Gary Joeris and his Alaskan brown bear

Font size:

While hunting on the Alaskan Peninsula with Mel Gillis of Sandy River Lodge and guide Sterling Mize, Joeris bagged a brown bear that squared 9ft- 9in, was 10ft-2in from paw to paw, and 9ft-4in nose to tail with a 26-6/8in skull.

Joeris flew from the main camp to the hunting area, where the hunters stayed in tents in the wilderness.

“We happened to be glassing from a ridge just above our camp and had been watching four bears about a quarter mile away,” Joeris said. “After not seeing them for a good while, the largest of the four popped out of the brush just 140 yards below where we were perched.  He was coming out of the brush with his nose in the air, so he was already spooked by the smell of our camp.”

Joeris killed the bear with one shot, 200 yards from camp.  He had just bought the stainless 330 Dakota with a fiberglass stock, loaded with a 225 grain Dakota bullet, before the trip.

“Very nice that we only had to pack the cape and skull 200 yards,” Joeris said. “Plus I shot him on the fifth day out, so I got to come back early.”  –kf

©2010 Construction News, Ltd.