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Brown Bear Hunts



Our Brown Bear hunts take place in Game Management Units 8(Kodiak Island), 16 and 9. I have been hunting these areas for the past ten seasons and have had excellent success. Spring hunts typically are 15 days, with the hunter arriving the day prior to his hunt and departing the day after. The reason for the Spring hunts being longer than Fall is due to uncertain weather changes, which affect bear movement after leaving their dens. Most Fall hunts are 10 full days. Hunters can take one Brown Bear and one black bear (Except on Kodiak) is included with the Brown Bear hunt and the hunter is welcome to take up to 3 black bears in both areas at a trophy fee of 500.00 each.


Unit 8, Kodiak Island, is an area I just aquired, though I have hunted there multiple years and have taken some great bears. Unlike Units 9 & 16, Unit 8 is on a drawing only basis. Applications are due in December of the prior year for Spring hunts and in May for Fall hunts. If you are interested in applying please contact me as I must enter a Guide/Client contract to the state prior to you applying. This is a great hunt but is not a gimme as many people think Kodiak is. The area is steep ridges all the way down to ocean beaches. You may also take Sitka Blacktails on Fall hunts for a trophy fee of 500.00 each.


Unit 9 is open every other year. It is open during the Spring of even years and the Fall of odd years. This unit consists of the whole Alaska Peninsula from Lake Illiamna down to Cold Bay. We hunt the Northern part of the unit in mountain passes, on salmon streams and saltwater beaches, depending on the time of year. During the Spring unit 9 is open from May 10th-25th and we typically hunt beaches where bears come to mate and passes where bears travel. In the Fall we hunt all of the mentioned areas and specifically target the salmon streams. The fall season for Unit 9 is September 20th to October 20th. During a typical 10 day Fall hunt you can expect to see 8-10 bears with 2-3 being in the 9 foot plus category and the spring is similar with maybe a few more bears being seen with the addition of more sows and cubs.


Unit 16 has a much more liberal season and is open every year from August 10th through May 31st of the following year. The limit is 2 Brown Bears per person in this Unit, though we typically target one trophy bear, we can do 2 bear hunts for a trophy fee on the 2nd Brown Bear. As with Unit 9 you can harvest up to 3 Black Bears and the first is included in your Brown Bear hunt cost and any additional may be take for a 500.00 trophy fee. During a typical 10 day Fall hunt you can expect to see 10-12 bears with 1-2 being in the 9 foot range and a couple around 8-8 ½ foot.


Our Spring hunts in Unit 16 start in April and are done on snowshoes. During this hunt many times we will lodge you on the Kenai Peninsula while I fly and try and find bears leaving their dens. This allows a lot more freedom if we get a couple days of inclememnt weather. In other words you are not stuck in a dome tent. When I find a good bear or two we will fly out the day prior and attempt a stalk the following day (Alaska law does not allow you to hunt the same day airborn on Brown Bears). The hunter will not see that many bears on this hunt as we are typically targeting a specific bear or two. When the weather is nice and bears are moving more we will many times camp in areas that allow for glassing and good ambush points as the bears move from their dens. Many times this hunt is done in river valleys and snowshoes are not required as much for those who are not fond of them!


We hunt the last half of May in Unit 16 on the beaches where bears come to mate. This is a 10 day hunt and is not a physically challenging hunt due to the fact that the area is very flat and 95% of your time will be spent glassing for bears. These hunts are conducted out of tents or one of the small cabins we have access to in our unit.