Boone And Crockett Club On Record Bear Taken Last Year In Alaska

The Boone and Crockett Club confirmed that a 2024 Alaska grizzly taken has set a new size record via a hunter-taken bear. Here’s more from a Boone and Crockett Club story on the achievement set by Wisconsin resident Brian van Lanen on a guided fall hunt around the Norton Sound area of Northwest Alaska:

Lance quickly got down to the bear. Brain took his time. “When I kill something, though, I really try to slow down and enjoy the moment,” Brian said. “Eventually, I got to the bear, and Lance said something I will never forget.”

“You have no idea what you’ve just killed,” Lance said.

Admiring the size of the bear and its back pad, Brian worked to lift the bear’s head out of the river.  It was massive! The gigantic boar was covered in scar tissue, Brian said. The old boar’s bottom lip was split entirely in half, and its teeth were worn to nubs. Lance estimated the bear to be 20-25 years old.

After skinning the bear and freeing the skull from the body, they took a tape and green-scored the skull, which measured over 27 inches. They knew it would make the top 10, but they had to wait for the 60-day drying period for its final official measurement. After the 60 days, it officially scores 27-9/16, making it the largest hunter-killed grizzly in the Boone and Crockett records.  A record that’s beaten all other entries since the 1920s when Boone and Crockett first started keeping records. It’s second only to Gordon Scott’s World’s Record at 27-13/16. 

Congratulations to Brian.