I spent many weeks trapping and helicopter-darting interior grizzly bears and coastal brown bears for research purposes, then managing populations through seasons and other regulations. Working with bears was always fun.


This was nearly a thousand-pound female from Admiralty Island.



A 600-pound male collared on Chichagof Island.



Some of the interior grizzly bears had some impressive ivory-colored claws.



Throughout Alaska, human trash at dumps and in towns leads to many brown/grizzly deaths. This is an adult female brown bear with 3 offspring in tow on Admiralty Island in the village dump at Angoon.


Don't be shy, Sharon, show us some real art!

Also throughout Alaska bears, both black and brown, get into remote camps and cabins. Despite efforts by owners they manage to cause problems. I've been told that bears are actually attracted to gas. Have heard a couple stories of pilots leaving gas stashes on the way to hunt camps only to find the plastic jugs punctured and empty on return. The last couple years folks have used cans of bear spray and or bleach stashed around cabins. The bear bites the can or plastic bottle and gets a mouthful of spray or bleach. Reports are it works.

Did the large female have cubs? Do you recall her physical length? Was she an exception?

Curious if she was bred late in life, if she was receptive and could bear young? The researches here, granted we are talking black bears, had taught me females grow until they bear young primarily. They can get fatter but basic bone structure doesn’t do much. Here a 300 lb female is rare, I’ve only had two legit 300lb sows in camp in 30 some years.

Can you expound-on the females of that species please?

Osky

Outstanding and thanks!! Grizzles are becoming a very common occurrence and always enjoy seeing them.

Great shots and info, Jack. I think some of those would have weighed about as much as that chopper.

An ongoing friendly "dispute" I have heard forever, is the ongoing claim of which is biggest...Alaska's coastal Browns, or the big ones of Russia. The skulls of both, to me, are just awesome and impressive in size. To me, it could be a toss up, but , of all people, who has seen and studied them both, I would surely put my coins on your educated opinion. In either place, seeing one of these giants would surely be a memory burned in the mind's computer .

Here's a few of my contribution. All of these were published at some point in FFG.

The fight with a big inland boar and the Famed Gang Ranch , in Canada , was a real story. The hands looked in awe at the story told in the ground, with trenches dug, even trees cracked and torn up, or in half, from what was a mighty skirmish that was hours long. They said the ground and trees looked like a tornado hit. One of their top bulls was killed in that battle. The bear was later found and dispatched. I cannot recall how big he was, but reportedly, as expected, he was huge.

That's where I love to chime in and shine, with magazine art. These types of stories never have photos , and often are never witnessed in the moment. I have always liked to fill in the need for action stories such as these.

Thank you, again, Jack for your sharing of life enjoyed to the full.

My Brother in Law and his running partner came up to AK and hunted with me one year while I was in AK. This bear was shot up the Steese HWY at Eagle Summit. I glasses it up about 0800 glassing from the road. I was using a pair of 15 x 60 Doctors and could glass bears or moose for miles. My BIL and I headed after it. Before we got there I could see the thermals were going to push our sent to the bear. We went back to the PU and drove up the road a couple miles and came in from the other side. The bear was shot at about 11:00 The AK G&F sent him paper work on the bear and it was 6 years old after they checked the tooth they took.

The picture of the first bear looks like a beautiful specimen of grizzly bear . If a hunter that had limited knowledge ask what features should I look for in a nice grizzly. I would show them that pic and say if it is anything close this don't wait for a nicer one to appear .

That is a great picture MJM.