Erik in AK
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In case you hadn't already heard......Big bear killed last week down on the Kenai Peninsula
Giant brown bear charges hunters
750- to 825-pound bruin shot only 20 yards away By JOSEPH ROBERTIA
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Matt Zeek and Charles Goff made cautious progress down the trail — their eyes scanning the trees and underbrush, ears tuned to detect every rustle, and shotguns loaded and ready — hoping to see a bear.
Their preparedness saved their lives, yet they were not prepared for what they encountered.
The Soldotna hunters were heading to their remote black bear-baiting station late Saturday morning in a heavily wooded area a few miles north of Rainbow Drive, off of Mackey Lake Road outside of Soldotna.
The men had left doughnuts and bagels at the site, hoping the treats would lure a bear.
They did, but not the kind the hunters were expecting.
“We were just going out to see if a bear had visited the site. We were on the trail and didn’t see a bear on the bait, so we started heading in,” Zeek said.
Selinger estimates the bear weighed between 650 and 725 pounds, and may have been 20 years old or older based on the animal's worn-down teeth. Selinger also determined from numbers tattooed inside the animal's lip that it had had a run-in with Fish and Game in the past.
It was about 11 a.m. when all hell, in the form of a massive male brown bear with claws as long as a man’s fingers and paws as big as a human head, broke loose from where it was silently tucked in the alders, just a few yards away.
“It happened so quickly. He just sprung up and was bounding up the hill woofing with his ears back and head down,” Zeek said.
Within two leaps and a matter of seconds the bear had closed almost 20 yards, Zeek said. There was only about 20 more yards separating the hunters and the still-charging bruin, so they opened fire with their .270 and 30.350 rifles.
“If I had had my rifle slung he would have smoked me,” Zeek said.
Since they already had their weapons loaded and in hand, they were able to get off three or four shots.
The bear veered off its charge, and the men said they knew finishing what they had started was the responsible thing to do.
“At that point you can’t leave a bear wounded like that. You’ve got to finish it off, so we put a few more shots into it and that was it,” Goff said.
The two men immediately contacted authorities and Jeff Selinger, Soldotna area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, was called to survey the scene.
“I would guess he was defending the food,” Selinger said, after identifying where the bear had kicked up dirt and made a day bed in a cool, damp, shady area close to the bait station.
Selinger examined the bear and estimated that it weighed between 650 and 725 pounds, and may have been the ripe old age of 20 years old or older, based on the state of the animal’s teeth.
“Most of his canines and incisors are broken and worn down and his molars are almost completely worn flat,” he said.
Numbers tattooed inside the animal’s lip suggested the bear had had a run-in with humans in the past.
“Somebody from Fish and Game has had hands on this bear before, possibly as part of a research project,” he said. Selinger recorded the numbers, which he will use to look up the bear’s history in a Fish and Game database.
Even more interesting is what Selinger found inside the bear’s stomach after doing a crude field necropsy.
In addition to bait from the station — which consisted exclusively of doughnuts and bagels — Selinger also found a moose calf, which he said is evidence the bear had been feeding naturally.
Other items indicated the bear was also feeding on things it should not have had access to.
“There were corn kernels, clear plastic wrap, black trash bag, cardboard, a milk jug lid, a banana, cranberries and deli ham or some kind of lunch meat,” he said.
Selinger said he doesn’t believe there was any connection between the bear bait and the garbage in the brownie’s stomach, nor that the bear baiting led to this bear’s garbage-eating behavior.
“I think it was more of an example of people not properly securing garbage or other attractants,” Selinger said.
“That’s why we push the Wildlife Conservation Community Program and using bear-resistant waste receptacles,” he added.
Goff said that it was unusual to see a brown bear at his black bear-baiting station.
“I’ve been hunting this area since ‘99 and have never had brown bear problems in the past. This is the first year I’ve seen any,” he said.
Selinger said that in 2005, only one of the 17 human-caused bear deaths on the Kenai Peninsula took place at a black bear-baiting station.
As per state regulations, Zeek and Goff skinned the animal and turned the hide and carcass over to Fish and Game.
Selinger said he was hoping the bear’s remains could be used for educational purposes, possibly the skeleton would be re-articulated similar to the one in the Cooper Landing Museum.
“This is one of the biggest recorded brown bears on the peninsula and it’s rare to get one in this condition,” he said.
Selinger said many brown bears are taken in remote area where getting the entire carcasses out isn’t feasible, or they come to Fish and Game after being road-killed, which damages the skeleton too much to use them for education.
“This one is in too good a condition not to make use of it,” he said.
The shooting was the third recorded “defense of life and property” brown bear killing on the peninsula so far this year, and the first of two that happened over the weekend.
Photos by Joseph Robertia
Giant brown bear charges hunters
750- to 825-pound bruin shot only 20 yards away By JOSEPH ROBERTIA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Zeek and Charles Goff made cautious progress down the trail — their eyes scanning the trees and underbrush, ears tuned to detect every rustle, and shotguns loaded and ready — hoping to see a bear.
Their preparedness saved their lives, yet they were not prepared for what they encountered.
The Soldotna hunters were heading to their remote black bear-baiting station late Saturday morning in a heavily wooded area a few miles north of Rainbow Drive, off of Mackey Lake Road outside of Soldotna.
The men had left doughnuts and bagels at the site, hoping the treats would lure a bear.
They did, but not the kind the hunters were expecting.
“We were just going out to see if a bear had visited the site. We were on the trail and didn’t see a bear on the bait, so we started heading in,” Zeek said.
Selinger estimates the bear weighed between 650 and 725 pounds, and may have been 20 years old or older based on the animal's worn-down teeth. Selinger also determined from numbers tattooed inside the animal's lip that it had had a run-in with Fish and Game in the past.
It was about 11 a.m. when all hell, in the form of a massive male brown bear with claws as long as a man’s fingers and paws as big as a human head, broke loose from where it was silently tucked in the alders, just a few yards away.
“It happened so quickly. He just sprung up and was bounding up the hill woofing with his ears back and head down,” Zeek said.
Within two leaps and a matter of seconds the bear had closed almost 20 yards, Zeek said. There was only about 20 more yards separating the hunters and the still-charging bruin, so they opened fire with their .270 and 30.350 rifles.
“If I had had my rifle slung he would have smoked me,” Zeek said.
Since they already had their weapons loaded and in hand, they were able to get off three or four shots.
The bear veered off its charge, and the men said they knew finishing what they had started was the responsible thing to do.
“At that point you can’t leave a bear wounded like that. You’ve got to finish it off, so we put a few more shots into it and that was it,” Goff said.
The two men immediately contacted authorities and Jeff Selinger, Soldotna area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, was called to survey the scene.
“I would guess he was defending the food,” Selinger said, after identifying where the bear had kicked up dirt and made a day bed in a cool, damp, shady area close to the bait station.
Selinger examined the bear and estimated that it weighed between 650 and 725 pounds, and may have been the ripe old age of 20 years old or older, based on the state of the animal’s teeth.
“Most of his canines and incisors are broken and worn down and his molars are almost completely worn flat,” he said.
Numbers tattooed inside the animal’s lip suggested the bear had had a run-in with humans in the past.
“Somebody from Fish and Game has had hands on this bear before, possibly as part of a research project,” he said. Selinger recorded the numbers, which he will use to look up the bear’s history in a Fish and Game database.
Even more interesting is what Selinger found inside the bear’s stomach after doing a crude field necropsy.
In addition to bait from the station — which consisted exclusively of doughnuts and bagels — Selinger also found a moose calf, which he said is evidence the bear had been feeding naturally.
Other items indicated the bear was also feeding on things it should not have had access to.
“There were corn kernels, clear plastic wrap, black trash bag, cardboard, a milk jug lid, a banana, cranberries and deli ham or some kind of lunch meat,” he said.
Selinger said he doesn’t believe there was any connection between the bear bait and the garbage in the brownie’s stomach, nor that the bear baiting led to this bear’s garbage-eating behavior.
“I think it was more of an example of people not properly securing garbage or other attractants,” Selinger said.
“That’s why we push the Wildlife Conservation Community Program and using bear-resistant waste receptacles,” he added.
Goff said that it was unusual to see a brown bear at his black bear-baiting station.
“I’ve been hunting this area since ‘99 and have never had brown bear problems in the past. This is the first year I’ve seen any,” he said.
Selinger said that in 2005, only one of the 17 human-caused bear deaths on the Kenai Peninsula took place at a black bear-baiting station.
As per state regulations, Zeek and Goff skinned the animal and turned the hide and carcass over to Fish and Game.
Selinger said he was hoping the bear’s remains could be used for educational purposes, possibly the skeleton would be re-articulated similar to the one in the Cooper Landing Museum.
“This is one of the biggest recorded brown bears on the peninsula and it’s rare to get one in this condition,” he said.
Selinger said many brown bears are taken in remote area where getting the entire carcasses out isn’t feasible, or they come to Fish and Game after being road-killed, which damages the skeleton too much to use them for education.
“This one is in too good a condition not to make use of it,” he said.
The shooting was the third recorded “defense of life and property” brown bear killing on the peninsula so far this year, and the first of two that happened over the weekend.
Photos by Joseph Robertia
