Africa hunting connections

[1dirthawker]

so,

the @Scott CWO has landed in alaska! He is a brown bear guide (as am I) and after contacting him via PM, i suggested we meet at some point when he gets up to Anchorage. What a nice guy!! we met at a local watering hole (the moose tooth) and ate a bite and swapped yarns about bears, hunters and life. was a great time and had an opportunity to see how another experienced hunter does it.

africahunting.com has connected me to several good guys up here and other places in the lower 48, it is interesting to see how similar we are...not a bad thing. so wish scott and i luck as we venture off to help our hunters get extra large bears. tis the season!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Good luck this season.

 

[WAB]

Straight shots!

Good choice on the watering hole!

 

[Scott CWO]

so,

the @Scott CWO has landed in alaska! He is a brown bear guide (as am I) and after contacting him via PM, i suggested we meet at some point when he gets up to Anchorage. What a nice guy!! we met at a local watering hole (the moose tooth) and ate a bite and swapped yarns about bears, hunters and life. was a great time and had an opportunity to see how another experienced hunter does it.

africahunting.com has connected me to several good guys up here and other places in the lower 48, it is interesting to see how similar we are...not a bad thing. so wish scott and i luck as we venture off to help our hunters get extra large bears. tis the season!

Yes, it was a great lunch and so fun to connect and swap stories! Lots of great people on this site! Looking forward to meeting everyone at SCI in Nashville as well.

Hopefully we both get some big bears and can share pics and memories.

 

[Range 07]

Goodluck man !

 

[Scott CWO]

@1dirthawker (Don) and I have returned to Anchorage from the Alaskan Peninsula. We had dinner and swapped stories and pictures. He brought along the lovely Mrs @1dirthawker and I brought my friend and Colorado guide, SGM Wallace (Ret), who is training with me towards earning his Alaskan Assistant Guide license. We had some great laughs and good times. Turns out that on Mike Litzen’s boat with Don were two of my mule deer clients from Utah. What a small world! They also joined us for dinner/drinks. A good time was had by all.

Our hunters took some great bears. I’m sure Don will post pics of the big bear his hunter got.

My streak of guiding at least one hunter to a 10+ foot bear each season continued with the largest bodied bear I have ever had the pleasure to guide. A long-time client, Mark, took the bear to cap off his North American Slam of 29 species! It was very humbling to help Mark take his last specie of his NA 29 Slam and to take such a massive specimen. Mark got really emotional and said the giant bear was the pinnacle of his hunting career and his best trophy. It was truly an honor to play a small part in his accomplishment and it is something I will never forget. Moments like these are why I love to guide!

The SGM and I traded off carrying the hide of this behemoth back to camp and after removing the head, bones in the paws and skinning the hide quite close in the field, it bottomed out the 100 pound scale that the SGM brought along. The air charter company later weighed the hide at 122 pounds! This puts the estimated live weight of this bear at 1220 pounds as skinned bear hides usually weigh about 10% of live weight. Unbelievable! After carrying the hide halfway back to camp and a quick meal, I can tell you that my sleeping bag never felt so good when I climbed in and immediately fell asleep. The SGM and I were exhausted and without his help, I don’t know if I could have made it back to camp that night. The bear had a beautiful, perfect hide with no rubs. The color is a bit lighter than the usual dark chocolate color of most boars. I hope y’all enjoy the pictures.

 

[VertigoBE]

Congratulations on this huge success! What a monster of a bear!

 

[Deleted member 40394]

That’s a monster.

 

[1dirthawker]

what a fantastic bear! well done!

 

[WyoBull]

Awesome bear, congratulations to you and your hunter!

 

[1dirthawker]

well,

@Scott CWO beat me to the punch in posting my hunting photos. we had a very successful season, shot some great bears and reconnected to some great clients/hunters.

i will post some photos, and then start another thread about the actual hunt. scott came into town and we ran into each other at a charter service in anchorage, and met later for beers and exaggerated tales of our prowess and the season.

my first hunter got a nice bear, 8 1/2' boar. my second hunter got a very nice bear, 9 1/4' bear with a big noggin.

 

[1dirthawker]

a couple more,

 

[meigsbucks]

Great bear. Congratulations on such a great bear season.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Nice Bruins fellas!

 

[CBH Australia]

Great story and great Bear.

I've been fortunate to meet a few Aussie members and it's amazing how people will make time and travel up to meet.

That bear would make a great rug. It looks so soft and furry in the second picture. Almost freindly.

 

[1dirthawker]

so,

i was gonna write another thread, but... i figured i would hit the easy button and just post it here.

so we had a great season, the weather was very windy, but not too much rain (although we did get 2" of snow one nite) my first hunter, john, shot a nice 8 1/2' boar that was kind of light colored, he shot very well wt 40 yards, and the first bear was in the salt. we were 3 for 4 on the first hunt. one hunter (not mine) shot a bear at 150 yards that got into the alders and required a follow up. i went with 2 other guides and we were looking for blood under 2" of fresh snow! we were able to follow for 350 yards or so and lost the blood trail,

the second hunt had repeat hunters on board, they had shot bears 4 years earlier. they were a fun bunch and probably the best guys with glassing for bears that i have ever seen. about 3 -4 days into hunt, freddy spotted a breeding pair. we got a skiff ride to the beach and stalked in about 3/4 of a mile. we put a round in the chamber for the final push up the bank, there was an inverted "v" of grass in a patch of alders where the pair was cavorting. (not a word i use every day!) we peeked over the bank and i spotted the boar watching us to my left at 35 yards.

i pointed toward the bear with my finger next to my stomach and said to my hunter, "he is right fu$%^ing there!! he spots the bear and steps up to shoot. he says "i am gonna shoot", i whispered to him, "shoot, shoot"!

the bear stands up on his hind legs, his sow is in a gut to my left at 15-20 yards! he shoots and his freaking muzzle break about blew out my ears!! it was like having a flash bang go off next to me. anyway, he hit it well with a 338 ultra mag, i shot it twice in the shoulder during its exit. it dove into the alders and was gone.

the next morning myself and 3 other guides went in to follow up, we found it 350 yards from the initial shots! it is always interesting to read about following brown bears in the alders, not so great being there. anyway, freddy got a fine trophy!!

 

[Scott CWO]

well,

@Scott CWO beat me to the punch in posting my hunting photos. we had a very successful season, shot some great bears and reconnected to some great clients/hunters.

i will post some photos, and then start another thread about the actual hunt. scott came into town and we ran into each other at a charter service in anchorage, and met later for beers and exaggerated tales of our prowess and the season.

my first hunter got a nice bear, 8 1/2' boar. my second hunter got a very nice bear, 9 1/4' bear with a big noggin.View attachment 469472View attachment 469473

Congrats that's a STUD!

 

[Frederik]

Thanks for sharing the bears very special.

 

[Jaegger]

@Scott CWO
@1dirthawker

Gents … cool stuff! Congrat’s on your/clients Big Brown Bears success & thx for sharing the AK Meet & Greet backstory.

Q: do your allocated # of tags change year-to-year? How long is your client waitlist … I suspect, in years?

Bucketlist Hunt & no better time to prepare than now …

Thx in advance!

 

[Scott CWO]

@Scott CWO
@1dirthawker

Gents … cool stuff! Congrat’s on your/clients Big Brown Bears success & thx for sharing the AK Meet & Greet backstory.

Q: do your allocated # of tags change year-to-year? How long is your client waitlist … I suspect, in years?

Bucketlist Hunt & no better time to prepare than now …

Thx in advance!

@Jaegger

Thanks for your interest. The operator I work for has reapplied for the exclusive federal refuge guiding permit for the national wildlife refuge area we hunt. This is required every ten years. I believe he will know later this year or in early 2023 if he receives it again. Once we have those results, we will formally book the upcoming hunts.

On the Alaskan Peninsula, the next bear season is the Fall of 2023 in October. The next Spring season is May 10-25, 2024. The Alaskan Peninsula is only hunted every other Fall and every other Spring. In the odd years (2023, 2025) it is a Fall hunt. In the even years (2024, 2026) it is a Spring hunt. I prefer the spring season because the large boars have emerged from their dens and are moving a lot more while looking for food and estrus females.

A month or two ago, I emailed Jerome about the operator that I guide for becoming an AH Sponsor when we get confirmation of the new refuge permit. This will allow us to advertise and book hunters on and through AH. I will keep you updated. Thanks!