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If you want a huge brown bear, consider hunting Kodiak Island, a place where huge brownies are bears killed each year. One of our favorite outfitters has one of the largest trophy averages if not the largest trophy average among guides on Kodiak.
A 10-footer is an exceptional trophy even on this hunt, but 8 1/2 to 9 1/2-footers are fairly common with 90% of the outfitter's hunters going home with a bear that squares at least nine feet, and you never know what might be hiding behind the next clump of alders. His average bear is 9 1/2 feet square and has a 26-inch skull. On the Kodiak hunt you'll stay in a lodge on an ocean bay and use an 18-foot boat with a 50-horse outboard to access various parts of the bay. Occasionally you might spike camp.
This outfitter has done a good job for us for several years. He has an excellent reputation and often appears on hunting TV shows and serves on the Alaska outfitters association. He also does goat and Sitka deer hunts as well as summertime fishing trips for salmon and halibut.
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| Hunt |
Price per person |
| 10-day hunt on Kodiak Island |
$13,900 fall of 2008
$13,900 spring of 2009
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| Success rate |
Trophy size |
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Most years hunter success is 100% with two to four hunters in the fall and the same number in the spring. Sometimes a hunter fails to score but usually has at least one good opportunity. Overall hunter success has been approximately 90% over the past 20 years. Spring 2007 yielded two bears for two hunters. Two of three hunters scored in the fall of 2006 with the unsuccessful hunter having an opportunity at a 10-footer at 45 yards.
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Most hunters take boars between 9' and 10' square with skulls from 25 to 27 1/2 inches. The spring 2007 bears were both were big boars squaring 9'6" and 9'7" and with skulls of 27 8/16 and 26 12/16. 9'4". The fall 2006 bears 8 1/2 feet and just over 9', which is smaller than average. Average trophy size in the past 20 years has been about 9'6" and with a 26" skull.
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Before '04: 100% most years. Only 1 hunter has hunted the entire hunt and not had a chance on a trophy.
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90% of this outfitter's hunters have taken a bear over 9 feet. Avg. is about 9 1/2 feet with a 26" skull. Some bears exceed 10 feet.
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| Tag drawing odds |
License fees, deadlines |
| Kodiak: Close to 100% now that the state has cracked down on outfitters without special use permits. Peninsula: No drawing required. |
$85 hunting license required to apply for Kodiak or to hunt either location. $5 application fee. $90 Kodiak bear fee. Bear tag was $500. Apply in May for fall tags, Oct. for spring tags Click here for updated license prices. |
| Lodging and meals |
Not included |
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Kodiak: 2,000 sq. ft. 6-bed lodge built in '85 with additions in '90 and '95.
Peninsula: Tent camp
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license and tag, taxidermy or transportation of skull and hide to Anchorage and/or the Lower 48, air charter to Kodiak lodge
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| Guide ratio |
Airport |
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1x1
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Fly to Kodiak, take charter to lodge (expect $200 or so each way)
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| Seasons |
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Spring hunts are late April to May 15, while fall hunts are October 25 to November 9.
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