Place: Manitoba, Canada Date: May 2000

Owner/Operator: Peter Kalden

Game Hunted: Black Bear

The Kaldens picked me up at the airport in Winnipeg and I had no worries from that point on. They saw to every detail of my hunt. This was my first away hunt and it turned out to be my first big game animal.

The hunt was conducted on Crown land surrounding the Kalden's 900 acre private property. They have a 70 mile radius alotted to bear and whitetail deer hunting.

The stands and baits were well attended to and the bear population is very good. I saw bears everyday and settled on the bear I shot on the fourth day of my hunt. The housing and food were excellent, the Kaldens run a super operation and treat every hunter like family. I had a house to myself and I was given a vehicle to drive at my discresion.

Also available on the privately owned 900 acres are bison, mouflon, fallow, whitetail, elk, russian boar.

Nice bear Ann. What caliber did you take it with? Where exactly are the Kalden's located? I'm curious, my mother lives in that general area, and I was wondering how far fron her they are. We've seen some very big blacks on the farm in years past. Thanks - Dan

Dan, that's a borrowed .270 Win. The lodge is located near St. Marten

Beautiful, and that bear ain't bad either.

Ah yes, just up highway 6. Nice bear country. There are some really decent black bears in Manitoba. It's one of their secrets, I think. Anyway, congratulations. - Dan

Fatcat - Thanks!

Dan, they seem to have a fair number of color bears too. I hope to return in the next few years and find me one. You area can't be all that bad? Doesn't Alberta allow a two bear limit?

Yes, and up in the Grand Prairie area we get a lot of blonde and cinnamon bears. They get to be a pretty good size, as they troll the grain fields at night. It's actually kind of cool, when you fly over the fields, you can see the paths they make eating their way through the field. I haven't hunted bear for some time now, my German buddy who used to take the meat (and his wife made wonderful roasts) has had a lot of health problems, and I won't hunt for just the hide (not a moral judgement, just how many bear hides can you use?) It's all baiting or spot and stalk hunting here, no dogs allowed. I've seen some wonderful bears when we hunt along the Peace River, too. You can hunt from a non-motorized boat as well, which can get you some very interesting game along that river (bear, moose, elk, whitetails, mulies, wolves, coyotes, wolverines, cougars) depending on where you are. Perhaps you should give Alberta a whirl sometime. Take care - Dan

Ann, no one has said it yet and I can't let it pass - Your hair is beautiful!