I'm thinking of going black bear hunting with Jim Shockey's outfit this May.

Does anyone here at the Fire have any experience with this hunt?

Would appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks,

Steve

No, but I'd love to be in camp with his father and father-in-law. Those two crack me up! Oh, and Eva wouldn't be bad either...

I have not hunted with Jim, but I have a close friend that hunted bears with him a couple of times. The hunting is relatively easy phyisically as spot and stalk bear hunting goes. He said everything was professionally run and there weren't any issues.

havent hunted with him but he is one of the few with a hunting show that i would give a try.....from his columns ive read and his two shows he doesnt take himself to seriously but takes his guiding of other people very seriously.....ild go especially if he was gonna be around but dont know how likely that is with all the traveling he does to hunts and with what im sure he has to do in promotional stuff at various shows around the US and Canada....

I presume you're talking about his concession on Vancouver Island, B.C.?

I've seen some of his shows from there are they seem to have decent bears.

I'm quite surprised that he has openings 1 month out. Must of had some cancellations? Doubt you'll run into him on your hunt.

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the info, and the hunt is on Vancouver Island.

There was a last minute change of someone's plans, and I got lucky.

Steve

About 15 years ago I sent him a letter inquiring about his hunts and prices. He personally responded with all pertinent information and some humor!

Not surprisingly it was priced out of my league and I ended up booking a hunt via Cabela's service with Pierceland Outfitters in Saskatchewan. Certainly not the same quality of bear and a completely different type of hunt but we had a blast regardless!

Good luck.....

Steve,

I hunted with Jim's outfit a while back, maybe 10 years ago. Jim was in camp, and guided some of the other hunters, but I hunted with his cousin Guy, also a very good hunter and bear guide.

We hunted around June 1 (can look up the dates exactly if you'd like) and the rut was on. All six of us in our party got bears that squared 6 feet to over 7 feet. Mine squared right at seven feet with a 20-inch skull, and at least one other bear was in that class, but Ron Spomer killed the biggest one on the last night of the hunt that was slightly bigger.

The hunting was all spot and stalk along logging roads and clearcuts. You can't see 30 feet into the thick timber unless it's been logged. My particular bear was following a sow across a big clearcut one morning, and it took close to two hours to get in range after Guy determined it was a good boar.

I have heard the accomodations have been upgraded since then, but they weren't bad, several travel trailers with power, showers, etc., and a log building where we ate and hung out.

Anybody who got their bear had the option of going fishing in a nearby bay, and the fishing was pretty good. We also did some crabbing and picked some mussels, all of which added to the dinners.

I have never hunted with Jim Shockey on Vancouver Island but two guys (father and son) in my gun club have hunted spring bear with him, they said it was the best hunt they were ever on. This guy is loaded and they have been on many high dollar hunts. Both bears made the book, I think the hunts are very expensive. I hope this helps!

John,

Many thanks for the info. I'll be hunting there starting 10 May, which will probably be before the rut.

Everything I've heard about Jim's outfitting has been very impressive. Met him some years ago at the SHOT and my sense was that he was a perfectionist when it came to hunting, but a decent, easy going guy as a person.

Have wanted to hunt Vancouver Island with Jim for quite a while. And for some reason, I'm crazy nuts about black bear hunting. Just hit 73 and figured it was now or never. Now felt a lot better than never, so I'm off to Vancouver Island next month..

I'll post the results of the hunt when I return.

On the way back, I'll be stopping in Buffalo Wy for PD's, so I won't be wasting my time. Now I have to load a bunch of ammo.

Steve

GS[814,

Thanks for the info. Your report of your friends hunt with Jim is very reassuring, and I appreciate your taking the time to post it.

Steve

I've met Jim a couple of times & he is a super nice guy! Wish I could afford to go with his outfit for Black Bears. Maybe when I hit the Powerball Lotto

You could also do what I'm going to do to make the hunt affordable.

I'll be holding up some banks and churches.

It's the American way!!

Actually, I've told my children that my will states very clearly, that being of sound mind and body, I spent it all before I died. So that's my plan.

Steve

7x57--your welcome, good luck!

I hunted with Mr. Shockeys outfit in 2009. It was first class all the way. His father Hal came to the airport with the guide to pick me up, I got a big boar the first night.
I would HIGHLY recomend this trip.
Good Luck,
W:)

Thanks W and to all the others who replied.

My deposit money goes in the mail today, so I'm committed and looking forward to the hunt like a child looks forward to Christmas. Or even more so!

Steve

I think you'll have a great trip.

Looking forward to your return, seeing some pictures and reading a nice hunting story.

Excellent, Steve! Really looking forward to seeing the photos and reading the story when you get back.

I'll take the pictures, but I have to depend on Pugs to post them for a very good reason. I'm an idiot when it comes to doing almost anything on the internet outside of turning it off or on.

My hope is that I have something worth posting. I have been known not to shoot if I did not see something I thought I should shoot.

And thanks for the kind wishes.

Steve

One of my favorite places to visit,Try and get out there a couple times a year and will be there this July. Have shot a bunch of PDogs around there as well!!!

Steve,I haven't hunted with Jim because I'm a BC Resident and don't need a guide,but I know his territory and there are plenty of bears including some bucketheads.Jim's outfit is first class I hear,and I think you'll enjoy the spot and stalk hunting(no baiting allowed in BC).Bring good binos,you'll be looking at a lot of bears,all of BC is loaded with them,we are allowed 2 tags a year and not many people hunt them anymore!Good luck,and keep us posted.... Monashee

One of my prime ranches with PD's had a plague wipe out all of the PD's. Damn shame.

Am rounding up some other ranches, but none has the sheer quantity of the plague ranch.

Have big game and PD hunted out of Buffalo for about 12 years.The people there are terrific and I have made a lot of real good friends. There has to be a jerk somewhere in the town, but have never met one. And I say this from the point of view of someone who lives in the Washington DC suburbs where jerks abound.

The Winchester Steak House is one of my most favorite restaurants in the USA. And the husband and wife owners, and their children, are great people.

Good luck on your hunt there this summer.

Steve

Monashee,
Spot and stalk is my most preferred form of hunting, and black bears one of my favorite big game to hunt. So I'm really excited about my black bear hunt with Jim Shockey on Vancouver Island.

I have some pretty good binos, and a spotting scope, which I think will get a lot of use. Thanks for your comments.

Steve

They say that if you have to ask how much it costs, it's probably out of your reach. But if I may, I'll ask . . . what's Vancouver Island hunt for balck bear with Shockey run?

About $8500.

I sold some land in West Virginia to pay for it.

And I love Spring black bear hunting.

And everything I've heard or read about Jim Shockey's outfit has been superlative. His brochure says that they average seeing about 10 bears a day. I've been on bear hunts in Alaska and did not see 10 bears total in two five day hunts.

Steve

The 10 bears a day isn't an exaggeration.

Back when I hunted with Jim it took a good half-day drive to reach camp once you got to the edge of his hunting lease, so the drill was to hunt your way to camp. My hunting partner on the trip killed his bear before we got to camp that first evening, and it wasn't the first one we saw....

I have spent some time in the bush on the "north Island" and seen many bears, including some HAWGS, the weather by May is usually not TOO wet, but, believe me, it phuqing RAINS there and it is ALWAYS WET.

I would not worry about a spotter, leave that level of determination of "Yes/No" shooting decision to your guide, but, a GOOD bino, best for most guys is 7x or 8x is VERY important. I have both Zeiss and Leica and have used Swaro, any of these will be a sound investment for this hunting.

I have met Shockey, he is a nice and cheerful chap, has a pretty decent "rep" here in BC among resident hunters (this is more important than you might think) and every aspect of his gear, etc, is first class and will perform as needed.

You WILL see bears, there are few if any places in this old world where there are bears in the numbers we have in BC. You SHOULD kill TWO as we have an over-population of Black and a "saturation level" of Grizzlies in BC, regardless of what the [bleep], hippy "environmentalists" try to bullschit society at large into believing.

Lotsa bux for hunting bears, which we have usually considered vermin, but, what is REALLY important here is that YOU do what YOU enjoy and compared to Stone's Sheep hunting or Bighorns, it is still "cheap"......

Best of luck, once you see BC, you will understand why men like me are SO passionate about protecting our natural heritage here.

thats good to hear.....granted you can only tell so much from a TV show and his own writing but he always struck me as one of the "good guys"

Man.Shockey just got da Medal of Honor When that cantankerous old bastard Kute has a real compliment about someobdy,it means sumpthin'!!!

Early May is an excellent time of year on the north island. Vegetation will be low for some relaxed glassing and the bears are most certainly out. bring Rain gear and mozzy spray. Enjoy your trip! if you get a chance (cant remember where exactly his territory is) there are some excellent little fish and chip places and pubs in Port Hardy/Port McNeil. A big slab of fresh Halibut is an excellent way to wrap up the north Island.

When I guided in BC a 10 bear day happened quite often. 11 in 3hrs was our best IIRC. so shoot two!

And the gun of choice is??

I'm going out on a limb and guessing the chambering will be........7x57??

Looking forward to plenty of pics!

Strangely enough, my two rifles will be a left hand Model 70 in 30-06. It has a stainless barrel and action, and a composit stock. This will be my rain rifle.

My other is a Ruger #1 in 300 H&H, all wood and blued steel.

Both are shooting handloaded 180gr Accubonds.

So, the 7x57's get to stay home where it is warm and dry.

Steve

Spoke to Steve this evening and he's on his way through Idaho to Wyoming to do a little Prairie Dog shooting.

Very successful hunt and killed one between 400 and 500 lbs. First class operation and great guides and lots of rain. The guide and a videographer took a bunch of pictures and when he gets back he'll get a report and pics up.

Good! Was hoping he'd have a good hunt considering everything.

Steve, I am shocked! Especially since I just got back from checking Marg's rifle before we go out for a couple of days.



Two shots from a cold clean barrel. Heading out this week.

Good luck on your hunt,
Ted

Yeah, but how big was it?

Congrats, Steve!

Thanks for the congrats.

I'm going to post the entire story of the hunt when Pugs has a free weekend and he is the one who will posts the pictures. Being a complete idiot when it comes to the internet, I have to rely on his expertise and generosity concerning the pictures.

Just a quick note, I got the bear with a one shot kill at `125 yards with a 180 grain Accubond from a 30-06. The bullet was recovered and Pugs will post a picture of it.

Had no way of weighing the bear, but the guide said it was over 400 pounds and that the skull would be over 19 inches.

The hunt will be shown on TV sometime this winter on the Jim Shockey show.

Steve

cool stuff Steve.....

Looking forward to watching that! Congrats, Steve. Sounds wonderful.

All of that is outstanding! Congratulations. Seems like a mighty fine hunt.

Guy

Hey guys,

Thank you very much.

Your thoughts and good wishes are important to me because the Fire is important to me. And so are you.

Steve

Very cool Steve!

Nice! Lookin' forward to pics!

Congrats, Steve!

Just saw this........CONGRATS!!

Looking forward to the pics and story.

Congrats Steve! I've thought of this many times since I saw the original post hoping each time that it would be an AWESOME hunt for you. Looking forward to the pics/story when you and Allen have time to get it posted.

Jay

That is excellent! I hope to get to see you in action on TV this fall.