Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Kodiak Brown Bear HUnt -- First-timer looking for advice

My oldest son has booked a brown bear hunt on Kodiak Island for 2025. We've hunted blacktail deer and sea ducks there, but never the big brownies. He's using an outfitter, so the hunt is all set up. I am sure the outfitter will make recommendations for rifle/caliber combos. Any advice from you guys who've done the hunt? Between us we have a 300 WM and a 300 H&H. Thank you.

cj: what you will primarily find on this site are folks like me who have hunted brownies once, maybe twice and even possibly more. I have done the same and have harvested one brown bear. However, what I'd recommend to you is to communicate with someone who has MANY years experience with those bears which will most likely be an outfitter with that level of experience. The one man I know personally with those credentials is Phil Shoemaker: his site is Grizzly Skins of Alaska. He posts on here occasionally but more on Accurate Reloading forum. Go to his site and take seriously about what he says. I would personally disregard those who say something like "I took my bear with _____ caliber and it worked fine." If you can find an old article by Phil ( I can't remember the name of it) but it was something like Rifles for the Big Bears, you will learn a bunch about your question. I think you can find that article someplace on the net. What you will find from Phil is bullet selection and placement is vital: caliber not so much within reason. But check it out for yourself. Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck.

Great advice!

Either cartridge you have is fine with a good bullet of appropriate weight. I have killed one Kodiak Bear with a 375 Ruger shooting a 270 grains TSX. 25 yard shot. Now I am not Phil Shoemaker so take the above for what's it's worth.

I found my 20 inch barreled Ruger a dream to carry through the alders. Glad I didn't have a 26" barreled rocket launcher.

Anything from a 30/06 on up is fine. More important than the cartridge is the bullet! Use a Nosler partition, Swift, Barnes or other premium bullet. Get in lots of practice and enjoy the hunt!

Don't take a rifle with a 26" barrel.
Don't buy a new rifle unless you put some time on it. 35 Whelen it's the island favorite, followed by 3006, then 338s and 375s. Lots of cartridges work. Use good bullets, not long range bullets.

Your son already has the permit from the state?

Why do you ask stupid [bleep]? Of course not but many areas of kodiak are 100% draw if you are a NR. Pretty easy to plan for the future. FFS…

My suggestion is talk with your guide for his opinion

But if you choose any premium bullet the two calibers you mentioned will work just fine

either gun you have will be fine. bullet selection is most important part.

Your guide will give you all of the information you need for a successful hunt. I hunted bear for 2 of the 3 years I was stationed there. I hunted the road system by myself. I never scored, but bear were killed in the same 4 small areas I was focusing my efforts.

Get quality rain wear!

Bingo. No bergers. Most of the folks I guide with really like the Barnes over others. But as long as its controlled expansion and good penetration it should work.

Calibers are fine. Make sure you can shoot well from quick field positions. Make the first shot perfect or dont' shoot IMHO.

Out of curiosity, who is the outfitter you are booked with ?
Kodiak has a lot of superb and knowledgeable outfitters

Spring or fall hunt?

All excellent comments and questions. I will confirm the time of year and the outfitter.

It will be a spring hunt out of Larsen Bay Lodge.

George Straight did that hunt 3 years ago
Your guide will be Mike Carlson most likely.

+1 to all of this. Phil was quite generous and accommodating with his time in my inquiries.

One thing I can say with great certainty - most folks that haven't been will have all kinds of input.

Son, grandson and I were at Larsen Bay Lodge December 2002, hunting blacktails and sea ducks. We saw George Straight's comments in the guest book. It was a great experience.

In my research for a rifle, I came across the Ruger Alaskan/Guide rifle. I am curious if anyone has experience with that rifle.

I shot my Brown Bear a few years ago out of Illiama in SW Alaska. He wasn't the biggest bear, but he had a beautiful Toklat color hide. I used my .375 RUM with 281 gr Hammer bullets. I have had that rifle for almost 20 years and just used it previously on a couple of African hunts. It has a 26" barrel plus a KDF brake, and I had absolutely no problem carrying it in Alaska. My guide carried a .300 WSM for his back-up rifle.

Entering an alder patch with that rifle would be insane. Obviously, you were leaving that for the guide...

My limited experience- interior grizzly was with a 250 gr. Nosler Partition, my brown bear was with a 300 gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw and my buddy's brownie was with a 260 gr. Nosler Partition. Any good bullet will do.

Ruger designed a winner with the “Alaskan” . Both in 375 and 416 . A lot of guides carry them. Ruger recently built 100 of them in 416 Ruger for the Alaska Profession Hunters Association and I think Arctic Ammo in Wasilla still has a few

My mentor uses one. For the calibers you have I would not buy another rifle. Unless you just want to. Make sure you can handle it and shoot it a lot. I'd rather a guy carry an 06 with barnes than a 375 or 416 they can't handle as well. Just my take.

I used a 35 Whelen on my fall of 2019 Kodiak hunt. I used my loads with the 225g Barmes TSX. My son who lives on the island was acting as my guide and carried a 300 win mag with factory loaded Barnes TSX but I'm not sure of the brand or weight. I shot my bear at 193 yards and it was down after my 2nd shot. First shot hit a bit high due to forgetting the fairly steep downhill angle from my location to the bear with the adrenalin flowing. Rifle is a semi custom Rem 700 wearing a Vortex Razor hd lh 3-15x42.

I’ve never hunted bears in Alaska but I did find a 20” stainless laminate stocked 375 Ruger for my dad before we went to Africa for buffalo a few years ago. It shot extremely well with 270TSX and thumped the H out of his buff. He and the PH’s all thought it was about the easiest carrying rifle they’d ever handled. With that said, I think it would be super cool to put a 200 partition into a big bear with that H&H! I’d also say there’s a big difference in how hard it kicks v a 300 mag. Good luck on your hunt! Hopefully someday I’ll have the same choices to make. Keep us posted please.

I went into the thick stuff after my bear. I hit him right behind the shoulder at 13 yards with a 300g A-Frame out of my 375 H&H with a 24" barrel. Barrel length didn't really matter since you had to push the alders out of your way with one hand while holding your rifle in the other. Found him dead waiting on the blood trail. Best part of the hunt!

Was that bear wounded that you went after him or you went into the thick hunting him?

Yes he was hit perfectly behind the right shoulder. We found the bullet in the hide of the opposite thigh having traversed the lenght of him. He was quartering to me at 13 yards. We were stalking him and we surpised each other. He stood up roared and dissappared into the thick stuff roared for about 3 mins. He was spitting out buckets of blood. You would think a 300g A-Frame at 2550 fps at 13 yards would put him down with one shot but it did only for a second. We waited (at my guide's recommendation) until he stopped making noise then went in after him.

300g A-Frame still weighed 299.5 grains



My bear

Cool. Nice weight retention too. Thats why I shoot barnes and prefer the clients do too. Nothing surprising about 100 % retention if you ever find a bullet.

Waiting. Yes. A good call. I waited probably 1.5 hours before going in after a clients bear that was lung shot this fall. Some hundred yards or more up in the alders in the tunnels and some time getting there crawling slowly I located the bear that just started to stand and turn to come around at me at about 30 feet. I never let that bear get out of the bed fully... I would not allow a client to trail a bear like that.

Nice bear.

Beauty bear and boolit.

Missed it if posted, but what did he square? Skull?

Don't remember the skull he was a nice bear for Upper Togiak Lake squared just under 9' not a monster.

Tks, CO. Nice bear for sure.

Bigger than the average internet 10 footer!

Good bear!

Sent you a PM.

The alders were'nt too thick where I shot my bear, and I'm not good at playing the "what if" game.

.375 H&H with Barnes TTSX

Kodiak 2019

Ah Lance. Just had to screw up the fall season and make it harder to kill big bears. Worse weather and more dangerous flying.. later dates just SUCK. Hopefully we get those dates changed back for the fall hunts. Dang nice bear! Good write up! Congrats.

I know they changed the fall peninsula season dates 5 years ago. The outfitter I know near the Katmai was slamming big bears in 15 and 17 but struggled in 19 and 21. His area got the earlier October dates back and his success on big bears rebounded.

I heard Lance lost Aliulik on Kodiak in the 10 year Federal area evaluation. Heard he is appealing. Rost care to share any other info? Pm is okay if you prefer. I'm just a hunter who likes to stay up on Bear hunting in Alaska.

I lived in Alaska for just 23 years, took 4 bb
Myself and involved in 3? others. In those years many of the units were bear every 4 years or like Kodiak draw only. Never got a truly big one, best just under a honest 9’. Killed him with a 300 win mag, 200 grain nosler paritions, shot him twice cause I didn’t want him to get in the alders , though first hit was certainly fatal given s littlle time, he was headed for cover after scrambling to his feet after being shot thru upper part of heart, got lucky and spined him second shot . He still did s little thrashing around, not going anywhere before fully expiring. Don’t think the whole episode lasted more than a short minute, Other three were , one an interior griz killed with 270 in more or less defense of life and property, sheep hunting in the brooks range, 130 grain nosler partitions , shot total of three times for insurances. Other two smallish costal bb around sub 8’ . My first bears, 375h&h 300gr nosler partitions , pretty routine. Only followed up one wounded bear, a buddy hit a huge bear, 10’8” , 28 9/26” on Kodiak island, with 338 win 250 grain nosler twice before the bear got into an alder patch, we could see all around the patch for the most part, so just waited about 30 minutes before going in , we heard what sounded like a death rattle before, so felt we had a dead bear and in fact the bear had only gone about 30 yards before laying down and dying, still pretty tense for a couple green horns. Those bears are magnificent animals, hard to describe one’s feelings after killing one, absolute awe for sure

I agree 100% Mohall57. A true giant brown bear is the pinnacle of North American big game in my opinion.

Hi Phil. Heading there late October this year. Going with Greg Acord. I have a custom .375 Ruger built by LeRoy Barry (Canyon Creek) Defiance rebel SS Action. Handloaded 300 gr TSX. It will be my first time on Kodiak. Can't wait....

Greg used to guide for Scott Mileur for years. Got his own area 10 years ago. Scott speaks very highly of Greg. You are in good hands and should enjoy a great adventure.

Shot my Bear Fall of 2020 on Kodiak, on the wall as a rug 8 1/2 foot. Used a model 70 stainless classic in a 375 H&H with 300gr Barnes TSX, 74.5 gr of RL 15 and fed 215 primer. After I got him I haven't really taking hunting very serious anymore. It was a phenomenal experience with a damn good friend.

Sako, good choice on rifle and guide. You should have a great hunt

Thanks!!!