Bear Harvest Down in Fall Season

Maggie Wall/KMXT
Fewer Kodiak brown bears were taken during the fall hunting season than in previous years, a situation that is being attributed to a cold fall that sent a lot of bears to den early.
The fall bear season runs Oct. 25 to Nov. 30.
According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game records, 59 bears were taken in the Kodiak Archipelago. That compares to an average of about 80 bears.
The archipelago-wide harvest was 75 percent male.
Closer to town, 16 bears were killed in the road system hunt, two of which were females.
Three bears taken on the road system were Boone and Crockett eligible. That means they were big even by Kodiak standards. To achieve Boone and Crockett status the length plus width of the skull must measure over 28 inches.
Of course Kodiak Island has some of the biggest bears in the world. In fact The World’s Record Brown Bear was taken on Kodiak Island in 1952 by a Roy Lindsley. That bear had a Boone & Crockett score of 30 and 12/16th inches.
The length of the skull on this behemoth, without the lower jaw, measured 17 and 15/16th inches. The width measured 12 and 13/16th inches.
Here’s a link to the Boone and Crockett record bears webpage which includes a photo of Roy Lindsley and his record brown bear.