This was the most misreable 11 hunting days I`ve ever spent in Alaska, however, I finally got my brown bear. I don`t know if there are other brown bear hunt locations in Alaska that have better weather and terrain so I have to say to anyone thinking of hunting these bears with a large bore revolver to be prepared to pass up shots because of the range. There were 3 bears bigger then the one I shot that were out of range of my 454 Casull. If I had a rifle ...no problem. My bear squared a little less then 7 1/2' with a 22 1/2" skull and would be average. The willows have grown to almost cover the sand bars since the last time I was hunting there allowing the bears to almost reach out from the cover, grab a salmon, and eat the fish with little exposure to a hunter.
It rained every day I was there with some days worse then others.
My luck changed on the 10th day as we were on the bank of a slough with heavy tracks. Around 9:30pm my bear came out of the alders around 100 yards away and walked towards us. At around 50 yards he stopped and gave me a perfect broadside. The Bogpod tripod with the pistol attachment worked perfectly. My ammo was the old, original CorBon 360gr FP Penetrator with a muzzle velocity of 1500FPS. I bought this ammo for a hippo hunt that never happened and had almost 70 rounds. My shot went through the left shoulder and came out just behind the right leg. The bear jumped at the shot and clawed the ground for 5 yards before turning over on its back and dying with its head in the water. Thats the good part because as the sound of the shot died away it began to rain while leaving us in darkness. It took 20 minutes just to reach my bear on the thickest mud bank you can imagine. Since it was crazy to try and skin the bear while sinking in the muck we radioed for help and managed to get most of the bear on the bow of a straight front river boat and pole our way throught the reeds back to the main channel.It was impossible to get any of the traditional hunt photos because my bear was covered with mud and water and I had to accept what I could get. I almost forgot about the mosquitos.
What hunting trip to Alaska would be complete without those little buggers from hell. You`ll just love `em........

Congrats!!!

Congratulations James on a great handgun trophy!

Who was the guide/outfitter?

Damn that sure did break him down. Good shooting! Congrats on that bear!! Size is no issue thats plenty big and done the right way with the pistol! Awesome

Congrats, James! You had to really work for that one, which will only make your memories even more special! My oldest daughter graduates from college next spring and she informed me recently she wants a bear hunt for graduation present. Yahoo!

Absolutely fantastic brother!!!

Congratulations on a hard-earned trophy!

Congrats James!

Good job James. I would love to be able to do that one day.

Congrats, The hardwork paid off, Nice shooting!

Fantastic, CONGRATULATION!!!!

CONGRATS,James!! Great trophey!!

James....you old dog! That's awesome! Congrats on North America's (IMO) most.....AWESOME....handgun trophy! And you got him with your trusty 454.

James, congratulations! What part of Alaska did you hunt this time? Way to hang in there til the end! I'm with KRAL, a brown bear is North America's most awesome handgun trophy IMHO. You made a great shot on him, congrats again and welcome back!!!

Absolutely fantastic!! Congratulations, James!! You did well, my friend!!

You did it Friend!! You are one of the original "true" handgun hunters from this site and you can now mark Griz off the bucket list. I know it was a tough hunt, but you did it man. You should be very proud.

WOW!!! That is AWESOME!!! I gotta do that! What a great trophy.

Looks just as easy as shooting a blackbuck. What's Alaska unless you're totally miserable, wet, and covered with bug bites. But, you'll never forget it. Congrats.

AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats James!!! Quite a trophy.

Congratulations James and as usual, excellent shooting. Bummer about the pics.

nice shooting James,you're the man!!

Congratulations James! a true adventure in the "Last Frontier", truly awesome that you hammered him with the old 454 casull!

Are you going to do a rug?

Congratulations, James.

James, I am at a loss for words.


WOW!!!


That is nice!!


I may have missed it, but what are you going to do with the hid?

James,
Congrats!!! I would be happy just to make it to Alaska once, let alone take such a prestigous trophy! Great job. What caliber is that Dan Wesson side arm? 445 SM? Your one lucky dog!

Fellows, I really want to thank you guys for everything you have said and hope I can do the same for you after your next hunt. All the best from your friend in Jersey, james

Awesome James, I am envious. How big were the ones out of range?

Great job, beautiful trophy my friend....

Cotton, I know that one of the three was an easy eight footer. The other one was a beautiful honey brown on the top half with a dark brown bottom that may have been slightly bigger. Even if I had a single shot it would have to be a flat, powerful cartridge to make a large entrance/exit hole at whatever ever distance it would be sighted in for. If the bear you shoot makes it into the thick cover you have your hands full with a wounded critter that can take your head off with one swipe. As soon as I looked into a bear "tunnel" in the alders I realized why all the guides rifles have the muzzles tapped because when they are crawling on their hands and knees in these tunnels and pushing the rifle ahead its so very easy to plug the end of the barrel with dirt.

AWESOME job James, congratulations on a tough and rewarding trophy.

James, that is OUTSTANDING !!!!

Congrats James. Guess I was off by a few days. Lol. I damn happy for ya bubba.

Darrell, I took a small plane from Ankorage to a village called Kolignink and then took a small outboard about 2 hours up the Nushaqak River where I shot the bear a 1/2 mile below Klutuspak Creek.....

240, The Dan Wesson is a late model 744 in 44mag. The gun was loaded with Grizzly`s 300gr long seated Punch bullet. That load was pretty accurate offhand at 25yds...

I have to tell you guys that this has been like a dream that has never ended.....

And it won't. Every time you walk into your house and see that bear mount ( which ever way you get it done) you'll re live it everyday as well you should.

Congrats James!

What a fantastic trophy and memorable hunt. This surely places you in an elite group of handgun hunters. CONGRATULATIONS!

Congrats James!! What a hunt, and what conditions....sounds very much like northern Sweden, where the brown bears are plentiful but slightly smaller than the AK grizzlies. However, the mosquito problem is just the same...

Would love to take a brown bear with my .44 S&W 29-2 some day. A 270gr Punch would do if I do my part in terms of shot placement...

That's great James. Glad you got it done.

Excellent work James!