Bear hunting in Alaska
 

My Dad want to go bear hunting this fall. Anyone did this on a trip to Alaska? Where? How much? When is the best time? Thank you for your input

Dont know if this is the best site for this activity. Try google instead. Good Luck.

Are you telling me that people are just allowed to shoot bears? I can't imagine this is correct - it's not like the deer where there are so many that they starve in the winter. How can this be allowed?

Just my opinion, of course, but the best way to shoot bears is with a camera and film.

My brothers have been hunting twice in Alaska in September. Cost is very expensive (thousands) as you need to pay for planes to fly you in and out of the bush, cold weather gear, etc. Try Anchorage Daily News (www.adn.com) for more info. Good Luck.

Bear hunting is highly regulated; different rules apply to different areas and, of course, species. Black bear hunting is relatively easier to do because they are more plentiful and wide-ranging; brown (griz) hunting much more difficult due to logistics and license/permit fees. Some areas are lottery-only; others just closed to all but subsistence hunters. Look here and have some aspirin ready for the headache: http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/hunt_...g/huntbear.cfm

I recommend people hunt brownies only with bow and arrow; it gives the bear a chance to get even.

I don't get it. Why would you want to hunt bears? How can this be anyone's idea of fun? JMO

"I recommend people hunt brownies only with bow and arrow"

Hmmmm. Sounds like what we used to do in the Cub Scouts.

:)), Patrick

This is a joke, right?

The only way the bear has a chance to get even is if it has a gun and can shoot back.

No, this is not a joke. Thank you Gardyloo and Clueless for information

Didn't some bear hunters dog shot him while he (the hunter) was posing for a picture? The dog stepped on the shotgun or something. Poetic justice maybe?
It's sort of ironic that most people go to Alaska to view the wildlife and others go to kill it.

The reason some people choose to shoot bears up here(I'm a resident), is because they can. It's maybe not p.c., depending on your views, but it's just like African safaris or any other such endeavor- those with the money and inclination are going to do it. While I don't have a bear hide on my wall, I have friends who do, along with many other animals. Some people trap for their livlihood, some are bear guides, river guides for the salmon, etc. The thing is, you can't just shoot one if you see it, and living here isn't like Yellowstone Park either. Permits are needed, certain areas are open during the year, it's a regulated industry. While some have shot bears in self defense(summertime is normal, when bears and people compete for fish in the rivers), Fish and Game heavily punishes those who break the law. Hope this clarifies some of the ins and outs of bear hunting in Alaska.

FYI there are very few places left in Africa where animals can be legally shot - safaris are for cameras - except for certain exeptions by the government wildlife staff - ie animals that are threatening people etc.

Well if he's a real sportsman he'll put his gun down and wrestle the bear even steven.

Millions of Americans like to go hunting. Personally I don't fancy it, nor do I believe going after high-level carnivores with higher-powered rifles and telescopes constitutes "sport." But I've also spent quite a lot of time in bear country in Alaska, and have experienced bad bear behavior up close and personal. Yogi they ain't. Does that justify random or excessive taking of bears? Hell no. But where do you draw the line? Wrestle bears? Don't shoot ducks unless you can fly alongside them? Catch a halibut at 100 fathoms with your hands?

It's like any industry that uses natural resources IMO - control the bejeezus out of it, and as soon as the resource is threatened, stop the harvest/hunt/extraction/whatever of it until (a) it can regenerate or (b) we have a better conservation plan. At least bears have little bears every year; the same can't be said of arctic oilfields.

Not trying to add to conflict here - but I am curious. When people shoot small animals, birds, etc - it would be easy to haul out dead animal and I can imagine what is done with it after. I have spoken with deer hunters and had my curiousity satisfied as to what you do with deer, how to get it out of woods, etc. Now this has me even more curious - is there anything one can do with a bear except use the skin? How in the world does one get an animal that huge to wherever it needs to go after you shoot it?

(I guess I have way too much time on my hands to be thinking of such things - but I am trying to delay going to work today)

Gail, I have these questions too.
I am getting sick to my stomach thinking about these amazing animals being killed. My husband and I go to Homer every year and at least once each year we fly with Emerald Air Service to Katmai National Park and Preserve to watch bears. I think it should be mandatory for those who plan to kill brown bears to go for a day to observe and learn about them. This is just my opinion but I would like to do everything possible to stop bear hunting in Katmai. Yes, there is hunting in Katmai of the same bears that many of us go to watch. There are some companies, including Bald Mountain, that will fly visitors during the summer to watch bears then they fly hunters to kill them. The same bears we took pictures of.

Reply to NYtraveler, ever been across da Hudson river?

http://ubnj.org/News/News_Docs/bearhunt-03.htm

nkd- check the latest edition of Field and Stream (the one with a big bass on the cover - but doesn't that describe them all? :) ) - there's a story in there about a bear/ram hunt in AK. I only scanned it, but it may have more info.

What's the Hudson River got to do with anything?

There was a big bear hunt controversy recently, in Jersey across the Hudson river fron NY, "NY"traveler. :S-

Yes - but those bears were invading people's backyards and were a threat to children - and in any case they tried wherever possible to relocate them. That's a whole lot different from flying to another part of the country for the express purpose of murdering innocent animals for fun.

I usually try to disagree respectfully on this forum, but this is just disgusting. Hunting is a low activity, and to travel in order to kill a magnificent animal you don't see at home is depraved. Killing for entertainment is depraved.

I'd like to think that somewhere there are bears dens with human hunter heads mounted on the walls.

My mom's had as many as three black bears foraging in her backyard, no problems yet. #-O

I hope the bear wins.

Hey, what an amendment on the right to arm bears.

The article JohnD mentions states that 61 bears we're 'harvested'. "Harvested"? Why didn't it just say killed??
It's like saying a captive dolphin was 'acquired' instead of saying it was captured!

Just like some people (e.g. native americans) consumed venison (deer), the same probably applies to bear.

What's the difference between black bear scat and grizzly bear scat? The grizzly bear's smells of pepper spray and has bear bells in it.

When people pay thousands $$$ to kill bears they do not eat meat. They kill these animals for skin and heads and leave rest of it where it is. But first they take a picture of the dead animal.

I do not believe an animal carcass can be just left in anywhere in NJ.

To Z:

Good try but one of the reason my brothers spent thousands of dollars was to get the meat cut up and flown back home. I thought this was a travel site not a PC debate.

Gail,

I think you are confused as they do not allow hunting in Katmai. You may have used guides, which are hunting guides in other parts of the state but hunting is not allowed in Katmai. Although some nut "bear advocate" and his girlfriend have been killed by bears as they would not listen to Game Management. My brother lives in there and there has never been any problems in Katmai until this nut case thought he could live among the grizzles. Sorry, I don't want to be rude but some of you'll comment when you have no clue.

I have stayed away until now...

Please, if you are really interested in this and other topics raised on this thread read this month's ALASKA Magazine.
Look in the Reader Comments section.

You may also go to alaskamagazine.com and request the article that ran in last months magazine which documents the facts on what you are all attempting to post about.

Hope this helps.

Oaktown Traveler

nkd,

Many of the contributors here who denounce you for hunting also think nothing of getting in a boat and going out to harass whales or dolphins on "watching" excursions. Often these boats hit whales, cut them with props and generally scare the crap out of the animals. I will allow that there is a difference between shooting and the other activity...but not much.

I am not a hunter, but I would be interested in knowing what percentage of hunters who pony up the big dough to go bear hunting actually come back with a dead bear. I'd be willing to wager it is less than 50%. Probably about the same percentage of "whale watching" excursions that injure, frighten or generally disrupt the lives of sea mammals.

Use your camara instead...WHY do you want to kill an animal that has a right to live just as you...to brag about it. It IS possible to enjoy Alaska without killing!!!!

DON'T DO IT!!!!! PLEASE