| Kodiak Brown Bear |
| By Dr. Richard Day |
For several years I had been trying to work out a schedule to hunt Brown Bear with Dick Rohrer on Kodiak
Island. In January of 2006 Dick called and we scheduled the hunt for May of 2006.
The flight into bear camp from Kodiak Airport was a rough one as the weather was not too good. There
was wind, rain and fog. However, once we were over the first range of mountains that subsided and the rest
of the flight was good. The temperature during most of the hunt was in the low 40’s, with intermittent rain
and snow. There was still quite a lot of snow on the higher peaks of the mountains, but very little on the
lower elevations. The bears were coming out of hibernation and we were seeing ten or more bear per day.
A lot of sows with cubs at first, but as time went on more and more males appeared. Several of the males
had bad rubs already. The mating season was in full bloom.
We spotted a good male bear about ten o’clock in the morning and watched him mate with a sow several
times during the morning. They were high up on the mountain. Later we watched them move up over the
top and bed down in the snow bank. We followed them around the mountain and watched until about seven
in the evening, when we saw the sow go back over the mountain. Dick thought the boar would follow her
even though we did not see him. We headed around the mountain to where we had originally seen them and
climbed up a grassy hillside where we could see if they came our way. We no sooner reached a good
position and there they were headed our way. We waited until they were in good shooting range and the
boar presented a good broadside shot. We had our bear.
The bear was beautiful with 6” fur that had gold tips on the ears and down the back. The bears taken by
the hunters in the camp the same time that I was there measured from 9’5” to 10’3” and one of the bears
taken had a 29 10/16” skull and will rank #39 in the record book.
I wish to thank Dick Rohrer and his crew for a great hunt. I have been with Dick on other hunting and
fishing trips and it has always been first class. The food is excellent and Jeannie’s cooking would be hard to
beat.
Dick has a bear hunt donated at National FNAWS and a fishing trip donated at Eastern conventions in
2007. I would highly recommend both.
Island. In January of 2006 Dick called and we scheduled the hunt for May of 2006.
The flight into bear camp from Kodiak Airport was a rough one as the weather was not too good. There
was wind, rain and fog. However, once we were over the first range of mountains that subsided and the rest
of the flight was good. The temperature during most of the hunt was in the low 40’s, with intermittent rain
and snow. There was still quite a lot of snow on the higher peaks of the mountains, but very little on the
lower elevations. The bears were coming out of hibernation and we were seeing ten or more bear per day.
A lot of sows with cubs at first, but as time went on more and more males appeared. Several of the males
had bad rubs already. The mating season was in full bloom.
We spotted a good male bear about ten o’clock in the morning and watched him mate with a sow several
times during the morning. They were high up on the mountain. Later we watched them move up over the
top and bed down in the snow bank. We followed them around the mountain and watched until about seven
in the evening, when we saw the sow go back over the mountain. Dick thought the boar would follow her
even though we did not see him. We headed around the mountain to where we had originally seen them and
climbed up a grassy hillside where we could see if they came our way. We no sooner reached a good
position and there they were headed our way. We waited until they were in good shooting range and the
boar presented a good broadside shot. We had our bear.
The bear was beautiful with 6” fur that had gold tips on the ears and down the back. The bears taken by
the hunters in the camp the same time that I was there measured from 9’5” to 10’3” and one of the bears
taken had a 29 10/16” skull and will rank #39 in the record book.
I wish to thank Dick Rohrer and his crew for a great hunt. I have been with Dick on other hunting and
fishing trips and it has always been first class. The food is excellent and Jeannie’s cooking would be hard to
beat.
Dick has a bear hunt donated at National FNAWS and a fishing trip donated at Eastern conventions in
2007. I would highly recommend both.
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