Spring 2025 Alaska Brown/Black Bear Hunt

[JMYERS84]

Brown/Grizzly bear has always been my dream hunt. I am fortunate enough to work for two brothers that take me on a big game hunt every year as part of my compensation. Two years ago I convinced them to combine two years worth of hunts into one and go to Alaska on a brown bear hunt with Jake Jefferson. We booked the hunt for the first week of June 2025. I spent the next two years shooting hundreds of rounds through my .300 win mag so that when the time came I didnt screw up the shot because I was not familiar with my gun or pulled the crap out of the trigger and ended up with a wounded or missed bear. May 30th finally came and my one boss and myself flew from Ohio to Anchorage. On the flight from Seattle to Anchorage we flew an amazing display of the northern lights. Once we got to Alaska, Jake said we would be delayed a day getting out due to bad weather. He went ahead and took us to a hotel closer to his plane so he could grab us if we got a weather window. We thought we were going to lose a second day, but around 4pm Jake texted and said be ready in 20 min, we got a window to get out but my boss would have to wait another day. Jake picked me up and we got to his super cub and took off for a bait he was hoping we could get to. It had not been hunted yet and he was hopeful the weather would allow us to get through a mountain pass to the bait. We got to the pass and the sun was actually shining there, so we were good to go. We landed, set up the blind, put out some bait and started hunting. It was minutes before we started seeing black bear. A few hours later, a beautiful brown bear came in. Jake asked me when I booked the hunt and when we started hunting what I was looking for in a bear. I told him that I would shoot a smaller bear with a great hide over a big bear that was rubbed bad and had a poor hide. So when this beautiful bear came in I had a hard time passing it LOL. We agreed to pass this bear being the first few hours of the hunt and based on what he had on camera. That night it absolutely poured rain and the wind was horrible. We went out at 2am to tie the plane down and put rain flys over the blind to keep us dry. The next day the weather was bad and Jake still could not get out and get my boss so he had to spend another day in the hotel, but he didnt mind due to the weather we were experiencing. That day/night we seen several black bears and that same blond, thick coated brown bear. I watched that brown bear chase black bears all night from the bait. It would take off as hard as it could making all kinds of noises going after the black bears. The following day the weather broke in the morning and Jake took off to go get his son and my boss and bring them back to hunt with us. Jake was texting me on the in-reach letting me know that he was on his way back with Hunter (his son) and about that time a really big black bear came in and was circling the bait. I texted Jake and told him I was going to go ahead and shoot this bear. He told me to have at it. I shot the bear and he took off and died down over a small hill right behind the bait. After going and taking a look at him I hear the plane coming so I went back over by the blind to watch them land. After 3 attempts to land in the high winds, I watched as the plane left the valley. Jake took Hunter to another bait and went and got my boss and took him to the same bait as Hunter. My boss just had a black bear tag and was just there to hang out with me more than anything. Jake went back to get more bait and hoping the wind would lay down so he could get back to me that evening. He texted me several times and the wind just got worse so I told him dont even attempt to get in there that night. It was really bad winds so I was on my own that night. I got my black bear skinned out. While doing the skinning I had to keep running another black bear off that kept coming up behind me to check me out. I sat and watched the bait for awhile that night, but since I could not shoot a brown bear without Jake there, I decided I would attempt to sleep that night. I had not slept but a couple of hours for those several days. With 24 hrs daylight I was having a hard time sleeping. I was able to get some sleep late that night/early morning and was woke up by a black bear sticking his head in the blind. After a few minutes I was able to run him off. Jake was able to get back to me that day and asked if I wanted to go to the bait where the other guys were or if I wanted to stay there. I elected to stay where we were. That night we seen a lot of black bears and that same brown bear. That night/following morning, his son seen a really big brown bear at their bait. Jake once again asked if I wanted to go ahead and relocate to that bait since they seen that bear. There was no guarantee that bear would be back and with looking at the pics of the bear he was rubbed really bad, but dang was he big! I decided to stay where we were. That evening Jake got a text from one of his guides that another hunter took a really nice brown bear. A little while later, my boss took a black bear. We had a really big black bear show up at the bait and for hours he kept chasing every bear off that bait. At one time there were 7 total black bear in sight. At 130am I seen another brown bear walking around but after we looked at it, we could tell it was pretty small and had got ran off by the big black bear. Just a few minutes later that brown bear we had seen every day came in and went to the bait. With the weather forecast looking really bad the next two days, I told Jake I was going to go ahead and take this bear. After a few minutes with no shot, the bear took off after a black bear and stopped broadside. I shot the bear, it spun, ran a few yards and was dead within seconds. My dream of taking a thick coated, blond tipped brown/grizzly bear had come true. It was a surreal moment for me. We went out and took a look at my bear. After looking it over and admiring the beautiful bear, we set it up to get pictures when we got a little better light. We took pics a few hours later and had to hurry to skin it, pack everything up and get out of there due to incoming weather. The flight out was windy but smooth. Jake got me back to town and got the other hunter out of his camp with his bear. The weather came in and my boss was stuck out there for another night. I went to the hotel and waited till the next day to meet back up with my boss after Jake got him and his black bear out. I can't say enough about Jake and his hunting operation. First class/top notch! Hopefully I am able to get back up there and hunt with him again some day!!

 

[DMurphy]

Awesome write up and congrats on what sounds like an amazing hunt!

 

[roymunson]

Incredible, dude!

You got some darn good perks where you work.

 

[Revturbo977]

Good looking bears. I’ve been talking to Jake and like what I hear. Not sure if I want to do bait or interior yet so still working that up in my head. Glad you had a great hunt

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Awesome. Y’all hiring?

 

[Orionn]

Great write up, congratulations!

 

[Smtn10pt]

Nice bear and a hell of a deal with your employers!

 

[Hkcoyt]

Great story, nice bear! Good job.