Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Looking for Father/Son Coastal BC Spring Black Bear Huntfo

I also posted this in the General Big Game Forum.

I'm looking for a Father/Son coastal British Columbia spring black bear hunt. My son is a freshman in high school, so we would have to go in June during his summer break. He has been asking me to go on a coastal black bear hunt for years.

Any recommendations on outfitters would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

TBD

TexasBlueDevil;
Welcome to the 'Fire from just across the medicine line in central BC.

If you're planning a hunt up here in Canada, please allow me to recommend the stickied thread at the top of our Canada forum. It's the result of a lot of 'Fire members kicking in valuable information and I've been told it's been quite helpful for visiting hunters.

As to specific outfitters here in BC, I'm sorry that I don't have one.

I would - as is recommended in the thread I've mentioned - contact both successful and unsuccessful hunters from any outfitter to get the best feel for what type of hunt they offer.

Some of the coastal hunts will be truck hunts - that is to say spending much/most of the time glassing greening up cut blocks out of a pickup.

Others will be offering more of a boat/beach spot and stalk sort of hunt. A friend of ours used to guide out of Terrace for such hunts and they had a very high success rate and took good bears consistently.

There might be some houndsmen too that offer bear hunts - hounds are legal here in BC, but baiting is not.

I wouldn't think June should be too, too late to chase bears, but be aware that bear season ends on June 15th in the Lower Mainland management unit of the coast, but goes up to June 30th further up the coast in the Cariboo and Skeena management units.

Hopefully that was some use to you sir. Good luck on your hunt whichever way you decide and feel free to ask if you think I can be of any assistance.

Dwayne

You may want to consider a hunt in the interior/or northern areas of the province as an alternative. Possibly smaller bears overall, but very different country to hunt, in terms of terrain and other wildlife to view. There is also the chance of getting a colour-phase bear in some parts of the interior, but not on the island.
At least some of the coastal hunts on Vancouver Island can get really pricey (my opinion), for a black bear. I don't know if the interior is any cheaper.
At least on the Island you have the option of taking a second bear as an option.
Dave Fyfe and Jim Shockey are two well know outfitters that hunt the northern part of Vancouver Island. Both have websites, and their areas hold some big bears.
HuntingBC is another hunting website with lots of fellows on there that can give you more info on hunting BC.

We are looking at hunts with Dave Fyfe (North Island Guide Outfitters) and Bob Milligan (Coastal Mountain Outfitters).

If anyone has experience or knowledge of these outfits, any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks!!