This article was originally published in the December 1975 issue of Petersen's Hunting.

Two ptarmigan sailed over the ridge and dropped into the shelter of an open stand of alders and tall grass off to our left. The birds' two-tone plumage, brown mottled with the beginnings of the stark white winter garb, was easy to follow across the green-brown tundra. We hiked leisurely across the spongy bottom to where we'd last seen the birds. If my buddy, Don Henderson, took the far end and I kicked them out, he should be able to double them up. I gave him a couple of minutes to get into position; then I pushed into the alders and waist high grass, realizing I'd have little chance to shoot since the leaves were still on. Suddenly, the birds flushed, straight at Don. Surprisingly, he didn't shoot.

When I pushed out the other side, Don was still standing in about the same spot I'd last seen him.

"Why didn't you shoot?" I asked, "They must have come right at you."

He nodded numbly. "They sure did." He looked rather strange, his face almost pale in spite of his normally ruddy complexion.

"So why didn't you shoot?" I asked again.

"Didn't think my 12-gauge would have fazed her a bit."

"Her?"

"That sow brownie you just flushed out of those alders. She almost ran me over."

Don was pretty lucky. Or maybe it was me who was lucky. If that sow had decided to pick on anyone, it probably would have been the guy who had disturbed her nap -- namely, me. By the time she saw Don, she was already in an escape mode. He was safe.

But sometimes, brownies do go the other way. Al Johnson of the Alaska Fish & Game Department heard that a sow brownie was cruising an area in McKinley Park with two photogenic cubs. Deciding that this was a real fine opportunity to take some exclusive wildlife photos, Al headed for the woods, camera gear in hand. When he got to the area where the sow was last reported, he climbed a tree and waited. After awhile he decided to blow on his deer call to get the sow's attention. She came all right. Al apparently figured he was safe, way up in a tree, but the sow wasn't so sure. She took a run at the tree, leapt high in the air, one of her long front claws hooking him by the toe of his boot. Her 600-800 pounds whipped him out of the tree like a coon shucking a clam. He didn't survive the subsequent mauling.

Another Alaskan, Lee Hagermeir, wasn't too lucky either. It was the summer of 1958 -- or was it 59? -- and Lee and his friend Doug Dobbin were fishing for salmon on Montana Creek outside Juneau, Alaska. Since the brownies were also fishing the same creek, Lee made it a point to have a rifle along, just in case. As they walked around the bend in the creek, they spotted a big brownie just ahead, flipping salmon up on the bank. Lee was in front with the rifle.

As they stopped to watch the bear, it suddenly sensed their presence, turned, and charged up the bank. Lee had time for just one shot before the bear was on him, it's huge jaws clamping brutally across his face. Lee survived the attack, but he lost both eyes and the infection from the wounds took his hearing.

There are many more stories to tell, but these three make the point starkly -- brown bear are terribly unpredictable, extremely dangerous, and mighty difficult to stop once they get riled up.

The rare photo sequence shows the demise of a charging brown bear (top to bottom). As soon as this nine-footer gets his blonde girlfriend out of the way, he comes for the hunter. At less than fifteen yards, one shot from a 7mm Magnum anchors him.

On two occasions I've personally been involved when brownies have charged hunters. The first time was about eight years ago, when I was hunting brown bear on the Alaskan Peninsula with my good friend, Carlos Perdomo, and guides Tommy Thompson and Jim Cann. The bear was a huge one, later to score well up in the Boone & Crockett records. We had disturbed his sleep and he woke up mad. His charge wasn't fast or ferocious, just persistent. The bear got up and started an ambling walk right at us, grunting all the way. It was an uphill haul, so maybe he was saving his strength. But there was no doubt he was dangerous and had unkind thoughts about what he'd do once he arrived.

I was photographing the action, standing behind and between my biddy, Perdomo, and his guide, Tommy Thompson. The bear never hesitated in his advance. When the grunting giant was about ten yards away, Tommy told Perdomo to shoot. The big 7mm Magnum put the bear down, but he was up almost immediately. Fortunately, the punch of the 7mm convinced the bear he was going the wrong way, so he reversed direction and lit out. The second hit with the 7mm put the record book bear down for good.

Some time later, I was behind the gunsights when another brownie decided to charge. This time was much more uncomfortable, the bear coming downhill in a fast, rolling ground-eating gait, straight at me. It took four shots from a .300 Weatherby Magnum to finally stop him -- three in the chest and one breaking shot down his right shoulder. The shot in the shoulder was the one that kept that exciting moment from becoming a tragedy.

So brownies are big and tough and hard to stop. The largest brown bear ever weighed in Alaska was shot while raiding a meat cache near the Ugashik Lakes on the Peninsula. He weighed over 1600 pounds. That's a lot of bone, sinew, and muscle to stop with a mere 220 or 250-grain chunk of lead. Once a bear that large gets in gear, he's hard to stop. His adrenalin is up and every signal in his massive body is shouting "attack!" as he heads your way. Even when his heart has been destroyed by two direct hits, I've seen a brownie cover a hundred yards before drowning in his own blood. If you're less than 100 yards away, you could be in some kind of trouble.

What this all adds up to is that while brown bear hunting can be plenty exciting, there continue to be plenty of hunters around who are looking for just that kind of excitement and challenge. At last count, you could hunt a brown bear somewhere in Alaska from September 1st though July 5th, with only about seven weeks closed. The longest season is on Kodiak Island -- Unit 8 -- where you can hunt various portions of that unit from September 1 through July 5th. Usually, brown bear hunting is split into spring bear hunts and fall bear hunts. I much prefer the spring bear hunts. The bear are fresh from hibernation. They're hungry and will cover a lot of real estate in search of food, which means you'll probably see more big bear on the move. The plant life is dead now, from the cold winter weather. The leaves are off the alders and the bear are a little easier to spot. They're no longer roly-poly -- the long cold winter hibernation has taken care of that -- but their pelt is prime, full and long. If they'll stretch a full ten feet in the fall, they'll do it again come spring. And the skull measurements will be true whenever you bag your trophy.

In the fall, the bear may be heavier, but they're harder to spot in the alders and ground cover because the leaves are usually still on. Often their pelts are thinner because they've been shedding all summer and they're often rubbed raw on the back where insects and sores have annoyed them. Not until the weather turns cool do their heavy helps starts filling out again.

By law there's only one way to go when you hunt brown bear in Alaska -- and that's with a guide. Guides are licensed to hunt in certain areas (units) only, so your choice of guide limits where you can hunt. In setting up a brown bear hunt you have two alternatives. You can pick the area you want to hunt first, and then select from the guides who are licensed to hunt there. Or you can pick the guide first and go on his recommendations of where to hunt -- limited, of course, to the areas in which he is licensed to hunt.

The best way to select a guide is by recommendation of a friend who has had firsthand experience and was well satisfied with the results. If you don't know anyone who has hunted Alaska, then you must use other means.

One of these is to check the back pages of Hunting magazine for ads of guides and outfitters who offer brown bear hunting. If you want additional leads, you can write for a guide register from the Alaska Dept. Fish & Game. Not only does this register give names and addresses of all the Alaskan guides it also identifies the hunting units that each is licensed for, the species they hunt, their specialties, and their accommodations, -- cabins, lodges, tents, and/or temporary camps. It also indicates the type of transportation available -- aircraft, boat, vehicle, horse, and/or dogsled.

The most important checkpoint, however, is asking the guide you finally settle on for names and addresses of three or four other hunters he has guided for brown bear. Call each one of the personally -- don't write -- for their opinion of the operation in question.

Once you've chosen your guide, what should you expect to pay for his services? The going rate for an Alaskan Bear hunt has been running about $2500 (December 1975). In some areas, the price can go up to $3500. This usually covers a ten-day hunt ($250-$350 a day) and usually assures you a " good" bear. Up until 1974, Alaskan guides were offering guaranteed hunts -- they'd guarantee you at least an eight-foot bear or you'd have to pay only 50% of his fee. This guarantee has been outlawed by the Alaska Game & Fish Dept. because of the pressures it put on the guide to produce by any means.

What makes a good brown bear trophy? According to Boone & Crockett, the size of the bear doesn't count. Since a hide can be stretched, it is the skull that counts. They measure the greatest width of the skull (without the lower jaw), and the sum is the total score. At last check, the world record was 30 12/16 (length: 17 15/16. width: 12 13/16) taken on Kodiak Island in 1952 by Roy Lindsley.

There's certainly one way to look at a bear. But another measure of importance to many hunters is the "square" of the bear - what he measures from tip of nose to tip of his short, stubby tail, compared to what he measures after skinning from front two across the back to his other front toe. If he measures nine feet each way, he squares nine feet. I've heard of this measure, but I've never seen one. I have seen two that squared over ten feet; one was the big brownie that that charged my friend Carlos Perdomo. It also had a skull that rated Boone & Crockett status. Usually, the biggest bear have the biggest skulls, but sometimes a nine-foot bear can make the "book."

Brown bear come in many colors, and color can make a real trophy. I've seen them dark brown, cinnamon, and beautiful golden blonde. Some look like grizzlies with long silver tipped fur. All colors of brownies make exquisite fur rugs.

Where are the best areas for brown bear in Alaska? According to the Alaska Dept. Fish & Game, there are brown and grizzly bear all over Alaska. However, they suggest these as best: Kodiak Island, Alaskan Peninsula; Gulkana Area; and Baronof, Admiralty, and Chichugof Islands in southeastern Alaska.

The record books help give an indication of the best places to hunt for big bear. In B&C, the top four places in the book are taken up by bear shot on Kodiak Island, and of the top 50 bear, 30 were from Kodiak. Sixteen of the top 50 and 43 of the top 100 were taken on the Peninsula. This isn't far from the 51 in the top 100 taken on Kodiak Island.

If you really want big bear, your best bets are Kodiak Island, the Peninsula, and Afognak, but not too many hunters are anxious to tackle it. The trees and underbrush are dense, visibility is rarely more than ten yards, and according to men who have cruised it, Afognak's a "hairy" place to hunt brown bear. Admiralty is likewise a dense rainforest, and as tough to hunt as is the center of Kodiak Island. Those guides tough enough to be willing to tackle the bear roam the inner islands are going to want to make sure you're up to it. If you've never hunted grizzly or brownies before, my recommendation is to save the islands for a subsequent hunt and try the Alaska Peninsula first. You'll likely find plenty of adventure there too.

The bear is a fine trophy with an unrubbed pelt.

What's a brown bear stopper? Most guides I've hunted with have preferred the .375 H&H Magnum. The sight it in at 25 yards, figuring that's the only time they'll ever need to use it. Originally introduced as an all-around African cartridge, the .375 H&H has earned wide acceptance as an outstanding brown bear cartridge. Loaded with a 300-grain round nose and propelled at 2500 fps, the .375 H&H develops over 4100 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy. That's two tons of killing power at very close range and more than enough to knock that towering 12-foot brownie flat on his back at ten yards. The only trouble with brown bears is that they sometimes get back up again, it they're not hit squarely in a killing or crippling area. Other brown bear stoppers include the .358 Magnum, the .340 Weatherby, and the .338 Winchester.

It might be useful to mention that all four of these rifles pack a solid wallop on the butt end and the last thing a hunter wants to do is flinch at that last critical moment in the hunt. For this reason, a good many bear hunters go to Alaska with that old standby, .30-06 . This gun has killed a number of brown bear and will undoubtedly stop many more in the future. With a 220-grain round nose loaded to 2500 fps, it packs a respectable 3500 ft. lbs. of energy at the muzzle with well over a ton of shocking power remaining at 100 yards. The gun I prefer Peninsula hunting is the 7mm Remington Magnum with a 175-grain spire point loaded at 2800 fps. It's a flat-shooting rifle with close to a ton of shocking power remaining to bend a bear at 300 yards.

If you're considering going into the dense inner recesses of Kodiak, Admiralty, or Afognak Islands, a carbine-length rifle like the .350 Remington Magnum might be a good gun to consider. The Remington Model 600 and 660 bolt-action carbines with their 18 1/2 and 21 -inch barrels are ideal for close-in shooting. The .350 magnum has a stiff recoil, but with a 2754-grain round nose at 2100 fps, you're putting out a ton and a quarter in foot pounds at the muzzle and over a ton at 100 yards. For hunting dangerous game, it's a fast-swinging beauty and a tough rifle to beat in heavy cover.

Once you've settled on a rifle, it's time to pick a scope. For the Model 600, I'd mount a brush scope 2 1/2x Bausch & Lomb unless I was hunting a dense rainforest. Then it would be a peep sight with the center piece removed. For the longer-reaching rifles like my 7mm, I use a variable 2 1/2-8x Bausch & Lomb. There's no more positive way to point a rifle than with crosshairs in a scope. You can pick your crosshairs -- I prefer them tapered or with a tapered post.

Another measure of a good hunt us your degree of hunting comfort in the field. Solid footwear is the first thing to consider. You'll need both hip boots and waterproof hiking boors to match the wide variety of cover you'll find in a Alaska. For hip boots, I like the bootfoot type with the waterproof canvas tops, such as sold by Orvis. They're lighter, easier to walk in, and breath better than solid rubber. There are some hunting areas where the walking is suitable for waterproof leathery boots, so bring them along and hope you'll be lucky. Around camp, a pair o low, rubber-bottomed Bean's shoes are very useful.

The weather in Alaska can go from freezing to hot overnight, so come prepared to dress or strip in layers. Long johns, flannel and wool shirts, down vest, and down jacket make a good package. Depending on the weather, you adjust the layers. It has to be pretty cold for me to wear wool trousers, but I've never been to Alaska where they weren't necessary on a hunt.

For outside, a waterproof parka and pants are necessary. Most rain outfits soon have you as wet on the inside as on the outside. However, there is a new material on the market called Bulkflex, sold by Orvis, among others. The material is windproof and waterproof, yet when you sweat, the moisture passes easily out through the material. I wouldn't be without it.

It has always been important to be in shape when hunting any sort of game, but it's super important to the brown bear hunter in light of recent rule changes in Alaska. Now you can only hunt brown bear from camps that your guide has pre-registered with the Fish & Game Department at least ten days before the season opens. They cannot be moved during that particular season. What this means is that your guide can pick the best spot in the unit, loaded with salmon and bear. But just before you fly into camp, the weather turns cold, the salmon stop running, and the bear leave the area. It you're going to bag a bear now, you're going to have to cover one devil of a lot of territory and probably get to spend a few overnights in the hills without benefit of sleeping bag or tent. Good conditioning and the right outerwear will make the difference between a great adventure and pure misery. Oh yea, bring along a good rucksack big enough to carry any shirts you may shed, a camera, change of socks, candy bars for energy, and a few tins of high energy protein in case you overnight in the boondocks.

All you need now is the bear, and he will probably show up when you least expect. Which is really what brown bear hunting is all about.