Lars did you know that B.C has one of the highest populations of Black Bears in the world? The estimates are between 145,000 to 165,000 black bears and growing. Twenty years ago the estimate was about 95,000 black bears. Good luck on your hunt! Good choice on the rifle, but I now usually only use stainless steel rifles.

Lars, That is spelled "Cranbrook". I do not know the outfitter but you might join www.huntshoot.ccoastangler.com or www.huntingbc.ca . Both of these site feature primerily BC people and BC places. As I recall there are a couple of members from that area. Best of luck. derf

I am a member of a pioneer family of that area and one of the people involved in the campaign to set that area aside as a wilderness preserve. This is one of the most magnificent places on Earth and there are lots of bears, Blacks and Grizzlies, both.

The area is steep, rugged and can be very wet and cold, even in spring. The hunting is often done by glassing old slide tracks on the mountains when the bears come out to feed. A good shot with a 6.5x55, with a good bullet such as the Nosler 140 Partition over 48-50 grs. Norma MRP to a .300 Mag with 180 Noslers will drop the bear right now, bang-dead. You may have to be able to shoot to 300 meters for the finest trophy.

Gary Hansen is a well-established outfitter there and you should have an excellent hunt with his outfit. You can fly direct to Vancouver or Calgary and then to Cranbrook.

As it happens, my grandmother settled in this area in the 1890s, directly from a small village outside Molde, in Norway and I have relatives there, yet. I hope to go to Norway, someday, myself. Come to the Kootenays, it is a countryside that puts anywhere else to shame.

Hi
I'm from Creston B.C. which is about a hour away from Cranbrook. I can attest that there are alot of bears around Cranbrook. Creston has areas that are equally as good, though I do not know of any outfitters I would recomend. There are also alot of bears in the Kootenay lake area between Creston and Nelson B.C. I work as a forester around Creston and Cranbrook, and see many bears each spring. As said before, a longer shot may be necessary. For what it's worth I hunt with a 30-06 and handloaded 180grn nosler partitions.

Depending on the connection, flying in from Calgary to Cranbrook may be cheaper than from Vancouver, but you may be more likely to get a direct flight from Europe to Vancouver.

Karl.

hi

Tanks for all answers!



We are planning to fly in to calgary an rent

a car there, so we can take some days too look around!

We are very exited about this hunt so the planning is important.



I think I`m gonna bring my big game rifle for this hunt,

thats a Remington 700 bdl dm cal .338wm, i usually use

225grs swift a-frame handloaded, but consider 250grs!!

Whith a stedy rest i can take a 300y shot with this!





Lars

Karl---Are you, by any chance, the same Karl who attended Selkirk College at Castlegar circa 1970? If so, we knew each other well and I last saw you in a bookstore I owned in Nelson during the late 70s. If so, Hi, if not, Hi, anyway.

Lars, your choice of cartridge is about as good as it gets for B.C. conditions. I have owned 12 .338s and own 5 now, a Dakota 76 and 4 pre-64 Mod. 70 Winchesters.While I prefer 250 Nosler Pts., especially the new Gold ones, I use and love Swifts in other calibers. Your 225 load will work perfectly on any bear, good choice. I hope you really enjoy your visit, we Canucks are always happy to host our Viking friends.