Hunting barren-ground grizzly bears is no easy feat, but the third time was definitely the charm this past May for longtime Hunting Report subscriber Terrell McCombs. He took an eight-foot, eight-inch B&C interior grizzly bear on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska with Alaskan Northwest Adventures (907-443-3971; www.alaskagrizzlyhunt.com). (See photograph in our online Trophy Gallery.) McCombs, a 40-year veteran hunter with hunts in Africa, Mexico, the western US, Alaska and Canada, had failed to take a bear on two earlier trips with other outfitters. His bear's skull measures 24 5/8 inches, and should make the All Time B&C Record Book. This is the third positive report we've received on bear hunts with this outfit. Hunting Report subscribers Ted Priem (see Report ID 7557) and Dave Baxter (Report ID 6660) both hunted with Gray in 2009, Baxter in May, Priem in September. Priem took a nine-foot-plus bear while Baxter's measures eight-feet, six inches. Both rated Gray and his services highly. According to McCombs, "Gray is a fine man, very sincere, and offers what I believe is the best interior bear hunt available today, and I've looked at all of them." McCombs tells us that Gray has guided hunters to more than 145 bear kills. The largest of these measured over nine feet and had skulls measuring more than 26 inches. Gray won't shoot any bear under seven-feet, six-inches unless the client insists on it. Gray also takes only a handful of clients. McCombs says he only had one other spring bear hunter this year, and Gray put him on a seven-foot, 11-inch bruin. "Some of Tom's bears are as big as coastal brown bears," says McCombs. Hunts are conducted from Gray's home or fish camp near White Mountain, about 70 miles southeast of Nome. Hunting is by boat, ATV, or snowmobile depending on the time of year. Once a track is located, the hunters follow on foot. "There is very little pressure on these bears," says McCombs. "Gray has a huge area to hunt, with more than 2,000,000 acres." McCombs tells us they located his bear only four hours into the first day of the hunt.........(
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