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Biography of Keith N. Johnson |
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Every person who guides or hunts on the Alaska Peninsula for any length of time eventually has an unusual, exciting or entertaining encounter with a giant Brown Bear. Unpredictable Giants is a collection of bear tales told by Keith Johnson and his guides during his forty years of hunting and guiding. Keith has been hunting since he was a young boy. Every Thanksgiving morning Keith's father took him and his seven brothers jack rabbit hunting on Big Sandy Creek in Eastern Colorado, and every autumn they all went hunting in the Colorado mountains. His father made them wait until they were twelve to carry a rifle. By that age they had a real burning desire to hunt and spend time in the great outdoors. After finishing college and a stint in the U.S. Army, Keith moved to Montana, where he spent every free evening and weekend in the fall hunting whitetail deer on the Yellowstone River. This made him yearn to hunt even bigger game animals. In 1961 this love of hunting took him and his family to Alaska. When Keith wasn't hunting he was scouting for bigger trophies and better hunting locations for moose, bear and caribou. During his second summer in Alaska he began working as an assistant guide in the Wrangell Mountains. The following year, he earned his Registered Guide license, and the next year, started his own guiding business. In 1980, Keith relocated his hunting headquarters to the Alaska Peninsula where he operated a popular lodge through the spring of 1996, when he retired. Keith has earned a solid reputation as a reliable, knowledgeable and honest guide. Forty years of hunting experience in nearly every part of Alaska have provided Keith with great knowledge of the habits, movement patterns and dangers of hunting bear. Always a great storyteller, Keith compiled his favorite stories into this book, with the hope his readers will enjoy the tales as he put pen to paper. Keith is a member and past board member of the Alaska Professional Hunters Association, a life member and past board member of the Foundation of North American Wild Sheep, a member of Safari Club International and the Texas Big Horn Society. He and his wife Reta, live in Anchorage, Alaska. In the Author's Own Words: "I
arrived in Alaska in August, 1961, after convincing my wife that
we would just stay in Alaska until I was done hunting. Now after
forty years, she still occasionally reminds me of this! When I made
my first trip out to the Alaska Peninsula, my knowledge of Brown
Bear was very limited. A lot of what I learned about bear hunting
over the years was from firsthand trial and error experiences. I
acquired many valuable and worthwhile lessons through my experiences
and observations of brown bear, and have always tried to pass them
on to my employees and hunters. Almost every hunter has a bear story;
one they observed firsthand or one that a friend has told them.
I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to observe and
participate in approximately 300 bear hunting experiences in my
own guiding operation, and to hear countless stories of other guides
and hunters. It is my hope that as you read my stories you can imagine
the sheer excitement, and in some cases the cold terror, of the
great Alaskan Brown Bear." |