How many bear are there in AK?

[sturmruger]

You hear allot about people that hunt bear up in AK. My question is does anyone have the figures on how maybe bear tags were filled last year. I am trying to understand exactly how many bears there are up there.

Here in WI there are usually 350-550K deer tags filled each year and around 2,800 bear tags filled each year.


I looked into the costs associated with bear hunting. It blew my mind. The car we just got for my wife didn't even cost that much. It looks like it will be a long time until I have the cash for hunt up there. I think it is very convenient that you can only hunt game in AK with a guide. There must be a huge Guide Lobby up there.

 

[Highland Ranger]

You can often get that info from the state fish and game site: http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/

 

[sturmruger]

I looked all over the AK F&G web site, but was unable to locate any information. I though some of the people that live up there might know off the top of their head.

 

[HBK]

Four. All those hunting shows you see...it's just a conspiracy. There are four bears and only a select few know where they are.

 

[treeprof]

There were some folks studying bears when I was at UAF in the early 90's, and I think they said the total brown bear (incl. brown, grizz, Kodiak) population was abt 30,000, IIRC (tho that is at best going to be an approximation). It's prob changed since then, and I don't know how old or precise that number is. I just remember thinking that it was a lot of bears! To that, you gotta add the black bear, plus the Polar bear. I think the AK Polar bear pop is est at 1000 - 2000 or so, but I don't recall exactly, and that # may include some Canada bears. I have no clue what the AK black bear population is.

 

[Cosmoline]

The 30,000 figure is still about right for brown bear of all types. Some isolated populations are having troubles, but most are doing great and if anything overall numbers are going up. Black bear probably number upwards of 100,000 or more, but that's just a guess. They're so common nobody has taken the trouble to study them very much. In my experience their tracks outnumber brownie prints in south central at least five to one. I've been along game trails that look like a herd of black bear had been up and down them in the past 24 hours. That said, hunting them ain't easy. Esp. up here, where they aren't the top of the food chain. Esp. in the areas where hunting is allowed, they are careful and very clever.

 

[treeprof]

sturmruger - Ask my mom abt bear hunt costs; my dad has spent in the neighborhood of $100k on AK bear hunts in the past 15 yrs, plus many thousands more on some life-size bear mounts. And, he's going once again next year. He is insane abt hunting bears! And that doesn't count his sheep hunts (also pretty $$$), elk hunts, caribou hunts, black bear hunts, moose hunts, pronghorn hunts, etc. over the last 30 yrs. The only cheap hunt of his, ever, was when he hunted bear with me and my brother when I was a AK resident - no guide necesary for hunting bear w/immediate family who are residents (at least back then, anyways). For all the $$ he spends here in NA, I can't get him interested in an African hunt.

 

[lilbiggun]

who ever told you you need to hunt all game up here with a guide is smoking some serious crack. Black bear can be a very cost efficiant hunt if you do your homework. brown bears your SOL unless you have a relative of 2nd degree kindred with you.

brown/griz, sheep, goats are the 3 main animals that non-res needs guides. now some critters like musk-ox you basically need a guide because you will be on native land usually and its cheaper because of logistics to just hire someone.

 

[Sunray]

According to this, a non-resident alien(a non-US citizen) requires a guide for ANY big game animal. A non-resident(US citizen who doesn't live in Alaska) must be with a guide or over 19 Alaskan resident family member to hunt brown/grizzly bear, Dall sheep, or mountain goat.
http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/hunt_trap/hunting/guide.cfm
If any of ya'll do go to Alaska, don't try driving through Canada with a firearm unless you pay the foreigner tax. $50Cdn I think it is. That'd be the fee to register your firearms. If you don't, you will be denied entry. You lie about having firearms and get caught, you will be arrested and charged. You will likely be escorted to the border and will NOT be allowed back into Canada and your firearm will very likely be confiscated. No handguns, period. Your Second Ammendment rights do not apply here.