If you had to choose one area where the most abundant large black bears are, where would you choose for spot and stalk?

Up north in Alberta when the blueberries are ripe you will find lots and lots of nice bears.

the chef

queen charlotter islands.

SE Alaska. The bears are huge and plentiful. A trophy of 7' squared would be normal and it would be expected to see 10-20 bears per day. In my personal 5 day boat hunt there I probably saw at least 6 bears in that 7 foot range.

I represent the outfit I mentioned and can provide brochures and references if you are interested.

Mark

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
SE Alaska. The bears are huge and plentiful. A trophy of 7' squared would be normal and it would be expected to see 10-20 bears per day. In my personal 5 day boat hunt there I probably saw at least 6 bears in that 7 foot range.

I represent the outfit I mentioned and can provide brochures and references if you are interested. On your website I cannot pull up any info on black bear hunting in SE Alaska!

BC has the most black bears in North America.

ONly spot and stalk here, no baiting allowed...

I would say northern BC also. I have shot dozens and I have scored 2 into the BC book. Both were squared at 6'8" and 6'10". I saw 6 in one day that would all go over 6-6.5' and I was in my truck on back roads!!

quote:

Originally posted by Adam Ragan:
I would say northern BC also. I have shot dozens and I have scored 2 into the BC book. Both were squared at 6'8" and 6'10". I saw 6 in one day that would all go over 6-6.5' and I was in my truck on back roads!!

Adam, Any suggestions on outfitters for the Northern B.C. area?

The outfitter I'm hunting with in Northern Alberta has taken many provincial record bears, some weighing in the 550-650# range, and some 8 footers. Are those big enough?

I'm also going to book a hunt with Abe Dougan in B.C., of Big Boar Outfitters.

He emailed me pics of every bear taken this past spring and not one was a "skipper."---(250 pounds or under). Most were 7 footers and some were color phase.

Doc, I hunted with Abe this June. It was a great trip. Wrote an article that was published in the last issue of Safari, entitled Daily Double. If you are willing to work hard, Abe will put you on some big bears. My blackie went an honest 7'5". A big damn black bear with a beautiful coat. Have hunted in Alberta and Saskatawan and the BC hunt tops them all by multiples.

I know this area quite well and there are a LOT of bears in it while Gatehouse himself lives close by in Pemberton. This is among the most beautiful parts of B.C. and among the toughest to hunt due to rain, wet, rain, buckbrush, rain, steep country, rain, dense forest cover, rain.....you get the picture. But, it is close to Vancouver and if you get IN SHAPE, the hunting can be very good. There are so many bears here that getting a good one is not hard, but, the country is tough, again, get in shape.

I have hunted Alberta Black Bears fairly hard for some time and can tell you that although we have a lot of blacks, on average a 6' bear is good and a 7' bear is very rare. That being said there is the occasional whopper.
Last year hunting strictly spot and stalk (no baiting) our group of 5 saw 38 and shot 5 including a 6'2" blonde and a 6'6" chocolate brown. These hides are measured on the ground with nothing touching and are from nose to tip of tail.
Coastal bears are of course on average BIGGER.

I was on Athabaska Tower out of Hinton in '90 and '91 and was back to visit last July. I saw one of the largest Blackies I have ever seen just up from the Nordic Center there in August, '91; I have seen mature male Grizzlies smaller than this guy, he was huge.

The other thing is, you can eat a bear from Alberta, while the coastal bears are not even fit for dog food, IMO. I would say that the size difference on average is not that great and Alberta is MUCH nicer country to hunt, especially in the spring.

I really like the spot and stalk hunts. And these are the type which you would typicly be on in BC on coastal hunts. I would stick to the coastal hunts, Bute inlet to Hastings arm. In the fall the river fishing is good as well!
Al

Some of the biggest black bear in North America are in Manitoba. The best way to get them though is to bait. The bushes are way to dense to spot and stock unless you hunt oat fields in the Fall time.