Alaska
Hunting Alaska: Tips and Opportunities for Every Outdoor Lover
Are you an avid bear hunter or looking to explore your limits as a hunter? Alaska may be the perfect place for you. Hunting in Alaska offers one of the best opportunities in the world for hunters. With over three decades of experience hunting in Alaska and 17 years of guiding, I can guide you through hunting opportunities in various areas across the state. Here are some of my best tips and recommendations for planning the ultimate Alaskan hunting trip.
Hunting in Alaska: Brown Bears on the Alaskan Peninsula
The Alaskan Peninsula offers one of the most exciting hunts for brown bears in the most pristine and remote wilderness locations in Alaska. The Peninsula is open for hunting every other spring (even years: 2022, 2024, etc.), and hunters take a 500-mile charter flight from Anchorage to the base camp out on the Peninsula. From the base camp, hunters and guides are flown out to spike camps by Super Cub aircraft. Spike camps consist of either two 10×10 bomb shelter tents or a small cabin.
I hold an Assistant Guide License in Alaska and have guided brown bear hunts for four different Registered Guides. We glass up 6 to 12 bears a day in the two remote bays on the Pacific side, where I take two hunters each spring I am there. The Registered Guide I work for has an exclusive national wildlife refuge area permit that straddles the Aleutian Mountain Range on both sides of the peninsula.
Large 9′ and 10′ bears are commonly seen during the hunt, and there is no problem getting one of them if you’re patient. Hunts are done by climbing up on a knob and glassing 360 degrees for feeding or rutting males. Once a mature bear with a good hide is located within a reasonable range, a stalk is initiated. Bears have incredible noses so you don’t hunt them by doing lots of hiking and stinking up the country. You do short hikes to glassing knobs and then spend your time glassing for long periods of time. The scenery is breathtaking, so you rarely get bored.
The minimum score for a brown bear to make the B&C Awards Book is 26″ and the All-Time Record Book minimum is 28.” The best bear I have guided had a 29″+ skull. Bears with 26″ and 27″ skulls are common on the Peninsula.
Hunting Alaska
SCHEDULES AND LOCATIONS
Southeast Alaska for Brown Bears and Black Bears
On the odd year springs, I guide for brown bears in Southeast Alaska on the ABC Islands (Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof) for two different Registered Guides. These are comfortable boat-based hunts, and skiffs are used each day to move around the bays while glassing the beaches for brown bears that come from the dense forest for the grass growing along the beaches. This hunting experience comes with nice bedding and hot showers every night, making it a beautiful hunting trip for your family.
Black bears can be hunted on Kuiu Island and Kupreanof Islands, just across the channel from the ABC Islands. Interestingly, there are no black bears found on the ABC Islands and no brown bears on the black bear islands. It is common to see humpback whales, orca and lots of seals.
Wolves
Wolf hunting is another great opportunity for hunters visiting Alaska. Wolves are found on the black bear islands and the mainland. Fishing and wolf hunting can be done during the mornings because the bears are usually only active in the evenings.
Hunting in alaska
Schedules And Locations
Southeast Alaska for Brown Bears and Black Bears
On the odd year springs, I guide for brown bears in Southeast Alaska on the ABC Islands (Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof) for two different Registered Guides. These are comfortable boat-based hunts, and skiffs are used each day to move around the bays while glassing the beaches for brown bears that come from the dense forest for the grass growing along the beaches. This hunting experience comes with nice bedding and hot showers every night, making it a beautiful hunting trip for your family.
Black bears can be hunted on Kuiu Island and Kupreanof Islands, just across the channel from the ABC Islands. Interestingly, there are no black bears found on the ABC Islands and no brown bears on the black bear islands. It is common to see humpback whales, orca and lots of seals.
Wolves
Wolf hunting is another great opportunity for hunters visiting Alaska. Wolves are found on the black bear islands and the mainland. Fishing and wolf hunting can be done during the mornings because the bears are usually only active in the evenings.
Proven Success
I have been hunting Alaska since 1998 and guiding there since 2006.
In one hunt, I saw 52 brown bears and killed a 9’3″ brown bear with a skull that qualified for the B&C awards book.
I returned several more times for a 38.5″ Dall’s sheep, 7’4″ black bear and a wolf.
I have taken my family to SE Alaska twice for black bear and one of their bears was 7’2″.
The best bear I have guided had a 29″+ skull, easily qualifying for the All-Time Record Book.
Contact us
If you’re considering a hunting trip to Alaska, book your next adventure with the help of our experienced local guides. Several Alaskan Registered Guides have hunted with me in Colorado, and your hunt won’t cost you a dime more if we book it.
Contact us
If you’re considering a hunting trip to Alaska, book your next adventure with the help of our experienced local guides. Several Alaskan Registered Guides have hunted with me in Colorado, and your hunt won’t cost you a dime more if we book it.
