There is big bears both east and west but the techniques are completely different.
Out east you can watch your bait for the big one but out west bait is not allowed.
The advantage with coastal B.C is that you can glass up to a hundred bears in a day in some regions. There is no better way of finding a monster than that.
The cuts in some areas are never ending and you can sit in one spot and see a dozen or more bears without relocating. This is intensified in the spring when they first come out of thier dens in May.
One area that I don't think was mentioned is the Skeena River region in B.C. This area has so many logging cuts that you could not see half of them in a lifetime. On a normal day in the spring you could see over 30 or 40 bears. The trophy potential is really good also. A friend of mine took a 7 foot bear that wieghed at least 500 lbs and the skull made the book.
I bought a half mount of a friend that he swears made 600 lbs. and it also made the book. It has a massive head. I can't remember the scores.
There is no salmon running in the spring quite yet when the bears come out but there is a real bloom of vegitation that they just gorge themselves on. Their body weight and hide have not maxed out yet but that won't effect the skull measurment. If you want body size, hunt the rivers in the fall and bring a fishing rod. The chinook salmon can break 100lbs.
If no one is sure where the Skeena region is in B.C, it's just south of the Alaska panhandle and runs eastward for a hundred miles before heading north for as many.

My mistake you don't have a split personality, you are exactly what I thought you were.

Russell - great story, seriously you tell that better than many published articles -- who knows, maybe a career change in the future? as far as bears, I haven't hunted BC but coastal Alaska is rich with bears; our group goes to prince william sound the first week of june - bears are just out, gorging on coastal grass and the hides are incredible plus they have a beautiful chocolate muzzle - I believe pws bears are somewhat smaller than farther south especially down the Alaska panhandle, but the peaceful surroundings and lack of hunters is a real bonus - our group (3-4) gets dropped off, we set up camp, handle all our own chores - we travel with an inflatable through the many coves / bays and glass for bears and return to camp each evening for some good cooking and story telling - Good luck wherever you go - KMule

What do you guys do with the bear meat?

Burgers and steaks, mostly.

Sausage and smoked hams mostly. Bear can make some damn good salami.
If the bears are feeding on salmon I'm not even interested in eating them but here in B.C you have to take the carcas out of the field anyways.

The largest black bears are in Eastern North Carolina. I have heard of 600, 650, and 800 lb bears being taken here in recent years, and one of the ones in the 600 range was in the running for largest killed in North America based on skull measurements. Many are taken with the use of hounds, and most are found in swampy areas, or "pocosins" which is an Indian word for "Swamp on a hill". The 800 lb bear was taken less than 20 miles from my home, but he was abnormal in that the had taken to feeding on dead hogs from a large farming operation, so his weight was much more than average. He was taken in a swamp but without hounds and it took 5 12 ga slugs to put him down from a range of less than 20 yds.

A couple of years ago there was a bear in saskatchewan chased out of a yard where they stored large pipes. The photo's and story made it into one of the magazines up here. This bear was estimated over 800lbs by the co's but I have no idea of skull size. It's hard to estimate a skull from a photo when a bear is that fat.
They said he had been feasting in the near by fields and had been denning in the pipes.

Ooops, wrong. Sorry.

*deleted*

Anyway, thanks Russel for sharing your story!

Regards,
Martin

[ 01-20-2003, 12:56: Message edited by: Marterius ]

A friend that I hunt with quite a bit lives on vancouver island In the last 6 years he has shot 4 bears that are 7 footers 3 of which will make the books. Every time I go out with him we see around 10 bears a day.Its awesome bear hunting over there.