kodiak bear (camps, extermination, food)

[Wynternight]

Originally Posted by Rance

There is a brownie display upstairs in the Dimond Mall. Along with a giant bull moose and various waterfowl.

Mmmmmmm......brownies......

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by Wynternight

Mmmmmmm......brownies......

You city folks... :-)

Just be aware of a slightly different view of "brownies". As Warptman will tell you, if you translate "brown bear" to Yup'ik they'll tell you the right word is "carayuk" (that pronounced something like char-EYE-uk).

But if you ask what "carayuk" means... the answer is "monster". And they mean that in the sense of God Awful Horrible Unpredictable Murderous Monster.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by karibear

Sounds like someone took that story on eRumors to heart. There is a mounted Kodiak in the airport somewhere, and in Kodiak itself there is a Boone and Crockett record bear mounted in the middle of the lobby of the First National Bank [that's why everyone calls it 'the bear bank']. For more accurate information, google them and read about them in Wikipedia. The boars do stand up to a height of 10-12 feet, and weigh up to 3/4 of a ton.

It's not that they stand that tall, that is what the hide is squared after being outstretched out for tanning (not a tight stretched either). Any bear that squares over ten foot, is considered a record sized bear.

Bears, Spring vs. Fall - The Alaska hunting forum

Regardless, they will appear to be much taller than that when you walk up to one face to face. As far as standing with it's hide still intact, a standing "Monster" bear can still be over seven to eight feet high. But when they are on all fours, they may be in excess of four feet high at the shoulders, which still is a massive bear no matter how you want to measure him.

Katmai National Park is where most of the record bears are at now. The really big ones on Kodiak have been hunted to where the gene pool tends to reflect the smaller bears since nobody wants to hunt a "Little Bear", the Katmai Bears aren't hunted (Legally) and they still have the "Giant" gene pool there, which extends out to the tip of the Mainland before the Aleutians.

Oh, and when you do stand next to a mounted standing bear, in most displays I have seen, they add another foot to the height by raising the base on which the bear stands.

The biggest mounted bear I recall seeing is at the Museum at UAF Fairbanks.

[DadDOG]

I saw a giant Kodiak in the airport when we landed in 1994. He stood 18' tall . I am 6'1". I came up to his hip. He weighed 2000 lb.s. His front legs looked about 6' long. His claws looked more than 6" long and his head was as big around as a 55 gallon drum. I thought about getting back on the plane. I have looked ,but, never seen a picture of him. I took some ,pics of him, but never found them. This is a true story though I wouldn't expect too many people to believe it. I wouldn't.

[Totek]

The bank bear in Kodiak was in the old Bank of Alaska I believe? It was the #3 B&C at the time it was shot. This was back in 79 or 80 when I saw it.

[DadDOG]

My wife agrees with Totek that it was in the bank. I have a very good memory , It's just kind of short.I am going to check with relatives there and see if I can come up with a picture or postcard. There has got to be one somewhere.

[DadDOG]

i believe there was a bear in the bank. There wsa another at the museum. there was one in Cy's hunting store. However , the largest one was in the airport. I think he does'nt show up as a B&C record , because, he may have been a zoo bear.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by cigar7

Here is a pick of one bear in the Anchorage airport. I am not sure of its breed.

That's a grizzly bear.

[Dusty Rhodes]

Originally Posted by degerman

have you got any photos of it

It is inside the concourse and last time we were there it was before we got a digital camera, sorry. That Polar Bear is really huge!

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by karibear

Sounds like someone took that story on eRumors to heart. There is a mounted Kodiak in the airport somewhere, and in Kodiak itself there is a Boone and Crockett record bear mounted in the middle of the lobby of the First National Bank [that's why everyone calls it 'the bear bank']. For more accurate information, google them and read about them in Wikipedia. The boars do stand up to a height of 10-12 feet, and weigh up to 3/4 of a ton.

A "ten foot" bear may only stand seven or eight feet high when he is still wearing his hide when he is next to you and how much fat he has stored, but that is still enough to make you crap your pants regardless...

Most of the standing Mounts you see are also elevated about a foot or more to make them look bigger.

How to measure a bear hide:

Measure from the longest claw on the right paw to the longest claw on the left paw. Then measure from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. Add the two measurements and divide by 2 and you have what the bear squared. Source(s): http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm...