Hunter mauled by brown bear on Admiralty Island

  • By LISA PHU
  • Saturday, September 24, 2016 9:13pm
  • News

A Kentucky man was mauled by a brown bear Thursday night at the end of a day of bear hunting on Admiralty Island, according to Alaska State Troopers.

“The guide and his client were departing where they were hunting from, heading back down to the beach where their skiff was at,” Alaska Wildlife Trooper Sgt. Aaron Frenzel said on the phone Friday afternoon.

“While coming down out of the woods, they were using headlamps, and the guide and client ran into what appears to be single bear. The bear came right at him, got a hold of the client, causing non-life threatening injuries,” he continued.

Troopers identified the client as Douglas Adkins, 57, of Jenkins, Kentucky. The name of the Juneau big game guide has not been released. The pair was brown bear hunting in Chaik Bay, just south of Angoon.

Adkins was mauled around 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Frenzel described it as a “vicious but short attack” before “the bear departed on its own.”

“Besides just yelling and trying to deter the bear verbally, there was no gun or pepper spray used,” Frenzel said.

The guide and Adkins continued down to the beach and to the guide vessel where they contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. Around 2 a.m. Friday, a Coast Guard helicopter arrived on scene and transported Adkins to Juneau’s Bartlett Regional Hospital. Frenzel interviewed Adkins around 10 a.m.

Because the interaction occurred in the dark, no one could tell if the bear was a sow or boar, and there wasn’t any sign of a cub, Frenzel said.

“From what we’ve gathered so far, we put it towards more of a startled response attack. It was dark out. I don’t know what was being made for noise ahead of time. We don’t feel like it was a predatory-type thing. It could’ve been a protection of cubs, but we’re leaning more towards a single bear startled response,” Frenzel said.

Frenzel and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game plan on interviewing the guide when he returns to Juneau.

“Unless we hear something else, we’re not going to go down and look for the bear. Just the way the attack went — just being a quick come in, do the initial attack and then back off and leave, and not come back or anything — we’re not too concerned with this being an occurrence that will be repeated,” Frenzel said. “Right now, we’ll probably just leave it be and tell other people in the area. I think a lot of the guides already know about it already.”

Ryan Scott, regional supervisor for ADF&G Division of Wildlife Conservation, said there are salmon streams in Chaik Bay, the area where the mauling took place.

“It’s not any different than probably just about every salmon stream on Admiralty this time of year. There’s fish in the creeks, bears are fishing and so most of the coastal streams like that down near the water, they’re going to be full of bears,” he said.

As of Friday afternoon, Adkins was in the hospital in stable condition, according to Bartlett Regional Hospital spokesperson Katie Bausler. Adkins denied the Empire’s immediate request for an interview.

More in News

A 2015 Ford Explorer that was stolen from the Kenai Chamber of Commerce before crashing into a tree near Wells Fargo Bank is loaded onto a tow truck in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Car stolen, crashed in Kenai

The car was reportedly taken from the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center.

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, talks with supporters during a campaign meet-and-greet Oct. 12, 2024, at the Southeast Alaska Real Estate office near the Nugget Mall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
‘This is no town hall. This is propaganda’; Begich takes heat at 1st virtual constituent forum

Congressman set to deliver his first joint address to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday.

Protesters stand with signs in support of federal employees, federal lands and the U.S. Constitution stand along the Sterling Highway in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna protesters call for Congress to oppose executive overreach

The local display was part of a “No Kings on President’s Day” effort orchestrated by the online 50501 movement.

Syverine Bentz, coastal training program coordinator for the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, displays a board of ideas during a Local Solutions meeting focused on salmon at the Cook Inletkeeper Community Action Studio in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
In search of salmon solutions

Cook Inletkeeper hosts meeting to develop community project to help salmon.

Lisa Gabriel, left, watches as beach seine nets are pulled from the waters of Cook Inlet at a test site for the gear near Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
CFEC to consider seines for east side setnet fishery

The change is contingent on the State Board of Fisheries approving the gear during their March meeting.

A map of 2025 construction projects scheduled for the Kenai Peninsula. (Provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Department of Transportation announces construction plans

Most of the projects include work to various major highways.

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward adds full-time staffer for recently restarted teen rec room

Seward’s Parks and Recreation Department reclaimed responsibility for teen programming at the start of this year.

Gavin Ley stands with the “Go-Shopping Kart” he designed and built in his career and technical education courses at Nikiski Middle/High School in Nikiski, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski students learn professional skills through technical education

Career and technical education gives students opportunity to learn skills, express themselves creatively, work cooperatively and make decisions.

Nikiski teachers, students and parents applaud Nikiski Middle/High Principal Mike Crain as he’s recognized as the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals 2025 Region III Principal of the Year by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education during their meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski principal named Region III principal of the year

Crain has served as Nikiski’s principal for three years.

Most Read