Most people think of Kodiak Island as the place to hunt for the biggest brown bears, but parts of the Alaska Peninsula produce much bigger bruins on the average. This outfitter, who operates out of Pilot Point, said his hunters typically have no trouble filling their tags on bears from 9 to 10 foot square.

"We get really, really big bears," he said. "I won't let anybody shoot a small bear with me. In all the time I've been oufitting bear hunters, we have taken only one sow, and it was a nine-footer that charged. We have had 55 total bear hunters during that time. Every hunter has had a chance to take a 9 to 10 foot bear. And there are 10-footers to be had although not everybody is going to see one."

In even years hunting takes place in the spring, while fall seasons run during odd years.

You'll fly from Pilot Point by Supercub, and you'll stay in a 10 by 12 foot tent with cots. You'll be positioned between the high country, which is 2,500 to 3,500 in elevation, and the lower country.

"In the fall the bears are going up in the mountains," the outfitter said. "They den in the high country, and every bear is going to walk by the intermediate terrain. In the spring the bears are coming off the mountains and working their way down. It's not a physical hunt at all. Sure, if I have a guy in great shape, and we see a 10-foot bear cross a ridge, we'll go after him if we think we can catch up to him. But usually we just sit and spot and let ther bears come to us. We see a lot of bears this way because we are where they are."