Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Brown Bear Hunt, not as planned...

Isn't 9 yards a long way to have to shoot a bear in a self-defense situation? I'd like to think an experienced guide would have me positioned behind him in a situation like this.

Fuggin paper work blah blah blah.

Some of you dumbshits need to go hunt in an enclosure.

Fred Bear Wept...

"Warning shot" is a fallacy when it comes to bears. They don't mind loud noises. At all. IME. Then you have an empty chamber for a time. Short stroking in all the excitement is not unknown. Or a feed failure. Or needing "just one more round". I don't actively hunt bears, but that doesn't mean one won't hunt me. I want all the marbles I can get, if need be.

It is not unknown for Kodiak (and Afognak?) brown bears to come to the sound of a shot. Deer gut piles (and sometimes the whole deer) are easy meals, courtesy of deer hunters, and the bears have learned.

Trust me, facing down a 3 year old coastal brown bear at 40 feet in the glooming with 2 rounds in a .280, while rather bloody from a hurriedly field-dressed caribou back up on the ridge above makes one wish for a fully loaded magazine. I wasn't going to use one on a "warning shot" then or now. Or the next morning with a fully loaded rifle and the bear on the gut pile 50 yards down the steep slope from the carcass (lightly bear hit).

Cussing the bear out worked both times, as it did not in the OP's post.

On the other hand, "warning shots" can make cervid hunting real sporting.

I agree that it was the guide's responsibility to handle the situation if the client didn't want to to shoot that bear at that moment, but the client did make the decision to shoot. He has a better than average hunt/hunt story/ "trophy" out of it. Apparently happy with both guide and bear, so congratulations to him.

Size does not a trophy make. It is a memento of the hunt. Or should be, and he has a good one.

Several years ago in the Kotzebue airport, I saw a NR hunter who had taken a 2- 3 year old grizzly. He was right pleased with himself, and he had an absolutely gorgeous blue/silvertip pelt. I believe that was the bear's first year alone . Looked to be about twice the size of my 90 lb Lab. Maybe.

That is the prettiest bear hide I have ever seen, by far. I would not have shot it (size among other considerations) , but it was his hunt, his decision, his nickel. On the plus side, the taxidermy fee and space needed for a full body mount were lessened. I have no doubt he considers that small bear to be a real trophy, as he rightfully should.

I've never even seen another silver-tip, but my decision would have been to let it walk, and perhaps live a few more years. Neither decision should be considered wrong or regrettable.

I saw a BEAUTIFUL silver tip in the Alaska Range.
Huge sow with 3 cubs.
Only silver tip I ever saw.

I bet he regrets starting this thread

I'm not seeing the envy that you think that you see.

Every guided hunt that I've paid for have all been great experiences whether I have shot the animal that I imagined that I'd shoot or not. Over 20 years ago, I spent less for a likely comparably priced hunt at today's prices, and I left without a trophy animal. However, the experience was no less gratifying than guided hunts where I brought home "the meat".

I have no need for envy. Maybe envy exists in the eyes of someone who's never experienced enjoyable hunts unless they killed what they thought was worth the price that they paid for the complete experience. Either that, or maybe they've never experienced a paid guided hunt themself..? And in using the term "complete experience", as I used it, it does not mean a guaranteed kill to me.

For me, the hunt is the experience. A trophy animal is icing on the cake. Maybe that is not how you see it, but I can live with that without it affecting my life in any way. That includes no envy at all on my part that some total stranger who knows nothing about me or what I've actually done and experienced in my life reads into my post.

Great post, IMO............

Who was the guide/outfitter?

If the guide had shot the bear as a DLP, could they have continued to hunt for the clients bear?

As I read it, the original post is not primarily complaining about the hunting experience, but questioning how the friend-client should have handled the situation.

And, taking the original post at face value, it seems to me that the guide wasn't 100% forthcoming with his client on who should do the shooting. Sounds like the client, being inexperienced, was a little too trusting of his guide, and the guide took advantage of that. Once the client said he didn't want to shoot that bear, the guide should have stepped up and handled the situation himself without further discussion.

My guess is that the guide didn't feel he could justify shooting the bear since they could have vacated/abandoned camp to the bear, but, he also didn't want it to ravage/damage his camp - so, have the client shoot/tag it.

JMHO

Things don’t always go exactly as we planned them to go but that’s part of the thrill. Nobody is guaranteed that they’ll shoot a 10’+ bear and many times they don’t even get a shot at all so I’d consider your friend lucky, lucky that he got the bear rather than the bear getting him, lucky in that he had a safe trip since Alaska can be unforgiving and indifferent especially when you consider all the variables involved in a brown bear hunt in the wilderness of Alaska but most especially he’s lucky that he had a great time and made priceless memories 👍.

As far as expenses go....Nobody is guaranteed a 10’ bear and many hunters go home empty handed. If it was the hide of a big bear that he was after and wanted to be guaranteed a big bear he should’ve just bought a hide. The Alaska fish and game department auctions the hides of animals that they’ve “confiscated” so that would be his best chance at getting a hide big enough for bragging rights. 😉

Ultimately the decision to shoot or not shoot that bear was squarely on your friend’s shoulders. If he didn’t shoot the bear and it kept coming (not a fake charge like MANY close encounters are) then it would be the guides responsibility, and your friends to some extent, to stop that bear. He chose to shoot it to avoid the hassle and paperwork that a DLP requires.

On the bright side.....your friend had a great time, harvested a brown bear albeit not the one he wanted but a brown bear nonetheless, he had a safe trip, he saw country that few get the privilege of seeing and he made memories that will last him a lifetime. 👍

I do hope that your friend is able to get back up there and harvest the bear that he’s been wanting but if not I’d still consider him lucky to have experienced the “real Alaska”.

He said the guide worked very hard and that he would hunt with him again. I imagine no guide wants to deal with DLP paperwork as it "could" be a poor reflection on his ability but not necessarily, I'm sure he'd like to avoid such matters whenever possible.

It was a really beautiful bear, young but nice coat.

I have no idea what you are talking about, you obviously have not read the entire thread so calling me a fool is a bit out of place

Good post.

I've been pressured by a guide to take game I didn't want. It was a gemsbok with a horn broken off on one side about 8" of the tip missing on one side. We argued back and forth which one to take because I thought there was a bigger one with it. He kept pushing me towards the other. He insisted I shoot the other one and we had spent hours stalking. I should not have had to pay full price for a cull animal. I believe dangerous, damaged, or injured animals are the guides responsibility when possible.

Bb

It was a beautiful bear indeed and I know he is happy to have it, my point being that he ended up shooting a bear that he and his guide had looked over at a few hundred yards and decided that it was not what they were looking for. Suddenly the bear ends up in camp and he shoots it.

AcesNeights, I think you summed it up pretty well...

No, calling you a fool is spot on. You tried to post a topic slanted one way and when you got spanked you tried to twist it another way. You're a fool. Deal with it.

He decided to shoot it and he's happy with it - fine. I'd think that I'd do a ton of mental gymnastics too to convince myself I shot a bear I wouldn't normally after spending 25k to do so. I'd make sure I was "happy" too.

What others (and myself) are saying is he never should have had to shoot the smaller bear. Unknown just where in the 2 weeks this happened but either the bear was a threat or not.

If so - the guide should have handled it. GTFO with the paperwork excuse. If the bear's a threat, the paperwork isn't even on your mind. It's about saving your skins.

If not and the guide simply talked the client into shooting something smaller to "fill his tag" but gave a good story about paperwork and such - I'd never use that guide again. Hard to reconcile "he worked hard" but wouldn't fill out paperwork. Wouldn't or was scared to because things weren't exactly as the story is being told? Someone mentioned it's about 10 minutes to do. Hardly seems onerous.

Wondering if the story was concocted to excuse a small bear the client/guide talked themselves into to make it a "successful" hunt.