Judge George W. Folta may have been grudgingly called "the hanging judge" by annoyed criminal defense lawyers who observed vicious convicted killers dangling from Juneau's public gallows, but most Alaskans affectionately called him "Alaska's bear-hunting judge" because he personally bagged some 200 bears during his half century of Alaska hunting.

"Let the judge go moose hunting and he will invariably return with several well-cared-for bear hides," said some newspaper reporters.

Judge Folta grew up in an era when young boys were taught to emulate Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, and developed into manhood after the example of Theodore Roosevelt. Coming to Alaska in 1912, young Folta wasted no time beginning his lifelong pursuit of Ursus Arctus, venturing onto Kodiak Island the very next spring. Indeed, the future judge returned to Kodiak the next year as well, and packed deep into the heart of that island where he shot three tremendously large Kodiak Brown Bears with a little model 1906 .35 Remington autoloader. Folta continued bagging four to six large bruins annually until his untimely death while bear hunting in 1955.

But Folta was far more than just a hunter of bears; he was one of the most respected Alaska jurists of his day. Without any formal law school education, young Folta began his legal career working as a territorial court clerk. He later passed the bar, and worked as a territorial solicitor, prosecutor, and practicing attorney before being appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to serve as the territorial U.S. District Court judge at Juneau in 1947.

This volume written by his son, Richard D. Folta, contains the very essence of ALASKA'S BEAR HUNTING JUDGE, as can be related only by one who accompanied his famous father on many hunts. Action-packed with scores of exciting bear tales from the judge's own notes and records, this book also contains personal maps describing "private" trails and hunting preserves known only to Judge Folta and those closest to him. One of the rarest of Alaska's truly great hunting legends, ALASKA'S BEAR HUNTING JUDGE is a classic of its kind.