Manitoba Spring Bear??

01 March 2014, 11:43

St8tman

Gentlemen,
I am in the process of trying to book a Spring Bear hunt in Manitoba for 2015. I am looking at MacCarthy Outfitting up near the Riding Mountains Eastside. I am also looking at Grandview Outfitters up near Duck Mountains. If any of you can provide any information on either of these two outfitters I would certainly appreciate it. I have found some intel on MacCarthy Outfitters (Alan MacCarthy), but it has been somewhat limited. I have found very little at all on Grandview Outfitters (Tom Ainsworth). although they seemed to stay booked solid each year. Thank You in Advance for Your Time and Consideration.

11 March 2014, 04:14

Guide's Life

You will not go wrong with Allan MacCarthy. I have dealt with Allan many times over the years and nothing but good to say. He outfits beside Riding Mountain National Park which is an absolute bear factory

27 April 2014, 06:18

dpcd

Last time I went to Man for spring bear, went with All terrain bear hunts in Thompson. A friend got a 17 inch black bear there; not kidding. Huge.

03 May 2014, 19:04

chilcotin hillbilly

quote:
Originally posted by dpcd:
Last time I went to Man for spring bear, went with All terrain bear hunts in Thompson. A friend got a 17 inch black bear there; not kidding. Huge.

17 inch bear is small are you sure that was the measurement?

10 May 2014, 10:14

Skyline

Doug I PM'd him on that but have not received a reply. A 17 inch skull is a booboo.

22 May 2014, 03:56

Northman56751

I am heading up in a few weeks to hunt with our outfitter in Manitoba. Had a couple last minute spots. Will let you know how it turns out.........

22 May 2014, 06:54

snowman

quote:
Originally posted by St8tman:
Gentlemen,
I am in the process of trying to book a Spring Bear hunt in Manitoba for 2015. I am looking at MacCarthy Outfitting up near the Riding Mountains Eastside. I am also looking at Grandview Outfitters up near Duck Mountains. If any of you can provide any information on either of these two outfitters I would certainly appreciate it. I have found some intel on MacCarthy Outfitters (Alan MacCarthy), but it has been somewhat limited. I have found very little at all on Grandview Outfitters (Tom Ainsworth). although they seemed to stay booked solid each year. Thank You in Advance for Your Time and Consideration.

Both are very good areas. You will likely see many large bears and several colour phases.

22 May 2014, 10:18

Skyline

quote:
Originally posted by snowman:
quote:
Originally posted by St8tman:
Gentlemen,
I am in the process of trying to book a Spring Bear hunt in Manitoba for 2015. I am looking at MacCarthy Outfitting up near the Riding Mountains Eastside. I am also looking at Grandview Outfitters up near Duck Mountains. If any of you can provide any information on either of these two outfitters I would certainly appreciate it. I have found some intel on MacCarthy Outfitters (Alan MacCarthy), but it has been somewhat limited. I have found very little at all on Grandview Outfitters (Tom Ainsworth). although they seemed to stay booked solid each year. Thank You in Advance for Your Time and Consideration.

Both are very good areas. You will likely see many large bears and several colour phases.

Correct. I outfit for bear in the area myself and there are some very big bears and lots of colour. A 17 inch skull is a baby, the area produces many B&C heads.

22 May 2014, 14:21

p dog shooter

I watched a You tube of a bear hunt and when the person talking kept saying that a beautiful/great looking bear I knew it was a small one.

It looked to be 200lbs at most

22 May 2014, 14:24

p dog shooter

quote:
Originally posted by dpcd:
Last time I went to Man for spring bear, went with All terrain bear hunts in Thompson. A friend got a 17 inch black bear there; not kidding. Huge.

Maybe front to back measurement not total?

22 May 2014, 23:47

Skyline

quote:
Originally posted by p dog shooter:
quote:
Originally posted by dpcd:
Last time I went to Man for spring bear, went with All terrain bear hunts in Thompson. A friend got a 17 inch black bear there; not kidding. Huge.

Maybe front to back measurement not total?

Not a chance. There are only a handful of black bear in the B&C record book with skulls that have a length exceeding 14 inches. The number one all time B&C head has a length of 14 12/16.

23 May 2014, 00:22

sheephunterab

I suspect there are loads of 17" bears shot with outfitters each year. While certainly not a giant.....it's not a baby either. I'm not sure there is an animal in North America that is more over-estimated/exaggerated than the black bear for length, weight and skull size.

24 May 2014, 00:28

Skyline

quote:
Originally posted by Skyline:
quote:
Originally posted by sheephunterab:
I suspect there are loads of 17" bears shot with outfitters each year. While certainly not a giant.....it's not a baby either. I'm not sure there is an animal in North America that is more over-estimated/exaggerated than the black bear for length, weight and skull size.

You are absolutely right. Lots of 17 inch skull bears are taken by clients of black bear outfitters all over North America. Lots!!

Does not change the fact that a 17 inch skull is not a big bear by any means. OK maybe not a "baby" taken literally, which is absurd, but whatever. Of course things vary genetically throughout North America, but in Manitoba I can assure you that a 17 inch skull, assuming it is a boar, is a small bear.

Hunters all over kill small bears, as in two and three year olds because they do not have the experience to judge the size of the bear they shoot. Bears are hard to judge when it comes to body size and for the majority there is no way to judge skull size unless you have a lot of experience. And that is not infallible either.

However, in the long run with black bear 17 is a small skull. An 18 inch skull is a nice bear, 19 is a good bear, 20 is excellent and 21 and above is exceptional. Period.

But there is much more to a black bear than skull size. Sex, body size, fur quality and then colour are factors in what a hunter decides to shoot. The skull size is often not an issue with a lot of bear hunters.

Shooting a bear of that skull measurement in Manitoba or Saskatchewan or Ontario, maybe Alberta…….. means a young bear of 2 or 3 years. Comparable to shooting a light 3 or 4 point mulie or a rag horn bull elk.

Hunters ability to judge weight, length, skull size, antlers, horns etc. has always been an issue. 'Ground shrink' has always been a big problem with big game but it is really an issue with bears.

24 May 2014, 08:05

chilcotin hillbilly

Skyline, good description of quality bears. You can add BC to that list.

24 May 2014, 10:30

Skyline

Doug………. sorry, you are absolutely right, I should have included BC or just said western Canada. It was late and I had just come in from skinning a bear, was tired and ready for bed.

24 May 2014, 23:30

medved

quote:
Originally posted by chilcotin hillbilly:
Skyline, good description of quality bears. You can add BC to that list.

Doug,

indeed BC is a good place but have seen over the years some nice trophies taken in Manitoba.

but i like our place too not that much hunters going after them over here.

Phil

25 May 2014, 03:57

Northman56751

If anyone is interested, we had 1 spot open up on our Manitoba Black Bear hunt. Dates of the hunt are June 9-13th. Hunt takes place east of Lake Winnipeg. Fishing is available also.......mainly Walleye. Baited hunt. Normal price is $3800....cost now is $2800. Hunt usually has 100% shooting opportunity and 85% harvest rate. These stats. are for all weapons (rifle, muzzle loader and bow). A good portion of the hunters are bow hunters.

I will be going on this hunt along with one of our other booking agents (Jim) and a client from Georgia.

If interested, give me a call.

31 May 2014, 12:06

Skyline

One of our guests took a wonderful bear a few days ago and it really shows what is available in Manitoba. Just a big wonderful light cinnamon boar that measure 7'6" and has a big head and everything else to match. Wish I could post a picture for all us to admire but I can't. I do not use photo bucket, etc.

Anyways……… Manitoba has big bears.

31 May 2014, 16:39

p dog shooter

The avg bear weight in Wis a few years ago was 150lbs.

We put a dollar in the pot and guess the bear weight. Even among guys who have seen a lot of dead bears weighed the weighs can be off.

I seen the ground shrink effect a lot the very first bear I shot shrunk a lot when I walked up to it.

The 490 pounder I shot didn't suffer from that it just got bigger.

The 500 pounder my daughter shot got really big the more we dragged it to the 4 wheeler.

My Ontario bear had a big skull over 21 it was at one time a big bear big front pads 6 inchers.

But it was in very bad shape physically couldn't have weighed over 250lbs.

I tell bait hunters to but sizing stakes out and if the bear is out size the stakes shoot it if it fit in between them let it walk.

It takes looking at a lot of bears to get good at sizing them.

The last bear kill I was on I walked into the tree and told the shooter he needs to shoot that bear.

There was no question in my mind. That the bear was a shooter.

But then a 400lb bear 12 feet above your head does look big. It field dressed at 345lbs.

In Wis I figure a any bear over 250 in a very nice bear over 300 even better over 400 its big.

But then every year some true monsters are shot here above 600lbs.

A lot of the bears taken here are weighed un like wilderness areas where no scales are available.

But I personally like a bear around 200 for eating.