The Biggest Bear

In the spring of 1984, I was working for Don Johnson guiding brown bear hunts on the Alaska Peninsula. I got permission for my good hunting buddy, Jerry Taft, to come and make a movie of the hunt. Don flew us into Hoodoo Lake in his Super Cub one at a time. We stayed in an old shed on the lake. The weather was nasty with rain and snow and lots of wind for days. This is very normal weather for the Alaska Peninsula. Fortunately, we caught some Dolly Varden and enjoyed the fresh fish.

Finally, the rain and snow stopped so I started glassing on the tripod with my 15x60 Zeiss binoculars. Two miles out and up in the snowy mountains I found fresh bear tracks. The only time I could see the tracks is when the sun would shine through a hole in the clouds. I patiently kept glassing and kept following the tracks. Finally, I came to the end of the tracks and found a dark spot in the snow. I knew that it was a bear and I showed Jerry and Sam, our client, and they both said it looked like a rock. I then put the spotting scope on the tripod on 60 power then Jerry and Sam got excited and said, “That’s a bear.” 

I chuckled, “No it’s a rock.”  I was just joking with them. We had a little outboard and skiff and decided even though the bear was approximately 2 miles away that we could cover half of it by boat and then hike another mile to get within range.

We got our packs and gear and off we went. Everything looked perfect.  We crossed the lake and hiked in the snow for about a mile. As we got closer, we could see we had a monster bear above us sleeping in the snow. We got within 200 yards and got set up. Sam had a 378 Weatherby, I had my 375, and Jerry was going to make the movie.  I insisted on blowing on my predator call and getting the bear excited and coming down on us and making a great movie of a lifetime. Jerry and Sam refused as they were scared of the huge bear. He could get to us running downhill in an instant. Bears can be so fast.  I was very disappointed they were afraid to do this.   I knew this was an opportunity of a lifetime for making a movie and felt comfortable with two guys, but it was a no go. Sam got situated and shot and it hit the huge bear in the neck killing it instantly.  I had him shoot again and watched through the binos.  The bear was down but I circled around and got above the monster just to be on the safe side. He was down. This bear turned out to be the biggest bear I had ever seen. We skinned the bear out and he squared out 11‘4“. That’s paw to paw and nose to tail squared. Jerry and I would do anything for a bear that big. Our client just seemed unappreciative. He didn’t realize that bear was a bear of a lifetime. It was like he just won the lottery and didn’t even know it.  Very few hunters ever kill a bear that big. We skinned him out and the skin looked like a giant buffalo skin rolled up on my pack frame.  I need to get with Jerry and see if he still has the footage from this hunt.

We got back to the camp and another fierce Aleutian storm moved in with heavy wind and hard rain coming in sideways for three days. I felt so thankful. We had a short window and were successful in getting the big bear. If Jerry or I had shot that bear we would have been so happy. We would’ve stayed in that cabin for a month with nothing but fish and peanut butter. We couldn't understand why Sam was so unappreciative after getting such a beautiful monster bear and kept complaining about Johnson not being able to pick him up in the Super Cub. He never even gave us a tip. If I had it to do over again, I would’ve blown on the predator call and made a good movie.  

30 years later I had a guy call me from Pennsylvania about my binocular pouches for sale. We got to talking about hunting and he said the guy down the street had the largest brown bear he had ever seen. I had a funny feeling, and I asked if the hunter was a policeman. He said yes but also he is kind of an arrogant unlikable guy.  I asked was his name Sam. He said yes. I said wow, the same Sam who killed the huge brown bear and surely didn’t deserve it.  It’s a small world. Never thought I’d hear of him again. Never want another hunter like him either.

Oh well, it still was a great hunt. Life is not easy, but I believe that the worst day hunting and fishing is better than working.

Happy Hunting! 

Jaret Owens - 805-551-6815