RUSSIA: Kamchatka Brown Bear

[gbflyer]

Crazy. I have an Eastern European neighbor. He hates Russia. However he and the guide/taxidermist must be related. lol.

 

[Raven]

Excellent report. Now you can tell your descendants that you not only successfully hunted in Russia, but also spent time in the Gulag, lol. I've heard about this case, but it's different every time.

I was finally able to find the original source and read the whole story from beginning to end.

What can I say? Yuri should have warned you that for a long time there was a law in Russia prohibiting the rental of weapons. It's been canceled now, but still need to prepare the paperwork for gun. If this is not done, there will be problems. Which is exactly what happened.

But even in this case, there was a way out. You should have said that Yuri shot the bears, and you were just exploring the picturesque surroundings. They wouldn't have believed you, but they couldn't have done anything. However, you confessed. And the police couldn't let you go anymore. They were just doing their job.

And there was no need to try to fly away when the police were waiting for you to talk. The police wouldn't like that in any country in the world.

It's very funny about Dostoevsky's book. You should have brought his novel "Notes from the Dead House" with you – about how he was in prison. It would be more interesting reading, I suppose.

The subtleties of hunting in Kamchatka are that you do not need to contact companies. They charge too much money. And not only from foreigners, but also from Russians. You just need to negotiate with a professional hunter who will offer such a hunt quite cheaply.

There are satisfied customers from Germany, France, and Spain who fly to specific hunters and pay reasonable money for bears. They just never write about it on the forums. It's a secret. At the same time, hunting is quite legal, bears are shot under license.

As for the caliber .30-06, then it is good for small and medium-sized bears. But it is not suitable for Kamchatka. You're a good shot, but you still need a bigger caliber. Personally, I shoot the Kamchatka bear with a caliber .375 H&H. I also have a .470 NE for shooting at close range.

This is not an advertisement. I am a hunter and use the services of professional hunters in Kamchatka. If everything is done correctly, then there will be no problems. I hope you are not very angry with Russia.

 

[medvedhunting]

The hunting part of the trip was pretty straightforward. Bears don’t wake up early, so we also didn’t have to wake up early. That’s the kind of hunting I like. After breakfast we’d load up on the sleds, cross the river, and ride around looking for big tracks and big bears. Sometimes we’d follow a trail for a while and the bear would wander into terrain we couldn’t cross. Sometimes a bear would turn out to be too small. Sometimes we’d find a big bear, and then see that it was a female with cubs. As the days passed, more and more bears came out of hibernation and we ran into more and more tracks.

View attachment 605023

On Day 4 of hunting we were lucky enough that a 2nd river was frozen over enough to cross on the snowmobiles and we got into country that usually isn’t huntable. We spotted a big bear above some timber on a hillside, but he dropped down into the woods and it was hard to see where he went. Alexander moved up to where we’d spotted the bear and started following the tracks down into the trees to see if he could figure out where the bear might pop out. Vladimir and my dad took off to see if they could head the bear off in the trees. Vladimir’s snowmobile got stuck and they couldn’t get it dug out. Alexander was pretty agitated, as the bear was getting away. After about 45 minutes, Alexander moved to where they were stuck and swapped the sled over to his snowmobile. A little ways up the hill, Alexander’s machine got stuck. He yelled out in anguish as the bear was getting further and further away, and they began frantically digging that snowmobile out of the snow. It took about fifteen minutes, and Alexander took my dad over to where he thought the bear should pop out. My dad waited and waited, but the bear moved off in the other direction. Alexander picked him up again and this time they were able to catch up to the bear in the woods. I heard a couple of shots and pretty soon Alexander came back to where I was sitting to grab me and take me to the site. My dad had gotten a beautiful big dark bear with a close shot in the woods. The hide squared out at 9’ 1” when we measured it back at camp.

View attachment 605022

While Vladimir started skinning my dad’s bear, Alexander took me back out into the valley to scout for another big one. We parked and started scanning a promising hill. Up at the top of the hill we saw a female with two big cubs. They walked around, the cubs rolled down the hill, and they generally did all the cute bear stuff you’d expect from bears. Another big bear came up from the bottom of the hill and joined them briefly before wandering off in the other direction.

View attachment 605025

Then we spotted a really big bear on the top of the hill. We decided to circle around and see if we could catch up with that bear on the hilltop. We went up the hill undetected and sat about 800 yards away to see what the bear was doing. He was really close to a drop-off that led into some inaccessible terrain, so we hoped he would move across the flat top of the hill instead of dropping down. After a while, he moved out across the hill and we rushed in on him. When we got about 40 yards away, the dog couldn’t take it anymore and he rushed the bear. I fired once and it was a good shot. The bear turned around and swiped at the dog with his claws. I waited for the dog to clear the bear and shot again. The bear lunged one more time with his teeth at the dog and then fell down dead. He was a wonderful big bear with a giant blonde head.

View attachment 605024

Back at camp his skin measured out at 9’ 7.5”, although we probably could have stretched it out to 10’ if we really tried. I guess that’s why the record books use skull measurements instead of skin measurements. You can stretch skins out quite a bit to exaggerate the size of your bear, but it’s hard to stretch a skull. Our bear’s skulls measured out at exactly the same total, with my dad’s bear being a little wider and mine being a little longer.

View attachment 605026

On Day 5 we were all hunted out and the broken snowmobile needed repairing so that we could return to town, so we spent the day in camp looking at bear skins and skulls while the camp staff worked on the snowmobile, processed the bear hides, and did other camp chores.

View attachment 605027

On Day 6 we mounted up on the snowmobiles and went back to Palana. The broken snowmobile broke down a couple of times on the way back to the truck, but they were able to patch it up enough to get to the truck. Weather wouldn’t allow the flight back to Yelizovo to take off, so we stayed the night in Palana and were able to fly out the next day.

can give us an idea of the two bear skull sizes and pictures of them if you do not mind? thank you

 

[chonk34]

Excellent report. Now you can tell your descendants that you not only successfully hunted in Russia, but also spent time in the Gulag, lol. I've heard about this case, but it's different every time.

I was finally able to find the original source and read the whole story from beginning to end.

What can I say? Yuri should have warned you that for a long time there was a law in Russia prohibiting the rental of weapons. It's been canceled now, but still need to prepare the paperwork for gun. If this is not done, there will be problems. Which is exactly what happened.

But even in this case, there was a way out. You should have said that Yuri shot the bears, and you were just exploring the picturesque surroundings. They wouldn't have believed you, but they couldn't have done anything. However, you confessed. And the police couldn't let you go anymore. They were just doing their job.

And there was no need to try to fly away when the police were waiting for you to talk. The police wouldn't like that in any country in the world.

It's very funny about Dostoevsky's book. You should have brought his novel "Notes from the Dead House" with you – about how he was in prison. It would be more interesting reading, I suppose.

The subtleties of hunting in Kamchatka are that you do not need to contact companies. They charge too much money. And not only from foreigners, but also from Russians. You just need to negotiate with a professional hunter who will offer such a hunt quite cheaply.

There are satisfied customers from Germany, France, and Spain who fly to specific hunters and pay reasonable money for bears. They just never write about it on the forums. It's a secret. At the same time, hunting is quite legal, bears are shot under license.

As for the caliber .30-06, then it is good for small and medium-sized bears. But it is not suitable for Kamchatka. You're a good shot, but you still need a bigger caliber. Personally, I shoot the Kamchatka bear with a caliber .375 H&H. I also have a .470 NE for shooting at close range.

This is not an advertisement. I am a hunter and use the services of professional hunters in Kamchatka. If everything is done correctly, then there will be no problems. I hope you are not very angry with Russia.

The interpreter for the Russian police asked us why we didn't just lie and say that Yuri shot the bears while we were on a simple sightseeing tour, but I guess our natural honesty and uncertainty about the situation led us to be truthful. Yuri gave us a lot of bad advice, and I think the police were focused mostly on getting him for being abrasive than they were on nailing us to the wall. I argued very heavily against taking that flight, but ultimately felt uncomfortable about the prospect of being left alone if the other members of the party boarded the flight without me. We got caught up in his shenanigans. The rifle caliber was a pretty uncomfortable element for us, but I suppose it pressured us to be more careful about shot selection. The guides got us very close to the bears, and I was taking shots very quickly and accurately when it came time to make them, knowing that I was under-gunned for the situation. I don't hold any animosity for the Russian officials we interacted with. They were professional in their treatment of us, and were generally apologetic about the situation we found ourselves in. The police who arrested us sent us care packages while we were in jail, and the prison guards treated us well.

 

[chonk34]

can give us an idea of the two bear skull sizes and pictures of them if you do not mind? thank you

I perhaps didn't share the full story in my original post because I was uncertain about the legal ramifications. We ultimately wound up shooting 5 bears in total, two in the 8-foot class and three in the 9-foot class. Because of arguments between Yuri (the outfitter) and Alexander (the guide) our trophies have not been shipped, but we are trying to make that happen. We have video proof that the skins are still in good condition and we hope to have them shipped soon. The difference in skull size between an 8-foot bear and a 9-foot bear was shocking to me. It's like they aren't even from the same animal. We have the attached photo with all of the skulls lined up. It is wild to me the difference in skull size for a foot of difference in skin size.

 

[chonk34]

And if one does choose to bribe a foreign official, one might seriously consider NOT posting it on a public forum.

The world is a big place. It might be helpful in a forum focused on international hunting to know that in Kazakhstan it might be common to buy duty-free alcohol for the baggage handlers to ensure that your rifle case makes it through customs without issue.

 

[WAB]

The world is a big place. It might be helpful in a forum focused on international hunting to know that in Kazakhstan it might be common to buy duty-free alcohol for the baggage handlers to ensure that your rifle case makes it through customs without issue.

Just trying to provide some caution regarding potential FCPA issues.

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

These stories are the reason I haven't gone.. But how many people can say the did a piece in Russian jail?

 

[chonk34]

These stories are the reason I haven't gone.. But how many people can say the did a piece in Russian jail?

Obviously the situation between the countries is pretty volatile, but I think if we'd gone with a more established outfitter we wouldn't have had any issues. Our guide seemed determined to antagonize everyone who would listen to him, and I think we paid the price for that. It is a pretty good story to tell now that we're home. I haven't encountered anyone who can top it. Our confinement wasn't really all that bad, but people draw their own conclusions about going to jail in Russia and our protestations that we were treated very well typically fall on deaf ears. The police who detained us realized that we were the victims of a rather delusional guide. They took us shopping before we started serving our time to gather necessities and sent us care packages while we were in jail. The guards were professional but allowed us amenities within the limitations of their jurisdiction. Maybe if we both hadn't been on multiple deployments in austere conditions with over 20 years each of military service it would've been more traumatic, but really it was just a matter of marking time. It was probably much worse for our wives at home than it was for us. I will admit that the mattresses could have been better. How could something so thin be so lumpy?

 

[Daryl S]

Now I know why I like hunting & fishing in my own back yard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

See, if I knew I had 2 spend a couple nights in jail, I might go on a similar hunt. But, the uncertainty of getting my trophies back is a different story.

*No more than 2 nights in jail…

 

[Mekaniks]

Obviously the situation between the countries is pretty volatile, but I think if we'd gone with a more established outfitter we wouldn't have had any issues. Our guide seemed determined to antagonize everyone who would listen to him, and I think we paid the price for that. It is a pretty good story to tell now that we're home. I haven't encountered anyone who can top it. Our confinement wasn't really all that bad, but people draw their own conclusions about going to jail in Russia and our protestations that we were treated very well typically fall on deaf ears. The police who detained us realized that we were the victims of a rather delusional guide. They took us shopping before we started serving our time to gather necessities and sent us care packages while we were in jail. The guards were professional but allowed us amenities within the limitations of their jurisdiction. Maybe if we both hadn't been on multiple deployments in austere conditions with over 20 years each of military service it would've been more traumatic, but really it was just a matter of marking time. It was probably much worse for our wives at home than it was for us. I will admit that the mattresses could have been better. How could something so thin be so lumpy?

@chonk34 Have you received your trophies? (apologies if I missed it)

 

[chonk34]

@chonk34 Have you received your trophies? (apologies if I missed it)

We do not have our trophies yet. We do have recent photos of them in which they appear to still be in good condition.

There are many complications in the process, compounded by the personalities involved. Alexander wants more money in order to ship the trophies, and lives in a rather remote part of Kamchatka. Kamchatka is pretty remote already, and he lives in the remote portion of a remote region. Yuri does not want to give more money to Alexander for the shipping. They performed some negotiations while we were in camp, the details of which are somewhat vague to my dad and I. Yuri wants Alexander to ship the trophies without paying more money. My dad is willing to pay Alexander through Yuri if it means the trophies will be sent. Yuri does not want more money to be sent, and also it is difficult currently to send money between the US and Russia. Yuri has children in the US, but even if we send the additional funds to them they do not have an easy way to get the money to Yuri in Russia. So it's all in a bit of a gridlock. I hope that someday we will get our hides and skulls, but currently it is far from a certain thing.

 

[Mekaniks]

We do not have our trophies yet. We do have recent photos of them in which they appear to still be in good condition.

There are many complications in the process, compounded by the personalities involved. Alexander wants more money in order to ship the trophies, and lives in a rather remote part of Kamchatka. Kamchatka is pretty remote already, and he lives in the remote portion of a remote region. Yuri does not want to give more money to Alexander for the shipping. They performed some negotiations while we were in camp, the details of which are somewhat vague to my dad and I. Yuri wants Alexander to ship the trophies without paying more money. My dad is willing to pay Alexander through Yuri if it means the trophies will be sent. Yuri does not want more money to be sent, and also it is difficult currently to send money between the US and Russia. Yuri has children in the US, but even if we send the additional funds to them they do not have an easy way to get the money to Yuri in Russia. So it's all in a bit of a gridlock. I hope that someday we will get our hides and skulls, but currently it is far from a certain thing.

Thats a bummer. Hopefully it works out somehow.

But, what an experience and you do have one hell of a story to tell!

 

[chonk34]

Thats a bummer. Hopefully it works out somehow.

But, what an experience and you do have one hell of a story to tell!

Got a text from my dad today that Yuri and Alexander have reached some sort of understanding. Of course it will still be some time before they complete the journey to us, but good to hear that there is progress.

 

[Mekaniks]

Got a text from my dad today that Yuri and Alexander have reached some sort of understanding. Of course it will still be some time before they complete the journey to us, but good to hear that there is progress.

Great news!

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

Looking forward to seeing them in your hands
Gumpy

 

[Daryl S]

Absolutely!!!!

 

[coreydb]

This is why I'll never get to hunt in Russia-ever. Even though I'm retired, my work history would send me to a Gulag for years.

 

[coyote wacker]

I had a chance to go to Russia in 1991 as a exploratory hunt with several friends, trying to open hunting opportunities to Americans. I didn't go because of work, but they went. Just so happened there hunt took place just before the take over of Boris Yeltsin. They were stuck in Kamchatka for 2 week trying to negotiate there way out of Russia. They would joke with me that it was a adventure of a life time, not my type of adventure.
My cousin when there on a bear hunt in 2012 shot a tremendous 10'-2" bear on the trip.