Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Hosea Sarber are there any biographies or books about this hunter???

I have a stash of old American Riflemen from the 40's... Sarber wrote a number of articles in them and sounds like a fascinating man... I know he was lost, his boat was found, but his body never recovered.. Just wondered if there are any books about his life and hunting..

Keep searching the internet for this guy. He was the real deal when it came to big bears up close in thick stuff. I personally think poachers did him in, whether commercial fisherman or who ever. But, I have no proof either way other then him being a competent shot and very bear savvy. In spite of all of that, a bear could of got him and dragged him in to the thick stuff.

Back when he was a warden many commercial fishermen considered bears, wolves, seals, belugas, eagles and dolly varden competition and had no qualms about shooting them when they had the chance. Part of this mind set was because of the mismanagement of Alaska's resources during the Territory Days. Many of the species I named had a bounty on them.

I consider him as good as any one who ever lived when it comes to dealing with a pissed off coastal brown bear. Whether he was packing his 30-06 and 220 grain soft points or one of his many .375 H&H rifles. That coastal jungle he roamed for years with the many big beasts inhabiting the area, would test any ones character, skills and bear knowledge. He is an Alaskan legend and was one to "ride the river with".

My father-in-law was a Deputy U.S. Marshall during the Territory Days and spent time in Sitka when he was in the Alaska State Legislature. He spoke of Hosea Barber and many of the things that took place in Alaska with the fish and game. Some of it was down right ugly because of commercial interests.

Damn, I wished I had known Hosea....................

That makes 2 of us.. Thanks for the reply!!

Do you happen to have any information on the rifles he used??? I have an old article on the big .22's he used for shooting seals etc.. He mentioned the 06 and .270 in another, and I have still another when I can find it and it show s some of his fine custom rifles... Thanks..

I just remember my father -in-law saying Sarber was a real bear man an a reputed crack shot. Popping bobbing seal heads out of a skiff is no easy task. The only guys I knew that hunted seals for bounty were Harold Seater and Allen Hennessy. They used a .222 Remington and Hennessy used it on goats, sheep and black bear. Hennessy and Martin Gorrison from Seward live trapped goats with nets and beagles and transported them to Kodiak back in the day. I remember seeing slides of one big billy in the basement of a 4-plex Hennessy owned in Anchorage.

There is an old article on the internet by the "Juneau Empire" about him and he is mentioned in a book I have called "No Room for Bears". He was alleged to have owned nine Mod. 70 .375 H&H rifles along with a bunch of other stuff and felt his hand loads were far superior to factory loads and thought a properly loaded .270 Win and 30-06 were plenty of gun for Alaska.

He also wrote articles for the American Riflemen from 1948 to 1951, which was before my time. His head stone is on the internet and has a rifle and bear head on it, how cool is that! His son is listed as dying in 2015.

Keep looking guys.

Besides the Sharber articles in the NRA magazines, Jay P Williams wrote a fantastic book, Alaskan Adventure, that describes a number of adventures he and Sharber experienced.
Used books are easy to find online and pretty cheap as well

458, Thanks I will check this out...

Great information. Thanks for the suggestion.

Both men also were fans of 1903 Spfld sporters and Jay carried a Wundhammer!

What is this guy's last name? Some say Sarber or Barber or Sharber.

Sarber, I know a few Arizona Sharbers and he certainly wasn't one of them

Ok, thanks.

458, When I was a kid 60 years ago, I read all I could about firearms.. Wundhammer is a name I have long forgotten til you mentioned it..

Was looking for NO ROOM FOR BEARS by Williams... No luck on Amazon, any tips on where to find it??

No Room For Bears was not by Jay Williams.
The book written by Jay P Williams is titled ALASKAN ADVENTURE
It was copyright 1952 and the forward written by Don Martin and preface by Townsend Whelen

Hosea Sarber and Jay Williams worked closely and their stories are great.

I remember reading that Hosea owned a 375 but claimed he had more faith in his 30-06.

Thanks!!!!

WCH, try the website addall.com. I found many copies of No Room For Bears by Frank DuFresne starting at $1.00 and going up to $158.49. Addall.com searches many book finding sites at once. Good luck!

Thank you I will check this out!!!

Adall sucks!

I have spent lots of money there!

I was just re reading Big Game in Alaska by Morgan Sherwood and it has quite a few pages in it about Hosea Sarber.
It is a fairly detailed read that I enjoy, but hardly what most folks call light reading.
I am sure it is still in print
Copyright 1981 Yale University press and available from UAF press in Fairbanks

I just finished Jay P Williams' Alaskan Adventure and it is a great read, thanks Phil.


mike r

I know quite a bit about josea sarber...particular his rifle handloads and the fact he was a tough direct man who was all business with a sharp sense of humor...he guided jack oconnor and elmer Keith and oconnor had tremendous respect for him as a high pressure shooter unexcelled up close with the brownies....col whelen also shot with sarber and stated sarber took more bears than anyone with the possible exception of jay williams...sarber and Williams favored the 30/06 for brownies...sarber in particular was frustrated with the 375 h/h because of a lack of stiff jacketed bullets at the time..elmer Keith appeared to have an outing with sarber as Keith disliked the 30/06 as a bear cartridge with its moderate power being a safety issue....a couple of sarbers handloads :1) 270 win 53 g 4350 160 Barnes bullet 2850 fs
2) 30/06 56g 4350 172 wtcw bullet 2750fs
Charlie
Larc052005yahoo.com

Just finished Alaskan Adventure also. I was able to read it on Kindle for $3.99. Thanks for the book title! Townsend Whelen's plan for an Alaskan Pack Board looks like a cool project though I'm not familiar with using them. Anyone know if something like this is incredibly uncomfortable versus ultra-lite packs available today?

Besides Jack O'Connor and also Townsend Whelen mentioning Hosea Sarber's 172 grain load in his .30-06 on brown bears, Sarber used the .220 Wilson Arrow in 3 Model 70's using Swift barrels rechambered by L.E. Wilson on hair seals, eagles, coyotes, hawks, ravens and grey wolf with a 55 grain load. He had taken a number of black bears with the .220 Wilson Arrow, but says it is inadequate for such game even though "it kills amazingly well on certain shots".

As in Judge Don Martin?

Woven ash pack baskets were the standard for trappers for a very long time. They are miserable to carry, especially if you are a lanky kid. At 14 I was 6'4". Pack boards were no better. Anachronism is strong many hunting and fishing arenas.

Pretty sure it is the same guy he was a friend of Elmer Keith and lived in Idaho in his retirement years..mb

I read somewhere that Hosea had 9 model 70s in .375 H & H. A fascinating man to say the least. I have a couple Rifleman from the 40's that he talks about varmint rifles and one about rifles for Alaska.

Sitka, There is one lightweight old school packboard that might change your mind. The old "Trapper Nelson". A huge success with civilians in AK and the PNW originally, they were also adopted by Canadian Forces and used up into the 60's IIRC. My original was used for over 30 yrs until finally it died...then a master woodworker built me one from scratch using the old one as a pattern...Sitka Spruce and canvas this time, going on 12 years of hard use...and I don't mean just packing meat...many loads of gold bearing high grade quartz ore too, around 70# per load. I have killed 2 aluminum "freighters" and a US Army plywood board, but old Trapper Nelson at almost half the weight survives on. It's worth a look anyway.

People who have BTDT are worth listening to. Even if you disagree.

Bell didn't think much of the 220 Swift on rhino, so I won't try it.

I'm only 6' and 150, but my experience mirrors that of Art, above.

Trapper Nelsons were well known back in those days and a rigid packbasket has to be built to the body that will carry it. I should dig out some 1960s trapping photos with the fiberglass and wood packbaskets my father made.

Would love to see those pictures when you get a chance to post them.