Black bear hunting

[spanishhunter]

Hello everyone!

I am planning a black bear hunt in Canada. That will happen next year. Couple of questions for those ones with experience on it.

It would be my first time hunting in Canada, and first time hunting bear.

I have two options in mind. Alberta or British Columbia. Thoughts about one and the other?

Really like stalking, so I would like spot and stalk, but I try do bait too.
Positive and negative things on the two options?

Thank you guys!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Spot and stalk is an all day hunt. More active type hunting obviously. Longer shots. Possibly Different terrain and scenery every day. More socializing while hunting. If a mountain hunt. Good optics.

Bait hunts are usually, but not always evening hunting only. Later nights and then more leisurely mornings. Fishing, checking and refreshing baits. More close up intimate hunting. You observe Bear behavior up close. The area is critical for trophies and quantity.

Some camps are known for both. Either hunt should be with a highly regarded outfit. Bear hunting is rife with piss poor outfits. And or areas.

 

[wesheltonj]

I understand there are more bears then people on Vancouver Island. That's were I would head to. Also, if you want to fish make sure your in Campbell River when it's high tide. Victoria and Torino are worth a visit too.

 

[Mnovak]

Hello everyone!

I am planning a black bear hunt in Canada. That will happen next year. Couple of questions for those ones with experience on it.

It would be my first time hunting in Canada, and first time hunting bear.

I have two options in mind. Alberta or British Columbia. Thoughts about one and the other?

Really like stalking, so I would like spot and stalk, but I try do bait too.
Positive and negative things on the two options?

Thank you guys!

I’ve been to Canada a few times for bear and I’m going back this year the first week of June. I’ll be heading to Manitoba, a buddy of mine is an outfitter and runs a great operation up there.
Generally speaking the further west you go the better the bear hunting, more color phase bears, and some 2 bear hunting opportunities. Both Alberta and British Columbia will have great bear hunting, you may look at Saskatchewan also.
As far as a stalk hunt I bet British Columbia has more options for that. All of my experience in Canada hunting bears has been stands hunting. Generally the stalk hunts take place in coastal regions catching the bears along the beaches.

 

[375Fox]

I’d choose British Columbia because it gives a lot more mountain hunting opportunity. I’d go inland for smaller bears but a better mountain experience over the bigger bears on the coast. There is mountain hunting in Alberta too but over bait in forest seems more common. In May and early June the bears come out to the logging and oil and gas roads because it’s often the first grass to green up. Clear cuts too. Certain areas have more black bears than others. GOABC lists all their members to search outfitters.

Home - GOABC Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia Canada

GOABC is a non-profit society established in 1966 to represent the guide outfitting industry in British Columbia, Canada

www.goabc.org

 

[SETH RINGER]

BAIT: CANADA, SPOT & STALK: ARIZONA, BEARS IN THE PEARS.

 

[Wiley64]

I’ve been twice in Saskatchewan and got two giant bears over bait. I wouldn’t rule that out

 

[davidg8480]

My choice British Columbia, Coles Lake, mountain spot and stalk.
8hour spot and stalk ...one of my most memorable hunts.

 

[pilar]

Vancouver boat hunt was my favorite one of the two I’ve been on
Say on a boat , fresh seafood and steaks, hunting in the estuary system, spot & stalk the shore
# 2 was in the mountains, lots of smaller bears, and lots of hiking for hours up the mountains ( not really my favorite thing to do for a bear) but we did see 105 bears in 5 days!
Best thing about black bears is the diversity in all the different types of hunts you can pick from

 

[375Fox]

Spot and stalk is an all day hunt. More active type hunting obviously. Longer shots. Possibly Different terrain and scenery every day. More socializing while hunting. If a mountain hunt. Good optics.

Bait hunts are usually, but not always evening hunting only. Later nights and then more leisurely mornings. Fishing, checking and refreshing baits. More close up intimate hunting. You observe Bear behavior up close. The area is critical for trophies and quantity.

Some camps are known for both. Either hunt should be with a highly regarded outfit. Bear hunting is rife with piss poor outfits. And or areas.

The option for fishing is a good point on the baited hunts. I didn’t consider that. I’ve only done coastal and inland logging road black bear hunts.

 

[Just a dude in BC]

I live on vancouver island and hunt bears here, and I also hunt bear in the kootaneys. So I can offer some guidance.

Firstly, baiting bears is not legal in BC, I believe you can in Alberta though, so your chances are higher there, BUT it is hunting over bair.

Secondly, Bear on the island is fun, and we certainly have a lot of them, I have taken a few off the island, and have helped/unofficall guided about 5 friends of mine to get their bears, so if you hunt here, you will likely get a bear, but they have down sides. Big bears here almost always have these thin worms in their flesh, that they get from the salmon, only young bears are good for eating. The bears here do not have great coats. I have found the coats of interior bears to be much fluffier.

Thirdly, consider what you want out of the hunt. Bears in the fall are going to be bigger, have more fat on them, but may have rubs and pulls in their coat. Spring bears have the most pristine coats, but will be smaller than a fall bear, and the meat won't be as good, it's much more lean.

If you end up on the island, all our hunting is spot and stalk, and early afternoon on south facing slopes is a perfect place to find them foraging around. Good binoculars and spotting scopes are key, as are good water proof boots. Be prepared to tackle a lot of slopes, and hiking through cut blocks. There are two bear seasons in BC spring and fall, if you show up for spring, don't try and hunt until after about April 15th to 20th, the season starts a few weeks before we typically see them moving around.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jeff505]

I’ve hunted Alberta numerous times in the Peace river area, good color phase bears and you can harvest 2 bears but It seems like the largest are always black. I have had wolves come into the bait also, at the time you could buy a wolf tag over the counter. I have shot some real giants there and got the Record in 2005. Good luck with your decision.

 

[coreydb]

These areas are great for bear, just select you outfitter carefully-that's all.

 

[Brod]

One of my most unforgettable hunts was a Spring bow hunt in the far Northwest corner of Alberta 3-4 years ago over bait. Of the six evenings hunting in six different stands, I had at least one bear climb my tree every night. (There were two the first night.)

I will never forget, after I got into the stand the first evening, the guide/drop off guy, threw up a 4 foot long stick to me before he left. I asked, what was this for? He said, if in the unlikely event a bear climbs your tree, just tap him on the head and he will leave you alone. Okay... wait... what?

Less than 5 minutes later, I could still hear his ATV driving off in the distance when the first one started hopping up my tree. Although a bit unsure, I stuck to the script and when he got high enough, gave him a "tap" and sure enough, he hopped down and left me alone for the most part. He did come back twice more and standed/leaning on the tree looking up at me. Each time I showed him my stick and he would back down. This worked for all the others that would follow except the bear on Day 4. He hopped up 3 times and got 3 taps for his effort before he got with the program. He was the only one I would consider an immature bear. The others were the dominate bears of the site.

I ended up with two very large bears (day 1 and 6) as did all the other hunters in camp that week. Most of them as well had 1 or 2 bear climbs but I was the only one lucky enough to experience this nightly. Interestingly enough, I never did see any sows with cubs that entire week, and I'm thankful for that.

I've never hunted them by spot and stalk but, bait hunting can be exciting as well and you generally get ample time to look them over closely, and sometimes too closely.

 

[ryno111]

I've had good success in Alberta (along the Peace River) with two bears (over bait). Lots of bear activity including color phase. I was able to freeze them and bring them home in a cooler. Happy to share more info on my outfitter.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

I've had good success in Alberta (along the Peace River) with two bears (over bait). Lots of bear activity including color phase. I was able to freeze them and bring them home in a cooler. Happy to share more info on my outfitter.

Mind sharing?

 

[spanishhunter]

Hello everyone!

Thank you all for the quick responses!
Sharing very good and useful information!

Thanks!