Finally got my residency so now I can afford to hunt. I'm planning on pursuing both black and brown bears this spring and while I THINK I know the basics but any pointers would be greatly appreciated (not locations!).

I will be hunting various places on the KP, most likely off the trails coming out of the Cooper Landing area, though I may hike up the Swanson River (passed the state park border) since it is just up the road from my house. A friend is taking me in his boat across Skilak in early May. I'm guessing that finding vegitation and doing LOTS of glassing the hillsides as well as looking for tracks along the lake shores and stream beds are the best bet.

Not making this a rifle discussion but I will be using my 30-06 with 200 gr. Partitions or possibly the Ruger #1 .280 with 175 gr. Partititions my dad passed onto me when he died.

Don't get eaten.

Oh and make sure you can outrun your partner.

If you find tracks that means the bear WAS there. Look for the bear not the tracks.
Glassine and spending time in the field is the ticket. Boar bears will be on the move and could show up anywhere at anytime.

Find yourself a nice little valley with lots of tracks. Get to a vantage point and wait. They'll show up. They are habitual Be prepared to hunt right up to dusk.

get close -- shoot straight -- shoot again until it stops moving

I was telling this to a friend just the other day. The only addition I made was once it quite moving, shoot one more time

Skin em high. I like to come down the arm about 1/4 to a 1/3 instead of cutting right down the middle of the arm. This way you get a nice butterfly under, or behind the leg instead of over. Looks much better IMO.

May be a late spring this year generally early May for lakes to be ice free, last several years we were out in April.

I prefer to hunt from lakes in a boat, you have to be there after the lake breaks up and before the birch bloom.

Then glass , glass and glass. Or you can do the same from most of the S facing road side pull outs.

The key is be where you can see and patience. Look for the areas that green up first, or where the food is. For early spring bear. Send me a PM as I will likely be there.

Since you live in Alaska you have probably seen lots of bears already. To me the single hardest thing to do is judge the size of a lone bear at a distance. Been fooled several times. Look at lots of on-line pictures and be patient when glassing/hunting.

Bag a big one! Or a medium one if you plan to eat it.

If you are viewing a bear from a distance one of the first things to look at is the relationship of the head to the body. The biggest bears are boars and their heads appear small compared to the rest of their body.

Movement is another clue. Cubs and young bears tend to move fluidly and often quickly, while old bears, both male and females, tend to move more like old people. The most massive old boars tend to walk ponderously like the many of the memorable Walmart shoppers.

I'd love an open season on fat Walmart shoppers. No limit and OTC tags.

You obviously have never cleaned one...

Haha. No I haven't and I doubt they've cleaned themselves. I'd treat'em with more extreme prejudice than a manged, tick infested coyote.

I doubt even ravens would touch it.

Fall bears and fat Wal-Martin shoppers are the only creatures I ALWAYS wear gloves for!!!

There have been several threads here over the years about skinning bears and where the critical first cuts should be. It makes a difference.

I have no idea what you are describing... but it does not sound right to me.

The hind legs are far more important, IMO, because the excess hide between the legs is simply cut off and thrown away when cut wrong.

I thought you might make a reference to fall bears but know how much respect you have for them (the bears). 😁

Give a fall bear an electric cart and a tattered wife-beater and ID would get tough...

Art, Did you have a thread that you describe how you skin a bear? If so I'd like to read it.

Yeah those electric carts cause enough rubbing to ruin the hide and the naturally produced chafing from growing to gigantic, trophy proportions, doesn't help with hide quality.

I just don't want more than one tattoo of a dolphin jumping over an Asian moon on a hide that I plan to keep.

Since a bears skull never stops growing look at the ears. A young bear will have it's ears sticking straight up. An older bear will have its ears sticking out to the sides.

While I have read that bear skulls never stop growing in my experience with the really old bears is that they often are shrinking around the front of the teeth due to decay eating away the bone. It can amount to well over and inch loss on old bears !

If photobucket hadn't "lost" all my photos I could post photos showing what I am talking about but I have three of them in camp showing how severe the loss can be.

Here's is a link to one from last year where I got some help.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/10715904/1

I still need to post some pictures of rugs skinned to show the difference. There are two examples hanging over the NICS Check area at the local Cabela's.

OlBlue shot a Kodiak that had lost a ton of bone that way.

Thanks!

I appreciate all the help as well as the humor!