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