Grizzly Alaska

You should be a warrior. It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.

It is this philosophy I have grown fond of in my very boy heart. Society tries to press out our nature as boys and make us weak. I do not believe in this. My mother left me a dying letter that my father handed to me when I married my wife. She wrote, "To my son whom I love dearly, I am sorry I can not be there to see you grow into a man. I pray for you every day, and I will be watching over you as you grow. Become the man you are meant to be..." I thought it best to share that excerpt with you all. As I have been thinking recently that I have a responsibility to you all to be a man worth his salt. To be a role model for young men who do not have a man in their life. I desire only to better myself and my content and bring you all valuable content.

Seneca has inspired me to write to you all. HURRY UP AND LIVE! My mother died at 48 while I was only nine years old. She would be proud of what we all have accomplished in our community here on Grizzly Alaska.

I have learned from my dogs to go to war against evil. I have learned from my wife to nurture the good in the world. I have learned from my father to be a generous and sincere man. I hope to one day pass this on to my children, but for now, I will simply share my journey with you all.

God bless each one of you.

1 year ago | [YT] | 238

Grizzly Alaska

We all look up to our dads, even when they make mistakes, even when they're tough on us, or frustrate us. That's no different for me. Jerry Jacques is a huge name in Alaska and one I doubt I will ever live up to. Knowing that used to really bumb me out, but it makes sense to me now. Just look at the Erwins and the Goodalls. It can be very difficult to grow up in the shadow of a huge figure. It can feel like that shadow is so big you can never escape it.
I never really had an interest in flying bush planes, or bears, or Alaska as a little kid. In fact, I loved horses, goats, salamanders, and lizards. I lived in Alabama at first with my aunt. I would beg my aunt every time she got off from the hospital to take me on an adventure. To me, an adventure was going down to the creek and catching bugs, and lizards, and then fishing for catfish. My entire life I have loved every animal I have ever come into contact with: they fascinated me.
When I got the opportunity to first pack bags for Art Wolfe in 2012 and see the bears, I didn't do it because I liked bears. In fact, I still think there are way cooler animals out there. Now that I have been doing this for over a decade and I've spent thousands of hours around bears and in the back seat of bushplanes, I am ready for a change, and to start a family of my own with my wife who I love more than there are stars in the sky.
I don't know where my next adventures will take me, but I know that no matter where I go or what I do, I will always surround myself with amazing animals. Where do you think I should go next?

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1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 48

Grizzly Alaska

I was lucky enough to be born into a unique situation where I grew up surrounded by some pretty incredible wildlife figures. Art Wolfe was Uncle Art growing up. I learned to read bear behavior from him. He's one of the most gifted wildlife photographers and an absolute expert in his field.

I often hear people say learn from the people who died before you. In my field of expertise, this is BAD council. You should learn from the people who survived. Art Wolfe, Jerry Jacques, Daryl Balfour, and Cindy Goedell have all been amazing mentors for me and are individuals who have survived working with dangerous wildlife for a lifetime.

I now have more experience around bears than most of my mentors had when they first started teaching me. This is humbling. At some point in every man's life, he will realize he has no one left to ask for advice. I'm now in a position to teach others. Maybe I'll settle into that role after a few dozen more adventures, but for now, I am just enjoying every single day I get.

I still look up to my mentors and respect and love them for giving their time and energy to teach me. I'm thankful I have survived as long as I have. Whether I continue guiding full time or branch out to do my own thing, the expertise and knowledge I gained because of the unique circumstance I was born into has been invaluable.
Safe travels, everyone.
Adventure Responsibly ⚠️

1 year ago | [YT] | 99

Grizzly Alaska

The fact that people still believe bears are unpredictable is a slight against human intelligence. Bears are highly predictable creatures. This has allowed me to live and work around these creatures since I was a child. Let me ask you this. Would a twelve year old be able to survive on a river full of bears? We're talking fifty bears within a 400-meter stretch of river. The fact is yes. It was easy. You obey three simple rules and use common sense.
Rule one: NEVER RUN.
Rule two: Don't get between a bear and food
Rule three: No Funny Business
Those are the rules a 12 year old Caleb lived by on these rivers. That's the truth. Nature is simple. It's understandable and intriguing. The depth of intricacy out here is unfathomable, but it's the simple rules that keep you alive.

1 year ago | [YT] | 109

Grizzly Alaska

People often ask me if i know the bears are dangerous. Yes, i do. They think I might be crazy They also say its good I've done my homework. it's not really homework. I've just got a lot of experience. Especially with the mothers on this river. Over the last decade, I've had a lot more problems with boars and subadults than I have moms. I have exactly zero incidents with mothers because im cautious and make good judgment calls. I've had many mothers use us as babysitters while we shot photos and video. People lean way too much on the myth that these animals are unpredictable. These guys are super predictable so long as you don't spook them. It's a complicated affair out here guiding with dangerous animals all around. People like to boil down the truth when, in reality, the entire subject of animal behavior is just very complicated and tedious to try to understand. I should probably do more videos talking about these bears, but that's not what pays the bills. Guiding these trips is how I make a living for now, so while I'd love to complex animal behavior breakdowns getting into the nitty gritty, there just isn't a niche for it. It's obscure and easier for people to believe, "they're unpredictable." It's not really the case, but the truth is a difficult thing to show when you're looking through a phone instead of living out here. So I'll leave you all with this. Animal behavior is about pattern recognition. Watch anything long enough patterns emerge. These bears are easy because their habituated to people, focused on the salmon, in caloric surplus, and they perceive other bears/large game as too much of a threat to prey or compete with when the risk of injury is so much higher than fishing for salmon. Obviously, yes, there is an element of unpredictability to animals but with these guys it's small and tempered by experience in my case. As always I try to make good decisions and keep our guests safe above all else. Never putting yourself in situations is definitely the best way to avoid risk, but what's life without a bit of risk aye? Safe travels guys. Thanks for the warm and honest comments. You all have a blessed day, night, or whatever time it is where you're at. Best wishes

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1 year ago | [YT] | 206

Grizzly Alaska

That didn't happen. That encounter only exists within your mind. People like to judge these encounters as what-if scenarios but the thing about it is I have thousands of bear encounters. Not a single one has ever gone badly. Even when the bears get curious get aggressive, I have always been able to run them off or deal with the situation appropriately. SO the WHAT IF scenarios don't really matter to me. They are in people's heads. What is in there isn't my responsibility or concern. My concern is what actually happens. In over a decade out with these bears, I have allowed nothing bad to happen. That is just a fact, and people like to forget that there are folks walking with lions, raising bear cubs, and doing all sorts of crazy shit. There's no degree for this stuff, its all experience, and when experience is the only thing keeping the danger at bay, people don't see all the years, all the trial and error, all the learning because none of that goes into the camera. You can't capture experience and knowledge in a photo or video, so you bring people this amazing content that's recorded ethically and with so much care, and they blow everything out of proportion talking about what if this and what if that when the bottom line is if any of you guys have thought up a realistic what if scenario with a bear my team and I have either lived it or thought about it too. No one in the last 20 years has been mauled on this river, and thousands of people visit. I am just the guide who after growing up out here, and surviving in bear country since I was a literal prepubescent boy, is able to capture how incredible this place is. I'm not ashamed, and I am open with everyone about the dangers, and the realities.

1 year ago | [YT] | 101

Grizzly Alaska

So sorry we've had to cancel the live today guys! We are in the middle of a snowstorm up here and our internet isn't good enough to keep up with the streaming! But keep an eye out, we're going to pop on as soon as we can (hopefully tomorrow!) to talk about how to travel Alaska on any budget.

In the meantime, guys, what's one thing you'd like to see in Alaska?

1 year ago | [YT] | 32

Grizzly Alaska

You might say we are up and running for the 12th year in a row, but this year there is so much going on behind the scenes that it feels like we have a long way to go. There's nothing to do but take everything one step at a time and pray for the best.
Also how good does Katmai(the malinois) look in that picture? We're saying 8/10 but what do you guys think?

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2 years ago | [YT] | 47

Grizzly Alaska

I love working with Subadult bears because they tend to be so curious. That curious nature that all bear species are known for seems to be exaggerated in young "teenage" bears just like it is in humans. They are still exploring and learning to interact with the world around them. They are pushing boundaries and finding their place in the (inter and intra)-species hierarchies. Needless to say, that curiosity can make these bears dangerous. So if you ever find yourself faced with a young curious bear, what should you do?
Let me know down in the comments!

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2 years ago | [YT] | 69

Grizzly Alaska

I'm looking for bear videos to review and talk about in our next live guys so drop a comment with a video you want to see me talk about or review! Much Love from the Jacques Family guys!

2 years ago | [YT] | 21