Posted on 06/17/2025 9:55:54 AM PDT by CFW
A bear shot in Alaska last year officially set the new world record for a hunter-killed grizzly and is a stunning trophy, an expert Wyoming hunter said.
It’s definitely not a “meathead” bear, Guy Eastman of Cody — who has hunted grizzlies in Alaska and Canada — told Cowboy State Daily.
He was referring to how sometimes bears can have large heads, but only average-sized skulls. And skull measurements are what determine a bear’s trophy status.
Brian van Lanen shot the male bear, estimated to be 20-25 years old, in September 2024. He was guided on a combination moose and grizzly hunt near Norton Sound, Alaska, according to an announcement from the Boone and Crockett Club (B&C), confirming that the bear set a new record for the largest grizzly ever killed by a hunter.
[snip]
The record-setting hunter-killed grizzly is truly impressive, Eastman said.
“That’s huge. Huge,” he said in reaction to the bear’s official Boone and Crockett (B&C) score of 27-9/16 inches, according to skull measurements.
B&C bear scores are based on a compilation of measurements of width and length of the bear’s skull. The overall size and weight of the animal’s body doesn’t factor in, Eastman said.
He represents the third generation of the famous outdoor multimedia family that launched Eastman's Hunting and other outdoor media and has hunted numerous species of big game and trophy game animals throughout North America.
The B&C record books are the gold standard for hunting trophies, he said. The organization sets strict standards for fair-chase hunting and exact measurements for scores.
(Excerpt) Read more at cowboystatedaily.com ...
I wonder the weight?
Bearly a PING!...................
Great photo.
Can he get the dead bear out of the Alaskan wilderness to have it mounted, turned into a rug, etc. etc.?
“Can he get the dead bear out of the Alaskan wilderness to have it mounted, turned into a rug, etc. etc.?”
Good question. How would he get it out? A helicopter?
Me too. Weight is the criteria I would use for largest bear, not the size of the skull.
packed out to a place a plane can land. Many trips with it on your back
Will they eat the meat?
“I just wanted to go somewhere and the bear was there first”
I once sat next to a professional Alaska hunting guide. He told me the hunting party has 12 hours by law to break down the carcass and take everything but the gut bag which they have to bury and get out of the area. That was in 1986 so I have no idea what laws might have changed since then.
Would be difficult to do since you have to cut it up and pack it out, also leaving the gut pile. Leaving the head intact allows you to measure the bear, the same as antlers are measured for elk.
I wonder why kill it?
1) To keep from becoming the Bears Dinner !!!
2) Bear Season was open and took it to have the trophy. Hopefully the Hunter will eat it also so the meat doesn’t get wasted. If nothing else the meat can be Donated to someone who will eat it.
For some reason, that picture doesn’t do it justice for me.
So that it stays spread out on the floor in front of the fireplace.
Might be able to get a pack-string there. Not every horse will pack a bear carcass without panicking but calm, well-trained horses will. I'm guessing that a high-quality guiding outfit would have some of these horses.
My guess is they just skin them and take the head and hide.
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