Couple of us were sitting around camp early this week ( hog hunting) and the subject of a black bear hunt came up.

None of us has ever hunted bear before and a few of us expressed an interest. I'd like a rug by golly, a shiny black one.

Any feedback from Canadians or folks who regularly hunt north of the border? I'm thinking a spring hunt for the best hide?

appreciate any insight

I've hunted several times in NW Ontario. Ontario only has a fall season. The hides are always nice, thick and shiny on the bears I have seen in the fall. The oufitter says the hides are always good during his fall season. It's a lot of fun to hunt them over bait. Pretty exciting when a big bear comes walking in about 20 yds in front of you. I have one rug. I'd like to get a chocolate bear, but will probably have a better chance by going further west.

I've fished the Ear Falls and English river areas of NW Ontario

decent bear hunting there? we've seen a few, but was thinking further west.

outfitter you've used?

I've hunted at Perrault Falls a few times with Rainbow Point Lodge. Pretty good hunting in that area. Not a lot of bears, but I've had a chance to kill a bear every year I went. After I got my first bear, I got more picky and started passing on some. I also hunted one year north of Ignace along the English River.

Actually, Ontario has a late Summer hunt from August 15 to end of October in some of the Northern areas, and September 1st through November 30th further south and east -- in central, north east and south east.

I hunt bear every year as a resident starting Sept 1st. Hides are excellent by then and weather is late Summer, meaning no nasty black flies and few mosquitoes. Also leaves have started to turn into fall colors. The best time of year for bear hunting in my experience -- better than Spring with uncertain weather and black flies!

Ontario holds the record for sheer trophy bear numbers, and the largest bear population for any Province or Territory.

PM me if you want the Tel no. and name of an excellent outfitter who is also a friend and initially taught me how to bait 'em. I've been doing it on my own for the past 17 years.

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

OldRook;
Hopefully this finds you doing acceptably well this Thursday morning sir.

I'd suggest that if you've not hunted Canada before or even recently that a good first step is to check out the stickied thread above on hunting up here as there's some really good information and links there.

Hunting bears from province to province will vary considerably in both the type of hunt and to some degree average size and color variations available in the local bears.

For instance - as far as I'm aware - baiting would likely be the method used in Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta.

Baiting for black bears is unlawful in British Columbia, so it would be either following hounds or spot and stalk methods used.

Speaking in broad terms, here in BC the closer you get to the coast the larger the bears can get and the population densities in some areas of for instance Vancouver Island are very, very high.

If you hunt many sections of BC there is a two bear per year limit and I believe the second tag is only $180 for a non-resident, so should your hunting party come west, please feel free to go home with a black bear under each arm....

Hopefully that was some use to you or someone out there sir. Good luck on your hunts whichever way you decide.

Regards,
Dwayne

Dwayne has nailed it. The more serious you are about getting a black bear and or getting a big one, the more Vancouver Island is the place to go.

PS for Dwayne: Was heading east to finish out the lynx season in Region 3 but the Coquihalla was suicidally bad so turned around beyond Hope (!) and came home this morning. Started at 2:50 and back home by 6:00 AM. Short hunt! May have to wander into Region 8 and your territory since lynx are open there till the end of the month.

Okanagan;
It's always a pleasure to hear from you sir and I trust this finds you and your fine family doing well.

We've had a bit of an interesting time as of late - we'll have to catch up sometime - but as always God has blessed us beyond what I deserve for sure and certain and all our needs continue to be met and then some.

Anyway sir, if you do come this way our snow pack is about 85% they say and as there's a fair bit of logging activity again locally there should be many roads open.

There are pockets of snowshoe hare up the east side and in one of those is where I've seen my sole Okanagan lynx but that was decades ago.

Bobcats are quite common though - we saw a mother with 4 kittens this fall - an exciting first for the girls and I - and that spot will forever be known as "bobcat corner" from now on. It's only 10 minutes up the mountain from here and yes it's in a snowshoe pocket as well.

Funny how the snowshoes don't move much out of their little pockets from year to year. We've seen them in the same areas for 30 years and almost never see them in other areas that look the same to me???

All the best to you and yours sir, good luck on your hunts and do drive safely on our winter roads.

Dwayne

gentlemen

thanks for the kind and informative responses. Will continue to review.. I like the thought of crossing the border with a blackie under each arm!!

And in BC there are no shortage of the black bears either!! Personally shooting a bear over a garbage can isn't too appealing.

OldRook;
You are most welcome sir, please feel free to give me a shout or drop me a PM if you think I can help.

Black bears are one thing I always encourage folks who are hunting in my home province to take two of as there's no shortage whatsoever.

Oh, if you do head in a western direction for your hunts I'd ask about the opportunities to shoot a wolf too.

They are not in short supply anywhere in BC, but as they typically run a big territory they are more "targets of opportunity" rather than a specific hunt for them or so I've been given to understand.

Still, it'd be a shame if you ran into a BC wolf on a black bear hunt and didn't punch it's ticket.

Again sir good luck on your hunt whichever way you decide.

Regards,
Dwayne

W.T. Outfitters Danford lake Quebec about 9 hrs. from central Pa. I have hunted with them for 8yrs. As the saying goes leave as a friend ! They are great people in Danford and lots of BEAR !! If you can't get a bear with them give it up you never will !!!! Mine this past spring was almost 400#. Beautiful hide! Full mount! Hunted 4 nights saw bear every night.

Earlier the better. In the fall everyone and their dog are in the woods. As for provinces they all hold bears. Myself I'd head east to hunt in McBride B.C for a big bear. Less hunting pressure and the mountains are full of alpine slides.. Win-Win

And FWIW the farther you get from a coast, the higher the incidence of colored bears. For color Saskatchewan and Alberta are probably the best bets, with Manitoba third...

Some people are sooooo limited in their perspectives!
I feed them donuts and honey!!! Makes for tasty bear meat!

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

The biggest black bear by far was East of Croydon Station, it had no legs or head, jet black...the size of a Volkswagen Beetle but about 18" lower along the back.

Anybody have a preference for spring or fall bears as far as meat quality goes?

I would give Wade Derby of Crosshair Consulting a shout.

Fall. I'd rather eat a bear that's been feasting than fasting.

Around here definitely spring, you can't tell just by looking at a bear if he has been eating rotten fish during the late summer/fall.

Here is nothing but berry patches in logging cuts. But understand your point. You will never get the tainted fish taste outta the meat. I'm so far inland that there really isn't any fish still running in Sept.

It certainly is disgusting that smell. We can get bears in the fall that haven't had fish but they are usually really high in the berry patches.

Fish smell is my concern in the fall, being on the island and never that far from water. I'm thinking give them a couple weeks in spring to clean themselves out and start putting on weight(say mid May), then have at them.
Having said that, the best bear I ever had was a couple we took in early September up high in the blueberries. Both quite young and delicious. The worst was also taken in September, not fishy but definitely gamey.

Black bears that are gorging on blue berries in the fall are the absolute best eating you'll get.

CanuckShooter;
I trust this finds you well on this windy Sunday evening sir.

Not that I mean to be contentious or anything of the sort, but if you get the chance to "inherit" a hind quarter or back strap from a habitual vineyard raider...... well let's say you shouldn't turn it down and you may rethink your blueberry bear stance a wee bit.

Or not - I've chatted with a couple black bears in blueberry patches in norther Saskatchewan long ago but have yet to eat one - so perhaps I'm the one who would need to rethink my gastronomic position on the matter.

All the best to you and yours in the upcoming week CanuckShooter.

Dwayne