Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska My Kodiak Hunt

OK guys here goes and let me first apologize if it's long winded....
I first hunted brown bears on Kodiak in the fall of 2003. It was a grueling 10 day hunt with absolutely the worst possible conditions. 8 of the 10 days were literally fog to the ground! Some days you could not see more than 50 yards let alone glass for distant bears. My Dad was diagnosed with cancer the summer before I left for that hunt and was darn close to deaths door as the hunt quickly approached. I had already paid for the hunt and couldn't back out of it with out substantial loss. I went on the hunt and was preoccupied the entire time thinking about my Dad. It really makes for a long day of hunting when your couped up in a tent because of weather conditions with something like that weighing on your mind. Needless to say I did not kill a bear on that hunt. My Dad passed a month later.
On a positive note it did strengthen my resolve to return to Kodiak. Which I did on April 28th of this year. Kodiak is having a late spring this year and the day I arrived the island had 18" of snow. Fortunately it quickly melted.
I had a day to kill in Kodiak on the 29th so I split a charter for Halibut with a fellow New Jersyian who was booked with another outfitter.
I was set to fly out with Andrews Air service at 11:00 AM Sunday morning. I got to camp after the 30 min flight and walked into the lodge ... Which was busy with a camera man and Larry Csonka filming an episode for "North to Alaska".
Larry was a great guy he and his buddy were packing up to leave. I'm sorry to report that Larry did not get a bear but his buddy killed one. Since you are NOT allowed to fly and hunt on the same day I spent the remainder of the day talking with the outfitter/guide Brian, Larry, his buddy George and the camera man. Interesting to note the camera man was the same guy who did alot of the filming for the Discovery channel show "The Deadliest Catch". Their hunt was over and they reported seeing 31 different bears during their hunt. I was sorry to see them leave because I was really starting to enjoy being around celebrities <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> I checked my gun and was set for the next days hunt.
Talk about a let down :evil: when I awoke Monday morning I was greeted by 50 mph winds and snow. That day was a complete loss as visibility was nil. We beat a hasty path back to the cabin and glassed the surrounding mountains between snow squals from the comfort of the lodge and the wood stove :roll:
The next day was huge improvement as it was only blowing 25 mph and raining. The weather stayed like this for the next 3 days.
The name of the game in Kodiak is to get out on the beaches by skiff and glass the surrounding mountain sides looking for bears and or bear tracks in the snow way up high in the mountains. Many times we were glassing bears at higher elevations than the goats!!!! We saw bears every day and in total I saw 12 different bears. Some sows with cubs, some small boars, some bears severely rubbed, and some bears in such hellacious spots you would not even consider a stalk and needless to say you would never be able to get a bear out from one of these spots. Once a bear is spotted you judge size, hide, and stalkability.
The sixth day found us hiking up a river drainage (visible in the 1st pic) and not more than an hour into the hike we saw a bear up on the mtn. side and quickly assessed that he was a godd boar with a relatively good hide. We set out on our stalk and closed the distance to 260 yds. I crunched down into a prone position and touched one off. The bear showed absolutely no sign of being hit. Brian said you missed. I was dumb founded. The bear charge down hill into some really thick brush and we lost sight of him. 10 seconds after the first shot he re-appeared looking down for his intruder and I touched one off as I held for the point of his right shoulder and the base of his neck. The bear went ballistic (pun intended) and started roaring and ripping up brush. He ducked into some cover where I could see him thrashing about and the guide said shoot him again so I threw one more round into the brush. It turns out my first shot was a perfect heart shot and angled sharply upward and exited 2" from his spine on the same side. The second shot traversed the bear diagonally and lodged just under the hide behind the last rib on the opposite side. A devestating shot!! Here's a pic of that Northfork 250 gr. bullet fired from a 358 Norma Mag @ 2850 fps.

The third hail Mary shot entered and exited the bears right forearm. We waited a half hour and intensely glassed the brush where we thought the bear was. Talk about adrenaline. It was the most exciting thing I have ever done. I am now officially hooked on dangerous game!!!!!!!! It took us about 45 min to get to the bear and I am happy to say we walked up on one very dead bear :shock:


The bear measured 8'10" from tip of his nose to the tip of his tail and his skull was 24 13/16"
I can't say enough about the outfitter. Great lodge, great food, great equipt., quality area... you name it, everything was first rate. For those interested his info can be found here www.ugakbay.com.
I can't wait to go back........

Thanks for reading this long winded and delayed post and the oppurtunity to share it.

WOW, see AlaskaCub NO TIKKA.............

Nice job!

That's a nice bear, .358lover. I saw two fresh bear hides on the dock a few weeks ago that I thought were sea otters at first glance. You have a nice trophy and also had a great experience. Come back and see us when you can. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

A few more pics:

wellll that ain't no sea otter! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks kid0917. I failed to mention weight retention on that North Fork bullet was 248 gr. I couldn't have been happier with it's terminal ballistics.

Nice bear!!
We ran into Larry C. on a moose hunt out of Dillingham. He came out of a float plane, introduced himself, shook my buddies hand, and said,"got any booze"?

From what I hear Larry is always in pain from his football
days.....

Steelhead,you one funny sum bitch.

.358Lover
Great story,posting and bear....Congrats.
If you think bears are addictive,try sheep hunting!

Awesome hunt.. Congradulations

Congrats. Kodiak bear hunting is addicting, that's for sure.

Am suprised noone mentioned what a rubbed rat,that thing is?

Respectfully submitted.................................

It's a very evenly rubbed rat and a 1.5 hr. pack to the skiff. I'll take it. But thanks for noticing there Little Dick....

Respectfully submitted.......................

lol !

I bet that guide would give you your money back to take those pictures off the internet !
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for posting them.

Thanks for sharing a great hunt.

'LOVER,

Wasn't busting your balls,I just don't find shame in accurate portrayals.

Kudos,on finding a nice even rub.........................

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Figured someone would get rubbed and not the right way...met my expectations.

My trouble is,I know what 8'10" looks like and have seen a Bear with hair.

I'm guessing a 2-1/2 yr old,freshly booted outta the litter.

Now that's all fine and dandy,but just tell it like it is............................

Congrats .358 - Very Nice!!!

I think you've got a few more troubles than that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Got some pics of the Kodiak brown bears you've killed?

Sounds like you had a great time, and that's the most important thing. Hard to beat Kodiak anytime, especially with some fishing thrown in for good measure.

Is this the lodge on the north side of the bay, near an area called Saltery Cove? We used to ride our four-wheelers back there and go hunting and fishing. I shot my only Mt Goat on Crown Mountain which is right there too.

I noticed the rubs, and wondered a bit about the size. Did you get the 8' 10" measurement with the bear stretched out like in the picture above? In just my opinion, that would be 'stretching' things a bit too much. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I checked out their website and did have to laugh when I read how they only take 6 people on their boat to insure plenty of 'fighting room.' We all know that unless the vessel is Coast Guard inspected, they are limited by law to 6 people. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I see this all the time in ads for charters up here, it's not limited to just those guys.

Thanks for shaing your pictures and your story.