trying to get into shape for Pig and Elk this year.

Now back to the question, I would have to go for Buffler, at least one time.

Buffalo. Between Capstick, Ruark and others I've been chomping at the bit for almost 30 years.

Bear is my next big hunt!
Ho Ho ho

i sorta understand the feeling haven worked around cows on my uncles' ranches....course then there is this....keep in mind the female lion prolly wieghs around 300 pounds plus or minus 25...

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EpnERlsfBFc[/video]

Bear for me,rio7

There is nothing I'd rather hunt than brown bear with sheep right behind that. But having just done a plains game hunt in Africa it is an entirely different experience in itself besides the game being pursued. I think every serious hunter should experience Africa, even if it's just driving through Kruger national park.

MD,
Check out your local grocery (refrigerated area)stores for "Cherry Concentrate". Its got a good following for joint type problems. You can do a internet search for it and read up on it. I think there is a little Varget in their too.

Hell I would just want to go Whitetail Deer hunting. I have spent my whole life hunting in Alaska. I guess I hunted Pigeons and squirrels with tomahawks at Harvard but they are small game. Someday, I want to go white tail deer hunting.

Sincerely,
Thomas

Newer reader first time poster...
Kodiak and inland grizz hunts, one Cape hunt... one cape on the wall, no big bears. To me, a geezer, the Cape buffalo is an easier hunt physically and more FUN because there are a lot of other animals at your trigger finger tip. I have hunted and fished in Alaska enough to be looking at that "12th free" trip and love it all. But then, I can sleep on those long plane rides, some can't.
Let's see, sleep on the ground, eat freeze dried food or sleep in a feather bed, eat gourmet food... drink Tang, drink South African wine..... hike 20 miles a day or ride 50 hike two..... do a lot of the hard work yourself or let "the boys" do the hard part..... Why do I like bear hunting so much??.... OK I'll vote CAPE BUFFALO..... Thanks...jmho

I've done the grizz thing w/moderate success and a few lively experiences (have you chased a grizz before? Grin) so I'd have to vote for Cape Buffalo. That said, a brown bear hunt with the likes of Phil, and I'd have to cash out on that buffalo hunt. . The BIG bears are a different ball game.

Bob

I've been around Alaska, never been to Africa.

It's be buff for just that reason.

WELCOME to the 'Campfire', aka 'the fire'. If you don't understand what I mean, in time you will.

Having never hunted either I have always felt a pull to go after a big grizzly.

There are an awful lot of Cape buffalo hunts done from the back of vehicles -- while you actually have to get out on foot and find big bears. And while a buffalo might kill you ---they can't eat you !

Never hunted either. Although, I have been on several African safaris, and been amongst the Cape Buffalo.

Honestly, bovines simply don't interest me. Different strokes for different strokes, however, I honestly don't see the appeal.

I've hunted bears (black) both over bait and using predator calls. Nothing like a bear come running in to a call frothing at the mouth and popping his gums and teeth!

My vote, brown bear.

Laughing!

I find it very reassuring to know that while my remains might be re-packaged as salsa, at least they won't become poop, at least not without the help of an accessory to the 'crime'.

Done a cape buff, but not the bear. But because I love Africa, the buff gets the nod.

Gotta say though, for the price of either hunt, if you want a once in a lifetime, adrenelin charged hunt, go after a tuskless cow elephant, in the thick jess of Zim. now that'll show ya what yer made of........


maddog

I would pick bears...I would not take an African hunt as a gift as I have no interest at all in hunting Africa.

But should I ever win Lotto I will hunt bears until I am broke once again...I have no idea why but hunting bears pushes all the right buttons for me, possibly because we do not have any big hairy biteys here.

I'm like you JSTUART, bears have an attraction to me that the buff doesn't. But where you and I differ is that if someone offered to send me to Africa, well, we'd talk about bear while trying to run a buff down.

You have more style than I.

while reading you guys i understand more now while im still living in Grizzly country.

this is not Alaska, this is not Brown bear but we love the thrill of being around them and even sometimes hunting them.

all the best.

Phil.

I think the cost could taint opinion. Bear are around double the cost of Buffalo now. Also, for the same outlay, you can get your buff and a half dozed other choices.

Although I like hunting bovines and slamming them with big slugs, I think I would enjoy "hunting" bear more. Sneaking up on animals and enjoying them in their habitat rates very high with me.
John

That is the reason I made mention of "Lotto".

As an additional note, the usual techniques for hunting grizzly/brown bears and Cape buffalo are very different.

The bears are most often glassed from a distance, though other techniques can be used, such as sneaking along salmon streams when the fish are in, checking on the leftovers from fresh moose carcasses, and tracking in snow. I've been on salmon streams when the fish are in, and you can bump into a big bear at any moment, without much warning.

But usually you're glassing for one bear. Brown bear populations are denser, since they're concentrated near the coasts, even when there aren't any salmon running, while interior grizzlies are fewer and farther between, and travel a lot more to find food. In neither case are the bears nearly as abundant as Cape buffalo in good buffalo country, the normal situation with predators versus prey animals. Consequently there's a lot of glassing per bear, especially in interior grizzly hunting. It can even get somewhat boring after several days of looking at the same country (no matter how beautiful) with no bears in it. In fact, somebody once described interior grizzly hunting as "10 days of boredom followed by 10 seconds of terror," partly because even if you spot a bear a long ways away, they can move before you get there, and not be visible until you're really close.

Cape buffalo are usually tracked, though occasionally they can be spotted at a distance and stalked. Once in a while a lone bull is tracked, but usually it's tracking herds, anywhere from 2-3 bulls up to 1000 or more. The best odds occur in the morning, when tracks can be found in the relatively open country where they feed, then followed into the thicker cover where they bed. The bigger the herd, the more eyes and ears are looking for you, and the easier it is to spook the herd. Even when you do manage to get close, you may not be able to pick out a good bull, due to the cover. In REALLY thick cover you may be only feet from a bull, and not be able to get a shot, but the big herds can also be tricky. I've been inside the perimeter of a herd of over 1000, strung out over a mile, and at one point was surrounded on three sides by buffalo within 40-50 yards. There weren't many climbable trees, and if the herd spooked it would have gotten very interesting. As a matter of fact after one such stalk the herd DID spook, maybe 15 minutes after we backed out, due to lions trying for one of the buffalo.

You can get really tired hunting either, in bear hunting due to hiking around uneven country with a pack on your back. With buffalo the exhaustion is usually from heat and thirst, since you don't have to wear nearly as many clothes or carry a pack.

I think the choice will come down to the OP's personal preferences. Personally, I would choose neither. I have always wanted to hunt the Yukon for a giant bull moose. There is just something almost magical to me about a 5 foot wide set of antlers, especially done in a european mount hanging on MY wall.

Good luck with your choice, I sure whichever you choose will make lasting memories.

It's been a number of years now, since I hunted my Alaska Brown Bear. I can say that it was the most physically demanding, and rewarding, hunt of my life. On the ninth day of a nine day hunt, I connected with a B& C, 10'+ monster that today graces my trophy room as a magnificent full body mount.
Hunting a North American apex predator simply has no equal.

I've hunted interior BC grizzlies about 60 days total over the past 4 years with my bow. As JB says, it is tough to find them sometimes....I average seeing about one bear every two hunting days in the spring. Out of that, most are sows with multiple cubs or small bears. There is a lot of glassing and and watching-waiting on a good boar. During those 60 days I had a shear moment of terror with a nice boar called in with a predator call and a couple of darned exciting stalks. No bear rug yet (this year!) I also had grizzlies sniff the backpack tent (on my side) in the Brooks Range on two occasions. That is pure terror to say the least!

Grizzly country in the spring amongst the mountain glaciers and slides that are running makes for fabulous scenery. Black bears are abundant. Moose are frequently seen and wolves are around. It is one of my favorite things to do, even though I am hopefully switching over to fall hunt on a salmon stream my buddy told me about in 2014......most likely solo in a tree stand.

I've seen cape buffalo up close while bow hunting in South Africa (not for buffs). Also observed them in Krueger park when hundreds came to the river an before dark. They are neat and I'd like to hunt them too.

If I could only hunt one in my life I would find it very hard to choose. Since it is your money go with where your heart calls you!

How true!!

Grizzly would be my choice of the two.

Cape Buff for me. My son and I were able to hunt the Selous this year. We were there early in the season so the grass was very high and the vegetation thick. Everyday was wonderful. We would typically find tracks early in the morning and be on Buffalo all day. Getting a shot was difficult, between the dense vegetation and swirling winds. Often times we would have buff in front and on both sides of us, twenty yards away, while we tried to get in position on a good bull the wind would shift or we would be spotted and off they would go. We would then get back on the track and usually repeat the whole thing, sometimes while tracking one group we would run into another and off we would go after them. The hunting was not easy and being so close but not being able to get a shot was sometimes frustrating, but at the same time it was exciting and intense almost all day long. I cannot imagine a more enjoyable hunting experience. It was not at all what you see on TV where they track for a while and then shoot. We often saw plains game while tracking the buff, and twice came across lion and a few times had to work around elephant. Also, from what I see when pricing hunts you can hunt two buff on the same hunt for the cost of a brown bear. Not trying to take anything away from a bear hunt as that as about as good as it gets too. Just wanted to point out that a good buff hunt is quite different that most think and if you can make it happen, go for it. Just know that you will be hooked and spend a lot of time thinking about going back again.

What!!!????? Boring??? How dare you call the study and memorization of every shadow and twig in miles of alder lines boring? Is there anything better than returning time and again to the same unknown piece of detritus among the endless sea of green, hoping that it has moved itself? Man. Some people!!!

(I'm okay, yes, I am. )

I'd like to hunt both, but would choose to hunt in Alaska for grizzly first.

I have done both multiple times and if you don't already have an idea of which one you would prefer the answer is easy- Buffalo.

If that is you in the picture in your sig with that elk then you probably already have experienced spot and stalk huning- to me the experience is largely the same whether you spot and stalk a nice 6x6 or a bear.

Buffalo on the other hand is so completely different in so many ways from anything we typically do here in North America that it makes a much better once in a lifetime trip.

Lots of people here saying "I have no desire to do this or that" for whatever personal reasons or misconceptions but I went into all of those hunts with an open mind to have fun and build memmories- just as it appears you might and I'll tell you for sure the buffalo hunt built more memories with something exciting and different happening everyday, dodging elephants today, saw a spitting cobra yesterday and a black mamba today, there"s a 4 ft moniter lizard, lions roaring in the night tonight, that spider under my bed is the size of my fist, "hmmm that crocodile is stalking me while I fish for tigerfish- thats creepy", etc....All of these are buffalo hunt memories for me..

My bear hunting memories... holy [bleep] its cold, holy [bleep] its wet, holy [bleep] there's a bear, and then holy [bleep] its cold again, repeat...

And personally I'd pay more attention to the guys posting that have done both rather than one (or neither) of these hunts....

I don't think it's a comparable choice. Try comparing lion or elephant hunting with Alaska brown bear hunting.

To me, buffalo hunting is pretty simple. You walk around in the hot sun, following the PH and trackers for 5 or 6 days and then shoot a big cow. Never hunted bear--or even wanted to. I prefer good meals, sleeping on beds, and people washing my clothes every day.

Klik,

Laughin'!

On my first Alaskan bear hunt I got lucky (though not with bears). Spent most of it on a big hill in the middle of a wide valley. It was spring so the ptarmigan were mating, the males displaying and clucking around the willows surrounding the bottom of the hill, and once or twice each day a pale gyrfalcon would cruise around the hill, looking to pick one off. Since we were on top, we looked down on the falcon and the ptarmigan.

That was the most consistent action. One day we saw a small herd of caribou pass by, a long ways off, and another day we saw a traveling wolverine, also a long ways off. About 2/3 of the way through the hunt we saw a female bear and her previous year's cub come out of their den on a snowy mountainside about a mile away. And that was that.

Buff but that was a hard decision.

Simply comparing the likelyhood of seeing animals when hunting those that live in herds with those that live solitary lives in vast areas of wilderness is naturally going to different.
To paraphrase Ferris Buehler "if you have the means, I highly suggest both"

Yep!

As I mentioned earlier, predators are naturally much less common than prey. It's a simple biological principle. In good buffalo country you'll often see far more buffalo in a day than you'll see big bears in 10-day hunt.

The trick in either instance is seeing the right one--but the odds favor buffalo hunting, especially over interior grizzly hunting. I read somewhere that the average success rate on interior Alaskan grizzlies is about 50% (which matches my limited experience on two hunts), while in buffalo hunting it's close to 100%--and maybe over, since some places allow more than one to be taken. In fact, I don't know anybody who's gone buffalo hunting and not gotten a good bull.

Uuhh....yeah! Anybody who wants to can force me to go on either one and I would not be complaining either way!

Either one is the pinnacle of "it's all good".

Rabbits is best...

Schrapnel did you shoot that one on the way to the range?

....must have lived near a nuclear power plant..

.....in New Jersey

The Mighty Wabbit that ate Ocean City!
Saved by Schrapnel on the way to the range!

I would like to take this thread in a slightly different tangent as a lot of folks mentioned that buffalo hunts are less expensive than grizzly hunts - and then go on to compare the cheapest SA or Zim buffalo hunts with the top Kodiak and Peninsula brown bear hunts.
I know some good young Alaskan outfitters who's prices for grizzly hunts are less than any recent buffalo hunts anywhere in Africa and would like to hear from someone with experience what the total cost of a buffalo hunt in Tanzania with some of the top outfitters like Robin Hurt would be ?

Phil:

That would be interesting to know. I would wager that the best East African cape buffalo hunts with World famous celebrity-like professional hunters are more expensive than the lower priced interior mountain grizzly hunts. I'm sure they'd be more expensive than my mountain grizzly hunts, anyway. It would be interesting to know what a East African buffalo hunt with on of the celebrity PH's is selling at.

Maverick

I've been on a couple of higher-dollar buffalo hunts, one in 2002 and one in 2011. The first was a 10-day hunt in Botswana's Okavango Delta (which is no longer possible) and included 5 head of plains game (kudu, tsessebe, warthog, impala, red lechwe). The cost of the hunt at that time was around $30,000.

The second was in the Selous Reserve in Tanzania in 2011. Could have taken more than one buffalo but didn't, as the one I killed was the biggest I saw. Also took impala, zebra, Lichtenstein's hartebeest and blue wildebeest. The price was in the same ballpark at the Botswana hunt.

From what I understand the prices for northern Tanzania buffalo hunts are higher, as the buffalo there are along the biggest on the continent.

In both instances, there were cheaper places to hunt buffalo, but from what I've been told by the PH's involved (most of whom were from Zimbabwe) Botswana and Tanzania are considered the "wildest" parts of wild Africa available for guided safari hunts--and all said they would rather guide in those countries than anywhere else.

It's too bad the Okavango (and other public portions of Botswana) are now off-limits to hunters, as it was indeed a magnificent experience. When I hunt in Africa I usually also spend some time at one of the great game parks, to see and photograph the wide variety of big game, smaller mammals and birds, but the Okavango was as magnificent as any park I've visited.

With that much money a guy could do two Alaskan hunts with me [for example; a Dall sheep hunt and then an Alaska/Yukon moose hunt] and would have some money left over to put toward a substantial down payment on a brown bear hunt or a mountain grizzly hunt or mountain goat hunt.

Thirty grand is a lot of money. Those present-day hunts in Tanzania are supposedly the "truest" form, in the sense of what Africa once was. I used to date a linguistics major who, afterward, was stationed in Tanzania. She befriended the daughter of a professional hunter [I've long since forgotten what is name was, though] and according to the tales she used to recite in letters and photographs sent, it seemed to me that Tanzania remained relatively wild.

Yes, it's too bad about Botswana, and Kenya, too. Back in the day, those two countries and Tanzania were the Valhalla of African hunting expedition destinations. Politics ......

Bear first and later Africa hunting.

Don't laugh, I get a lot of pleasure leisurely wandering about shooting rabbits with cannons.

must be a Rhosgobel rabbit

I would have to go Grizz myself. I've often thought that a Grizz/Moose combo hunt would be the [bleep] and may very well do one to celebrate my 50th a couple of years down the road.

Can't fathom a reason to pick Africa over Alaska.

Well, those East African hunts that Mr Mule Deer mentioned do seem interesting. But solely based on the 30K price for the East African affairs and based on the average American citizen's personal economics, I think most Americans would opt for Alaska, rather than Africa. That still doesn't negate the fact that the East African hunts seem to be pretty exciting, in a historical sense.

Most Americans opt for somewhere else in Africa for buffalo, these days usually Zimbabwe or South Africa, where the price can be half as much as in East Africa--and also usually includes some plains game.

Personally, I try to balance Alaska and Africa. Right now Africa is ahead by one trip. But I also like Canada a lot too, and have hunted up there from Quebec to British Columbia as many times as I've been to Africa AND Alaska together--and grizzlies can be hunted in Canada. The coastal bears get pretty big, even though they're not called "brown" bears.

Yeah, the Bella Coola region has always produced some rather nice coastal bears. They seem to be rather dark, just like their brethren in the Panhandle of Alaska.

Many people can/have hunted multiple species in Africa for the same cost of a single specie Alaskan hunt,

My pick? Grizz.

I decided 3 years ago the talking part was over, that fall I was in Ak with Grizz tag in pocket, Only thing that came home was the tag,

I'd do it over again in a heartbeat, Backpacking up a mountainside is what curls my toes,

YMMV.

Yep, I live in the area between the Panhandle and Bella Coola and the bears are typically big and dark on the coast and a bit lighter and smaller inland. Hope to draw a tag either this spring or fall.......

Best wishes on drawing that permit.

The bears in Alaska are similar, in terms of color disparity; typically brown or brownish on the coast and blond or blondish in the interior.

The southeast Alaska bears are rather unique, when compared to other bear populations in Alaska.

I once saw a brown/grizzly near Yakutat that was so black that it looked just like a local black bear. It was an absolutely gorgeous animal.

In 2002 saw a big bear in northern BC, far inland, that was silvertipped black. One of the most beautiful grizzlies I've ever seen.

Mr Mule Deer:

That's awesome!!

We have those types of bear in Alaska, too. Interior bears can range in color from black to white and every shade of blond, in between.

Those black-phase silvertip grizzly bears are super pretty.

Mav

Thanks. We are kind of on the edge of the coastal bears and interior ones, generally when we see a beautiful light golden colored bear it is a sow but that isn't always the case. Almost all bears here whether coastal or more inland have access to fish. Here is my only grizzly so far taken in 2011 a smaller but beautiful sow.

gerrygoat that's a beautiful bear and a great picture as well.

I really hope to be able to do both hunts, but with money, time, health, etc, one never knows so I am trying to prioritize! The idea - "if I could only do one more, what would it be?" helps me decide what to do next.

I am thinking that Grizzly comes before Buffalo, at least at the moment. In reality the first "once in a lifetime" will be a Dall Sheep hunt. I am probably going to add a Grizzly onto that which is an option and see if I get really lucky - but my focus will be on Sheep.

The money part did enter into the my thinking and if prices were equal it would greatly push me toward Bears.

I also care more about the fur(a black with silver tips would be awesome!) than size, so from what has been said above I would lean toward an interior Grizzly.

As colors were mentioned... My first Kodiak bear was a boar just about 8 1/2' and fairly old. The hump was coal black with silver tips in a hard-edged diamond. Around that was a very light ring that grew progressively darker as it moved away. The rump was chocolate brown and all four feet were deep black. The head got darker, but not nearly as dark as the rump and the muzzle was graying.

A previous ADF&G bear biologist literally gasped when he saw it and called it he prettiest bear he had ever seen. I have bumped into him a number of times since and he has mentioned the bear repeatedly as the prettiest Kodiak bear he ever saw.

I have a picture of the life-size mount around here somewhere.

elkcrazy,

It's probably smart to do a bear hunt first--or for that matter, a sheep hunt--as Cape buffalo hunts tend to be easier physically. (On the negative side, wild Africa continues to shrink, due to the rapidly increasing human population.)

That doesn't mean Cape buffalo hunts can't be tough. When I hunted in Tanzania two years ago, one of my companions was in his mid-60's and ended up following a bull around for miles one very hot day, at first to get a shot at a herd, and then to put more bullets into the same buffalo. He became severely dehydrated and heat-stressed, and ended up in bed for three days of an expensive hunt while recovering.

But normally a buffalo hunt requires less physical work than a grizzly/brown bear hunt, making them more possible for older hunters.

Though I doubt I will hunt either of these species due to price, this is the rationale I would use for one over the other. Easier to write another check as you age than run up/down the hills when your older.

And as a very general and broad statement, based on my AK experience, I would say grizzly hunting is less physical than brown bear hunting. Some of the coastal range and places like Kodiak can be brutally tough! I'm sure there are exceptions in both directions, but if can assure you more than one person has been surprised by the ruggedness of coastal areas.

Bob

Sweet!

Nice job bud!

Bob

I hear about guys going days without seeing bears but I think Art and I saw over 40 in the 5 or so days we were in the Kodiak archipelago. Biggest one I saw was a true bruiser and was way up high in the alpine the first day! Too bad I was only deer hunting!


One other way to look at this is where do you live? For me, Alaska is a much shorter plane ride than Africa. I don't like flying (commercial) too much!

elkrazy,

Regardless how you proceed, I wish the best for you.

Personally, there are a lot of game animals in NA that I have not had the pleasure of hunting, or eating. I would like to take an elk and a moose before thinking about anything "mean." I would hate to die not knowing what moose steaks taste like.

And once you find out, you might delay the hunts for "mean" animals even longer.

I have been blessed to take quite a few elk and deer so far. I do love elk meat! And I would love to find out what moose tastes like but I have not been lucky enough to draw a permit out west. Elk hunting has always been my first love (ELK-crazy) as my family well knows. I am thinking that a few times I would like to try something I have only read about.

I have also thought about the trip as well - much easier to get to Alaska - I currently live in IL and the direct flights from Chicago to Anchorage are not bad it appears. There are also no passports, etc required to travel there which is a plus.

I am currently 47 so I am thinking I have 15-20 years to attack the west and Alaska ...

I'd have to vote for Buffalo. After living here for going on 29 years, I have yet to shoot a griz/brown bear. Have had countless opportunities, but just no burning desire to do it. Not to say that I won't. I buy a bear tag with every license "just in case" I see the "right" bear, or have to do DLP.

I'd much rather go on a horseback hunt for elk in some place like the Prophet-Muskwa area in Canada, than I would go bear hunting. That would be my North American dream hunt.

I have every intention of returning to Africa to hunt buffalo. The way things are going I better hurry, before all of the wilder areas become off limits, like Botswana.

Jeff

I want a grizzly hunt up behind my house here. We usually see several while sheep hunting. Up in the alpine, sometimes higher than the sheep. And our weather is usually pretty decent in the fall too.

A wyoming grizzly tag will be my only chance at either species given the cost of Africa or grizzly in Alaska or Canada.

elkrazy,

This may seem odd, but as mentioned earlier I've hunted Alaska and Africa a number of times, an my experience is the travel hassle and expense is close to equal.

Traveling to where you hunt in Alaska usually involves far more than getting to Anchorage. You'll normally have to take at least one more commercial flight to a smaller town's airport, and then yet another flight to camp. Given the price of avgas up there, these won't be cheap. In between you'll probably have to spend at least one night in an expensive hotel, and maybe two. You also have to bring a lot more clothes and other stuff, such as a sleeping bag, meaning extra luggage expenses along the way. Plus, in any Alaskan (or northern Canadian) trip, weather conditions can foul up the schedule completely, which may very well cut into hunting time and/or mean more days in expensive hotels, eating expensive meals. Nothing is cheap in the North.

There's far less luggage involved in an African hunt, in fact its possible to go with just a carry-on and a checked rifle case. Its almost unknown to have weather cause travel or hunting problems. The hassle of dealing with another country is minimized by using a good travel agent, and their services are cheap--as are many accomodations. Some of the wilder buffalo areas may require a charter flight, but in South Africa or Zimbabwe you'll probably be driven to camp by the safari service, directly from the airport where you land. While travel to and from Alaska may involve multiple overnight stays both ways, I've gone to Africa many times with only one overnight anywhere along the round trip.

Getting a brown bear hide and skull back from Alaska is cheaper than getting a Cape buffalo skull and hide back from Africa, though if you go to Africa with a friend or two the shipping expenses can be split. I don't know what it costs to get a buffalo shoulder mount done, but a skull mount (which is what I've done) is a LOT cheaper than a big bear rug.

But John you do have to admit that a big bear skull also makes a pretty impressive trophy and doesn't cost any more than a buffalo skull

OK, now you are being mean!

I'll have to kill my moose with a 7x57 just to prove it isn't a stunt.

Phil,

What you do is cool, and I'm sure you're an interesting guy and all that, but I just do not have any desire to kill one of those big, mean bastards. Carry on though. I'm sure you love what you do, and I'm glad for you, but that big, toothy, bloody, dirty, hairy, fugly skull does nothing but repulse me. Sorry. However, that country behind you is really pretty and I would love to see it in person someday, maybe while moose or caribou hunting.

Phil,

Yeah, I even like my smaller (but whiter!) grizzly skull, which is sitting on the table next to me. And I didn't do a rug, just had the hide tanned.

Big Redhead,

In my experience the 7x57 works on moose!

Great, more for the rest of us.

Oh boy I sure do!

It's an unforgettable,lifetime experience;the animal itself simply blows the doors off any North American ungulate,and you will likely be simultaneously overwhelmed and humbled by the entire affair,especially if you have the chance to observe these fabulous animals in the wild......

I have zero desire to ever step foot on the continent of Africa. Griz for me.

Yep!

Bears, those big bastards in particular, are simply fascinating to watch, not to mention hunt. It's a premier North American experience. Those guys that get "lucky," kill a bear the first day and fly out the next, don't have a clue what they are missing.

Mistah Skane knows!

Grizzly in Alaska

Snake

Here is another hunter with the skull from his spring hunt



As John says, cleaned and whitened they do make an impressive trophy that need no embellishment as to how many feet they supposedly squared.

Me too. I'd be thrilled to death just with the experience or opportunity to hunt Grizzly's in Alaska, let alone to actually kill one.

WOW! If that doesn't get your blood flowing, I don't know what will.

toltec: Agreed.

Cape buffalo, brown bear...it's ALL good.

Of the two, it would have to be grizzly/brown.

That's based on the assumption that they are as intelligent as black bears, which they should be.

I've hunted Africa one day in Senegal and shot a warthog. I was not there for a hunt but my two sons who were residents sponsored a one-day hunt. I had them along with a native tracker. While on the west side of the continent, in two countries, I saw other game and experienced the blistering heat, dryness and near dehydration. We also came across a nest of killer bees! There was also the possibility of encountering forest buffalo or lion. Yet I have no need to return.

On the other hand, bears fascinate me. I have hunted blacks every year for the past 3 decades, sometimes both spring and fall seasons. I've also informally guided friends and family on bear hunts. But I don't personally shoot one every year, on purpose. But I learn more about them every season, or from them, they are extremely intelligent, crafty, cunning and treacherous... yes, in a word - dangerous!

So, it would have to be grizz for me, though I'm content with hunting the crafty black bear.

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

Yeah, I've read the story, hence my post. Like I've said before, humor is not my strong suit.

That's what I said about Africa the first 50 years of my life.......boy was I ever wrong. Now I wouldn't turn down a brown bear/griz hunt, but don't see myself spending $12k+ for one.