Arctic Grizzly
- Thread starter Guy Miner
- Start date
TackDriver284
Handloader
- Feb 13, 2016
- 2,523
- 2,024
Wow guy. Congratulations. That was an, indeed, a hunt of a lifetime. 
lefty315
Handloader
- Sep 29, 2004
- 932
- 413
Guy, you need to hurry home and hit the keyboard. Looking forward to the complete story!
- Thread starter
- #25
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,746
- 5,817
Jamila & all, I've seen so much wildlife and have taken so many photos!
Once I'm home and get the photos sorted, I'll share some. For wildlife in the Arctic:
Caribou were daily visitors. A fox came by now and again. Wolves - saw four, shot one. Ptarmigan were changing color, and quite noisy! Not long before we left, we started seeing large hawks. Marsh Hawks? Ravens. What struck me was that everything was in motion! Bears, wolves, caribou, all moving almost non stop. We saw three grizzly, shot two. Let a beautiful younger one go. Possibly a sow?
Farther south in Yukon & BC, moose, caribou and black bear were common.
It's been quite the trip!
Guy
Once I'm home and get the photos sorted, I'll share some. For wildlife in the Arctic:
Caribou were daily visitors. A fox came by now and again. Wolves - saw four, shot one. Ptarmigan were changing color, and quite noisy! Not long before we left, we started seeing large hawks. Marsh Hawks? Ravens. What struck me was that everything was in motion! Bears, wolves, caribou, all moving almost non stop. We saw three grizzly, shot two. Let a beautiful younger one go. Possibly a sow?
Farther south in Yukon & BC, moose, caribou and black bear were common.
It's been quite the trip!
Guy
A
Anonymous
Guest
Very nice! I'm glad AK was good to you!
hunternyny
Handloader
- Feb 6, 2012
- 362
- 0
Congratulations Guy. I hope to someday hunt one
Did you also see Hodgeman, Cheyenne and Gil? I think Hodgeman and Gil might have been close to you on your travels but Cheyenne would have been a little further north and at this time of year one can not drive to get there.
That 30-06 of yours have gotten a lot of hunting time in recently and it certainly has served you well, congrats again on a fine hunt
Did you also see Hodgeman, Cheyenne and Gil? I think Hodgeman and Gil might have been close to you on your travels but Cheyenne would have been a little further north and at this time of year one can not drive to get there.
That 30-06 of yours have gotten a lot of hunting time in recently and it certainly has served you well, congrats again on a fine hunt
bbearhntr
Handloader
- Apr 10, 2011
- 553
- 0
WOW! Congrats on a beautiful bear and an outstanding trip. I'd love to hunt the Brooks Range someday
Charlie-NY
Handloader
- Mar 11, 2005
- 1,418
- 845
Congratulations - What an awesome bear !!
salmonchaser
Handloader
- Dec 13, 2013
- 4,974
- 4,911
My signal is weak here and I could not get the photo to load. Today I was flying down to Phils hunting area on the south side of Ugasik lake. The photo loaded as we flew over the king Salmon airport. Showed it to my budy who has quite a bit of experience hunting up north as well. He said it was a spectacular bear particularly for that region.
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salmonchaser
Handloader
- Dec 13, 2013
- 4,974
- 4,911
Guy, Phil is quite impressed with your bear, wanted to know if you were hunting with Dave or Eric?
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Congratulations Guy . What a handsome trophy I can't wait to read the entire story and maybe view a few more photos as I know you are very handy with a camera as well :wink:.
Man I would love to be up with you and the good Doctor in Dawson Creek to hear your stories first hand and chew the fat with a couple of great hunting friends :mrgreen:.
Travel safe Guy and again congratulations on a great adventure!!
PS. Hopefully DrMike can get ahold of Gil and the 3 of you can have a meal together :wink:.
If you and DrMike start cooking a meal together and the wind is right Gil will be able to follow the aroma right to DrMike's home :lol:.
Blessings,
Dan
. What a handsome trophy I can't wait to read the entire story and maybe view a few more photos as I know you are very handy with a camera as well :wink:.Man I would love to be up with you and the good Doctor in Dawson Creek to hear your stories first hand and chew the fat with a couple of great hunting friends :mrgreen:.
Travel safe Guy and again congratulations on a great adventure!!
PS. Hopefully DrMike can get ahold of Gil and the 3 of you can have a meal together :wink:.
If you and DrMike start cooking a meal together and the wind is right Gil will be able to follow the aroma right to DrMike's home :lol:.
Blessings,
Dan
Thebear_78
Handloader
- Sep 30, 2004
- 3,090
- 836
Great looking bear!
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- Thread starter
- #40
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,746
- 5,817
Thanks all. I am humbled by this bear. I hoped only to hunt grizzly, in the Arctic. Taking such a bear... It's incredible to me. He's apparently a whopper of an interior bear. And the hide is beautiful. Dark legs and a golden body. He squares a tad over 8' with no stretching and we rough measured his skull at 22.5" - this would be a smallish boar on the Peninsula or on Kodiak I'm told. But in the Arctic, he's apparently a big boy. His size is no reflection on my ability as a hunter. A bear is as big as a bear grows.
I was just fortunate enough to have a good chance at a good bear.
My outfitter was Lyle Becker of Alaska Skookum Guide Service, and Joey Klutsch was guiding me when we got the bear. I have only positive things to say about those two young guides. Hard working and very knowledgeable. Joey is so incredibly enthusiastic when an animal is sighted! And he has sharp eyes. When game was spotted, it was usually Joey who saw it first.
Great hunt. With 24 hour daylight we often glassed until past midnight, but eventually one must rest. I took a wolf after an intense stalk with Lyle. Then the other hunter took a truly beautiful 6.5' grizzly. Then we glassed for three more days in all sorts of weather before we got on my bear.
I am so glad that I was in decent condition for a 61 year old. Am 30 years older than Joey, and when he took off after my bear, I was grinning ear to ear! We ran down the hill, crossed an icy stream in our leather boots, moved briskly across an ice field. I fell once badly banging up my left leg. It still aches. Then we slowed going through the willows and almost ran into the bear at no more than 50 yards.
I have to admit that my marksmanship could have been better. Suspect I was a little excited at my first grizzly, only 40 or 50 yards away. Second shot was a killing shot, dropping him, but he wasn't ready to quit. I was pleased and surprised once the bear was down, that Joey just handed me his .338 to finish the bear instead of waiting for me to reload.
Difficult to type all this on my little phone, but I'm impressed with both the .30 cal 200 gr Nosler Partition and the .338" 225 gr TTSX.
It was truly the hunt of a lifetime for me. Challenging. Rewarding. And in the Arctic!
More later. And yes, I've got a zillion photos.
Regretfully I did not get to see more Nosler Forum members on my trip. Hoping to be home with Mama Miner in a few days and should have more photos to share then.
Regards, Guy
I was just fortunate enough to have a good chance at a good bear.
My outfitter was Lyle Becker of Alaska Skookum Guide Service, and Joey Klutsch was guiding me when we got the bear. I have only positive things to say about those two young guides. Hard working and very knowledgeable. Joey is so incredibly enthusiastic when an animal is sighted! And he has sharp eyes. When game was spotted, it was usually Joey who saw it first.
Great hunt. With 24 hour daylight we often glassed until past midnight, but eventually one must rest. I took a wolf after an intense stalk with Lyle. Then the other hunter took a truly beautiful 6.5' grizzly. Then we glassed for three more days in all sorts of weather before we got on my bear.
I am so glad that I was in decent condition for a 61 year old. Am 30 years older than Joey, and when he took off after my bear, I was grinning ear to ear! We ran down the hill, crossed an icy stream in our leather boots, moved briskly across an ice field. I fell once badly banging up my left leg. It still aches. Then we slowed going through the willows and almost ran into the bear at no more than 50 yards.
I have to admit that my marksmanship could have been better. Suspect I was a little excited at my first grizzly, only 40 or 50 yards away. Second shot was a killing shot, dropping him, but he wasn't ready to quit. I was pleased and surprised once the bear was down, that Joey just handed me his .338 to finish the bear instead of waiting for me to reload.
Difficult to type all this on my little phone, but I'm impressed with both the .30 cal 200 gr Nosler Partition and the .338" 225 gr TTSX.
It was truly the hunt of a lifetime for me. Challenging. Rewarding. And in the Arctic!
More later. And yes, I've got a zillion photos.
Regretfully I did not get to see more Nosler Forum members on my trip. Hoping to be home with Mama Miner in a few days and should have more photos to share then.
Regards, Guy
