SharpsDressedMan
member
Geologist: I'm glad you still have access to handguns in Canada. I had always heard that that was a lost right up there.
On handguns and bears
- Thread starter KodiakBeer
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Tacbandit
Member
Quote: by KodiakBeer
"I'd certainly go with the heavier rifle as long as I shot it well. Good luck on your hunt! Do you know what part of the island you're hunting?"
Not yet. Still working through the preplanning. My brother is working on a lot of it there, and there are three or four really special places he loves and knows like the back of his hand. The names elude me right now, as I'm not familiar with them anyway. Travel and access in/out is covered, regardless, so that's a big plus. They go bear watching a lot, and he says there are some really great places to get a really large brown bear. As to the rifle, I've been a .308 guy since the military, and haven't really shot the larger ones much. I'll get one soon, and be proficient with it by hunt time. He says he's got access to anything I want to use, but I want to use my own rifle, and be totally in tune with it. It'll definitely be stainless, whatever it is. I've heard plenty of stories about how tough the weather is on 'em...This one will be done right, as I don't want to be the topic of one of these threads, lol...
Tac
"I'd certainly go with the heavier rifle as long as I shot it well. Good luck on your hunt! Do you know what part of the island you're hunting?"
Not yet. Still working through the preplanning. My brother is working on a lot of it there, and there are three or four really special places he loves and knows like the back of his hand. The names elude me right now, as I'm not familiar with them anyway. Travel and access in/out is covered, regardless, so that's a big plus. They go bear watching a lot, and he says there are some really great places to get a really large brown bear. As to the rifle, I've been a .308 guy since the military, and haven't really shot the larger ones much. I'll get one soon, and be proficient with it by hunt time. He says he's got access to anything I want to use, but I want to use my own rifle, and be totally in tune with it. It'll definitely be stainless, whatever it is. I've heard plenty of stories about how tough the weather is on 'em...This one will be done right, as I don't want to be the topic of one of these threads, lol...
Tac
KodiakBeer
member
I don't use any stainless or plastic stocked rifles and I've never had a problem. You just wipe them down in the evening and they're fine.
We've got some great deer hunting here also, so if you get your bear early you'll have plenty to do. Bring a good camera because it's an amazingly beautiful place.
We've got some great deer hunting here also, so if you get your bear early you'll have plenty to do. Bring a good camera because it's an amazingly beautiful place.
Tacbandit
Member
Wow, Kodiak..I'd hard several stories of how fast rifles try to corrode over there. I'm not a stainless fan at all anyway. The tactical military side of me, I suppose... I take good care of all my firearms, anyway...my brother has both, and didn't suggest it, but I thought I'd protect my investment by going stainless...adding a little insurance of sorts, I suppose. I may reconsider that. I didn't figure on hunting anything else, but I want to fish too. The deer might be something to think about if I get a bear early...Not shooting the first one that I see. Not shooting the first big one I see, either. (Yeh,right) Now, the first REALLY BIG one...may be a different story. All about the guide...lol...Thanks,Tac
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I wonder how that 25' hornet spray would work....
General Geoff
Member
KodiakBeer, that last picture you posted is breathtaking. I've been wanting to move to Alaska for years, and that picture just gives me more motivation to get there. Thank you.
Tacbandit
Member
+1 on the picture, KodiakBeer...I meant to mention it earlier...can't wait to get there...
Tac
Tac
Tacbandit
Member
Where was that shot taken, if you don't mind me asking? Beautiful view...!
Tac
Tac
Tac
Being a Marine i take really good care of my weapons but i did fall in love with stainless. It started with a Colt Anaconda and King Cobra. Now my hunting rifles are stainless. If you want to move to AK and have one rifle do it all i would go with a 300WM A little extra punch never hurts. I carry a .338WM and i love it
Being a Marine i take really good care of my weapons but i did fall in love with stainless. It started with a Colt Anaconda and King Cobra. Now my hunting rifles are stainless. If you want to move to AK and have one rifle do it all i would go with a 300WM A little extra punch never hurts. I carry a .338WM and i love it
Tacbandit
Member
Thanks for the advice, kgpcr...That's the way I'm leaning...the 300WM. Not sure how it will compare to shooting 168's in a heavy barreled bolt 308, but as long as I don't go with a light rifle, it shouldn't be too tough of a transition. On the stainless issue...I've bought a couple (S&W 642, S&W 3913) but not because they're stainless. They were on sale, and I took advantage of that. Not against "stainless", just don't care for shiny except for bores, showing they're clean... (Come to think of it, I would like to have a 686 S&W...)
And thanks for your service...
And thanks for your service...
Cosmoline
Member
Useless for bears, but not a bad idea. The absolute worst and most damaging encounter with Alaskan wildlife I've had was with wasps. I was walking through thick spruce woods when I noticed a wasp stinging my left wrist. In the time it took to swat it, a dozen more were on my arms and face. Got stung many times and just had to run away. On certain wet cold days they kind of lose their minds and get really psychotic. They absolutely scare me more than moose or bear.
KodiakBeer
member
The picture was taken here in Kodiak. A nice dawn shot where the deer on the ridge is catching the first sun, but the sea behind and below him is still in shadows.
mothermopar
Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2010
- Messages
- 193
Kodiak, what's your occupation up there?
Another question: don't you folks feel like prey animals on Kodiak? I mean... with what, 2000 lb bears running around all over the place... its almost premordial in a sense, like the first mammals scurrying and hiding under logs... those huge bears... man, they're just dang HUGE!
*What's the biggest one, anyway?!?
Another question: don't you folks feel like prey animals on Kodiak? I mean... with what, 2000 lb bears running around all over the place... its almost premordial in a sense, like the first mammals scurrying and hiding under logs... those huge bears... man, they're just dang HUGE!
*What's the biggest one, anyway?!?
KodiakBeer
member
I'm retired Coast Guard and do security work.
Nobody knows how big they get because the biggest bears are at the south end of the island 100 miles from the nearest road. How would you weigh them? The biggest weighed specimen (that I know of) was one shot in "defense of property" at a summer salmon processing plant about halfway down the island. They attached a sling scale (accurate and used to weigh salmon offloads) to a front end loader and it went over 1600 pounds. If that same bear had been weighed in fall, it would have been much heavier.
It's not as hard as you'd think to live around grizzlies. Stay OUT of the brush would probably be rule number 1. If you don't surprise them they give very few problems. And of course, if you encounter them in the open you aren't surprised either - you have time to get ready, snap the tab off the pepper can, etc.
If you've watched any of my bear vids, you'll note they're all taken in wide open areas and in summer when the bears are gorged with salmon and fairly docile. I don't fool around with them at other times of the year.
Nobody knows how big they get because the biggest bears are at the south end of the island 100 miles from the nearest road. How would you weigh them? The biggest weighed specimen (that I know of) was one shot in "defense of property" at a summer salmon processing plant about halfway down the island. They attached a sling scale (accurate and used to weigh salmon offloads) to a front end loader and it went over 1600 pounds. If that same bear had been weighed in fall, it would have been much heavier.
It's not as hard as you'd think to live around grizzlies. Stay OUT of the brush would probably be rule number 1. If you don't surprise them they give very few problems. And of course, if you encounter them in the open you aren't surprised either - you have time to get ready, snap the tab off the pepper can, etc.
If you've watched any of my bear vids, you'll note they're all taken in wide open areas and in summer when the bears are gorged with salmon and fairly docile. I don't fool around with them at other times of the year.
Tacbandit
Member
Quote: by KodiakBeer
"If you've watched any of my bear vids, you'll note they're all taken in wide open areas and in summer when the bears are gorged with salmon and fairly docile. I don't fool around with them at other times of the year."
Exactly what my brother says...Still, I would find it very difficult to relax around them any time of the year...My adrenaline is already pumping just thinking about hunting them...
Tac
"If you've watched any of my bear vids, you'll note they're all taken in wide open areas and in summer when the bears are gorged with salmon and fairly docile. I don't fool around with them at other times of the year."
Exactly what my brother says...Still, I would find it very difficult to relax around them any time of the year...My adrenaline is already pumping just thinking about hunting them...
Tac
KodiakBeer
member
Tac, just to wet your appetite! 
sonier
Member
beautiful pictures kodiak
Tacbandit
Member
Kodiak..Oh man.. Dude, those are awesome...My brother just left here to visit other family, but while he was here we watched some video of some really beautiful bears, from really small, to really L A R G E browns. One was over nine, with a big ole noggin...I can't get enough of 'em...Just a rookie, but already a bear junkie...They're so majestic and powerful at the same time. It'll be an honor just to get to hunt one .
Thanks, Kodiak...
Tac
Thanks, Kodiak...
Tac
Tacbandit
Member
Hey, Kodiak...are you familiar with that really old(25-30) small blonde-ish female (bear)
that is somewhat of a legend, I believe...Some remote area, and I don't remember the name...saw video of her, and I thought it was a young-un at first. As it got closer, you could tell she was older, but she's really small...
that is somewhat of a legend, I believe...Some remote area, and I don't remember the name...saw video of her, and I thought it was a young-un at first. As it got closer, you could tell she was older, but she's really small...
KodiakBeer
member
I don't know of any blond females. Blond bears are kind of rare on Kodiak - probably less than one in ten are blond.
The blond above is a 5 year old male that I've been watching for several years. He spends most of the summer near my house and I first saw him and a female sibling two years ago when they got kicked loose by a sow. I thought he'd starve that first year, but both he and his sister have learned how to survive and return every year.
He'll be six this year and should be pretty impressive in size.
This is him as a hungry three year old.
The blond above is a 5 year old male that I've been watching for several years. He spends most of the summer near my house and I first saw him and a female sibling two years ago when they got kicked loose by a sow. I thought he'd starve that first year, but both he and his sister have learned how to survive and return every year.
He'll be six this year and should be pretty impressive in size.
This is him as a hungry three year old.
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mothermopar
Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2010
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- 193
Kodiak... thanks for the responses.
I don't know... living around the largest predators on the planet earth seems a bit, unnerving.
Anyway, I'm not a hunter and I'd only shoot a critter if it was posing a threat to me of some sort or I needed to eat... but I base my zombie gun(s) off of what caliber would be good to stop one of these fellas! LOL
I don't know... living around the largest predators on the planet earth seems a bit, unnerving.
Anyway, I'm not a hunter and I'd only shoot a critter if it was posing a threat to me of some sort or I needed to eat... but I base my zombie gun(s) off of what caliber would be good to stop one of these fellas! LOL
Tacbandit
Member
Hey, Kodiak...Just talked with my brother...Karluk, or something like that, is where that bear is...That's a cool pic...two of America's greatest creatures...
Tac
Tac
KodiakBeer
member
Karluk is at the south end of the island, very wild and remote, about a 100 miles from where me and my blond bear buddy live.
mothermopar
Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2010
- Messages
- 193
BTW: That Eagle looks like it could eat the bear (optical illusion in pic)!
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