Just returned from B.C. Thursday night and have been trying to catch up.

We did have a successful hunt with Skelton Valley Outfitters out of McLeese Lake. We took a choclate brown bear that might be the most beautiful bear I've ever seen, a black bear with a very large white diamond on its chest and a big black bear that might go 300 pounds.

The area has alot of game including mule deer and Canada moose of which we saw many. In addition we saw 3 varieties of grouse, snowshoe hares, coyotes, sandhill cranes and lots of waterfowl.

A couple of neat aspects of this hunt are the tremendous network of logging roads that let you cover a huge area by vehicle and the areas close proximity to the town of Williams Lake with an airport, shopping, restaurants etc.

We both shot 300 WM and they were good choices as it is possible to take a long shot in the clear cuts or power lines. My buddy shot the 180 Swift Sciroco and got a complete pass through with a tremendous but very short blood trail. I used the 200 NP with predictable results including an end to end pass through on the big bear.

I'll add some pics later but if you'd like some contact info. for Skelton Valley contact me anytime. This is not a fancy hunt but it is very economical.

If you haven't booked anything for '06 there still is time to get in on the leftover draw for Wyoming antelope. The application period is July 10-20 which is a small window but the chance of drawing area 23 where we have some spots left is basically a slam dunk. Last year there were literally hundreds of leftover tags and this year should be a similiar situation.

We are offering a 3 day private land hunt in area 23 near Gillette. The ranch is 30,000 acres and you will see literally hundreds of undisturbed antelope. The hunt includes 1 buck and 2 doe antelope and your expectations should be for a nice representaive mature buck of 13.5-15" with good mass and cutters.

The hunt is $1850 1x1 and you pay for your own meals and hotels in Gillette. License and tags are $238 for the antelope buck and $29 each for the doe tags. This might make a great hunt for a group wanting to drive out with a camper and take back some coolers of excellent meat plus a nice trophy.

If you have procrastinated on booking for this year this might be a good opportunity.

Contact me anytime for further details.

Regards,

Mark

Can't waiit to see bear pics. I'm one
of those oddballs who would rather hunt
bears more than any thing else in north america

Here are the bear pics as promised. I left the images big to better show the great coat quality.



Sadie with my blazebear. Unfortunately the blaze looks like nothing in the photo.



This was not a big bear but a truly gorgeous specimen. John obviosly is happy with this one.



150 yd running through the brain. Couldn't do that one in a million years again.

Mark

Very nice Mark. Congratulations on the great bears.

BOWHUNR

How much is the BC bear hunt?