The Katmai National Park and Preserve on the Alaskan Peninsula is the most premium brown bear area in the entire state, if not the world. It has the highest density of bears, and extremely large bruins can be found roaming the tundra. The bears in the hard park are protected year- round and have a sanctuary away from hunting, which allows them to flourish. In the whole preserve, there are only two exclusive concessions through the National Park Service that allow hunting. It is here that I hunted with Majestic Mountain Outfitters (MMO).
I have known the owner of MMO for a long time, and it has always been a dream of his to have a dedicated brown bear area. Things lined up for him in the winter of 2017 when that vision of over 30 years became a reality. Now, he is able to run one of the highest quality brown bear hunts in Alaska. I had the privilege to hunt in this special area with none other than the big dog himself, Master Guide #125, Jeff Chadd.
I flew into the small village of Illiamna and got off the plane, meeting Jeff at the airstrip. On the way to the lodge, he told me about the phenomenal success they’d had during the first set of hunters that had just come out of the bush. It was with great expectations that I flew into spike camp later that day.
The first morning of the hunt, we ate breakfast and then made it to the top of a small bluff that would be our lookout and started glassing. As with all spot and stalk hunts, the first morning passed quickly as I was ready to see one of those big bears walk out of the brush at any moment. Late in the afternoon, we hiked around to the back side of the lookout to change up the scenery and immediately spotted a bear bedded down on a patch of snow in a giant alder patch. It was the only opening for a few hundred yards in every direction. We knew right away that it was one we needed to get a closer look at. After packing up our gear, we hiked the half-mile to the spot where we had seen him. It was no trouble finding the big blob of brown and blond fur balled up in the snow, but from our angle, it was impossible to judge the exact size.
We were able to sneak in to exactly 250 yards from the bear and get into a position that provided a broadside shot and no obstruction from the brush. I set up in a rock-solid shooting position, and the waiting game began. Over the next two and half hours, we waited for the bear to get up to judge his size and get a look at his coat. For those entire 150 minutes, I only came off the gun once to don another layer of insulation and put some mittens on to keep my fingers from freezing to the gun. The bear would stretch one way and then stretch the other, constantly teasing us as if he were going to stand up so we could properly determine if he was a shooter or not. He would roll over on his right side, then his left, tossing and turning, but never giving us a super good look to know how big he really was. Through those hours, Jeff confirmed that it was indeed a big boar, but we just weren’t sure if it was big enough. I was after a once-in- a-lifetime trophy and didn’t want to settle for something average on day one.
At about the 2-hour 20-minute mark, I had an interesting conversation with Jeff. He told me I should never shoot a bear in its bed that I haven’t had a real good opportunity to judge. It is a sure way to be disappointed. He reminded me that we had a lot of time. He also said that it could be a 9-foot or 10-foot bear but there was no way to know for sure until he gave us a good look. This clear spot where the bear was bedded down was about a 10-yard opening, but the bear was not centered exactly in the middle. He was laying down toward the edge of the opening, and his head was just a couple steps away from the edge of the ultra-thick alder patch. That meant that when the bear did get up, we may not have much time to judge him and then make a clean shot before he disappeared into the dense sea of alder brush.
Finally, the big boy moved enough for Jeff and me to get a good look at his head. I’m normally very careful and listen to my guides and don’t shoot until they say so. They are the professionals, after all, but when a master guide with over 30 years of experience bear hunting makes an exclamation like he did, I didn’t need him to tell me anymore. I could just hear the confirmation in his voice.
“Oh, now, wait a minute. He’s...,” Boom! Jeff?didn’t get a chance to finish the comment as?my .33 Nosler barked. The 265 grain Accubond?bullet slammed squarely into the boar’s shoulder?with a loud thump. I knew it was a good shot. The?bear charged into the alders straight away from our?position as I racked another round and hit him again?just as he disappeared into the brush. He had run off,?like any respectable bear will. After circling around the?alder patch to come in from above, we found the bear laying in the thickest, nastiest wad of alders on the whole mountain, deader than a doornail. High fives and hugs were followed by Jeff crawling in to inspect the bear up close. He grabbed the front right leg, pulled it out of the tangled mess of Alaska’s famous brush, and laid his hand on the paw. It was then that I knew we had taken a true monster. Jeff ripped his hat off, and as he threw it onto the ground in sheer joy, he announced that in his 30 years of hunting Alaska, this was the biggest bear he had ever taken.
It is a special feeling when you’re standing over a trophy at the end of the hunt, whether it was 10 days or 1. The feeling is even greater when standing over a brown bear of that size. He was massive! After pictures and skinning, we called in one of Jeff’s other guides, Bryan Griffin, to help us pack out the giant. Bryan found us, and we began the journey back.
The next morning, we packed up camp and were back at the lodge that afternoon. Breaking out the tape, we did some green measurements. The old boar squared 10 1/2' with a 28 1/2" skull. After looking him over, we only noticed a couple of small rubbed spots. He was a truly magnificent trophy and a BAB (Big Ass Bear)! It was also the biggest trophy MMO had taken. Well, that was until Jeff’s son, Joshua, came out of the bush a couple days later with the last bear of their season that squared almost 11' and had a 29 3/4" skull.
We spent a couple days at the lodge before flying back to Anchorage, and it was the perfect end to an amazing hunt. From start to finish, it was one that will stick with me for years to come and I cannot say enough about MMO and the Chadd family. They are a world-class outfit and provided me the opportunity to harvest one of my favorite trophies. It truly was the hunt-of-a-lifetime in an extremely special place.
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