Unimak Island, Alaska: The Land of Big Bears

A dangerous DIY adventure in the Last Frontier.

May 23, 2025 By Frank Noska

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Last year, I got lucky in the Alaska big-game drawing and won a fall brown bear tag for Unimak Island. The odds of drawing this tag are extremely low, but it finally happened for me after many years of applying. Having hunted brown bears far down on the Alaska Peninsula on three other occasions, I had a good idea of what to expect. Like an old guide told me down there several years ago, Unimak Island has some of the world’s worst weather, and the hunt must be approached with that in mind. Combined with the long distance that required several hours to fly down there, and the shortage of daylight during the Alaskan fall, it made planning the logistics of this hunt extremely challenging.

I’ve lived in Alaska since 2001, having moved to the “Last Frontier” specifically for its embarrassingly rich bowhunting opportunities. As if that wasn’t proof enough of a serious archery-hunting addiction, I am also a pilot who recently finished building an experimental, high-performance Super Cub bush plane to help me tackle adventures such as this bear hunt. I guess you could say I’m pretty serious about this bowhunting stuff!

While flying down the coast to Unimak Island, I was fortunate to spot not one but three dead walruses that had washed up on the beach. In Alaska, if a person finds a dead walrus, they can pick up the head and/tusks. Then, after getting it sealed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they can keep it. Planning for this possibility, I made sure to have an axe, the proper knives and a knife sharpener handy. It took some precious time to get these walrus skulls detached from the bodies, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get them. These things are not light, nor do they smell particularly good. I had to deal with the smell and weight of those “trophies” for the rest of the hunt, but that’s another part of the story.

dead walrus on the Alaskan coast with plane in background — While flying my custom-built Super Cub to hunt brown bears, I found not one, but two, dead walruses lying on the beaches of the Alaskan coast. Never one to pass up a chance to add to my wildlife collection, I couldn’t resist landing to retrieve the tusks from both animals.

Blessed with some good weather, I arrived on Unimak Island with a couple hours of daylight left. So, I flew around and scouted for the best bear-hunting area I could find. I hoped to see something dead on the beach, such as a whale or walrus, so I could hunt nearby in wait of scavenging bears. Unfortunately, I found nothing like this. However, I did identify what looked like a good place to land, camp and hunt. Successfully landing there right at dark, I was happy to be safely on the ground. Little did I know, this spot would subsequently provide me a great hunt. Relying on past experience in this extreme environment, the first thing I did was get my Super Cub secured to the ground with augers and ropes. Then I put wind spoiler covers on the wings to help protect it if the wind blew hard. This is an unforgiving area known for extreme winds and weather. I wasn’t taking any chances.

Once I had the plane taken care of, the next step was getting my tent up. My small KUIU tent went up quickly, and next my bow and gear were readied for hunting the following day. I had the stinky walrus heads in a Rubbermaid tote. I placed them on the ground behind the airplane, then pulled a black garbage bag tight over the top to help keep the scent from getting out. It had been a long day, and sleep came easily that night.

Opening Excitement

At daylight the next morning, I hiked to one of the tallest nearby hills. I wanted to get to the highest spot where I could see the most area. It didn’t take long before I had what looked like a good bear spotted several hundred yards away. Using the rolling hills and a small creek, I stalked towards the bear. The bear was feeding on grass along a small creek. Wearing waders, I got into the creek and moved closer. The sides of the creek were steep, providing me with the concealment I needed. In virtually no time, I was within 200 yards of the bear. Using the meandering creek, I stalked to a spot where I thought I would intercept the bear’s path. Sure enough, as I peeked up over the bank, the bear was getting closer and closer. Just as the bear came over a small rise in the terrain only 30 yards away, I came to full draw. Unfortunately, the bear saw me draw and stared directly at me. Then, in a flash, he turned and started running the opposite direction. Wow, that was close! I was almost done with my hunt in the first hour of the first day.

bush plane behind tent on Unimak Island in Alaska — To say that my 2024 brown bear hunting area on Alaska’s Unimak Island was remote would be an understatement. My bush plane and tent were the only signs of human civilization for as far as the eye could see!

Now focusing my binoculars and looking around for another bear, it didn’t take long before I had bears spotted in just about every direction. I think I had four or five in sight at one time. One was a sow with two cubs that were moving in my general direction. When the sow was within 200 yards, I stood up and waved my arms, trying to get the bear’s attention and scare her away. Well, I got the bear’s attention alright, but she didn’t run away. Instead, she quickly charged towards me. When she was less than 30 yards and still fast approaching, I aimed the pistol I was carrying at her and put some finger pressure on the trigger. Walking backwards and yelling as I kept the pistol pointed at the bear, it was a tense situation. Luckily, she finally stopped her aggressive approach and retreated with her two cubs. This first morning of hunting sure wasn’t without action and excitement!

After collecting my senses and settling my nerves, I started looking for another bear to pursue. I could see two more bears in different directions, but they didn’t look very big. So, I kept searching and glassing for a larger bear.

Scintillating Stalk

Within an hour or so, a different bear appeared down the coast and was walking in my direction. It didn’t take long to conclude this bear was a shooter worth going after. I maneuvered to intercept the bear. Running as fast as I could, the bear still got past me before I could get into position along the beach. Now all I could do was follow the bear and hope he would stop or slow his pace, allowing me to stalk within bow range. Paralleling the coast, I followed behind the bear. When he would go over a hill and out of sight, I would hustle to that exact spot and cautiously peek over. Not knowing whether he was just over the hill or hundreds of yards ahead, it made for an exciting and fun pursuit. I could also easily see and follow his fresh tracks in the soft sand. Up and down hills the bear and I went. When the bear started slightly angling towards the ocean, I thought to myself, this could be my best opportunity. Sure enough, he went down the steep bank and was at the waterline in no time. I hustled towards the bear.

There was a wide, grassy flat, with very tall grass that led to the edge of a steep, 10-foot cut bank and then sloped down to the sandy beach. Raising my head just high enough to peer over the top of the grass, I saw the bear right at the water’s edge. I knew he was out of bow range, and my rangefinder indicated 120 yards. When he started walking down the beach, I backed up in the grass, totally out of sight of the bear. Then I moved as fast as I could, in the same direction as the bear, paralleling him. Thinking I was well ahead of the bear, I peeked up over the grass only to see him way past me down the beach, still walking. I backed up out of sight and ran in his direction again. After covering several hundred yards, and slowly but steadily closing the distance, I looked over the top of the grass one last time. There, directly in front of me, was the bear climbing up the steep bank.

I immediately got as low as I could in the tall grass and nocked an arrow. The bear saw the suspicious blob in the grass and slowly started approaching. The bear didn’t know what I was and was slowly getting closer and closer. In my crouched position, I believe the bruin thought I was another bear.

I took the first shot opportunity I had, and it was about 30 yards. I didn’t have time to use my rangefinder; I just judged the distance and shot. It was a lethal shot, but not the best shot I’ve ever made. The bear was quartering to me, and the arrow passed through one lung and the intestines. I saw the arrow exit out the opposite side of the bear, flipping end over end in the high grass.

After watching the wounded bear bed down, I slowly stalked in for another shot. On the second shot, I stalked to 18 yards with assistance from a steady wind that covered the sound of my approach. I thought I had a good angle for a finishing shot, but the arrow hit high, prompting the bear to jump up and run another 400 yards. Had I known how “alive” the bear still was, I never would have gotten as close for that second shot! I’m sure glad he didn’t see me then. A little while later, I was finally able to get a good, broadside shot and end the hunt — but not before the hard-hit bear got up again and attempted to charge me. This happened at 50 yards, and I was fortunate to evade the mortally wounded bear. Had someone been watching this play out from a nearby hill, they surely would have questioned my sanity!

frank noska with downed brown bear on Unimak Island in Alaska — A hair-raising stalk resulted in a trophy brown bear on the first day of my 2024 Unimak Island brown bear hunt. But my bear was far from the only bear encounter I had during my hunt. I pulled my pistol on — and nearly shot — two aggressive bears I encountered while hunting, and I was awakened in the middle of the night by a third bear that slipped into camp and attempted to steal the walrus tusks I collected en route to the island.

After successfully harvesting my bear, I experienced two additional close encounters worth mentioning. While skinning my bear, I noticed another bear working its way in my direction. This bear ultimately got to 30 yards and showed so much aggression that I had the pistol pointed at him before he finally backed off and left me alone. Then, while I was sleeping in my tent that night, I was awakened when I heard the Rubbermaid tote with the walrus heads inside get knocked over. I yelled, put my boots on and grabbed the pistol and flashlight. Quickly exiting the tent, I ran that bear off. I never actually saw the bear because it was dark, but it left some impressive tooth marks in my tote!

I’ve been around a lot of brown bears over the course of many Alaska hunts, but I’ve never had to point a pistol at multiple bears on the same hunt. Bowhunts such as this — the ones that present challenging logistics and serious danger in the field — are the kind I like. I know such adventures drive my wife and mother crazy with worry, but I cannot help myself. The satisfaction of finding success on a DIY expedition of this caliber, while also making enough good decisions to stay alive, is what I live for (no pun intended). This was my seventh successful DIY Alaska brown bear bowhunt. Based on all I learned on this hunt; I sure would love to get my hands on another Unimak Island bear tag!

Frank Noska has 206 Pope and Young Club record-book animals to his credit and is the only bowhunter ever to complete two Super Slams of all 29 North American big-game species. In fact, Noska is just four animals shy of his third archery Super Slam. He lives in Wasilla, Alaska, with his beautiful and supportive wife, Millie.

Author's Notes: On this hunt, I shot a Mathews Lift bow outfitted with Side Hill custom bowstring and cables, TightSpot quiver, Schaffer Performance Archery Opposition Air bowsight, Victory arrows and Rage broadheads. I used a B3 Archery release aid and wore hunting apparel from KUIU.