My Alaskan Life: Brown Bears..

[AlaskanGuy]

Brown Bears are just something else.. I dont hunt them cuz I dont eat them. they smell terrible, taste worse, and there is just no reason to hunt them unless thhere is a problem bear that needs to be delt with. The coastal brown bears are flat out massive. they are the apex predator and even polar bears bow to them... When they get really big, they know how big they are, and sometimes they feel like they pretty much own the planet. I steer clear of them cuz Frankly, they scare the crap outta me. all of the pictures I am about to show you I took durring my time as a fishing guide in the Cordova area near the copper river. some of the pictures are graphic, so be forewarned. if hunting pictures bother you, its a good time to leave...

this is a springtime picture on the copper river delta. it is mating season, and this boar was King of this area. he had a girlfriend so was not very interested in me.. being springtime, this bear and his girlfriend had virtually no fat on them, but this male had arnold swartabear muscle defination...
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him and his gfriend..

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after one of thier "sessions", if you look close, i think they are smoking cigarettes

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and him in profile with his chewed up ear..
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[AlaskanGuy]

Brown bears are hunted here. they bring a huge price tag for out of state hunters. Dont think for a second that brown bear hunting is like "game ranch" hunting. you go out to the bush, and it is dang dangerous. no trucks to shoot from, no planes, you camp in the bush with the bears, and it is no cake walk.

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these bears brought literally thousands and thousands of dollars into our wildlife management system. and believe me, there is no shortage of bears to hunt.. there are places in SE Alaska that average 1 brown bear per square mile... that is a lot of apex predators..

[AlaskanGuy]

and here are some story bears..
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this bad boy was not happy at all. picture was taken quite a few years ago with my Iphone 2, and I have seen it online, somthe fisherman that were with me must have posted. the bear was fishing and I came drifting in a boat with 3 fisherman I was guiding around a bend in the river, and we came face to face for a few moments. all he did was stare at us as we quickly floated my.. i dont think a single fisherman on that boat so much as took a breath, and all were dead silent, and diddnt move a muscle... lol. still makes me smile to think of how they were puckered at this close encounter.. i did have my hand on my 44 mag revolver the whole time, and the other hand on my iphone 2...needless to say, this group gave me a $600 dollar tip at the end of thier 3 day trip...lol i am sure they are still telling the story and it was nearly 15 years ago.


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this nutty Black bear decided it was time to camp out on my neighbors roof.. he hung out there for a couple days, was not inclined to be a nusiance, so he was allowed to go his way and did not come back.. in this pic, i accidently woke him up durring his nap...

and this last pic i did not take... it was sent to me by a reloading friend from somewhere else, but was so cute, I had to repost...

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enjoy

[Teacher Terry]

Grew up in northern Wisconsin among black bears.

[catherine]

The bear looking in the window is adorable and I love the caption!! The other bears are so cute it's hard to think they're so deadly also.

When I lived in NJ there was a news story about 3 freshmen from Rutgers hiking in a state park and one of them was killed by a black bear.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/nyregion/black-bear-kills-rutgers-student-during-a-hike-in-new-jersey.html
https://nypost.com/2014/11/25/hiker-took-cell-phone-pictures-of-bear-before-deadly-attack/

It was an usual situation in New Jersey.

From your POV, sharing their habitat, how do you stay safe from them?

[AlaskanGuy]

well, there are many ways to stay safe...

1.i always carry a gun.. I dont believe bear spray is effective enough to stop a determined bear. i pratice with my gun and the load that it delivers till it becomes second nature.

2. i learn about bears. you really need to know them in order to live with them. thier habits, where they congregate at what time of year, food sources, and so on.

3. Hunt them. when you hunt bears, they learn to stay out of YOUR way. the ones that dont, are removed. parents teach the young ones and it sets up a bit of a balance. All of the black bears in my pictures that I personally hunted, were taken within a mile or 2 of my house. a brave young bear is always a problem later on... skidish bears live, brave agressive ones are harvested.. we almost never have problems with bears in trash and becomming habituated. bears learn almost everything from thier parents.. problem parent bears raise the next generation of problem bears... i say, make bear burgers..

4. when I am in the bush, in bear area, and I am NOT hunting them, i make pleanty of noise, and keep my dog close... i have seen several situations where folks let thier dogs range too far ahead on a hike or whatever, and the dog pisses off a bear, and the dog runs straight back to a surprised owner with a pissy bear hot on its heels... if you dont train your dog, dont let run ahead while hiking,,, my dog knows there is a time to hunt and a time to ignore..

5. goes with number 4. get a dog.. actually train it! it can still be a loving pet, and will be moreso if you actually work with it. my dog is just a mixed up mutt.. but I have spent many hours working with her on what I expect, and at 3 years old, she is a complete asset to my life. guards the house, doesnt run off, is not chained, only requires a leash to heel with in town due to the rules of the town. she tracks when there is game down in heavy brush. and understands the goals of what we are doing.. when we are sneaking on a hunt, she is sneaking. her eyes are ok, but its her nose and hearing I use...and depend on. she warns me withhout going crazy before she needs to go crazy. i love my stupid pig eared dog, and she blessed me with loyal love in return..
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my Missy first day, and on patrol in the high hills on a hunt.

have a blessed day

[iris lilies]

A well trained working dog is an awesome thing.

[ToomuchStuff]

Reminds me of this:
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[catherine]

Reminds me of this:
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LOL!

[rosarugosa]

She is beautiful!