posted by Jim on Jan 31

“When he stands, he can look into a second story window!”This guy shot a 2,000 pound Grizzly!”" The bear’s claws were 13 inches across!” 

I have personally read the above mentioned quotes and others like them in publications and on the internet. While they make for interesting reading, much of what you read about brown and grizzly bears is absolutely false. In the past 10 years I have spent over 300 days guiding for brown bears and grizzly bears in Alaska. I have had several clients harvest bears that exceed the B+C record book minimums. Almost everything I know about bears has come from my personal experience of hunting for, and literally living with these bears. Below are some common misconceptions and questions about brown and grizzly bears, and bears in general.

Myth: Grizzly bears and Brown bears are completely different bears.

Truth: A grizzly bear is a brown bear that lives further inland. A brown bear lives near salt water and feeds primarily on salmon. A grizzlies’ diet often contains fish, but usually caribou, moose, rodents, berries, roots, and grasses are at the top of the menu. A “Kodiak” brown bear is just like any other brown bear, but it lives on Kodiak Island. There is no other difference between the two. Genetically they are the same bear. Their geographic locations distinguish them. This all varies, but for the most part any bear that is 100 miles or more away from saltwater is a grizzly, and any bear within 100 miles is a brown bear.

Myth: Grizzly bears are the biggest bears in North America.

Truth: I would estimate that a mature male Alaskan brown bear boar weighs about 2,000 pounds in the fall of the year. (Bears typically lose up to 30% of the body weight by spring.) The average weight of adult male grizzlies that my hunters have taken is 500-600 pounds. Often time’s interior grizzlies are forced to hibernate over 2 months longer than their coastal counterparts. This is also a large factor in the size difference. If you don’t eat, you don’t grow. However, “coastal grizzlies” are often as big as a brown bear; this is because they are basically brown bears. They live in similar environments, and have diets like that of a brown bear, but they are classified as grizzly bears by some record books for various reasons that I am unable to understand. In these areas an average bear will meet or exceed most record book minimums. This is the reason why the price tag for one of these “coastal grizzlies” is so high. I have heard many different reports on the size of Polar bears from many clients and friends in the hunting world. I have gathered that polar bears are typically longer in body size and often “square” more than a brown bear, but in general brown bears weigh slightly more then a polar bear.

Truth: Most people (every Alaskan guide I know) “square” a bears’ hide using this method:

1-Lay the skinned bear hide out on a flat surface.

2-Pull the nose until the tail moves and lay the nose down. 

3-Measure from the tip of nose to the end of tail.

4-Pull one front paw until the other moves and lay that paw down.

5-Measure from the longest claw to longest claw.

6-Add measurements and divide by two.

This gives you the “square” of the bear. A 10’ bear will typically measure 11’ front claw to claw, and 9’ nose to tail.

Truth: Grizzly bears have earned their reputation for being mean. Though they are smaller, they are typically more aggressive. Because grizzlies live further inland, they have longer, colder winters and thus require more fat to survive the winters. For this reason grizzlies are more opportunistic hunters. Usually a brown bear won’t even look twice at a caribou or moose, because they have an abundance of easy-to-get salmon that provide much more fat and protein than any ungulate. Any living creature is viewed as food to grizzly bear. Though they are smaller, I am much more wary in grizzly bear country than I am when in the coastal, brown bear country. Read the rest … »

posted by Jim on Jan 13

What makes predator hunting so intriguing?  And, why is it one of the fastest growing segments in the hunting industry today?  First and foremost, predators are probably the most challenging of all game animals.  Consistent success is NOT an option.  You will be beat on the odds, no matter how good you are and no matter what equipment you use.  I don’t care if you are out west, where the coyotes are plenty and the conditions are in your favor. The predators always have the upper hand.  They are very keen to their habitat and they will always try to use the wind in their favor.  I do not claim to be an expert by any means, but let’s just say I have had one hell of a lesson over the last 20 years.  More importantly, I have had the opportunity in the last 4 years to hunt with some of the best predator callers in the world.  They also learn lessons on every hunt.

Why do we hunt coyotes?  Or, better yet, a sample of the questions received by non-hunters, who may see our videos.  “Why do you shoot coyotes?   They look like dogs.” Or, “How can you shoot them?  They are so pretty.” Or, my favorite question,”Do you eat them?”  Well, let me take a stab at these questions.  We shoot coyotes, because it is challenging and rewarding.  We shoot them because they are wild dogs, that do harm in many ways, to many industries and other species.  We shoot them because they need to be managed.  These are general reasons, however, details and facts are available.   “How can I kill them?”  Well, I am a hunter.  I am educated about the outdoors and I deal with reality.  Recently, I had the opprtunity to see what mother nature does to coyotes when they become over populated.  While participating in a coyote competition in Nebraska, sixty four coyotes were brought in to the check station.  Only twenty coyotes were healthy enough for the fur buyer to consider.  The mange is so brutal that it looks like something out of a horror flick.  There were coyotes with no hair on their bodies, skin black with frost bite, missing toes and lips and tails.  It was a very sad site!  Furthermore, as an avid deer hunter, I know I am doing my part to save the fawns.  I was recently shown pictures from a coyote hunter, who found twelve fawn skulls in one coyote den.  I met another hunter who set a trail camera on one den and has pictures of twenty-two fawn kills brought back to the den in a two month period.

When I kill a coyote, it either gets skinned and tanned or mounted because I too, appreciate the beauty of a coyotes hide.  They bring great value to the fur trade, but I usually keep them for myself.  And, the last answer is no!  I do not eat coyote, but I am sure there are some places on earth where canine is part of the menu.  The bottom line on coyote hunting; it is a mentally and physically challenging experience, which can be very exciting and rewarding when everything comes together. Read the rest … »

posted by Jim on Jan 4

It had been a very good year for the Eberhart’s. It started out with my oldest son Chris flying in from Germany, jumping in his mini van that he stores at his brother Jon’s house in Michigan, driving umpteen hours by himself to the bad lands of North Dakota, and taking an absolute monster 171 inch public land 14 point from an area where those types of bucks are not supposed to exist. That buck was Chris’s largest to date.

In the past when Chris has taken good bucks early in the season he has rubbed it in a bit by saying “well it looks like I got you this year”. My reply was always “we’ll see”, and I always ended up with the upper hand. For some odd reason, thank god, he didn’t make that statement this year, because if he had I was ready to throw in the hat and say “yep”.

Jon took the next two bucks from state land in northern Michigan. They were both 8-points with the first coming on the second evening of season and the second coming on the evening of the ninth, both from the same red oak. There is a white oak 50 yards away and when that oak has acorns Jon hunts from it because deer prefer white oak acorns over red oak acorns. This year however, the white oak did not produce acorns and the red oak was loaded, and both of Jon’s 8-points were feeding under the red oak when he took them.

As I age, my kids are reaching their prime, they are fine hunters, and while I am not accustomed to getting pounded by my kids, I think I am going to have to start getting used to it.

In late October I finally made the scoreboard with an 18-inch inside spread 9-point from northern Michigan. He came through on an evening hunt while checking his core area for estrous does.

In mid November during Michigan’s gun season I took Jon on a two week out of state hunt to Iowa and Kansas to continue bow hunting. I drew first blood by taking a beautiful 135-inch 10-point. On the last day in Iowa Jon took an absolutely horrifically ugly 5-point, not a typical 5-point mind you. This buck was all busted up and from what we could see it likely had at least 10-points before the fighting started. All the points other than the brow tines and one G-2 were busted off right at their base where they met the main beam.

By the time we got to Kansas the main rut was winding down and whenever we saw a doe in estrus she had every buck in the area chasing her, because most of the other does had already been bred.

On the third morning I sent Jon to a draw between two picked crop fields. The previous morning I had seen an awesome buck there and I really wanted Jon to get a crack at him. That morning Jon had four different mature bucks pursuing a hot doe and by his description one of them was the whopper I had seen the previous morning. Jon took a shot at the big guy at 20 yards, but in his haste to get off a shot he didn’t check for limb travel clearance. The bottom cam on his bow ticked a branch upon his release and steered his arrow right over the top of the bucks back, that’s bow hunting.

Jon was absolutely sick because he was the biggest buck by far that Jon had ever seen while bow hunting. He thought about skipping the evening hunt and I said, no way! The hot doe was likely still in the area and although the draw was long it was very narrow and basically offered the only available cover in the area.

That evening Jon saw 3 mature bucks pursuing the same hot doe and he rectified his issues and took an awesome, clean, nothing broken, 132 inch 9-point from the same tree. The original plan was to hunt another three days, but I was comfortable with not filling my Kansas tag, so we left for home.

That brings this story to where we originally started, December in Illinois. Read the rest … »