My brother wants to hunt for black bears in or around the White horse area in the Yukon Terrtory.He lves in Pocotello,Idaho and works most of the year in Alaska.He has heard about the different color phases of the black bears up there and that a black bear only guided hunt might not be that expensive.He`s a old concrete guy by trade ,so money for a guided hunt is limited,but he`s been saving his pennies to go and get him a bear before he get`s to old to hunt any more.My brother is a Vietnam war vet
(Navy Seal) who did a year and a half as a P.O.W. so he has some knee and back trouble from his being "questioned"by his captors.Any body who can refer me to guides,outfitters,prices I would greatly appreciate your help in trying to get him this hunt.I lost my oldest brother in 1990 to cancer
he was a Marine in Vietnam for 3 tours 1967-1971
Doctor a the V.A. told me and my other brother that my oldest brother was another casualty of agent orange.The bear hunt was his idea ,but he didn`t live to see it happen.Hopefully my other brother will.

Dont get me wrong because I love The Yukon but if funds are an issue, your brother's own back yard might be a better option for black bears. Some Idaho outfitters can offer you drop camps for $1000 or less including baits and everything you will need in camp. A fully outfitted hunt in Idaho for bear shouldn't run you more than $2000. Again, I love The Yukon but am not sure it is an economical place to hunt ONLY black bear. My guess is that most clients who take them there do so incidental to the hunting of another species....moose, grizzly, caribou etc.

Best,

JohnTheGreek

Thanks John,I will tell my brother what you said.He got all wound up about the Yukon because of something he read about the All white black bear up there called the"spirit bear" that he wants to go after.I looked up some pictures on the Net,Spookey looking sucker.
Thanks again,Ben Lee

The so called "Spirit Bear" or Kermode Bear is found on the North coast of British Columbia. I really don't know if there are any white-phase black bears in the Yukon or not but I have never heard about them.

BTW the white, Kermode, and blue, Glacier, phase black bears are protected in BC and may not be hunted.

you're brother needs a geography lesson, those spirit bears are located on a couple of remote islands off of the n.w.coast of BRITISH COLUMBIA.

quote:

Originally posted by AMRA:
My brother wants to hunt for black bears in or around the White horse area in the Yukon Terrtory.He lves in Pocotello,Idaho and works most of the year in Alaska.He has heard about the different color phases of the black bears up there and that a black bear only guided hunt might not be that expensive.He`s a old concrete guy by trade ,so money for a guided hunt is limited,but he`s been saving his pennies to go and get him a bear before he get`s to old to hunt any more.My brother is a Vietnam war vet
(Navy Seal) who did a year and a half as a P.O.W. so he has some knee and back trouble from his being "questioned"by his captors.Any body who can refer me to guides,outfitters,prices I would greatly appreciate your help in trying to get him this hunt.I lost my oldest brother in 1990 to cancer
he was a Marine in Vietnam for 3 tours 1967-1971
Doctor a the V.A. told me and my other brother that my oldest brother was another casualty of agent orange.The bear hunt was his idea ,but he didn`t live to see it happen.Hopefully my other brother will.

Hey Ben Lee
Your brother was a Navy SEAL in Nam?Was his
last name Lee also?

JTG is right about a bear hunt in the Yukon.
There are a lot of hunts that will cost less
and still produce good bears.

You could even do a DIY hunt in AK.My wife and
I averaged seeing 9 blackies a day on a bou
hunt in the Nushagak Hills.They were accessable
as they were feeding in the berry patches on
open hillsides.Lots of options on a BB hunt.
Jeff

I was going to respond to your post a day ago but I got suspicious at the last minute and deleted my reply. It is not common that someone would pick Whitehorse as the place where they would like to hunt black bear.

JTG is correct. There are more economical places to hunt for colored black bears. I know most of the Outfitters here and none of them are all that serious about black bears. They are usually taken on the side. Sometimes. Although there are alot of colored blacks around, it would be just as easy to get a grizzly. The outfitters, no doubt, would charge the same for a grizz hunt.

If you want a colored bear let me know. I hunt them in the spring for the meat. Law says I have to bring out the hide. I have several choclate and 1 blonde, tanned, sitting on the shelf.



Daryl

Yukoner

Are there any true white-phase black bears in the Yukon?

Not light blondes but true whites like the Kermode.

Thanks guys for the responses,Buckbrush,Cariboo,I will pass the knowledge along to my brother.I don`t know where my brother heard about this at,probally from some guys he`s been working with in Alaska
the past 2 years.His home base since he got back from vietnam in 73-74 has been Pocotello Idaho,He`s been driving his 68 chevy 3/4 beater up there and back the last 2 years,and has gone through the white horse area each time.This "spirit bear" stuff sounded like a snipe hunt to me,but he was convinced that it was legit.Sounds like some body he`s working with is running a scam on him.Jeffp, yes my brother last name is LEE first name Robert ,he jion the navy in 1970 after high school ,shipped out to Vietnam end of 1970 first of 1971.I guess to be more correct he was in cambodia.My oldest brother was named for my dad Chester Lee, a WW2 marine vet who served and was wounded at IWO JIMA.Chester jr. served in Marine Recon in Nam 1967 to 1971 or 72.He reupped 3 times.My dad died here in alabama in 1977 when I was 15,my brother Chester jr. died in a V.A. hospital in 1990.Yukoner thanks for the offer.

AMRA,

No sweat.


Cariboo,

Definately not around Whitehorse. I hunt blacks and grizz close to the B.C border. I haven't seen anything around there or heard of any. Nobody has told me I can't shoot a blue look'n bear yet so I will let you know if I see one.



Daryl

AMRA,

Something that might interest you or your brother is also hunting the blue tinted "glacier bear". These are legal to take in Alaska and are apparently famous around Yakutat. There is one outfitter known as Alsek River Lodge ( http://www.alsekriverlodge.com/biggame.htm ) that seems to specialize in these hunts. I know nothing about them so it is a "buyer beware" situation here. Something tells me that prices ain't cheap either. One could probably go on a lower end grizzly hunt for what some of these high end black bear hunts cost. I saw another outfitter charging $5500 for his black bear hunt and an additional $3500 trophy fee if you were "fortunate" enough to take a glacier bear. I'm not sure I would deem myself too fortunate at that point!


Best,

JohnTheGreek

quote:

Originally posted by AMRA:
My brother is a Vietnam war vet
(Navy Seal) who did a year and a half as a P.O.W. so he has some knee and back trouble from his being "questioned"by his captors.

[QUOTE]Jeffp, yes my brother last name is LEE first name Robert ,he jion the navy in 1970 after high school ,shipped out to Vietnam end of 1970 first of 1971.I guess to be more correct he was in cambodia.My oldest brother was named for my dad Chester Lee, a WW2 marine vet who served and was wounded at IWO JIMA.Chester jr. served in Marine Recon in Nam 1967 to 1971 or 72.He reupped 3 times.My dad died here in alabama in 1977 when I was 15,my brother Chester jr. died in a V.A.[QUOTE]

Ben Lee
I checked the POW data base for SE Asia.There
is NO Robert Lee listed.
http://131.84.1.34/dpmo/pmsea/pmsea_html_l.htm

I have access to the Navy SEALs data base.
What year/class # did he graduate?What is his middle name?

Hey JeffP,Just read your last post,sorry about the delay in answering.We just had a death in the family and I have been tied up making arangements.I called my brother to check on what you posted,but he was gone,heading back to alaska to start a new job.I I did talk with his Ex-wife about it and she told me I had a few things wrong.My mistake,I was 9 yrs. old when all this shit went down,so I guess I did get a some things wrong.From what she told me my brother was not a seal but was a crewman on the P.T. boats? that took the seals up river on patrol`s and picked them up.I honestly thought he was one.I was wrong.From what I can remember from those days I remember my brother signing up with the Nvy after he got out of high school in 1970.And after my oldest brother joined the marines in 1967.My dad was upset because of my oldest brother`s injuries in the marine corp service.But my younger brother was always pissing dad off one way or another.The biggest thing I do remember was some Navy personnal coming to the house in 71 telling my dad that somethig had happened to my brother,captured,wounded,something.I was in another room with my mom and couldn`t hear what was said.My dad broke donw and stared yelling at the navy guys about my brother was supposed to be on a carrier.What the hell was he doing "in country"what ever that means.Dad didn`t say much to me about it,but to say I was to young to understand.I remember it seemed like a long time we didn`t know my brothers stsus,alive,dead,anything.Then finally a local navy guy came to the house and told dad that my brother was alive and re cooping in a hospital.I remember dad`s relief that they "got him back"His words not mine.My brother has NEVER talked to me about his time in the service or his tour in `Nam.I`ve sneeked a look at a old photo album of his that show`s photo`s of him on big ship`s,small boats on a river ,funky looking bars,little vietamese,And him looking pretty bad in a hospital bed.He has a lot of scars all over him now that he didn`t have before.His ex-wife sais that he still has that post tramatic stress syndrome that I have heard about on the news.She also said that his bad back,knees ,and feet were caused over there.I logged onto the gov`t website you posted then to another one under the freedom of information act AND PRINTED OUT SOME FORMS TO SEE IF i COULD GET MY DEAD FATHERS,DEAD OLDEST BROTHERS marine service records.and my younger brother`s records.None of them not my dad nor my 2 brothers would Ever talk to me about their experiances when they were in the services.Except that they lost a lot of good friends.I am sorry that STATED MMY BROTHER WAS A NAVY SEAL,BUT IT WAS A HONEST MISTAKE THAT I MADE.My brother nver told me he was or wasn`t only that he was in the navy during that time.Thats all he ever wuold say about it ,no details,nothing.My ex sis inlaw asked me why I was all wound up about this after 30 + yearsand i told her about you post and how I had had it wrong all these years that I thought he was one because I heard my dad mention them when talking about my brother.She told me that from what my dad told her that he was around them during the war and hepled ferry them to and from patrol`s and that something Bad happened to my brother during that time.But that`s all she knew and that my brother would Never talk about what daid happen to him over there not to this day,because it upset him to much.And because of our older brother dying of cancer in 1990.That she beleved was from his exposure to agent orange.She asked me to let this go for his sake,but I don`t know that I can.I would like to know what did happen to both my brother`s over there that it still effects him to this day.My oldest daughter is engauged to a young man that is serving in Iraq right now with the Marine Recon unit.She`s been scared to death the whole time he`s been gone.I say a prayer for him every night before I go to sleep.Thanks again for pointing out my error.I`m no liar by nature.I just had it wrong all these years.Or maybe just mis placed hero worship that I built up in my mind when I was 9 years old.But I`ve looked up to my brother more than any one else all my life and I still do,But he never told me he was a Navy Seal. I honestly thought he was all these years until you pointed out that I`ve been wrong all this time.My deepest apologies to any one I have offended.Ben Lee