Our Alaska bear hunting trips are all in remote wilderness more than 200 miles from  the closest part of the connected North American road system,.   This is pristine wilderness country, and truly the domain of big coastal brown / grizzly bears.   We have a permit to guide in the largest state park in America, and the wilderness nature of the park is zealously guarded.

You can get an idea how numerous the bears are by the length of the season: brown bear hunting starts on the 10th of September and closes on the 25th of May.  Now bears are in dens much of that time, of course, but it is still the most liberal season in Alaska. 

You can also get an idea how numerous these bears are from our statistics.  Historically our hunters have been 85-100% successful.  And -- these are big bears: we are harvesting bears in the 8 1/2-10 foot range with skull sizes varying from at least 24 inches up to 28 inches or even bigger in some cases.

Spring hunts  

You are most likely going to see at least one large, mature bear during our spring Alaska bear hunting trips.  Why?  It's a fact of bear behavior that boars and then single bears tend to come out of dens first, followed later by sows with cubs.  And, the bears we see have rich, thick coats and massive claws.  They have been using their hides for warmth all winter, and their claws have been growing during the winter and are not so worn by use.

You'll be proud of a bear like this, but you're going to really enjoy just simply being on the hunt, too.  We start out in Dillingham and fly into one of our well equipped cabins using a ski equipped aircraft.  The trip takes you over a still frozen Alaska with large lakes and wide open tundra vistas broken by islands of birch, alder and spruce and overshadowed on the west by by great snowy mountains.

From camp, we take off on snowmobiles, often covering 80 to 100 miles per day.  We can cover more country on a snow machine in five minutes than you or I could walk in a day. We will be looking for tracks, either crossing our line of travel, or through the spotting scopes from high lookout points.  We can see tracks miles away, and once we find them, we follow them with optics until we see a bear, or a bear kill, and then we take off on foot or on snowshoes for the stalk. For the older hunter whose hunting senses are still keen but knees are slowing down, the snowmachines are a real boon.

Mornings can be cold but during the days the temperatures become relatively warm and the bright blue skies and quiet snow covered country will burn sharp, unforgettable memories in your brain.

Fall bear hunting

Fall is the time you can expect to see the most bears, because all of the bears in the country are out and feeding -- not just the big boars and singles.  It is a beautiful time to hunt as we look out over massive, rolling landscapes of brightly multi-colored tundra interspersed with occasional islands of trees.  In the distance are snow-capped peaks.  The air is clear, and we can see bears at great distances.  It is a delightful time to hunt, and a great time to look over many bears.

At this time of year, we'll fly you to a remote tent camp in a Super Cub on "tundra tires."  Typically the bears are off the salmon, and on the berries.  Typically, we will either catch the remaining bears that are still on the salmon streams, or we do a lot of sitting and glassing.    You can expect to see 5-15 bears of all kinds in the fall -- and it is typical to see wolves, moose, wolverine, caribou as well during these hunts. Most of our fall bear hunters are also pursuing moose or caribou.  You will be well satisfied after a hunt like this, with trophies for the wall and in the memory.

About the bears

The bears in this part of Alaska are so large for a couple of reasons.  First, they feed on salmon all summer.  Salmon are rich in nutrients, and these bears eat a lot.  Second, our bears enjoy a relatively mild climate compared to the smaller interior brown/grizzly bears, which means they spend more time out of the den.  It boils down to this: they eat better and they have more time to grow big. 

Our bears are brown bears.  Further from the coast they are called grizzly bears.  Both are closely related, but generally our bears are significantly larger, and most are a dark chocolate color, with some bears blond or Toklat colored, or blond with silver. 

Fair chase bear hunting

While it is legal to spot a bear from the air one day, get up the next morning to go get it, there is a lot more to the hunt than that.  Harvesting an animal in an ethical way is an honorable tradition, and will give you a trophy you can be proud of the rest of your life.   I have made a personal commitment to fair chase, and the trophy you harvest from my camp will be done in the old fashioned way -- spot and stalk.  

Book your hunt now

If these hunts appeal to you, I recommend you call now.  Our hunts tend to fill up even more than a year in advance. I would be happy to talk with you by telephone or communicate via email so you can hear more about these hunts.

Good hunting.....