Brown Bear on AK peninsula

[Wanabe]

I hunted with Alaska Skookum Guides operated by Lyle Becker. lyle guided for a guy named John Peterson I believe and bought his area when John retired (lyle has an area in the Alaska Wildlife Refuge too for moose, caribou and griz). Lyle is a great guy and ran a super camp. i had never hunted brown bears but Lyle was always willing to explain “why” and I couldnt have been happier. On day 3 I killed a 10’ + brownie...officially scored 27 8/16 BC. That was in 16....in 18, one if his clients took a real monster...scored 28 8/16. i also hunted with Lyles operation in the Refuge in 17. i would post bear pic of the brownie, but as a new guy I cant just yet. Will do so later if you want. Lyles area is in Unit 9 on the peninsula.

Congratulations on the bear. They are the king of North America
Hope to see you in hunting camp again in the near future.
I am an assistant guide for Lyle and we take pride in running a camp that is a rewarding experience.

 

[300 win mag]

well many of the guides mentioned are very good.cabot is young and has a great area.phil shoemaker and family need no more accolades,they are the standard.also on the peninsula is phil byrd another excellent choice.lance kronberger is another.there are some great outfits.when i did my brown bear hunt in 1999 i went with aaa alaskan outfitters and brent jones,9'8" boar taken.whatever you decide do your research thoroughly.

 

[buzzy]

Rod Schuh

 

[waterrat]

I'm looking into doing a spring brown bear hunt on the AK peninsula, probably in 2022. I'm considering Joe Klutsch or Brent Jones and looking to see if anyone has hunted with either of these guys? I'm also open to any other guide recommendations if someone had a good experience.
I appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

They are both great outfitters that have great area's and good guides. You can't go wrong! Jim

 

[Lukeandcod]

They are both great outfitters that have great area's and good guides. You can't go wrong! Jim

Thanks for the reply, they both seem like good outfits. I put my plans on hold for a bit but want to get up there in a couple years. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[300 win mag]

more food for thought.bob and mike munsey on kodiak,dick and sam rohrer also kodiak.as stated there are quite a few real top outfitters,research or rock solid known references.i believe for all the good ones you have 2 subpar outfitters.another excellent peninsula guide is henry tiffany.top quality,at one time wildman lake lodge and gary butch king was right at the top.have heard not what they once were,but this is just heresay with no data to back it up.good hunting to all.

 

[Lukeandcod]

Hey guys, I just wanted to post an update. I put my hunt bear hunt planning on hold after Covid hit and the spring of 2020 season got cancelled. I appreciate all the responses and recommendations for various outfitters.

Anyway, this spring I attended the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg and I ran into Lyle Becker at Alaska Skookum Guide Service. I’ve talked to him before at the show and he came recommended to me from a couple guys on here. He told me that he had a cancellation for this spring so I spoke to wife and decided to go for it.

I was greeted by Lyle in King Salmon on the 8th and flew into camp on the 9th where I met my guide Daniel and assistant Austin. On the first day of the hunt we witnessed a large boar chase down a sow with 3 small cubs and kill 2 of those cubs in just a few seconds. It was crazy (but sad) to see that happen. I guess it’s ironic to feel that way when you are on a bear hunt, but I was rooting for the sow and cubs to get away. We tried to make it happen but it got dark on us before we got to the site. We camped overnight on the mountain with only our cold wet clothes to sleep in( I didn’t get much) and very little food. We hoped he would be there the next morning but the fog was so thick we couldn’t see 50 yds. We stuck around until about 1 PM and it hadn’t cleared so we descended back to camp.

We hunted a couple more days and didn’t see anything close. On day 5 we moved to a different glassing point and saw a good boar with a sow. They moved into a big ravine with some really thick cover, we moved in closer but didn’t see them anymore that day. We did see some more bears and I passed on an 8’ish type boar that had some rubs on his coat.
On day 6 we got back to glassing and in the early evening we spotted the same mature boar that had been with the sow, he was standing on a small ridge in the exact same spot as before. This time we knew the lay of the land a little better and moved into a position below where he disappeared back into that same ravine. About 2 hours after first seeing him he came out of the cover and started moving across the mountain and then angled down towards us. We paralleled him and moved to intersect him and almost had a shot at 300 yds but he cut into some thick alders and out of sight. We waited about 10 minutes and I was beginning to worry that he had slipped through the thickets and into the next ravine which would put him out of my range.

Finally I saw him slowly working through the alders and he stopped broadside at 280 yds. I had a solid rest on my pack and felt good about the shot so I pulled the trigger. As I recovered from the recoil I saw him rear up and then fall backwards, followed by a loud whack! He immediately got up and took 2 jumps into a nearby ravine. We both thought the shot was good but we gave him an hour and then went up to see how it looked. I was super happy to see him laying dead in the bottom of the ravine, he’d only traveled about 30 yds. The steep narrow ravine made it tough for good pictures and skinning but we did the best we could . He had a bunch of fresh scars all over his front legs and was missing a big chunk from his elbow. The hide ended up squaring out a 9’4”. We didn’t get a measurement on the skull but I will get that soon.
I used a 338 win mag and was shooting 250 gr Nosler Partitions. The bullet had gone through the back of both front shoulders and was under hide on far side.
I want to say thanks to everyone on here for their input and also put in a recommendation for my outfitter, I was very pleased with every aspect of the hunt.
Ed

 

[gonhunting247]

Great bear, pretty cool congrats

 

[Salmonchaser]

Well done, last spring was tough out there.

 

[Lukeandcod]

Well done, last spring was tough out there.

Thanks, that was this spring, I’m just heading home now. The weather was extremely nice, very surprising!

 

[Smtn10pt]

Awesome man, thats a dream hunt!

 

[Bobcat]

Congratulations Ed!
Nice bear. What kind of mount are you getting?
This is Phil. I was with you in king salmon and then flew to the other camp with Lyle. I had a great hunt with Lyle, saw over 40 bears in 16 days, but didn’t see the right bear. We did a couple stalks. On day 16 we spotted a 8.5 ft ish boar about 1000 yard out. I Hemmed and hawed for several minutes about putting a stalk on him. I finally decided tag soup would be better than an immature bear. I originally said it was a once in a lifetime hunt, but I now have unfinished business in Alaska

 

[Scottf270]

Congratulations Ed!
Nice bear. What kind of mount are you getting?
This is Phil. I was with you in king salmon and then flew to the other camp with Lyle. I had a great hunt with Lyle, saw over 40 bears in 16 days, but didn’t see the right bear. We did a couple stalks. On day 16 we spotted a 8.5 ft ish boar about 1000 yard out. I Hemmed and hawed for several minutes about putting a stalk on him. I finally decided tag soup would be better than an immature bear. I originally said it was a once in a lifetime hunt, but I now have unfinished business in Alaska

Good on you Bobcat. A lot of fellas woulda shot a lesser bear just to fill a tag. It actually costs a guy more to rug or mount the smaller bear and if he intends to hunt again, it necessitates a 4 year wait.
Like your way of thinking and hope you are successful in the future.

 

[AKBorn]

Congrats on a great bear and a great story! You're not on the private messaging system yet, think you need 50 or 100 posts to access it. If you don't mind emailing me at [email protected], I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask.

Michael

 

[Lukeandcod]

Congratulations Ed!
Nice bear. What kind of mount are you getting?
This is Phil. I was with you in king salmon and then flew to the other camp with Lyle. I had a great hunt with Lyle, saw over 40 bears in 16 days, but didn’t see the right bear. We did a couple stalks. On day 16 we spotted a 8.5 ft ish boar about 1000 yard out. I Hemmed and hawed for several minutes about putting a stalk on him. I finally decided tag soup would be better than an immature bear. I originally said it was a once in a lifetime hunt, but I now have unfinished business in Alaska

Thanks Phil! I kept asking about your hunt and I heard that you were seeing some bears just nothing that had you excited. Good call on passing a bear that didn’t meet your expectations, I know you were looking for a big one. I’m glad you are considering another trip, I hope you find a 10’ next time!
I just got my mount back a couple weeks ago, I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Thanks for reaching out and take care.
Ed

 

[Bobcat]

beautiful mount! But it’s not truly authentic, unless there’s some jellybeans in there. Have you gotten his age yet.
Yea, We saw bears every day but most were sows. It seemed like the bears were just starting to get moving when the season ended. I sarcastically joked a lot about 10 plus footers, but realistically was/am looking for a mature boar in the 9 ft or above range. Honestly, I feel so freaking fortunate and savored every moment even though I felt like my eyes were going to bleed from glassing so much.
Let me know if your ever coming through OR.

 

[Lukeandcod]

beautiful mount! But it’s not truly authentic, unless there’s some jellybeans in there. Have you gotten his age yet.
Yea, We saw bears every day but most were sows. It seemed like the bears were just starting to get moving when the season ended. I sarcastically joked a lot about 10 plus footers, but realistically was/am looking for a mature boar in the 9 ft or above range. Honestly, I feel so freaking fortunate and savored every moment even though I felt like my eyes were going to bleed from glassing so much.
Let me know if your ever coming through OR.

Thanks Phil! I’m curious about his age as well, but I haven’t heard anything yet. I know what you mean about all the glassing, we certainly did a bunch of that. It was a really cool experience and I enjoyed seeing all the waterfowl in their breeding colors.
Likewise, look me up if you’re visiting PA.