Cool old picture of a working double in Alaska

[roklok]

Here is an old pic of well known Alaskan guide Joe Want with a double rifle, I assume taken in Kodiak. Joe guided for famous Kodiak bear hunters Pinnel and Talifson in the late 50's and 60's. Thought you double guys would like this one. Can anyone identify the rifle ?

 

[Phil Giordano]

Great pic! Thanks for sharing!
English made for sure - to me, could be an H&H "Dominion Grade", essentially a Royal with less embellishment and a lower grade wood.

 

[Wildwillalaska]

Cool photo for sure, which most the old P&T pics are. There is a really eerie one of Talifson if I recall correctly stumbling upon the scene of a hunter and bear encounter from years earlier. Just skeletal remains of the gent, bear and rifle.

I’ve hunted all over Alaska the last 20 years, Kodiak and the Peninsula included…sure as hell hope that’s not a fine English double. When you don’t go home (even a dry cabin) for weeks at a time, stuck in wet tent at night where nothing dries, even stainless rusts. My hunting buds and I always admire the kind of work and dedication. It would take to keep a pre-64 wood stocked Winchester functioning in the interior, let alone the salty, Uber-wet air of Kodiak. Impressive to say the least.

 

[Wildwillalaska]

My hunting partner and I were just talking about this on our 9-hour drive up to fly I. For sheep hunting, listening to the Rigby podcasts…how Africa really gives us the chance to hunt artful, pretty, wood stocked rifles for the first time in a couple decades. As we get ready to hopefully fly in with two ugly, beat to hell-looking meat sticks…but that you could literally pee on, bury for a couple weeks, dig up and expect to shoot .25-.3 moa through the taped crown.

But not brave enough to bring one of my Heym out to Kotz next month for the daughter’s moose hunt…or am I? This photo does inspire…but I’m likely still chicken. Too scared of bringing back a rusted out, pitted mess that was once something of artful Precison.

 

[Betterinthebush]

Cool photo for sure, which most the old P&T pics are. There is a really eerie one of Talifson if I recall correctly stumbling upon the scene of a hunter and bear encounter from years earlier. Just skeletal remains of the gent, bear and rifle.

I’ve hunted all over Alaska the last 20 years, Kodiak and the Peninsula included…sure as hell hope that’s not a fine English double. When you don’t go home (even a dry cabin) for weeks at a time, stuck in wet tent at night where nothing dries, even stainless rusts. My hunting buds and I always admire the kind of work and dedication. It would take to keep a pre-64 wood stocked Winchester functioning in the interior, let alone the salty, Uber-wet air of Kodiak. Impressive to say the least.

Bill Pinnel

 

[Wildwillalaska]

That’s the one. Stock broke down about as fast as the victims of the battle. We don’t find ancient, intact muskets leaning against high, desert pines in Alaska.

 

[Sarg]

Cool photo for sure, which most the old P&T pics are. There is a really eerie one of Talifson if I recall correctly stumbling upon the scene of a hunter and bear encounter from years earlier. Just skeletal remains of the gent, bear and rifle.

I’ve hunted all over Alaska the last 20 years, Kodiak and the Peninsula included…sure as hell hope that’s not a fine English double. When you don’t go home (even a dry cabin) for weeks at a time, stuck in wet tent at night where nothing dries, even stainless rusts. My hunting buds and I always admire the kind of work and dedication. It would take to keep a pre-64 wood stocked Winchester functioning in the interior, let alone the salty, Uber-wet air of Kodiak. Impressive to say the least.

Oh God, I remember being in a wet tent for weeks, the only water proof part of it was the floor, some days if you walked more than ten feet from it to do your business, you would lost it in the fog & mist !

It sure does have the look of a Holland side lock but I suppose it could be a Spainish copy or even a Beretta side lock, still be an expensive rifle however & not in it’s natural environment ?

 

[Altitude sickness]

Putting on musty wet cold boots and clothes every morning is just part of the Alaska hunting deal.

 

[roklok]

Yep, as an Alaska resident who has hunted all over the state including Kodiak I cant imagine taking a fine double on any serious hunt. A stroll below the house looking for a moose on a sunny day, sure, but any serious hunt usually involves rain, borderline hypothermia, gear getting banged around in planes, boats, or ATVs, or clattering across rocks when it falls off pack frame.

I would guess this picture was taken sometime in the 1980s, looks like a digital watch on his wrist. Here is a great interview with Joe not too many years ago here in Fairbanks. It would be awesome to be able to ask him about this rifle, I think he is still alive.

 

[Moosemind]

Joe's double is a Royal 500 NE.

 

[AZDAVE]

Yep weather rules everything in Alaska.

 

[ftrovato]

Here is an old pic of well known Alaskan guide Joe Want with a double rifle, I assume taken in Kodiak. Joe guided for famous Kodiak bear hunters Pinnel and Talifson in the late 50's and 60's. Thought you double guys would like this one. Can anyone identify the rifle ?View attachment 705205

WHEN MEN WERE MEN!

 

[ftrovato]

Bill PinnelView attachment 705249

There is a story!!!!

 

[Scott CWO]

Yep, as an Alaska resident who has hunted all over the state including Kodiak I cant imagine taking a fine double on any serious hunt. A stroll below the house looking for a moose on a sunny day, sure, but any serious hunt usually involves rain, borderline hypothermia, gear getting banged around in planes, boats, or ATVs, or clattering across rocks when it falls off pack frame.

I would guess this picture was taken sometime in the 1980s, looks like a digital watch on his wrist. Here is a great interview with Joe not too many years ago here in Fairbanks. It would be awesome to be able to ask him about this rifle, I think he is still alive.

Yes, he’s still alive. I’ve watched this video a few times. During his career on Kodiak, Joe had the highest skull size average of any guide but his success rate was not as high as some. He was uncompromising and was more interested in giant bears than success. He only wanted to kill old bears and after killing one in an area, his next hunter or hunters might not get a bear. Kodiak areas are not as big as areas on the AK Peninsula.

I still have an old article he wrote about judging brown bears that I still read once a year. I also send it to my clients. He figured out the subtle differences between a nice bear and a truly big bear. P&T got him going and he excelled at judging bears and how to kill them. Sometimes he would exasperate his clients by not hunting and sitting in his separate tent for days on end while waiting for the wind direction to change before hunting a big bear he had located.

I have guided two clients that he guided and the stories are really interesting. He had a very exacting list of gear he demanded hunters bring on the hunt. If you varied from the list, you got your ass chewed or he wouldn’t talk to you much. Food was not a priority and pasta noodles were the bland staple. He had a flute or piccolo that he played to pass the time in his tent while waiting for the weather and wind to change. An eccentric guy but he knows bears.

 

[Moosemind]

The late Master Bear Guide Bob Cusack used a Zoli 9.3x74r double and stood the test of time. A single trigger o/u.

 

[Beck]

Cool photo for sure, which most the old P&T pics are. There is a really eerie one of Talifson if I recall correctly stumbling upon the scene of a hunter and bear encounter from years earlier. Just skeletal remains of the gent, bear and rifle.

I’ve hunted all over Alaska the last 20 years, Kodiak and the Peninsula included…sure as hell hope that’s not a fine English double. When you don’t go home (even a dry cabin) for weeks at a time, stuck in wet tent at night where nothing dries, even stainless rusts. My hunting buds and I always admire the kind of work and dedication. It would take to keep a pre-64 wood stocked Winchester functioning in the interior, let alone the salty, Uber-wet air of Kodiak. Impressive to say the least.

Would love to see that photo

 

[Beck]

Bill PinnelView attachment 705249

Wow

 

[Beck]

Yes, he’s still alive. I’ve watched this video a few times. During his career on Kodiak, Joe had the highest skull size average of any guide but his success rate was not as high as some. He was uncompromising and was more interested in giant bears than success. He only wanted to kill old bears and after killing one in an area, his next hunter or hunters might not get a bear. Kodiak areas are not as big as areas on the AK Peninsula.

I still have an old article he wrote about judging brown bears that I still read once a year. I also send it to my clients. He figured out the subtle differences between a nice bear and a truly big bear. P&T got him going and he excelled at judging bears and how to kill them. Sometimes he would exasperate his clients by not hunting and sitting in his separate tent for days on end while waiting for the wind direction to change before hunting a big bear he had located.

I have guided two clients that he guided and the stories are really interesting. He had a very exacting list of gear he demanded hunters bring on the hunt. If you varied from the list, you got your ass chewed or he wouldn’t talk to you much. Food was not a priority and pasta noodles were the bland staple. He had a flute or piccolo that he played to pass the time in his tent while waiting for the weather and wind to change. An eccentric guy but he knows bears.

Would love to see the list of gear and the article on judging brown bears

 

[Scott CWO]

Would love to see the list of gear and the article on judging brown bears

Take a Closer Look

An excellent video produced by the Yukon Government to educate hunters and guides on how to judge trophy bears. The first 12-minutes of this video offer an excellent…

vimeo.com

I don’t have the article in digital form but this video is excellent. I will find the article and post pictures. I just heard about Joe’s gear list but never saw it.

 

[Phil Giordano]

Well, many of you are US citizens - to me, hunt in the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak is quite a savage dream, and with the skyrocketing cost of a Brown Bear hunt, for sure the adventure of a lifetime.
I believe the needs of a frequent hunter are very different from the needs of 'just one' hunter. Me, I would be happy to carry on Kodiak one of my nice and trusty 'wood and blue' rifles. I would consider every scar and rust as a badge of onor, once back home. I realize, it's just my point of view - but in the 60' and 70' great hunting adventures taked place on Kodiak Island, way before the stainless rifles era.