Well, I hunted in New Brunswick and shot at the largest bear I've ever seen and missed (with my bow and the damn game tracker), then I flew up to Alberta and shot the first one with a bow, the second with a 30.06. I dropped the second one with a 180 Swift Scirocco. Complete pass through on the shoulders, and she dropped. Bullet was not recovered. I saw bears daily in Alberta, but hunted NB too early. Didn't see any bears til last 2 nights. I'm heading back to NB to have another crack at the big boy.

My 2 Alberta bears have real nice coats, but were not large by any means. Oh well, guess I'll have to keep hunting them every spring and fall til I get some larger bears under my belt. For now, I'm thrilled.

Every bear except one, climbed my tree to see what I was. That makes your palms sweat.

Congratulations Doc: I love Alberta..they do have a lot of bears..where were you hunting?

Some years ago I hunted near Highlevel and shot two beautiful bears with a .338WM. I can remember how thrilled I was when I was driving home from that hunt. The skulls and hides are right here in the room with me...

Good work...

Congratulations.

quote:

Originally posted by rwj:
Congratulations Doc: I love Alberta..they do have a lot of bears..where were you hunting?

I flew into Edmonton and drove 5 hours north, up 43, then 49, onto hwy 2 up to Donnelly. I think my unit was 540.

They have LOTS of color phase bears there but I didn't see any. The other hunter in camp has been there 13 years in a row and has taken several 7-8 foot colored bears. He is after a huge blonde.

Congratulations Doc.
The size of the Bear is the luck of the draw.
It is the thrill of the hunt that makes the trip.
Thoose are good bears.
I also like to eat black bear meat.

Thanks. I had a gentleman in Minn. tell me that any bear over 200lbs is a good black bear. I am happy.

Plus, there are plenty of other bears out there, so I'll just keep hunting them!

Doc: I agree with N E 450 No2...these are nice bears and you should be proud of them. Did you weigh your bears on a scale to determine that they weigh 200 pounds each?

quote:

Originally posted by rwj:
Doc: I agree with N E 450 No2...these are nice bears and you should be proud of them. Did you weigh your bears on a scale to determine that they weigh 200 pounds each?

No, but the outfitter, having done this for 27+ years stated that they used to weigh them for kicks, but were more interested in skull sizes than body wts. He is the one that estimated the body wts., and with me doing the lifting too, I agreed with his estimates. I'm confident that the smaller one was approx. 175 and the larger was 200, both +/- 10 pounds or so. The second one sure had a nice head on it.

I watched a guy take a Manitoba bear on a video and it looked like a real small bear, but it was injured and old, turns out the skull was huge, and he knew what he had before he chose to shoot it.

To some degree, I could care less about skull size. I just think these animals are real nice to look at and fun to hunt.

With all the hype in the past about the Swift Scirocco bullet performance in the past, both negative, and positive, I decided to see what it would do at very close range on a bear. I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I think I already mentioned it, but the 180 bullet passed through both shoulders and made a nice sized exit wound. Any concern I may have had about the Scirocco in my 30.06 has now been eliminated.

Congrats, Doc! Weidmannsheil!

About 8 years ago my pop and I hunted in Quebec for bear. It was my first bear hunt and I shot what I thought was a ncie sized bear. When I got to it, my old man turned to me and said that I shot Winnie the Pooh.

Bottom line--bagging an animal is second in excitement to the thrill of the hunt and memories you'll carry with you into old age. I'll never forget the ball breaking my dad gave me...great memories..

You have a memorable trophie there, my friend.

Congrats!!! Nice Bears.

-Steve

Did you hunt with Mike Bruno? If so, he is a greatperson and guide.

quote:

Originally posted by Mighty Peace:
Did you hunt with Mike Bruno? If so, he is a greatperson and guide.

NO. Gene Plihal.

I forgot to say CONGRATS for the bears!

thanks.

Nice bears ..I got mine north of whitecourt,not as far north as you were..I just skinned out the claws on mine and damn the hands look human..showed the neighbours wife on each side of my house..One thought it was neat the other almost threw up...Thought about leaving one on a mailbox but I probably would get arrested for mischief...Five minutes of fame..........

The hides look nice,,not rubbed off at all..Some pics I HAVE SEEN MAKE THE BEARS look pretty rough.

Congratulations on two fine bears, Doc. I hunted Alberta north of Ft. McMurray and had a great hunt up there also. It is bear country without peer in my opinion!

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Congratulations on two fine bears, Doc. I hunted Alberta north of Ft. McMurray and had a great hunt up there also. It is bear country without peer in my opinion!

Well tell me more! I'll hunt anywhere. Who did you hunt with? Costs? Color phase? Did you get anything?