Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada BC Coastal Black Bear Hunt

My two sons want to hunt black bear, I thought BC might be the best bet. Anyone have any reoommendations?

Thanks!

Get hold of Shockey.

There are LOTS of good operations, many of which are less costly than Jim Shockey's outfit. He is fine, but, some of the smaller, less "famous" outfits can give you bear hunting that will be an experience of a lifetime.

I would very strongly recommend Doug McMann of skinnercreekhunts.com and he goes by "Chilcotin Hillbilly" on Accurate Reloading. His phone # is 250-476-1288.

He has good moose, very good Whitetail and Mule Deer hunts, superb Lynx and Cougar hunts and the bears are big, super numerous and need thinning out, BC is crawling with them.

You can drive to his ranch, the country is stunning and Doug knows what he is doing in the bush and is a very decent, family-oriented man.

Coastal Inlet Adventures. (check his web site). Brad Lister, first class all the way.

That is the other BC bear outfitter I would suggest, however, I could not recall his outfit name.

If, you want ocean front hunting, go with Lister and for horseback and some other transport, go with McMann. I think that you would be very happy with either.

Any of the Vancouver Island outfitters have great bears and you can throw in fresh crab, prawns and a little salmon fishing. Same as the coastal mainland outfitters.

Right now, on the Island, we are having a warm winter with very little snow below 3500'. I live in Shockey's area and there is an estimated 1 bear per half square km (500 m x 500m), but you will pay for "the name"

If you are looking to book this year, I would not waste too much time.

If you are looking for a good rug bear, earlier in the season (late April, early May)is better. If you are looking for a book bear (18+") then mid May to early June can be better as the big boars will be looking for love. Later in the season the hides will get rubbed as it gets warmer.

Pretty well everywhere in the province is good for bears, so do your homework and pick one that fits your budget as well as fits what your sons want.

If you have any questions, PM and me and I will help as much as I can. I also work as a part time bear guide in the interior of the province.

Cheers

SS

And don't forget the Roosevelts, if you're interested in those, too.

Thanks guys, any idea on what's a ballpark figure for a 1x1 black bear hunt on VanCouver Island?

A good one-on-one fair-chase hunt for bear along the British Columbia coast is between 7,000 and 9,000 (USD).

if you do some searching can find good established guides for around $5000

Ouch, my Alaskan brown bear hunt in the Togiak was $12,500 plus a $1000 bush flight and I had a great hunt. Maybe we'll just save up for a grizzly hunt.

In terms of British Columbia grizzly bear, I'd look to the area around Bella Coola.

18" is book? What book is that?

Pope & Young is 18"

If making book was important to me I would hunt the Prickly Pears in AZ, best chance of record books and not just by mearly making it either. But there are record bookers in many locals. I got a P&Y in Maine just squeked it out 18-3/8, but I wouldn't bother recording it unless it made the top end. A good number also come out of CA Humbolt and Mendicinio counties.

Bella Coola is off limits to non-residents. The GO sold out to the enviro-weanies, who have shut down the hunting for all non-residents.

There is good grizz on the mainland inlets opposite Northern Vancouver Island and North of Prince Rupert.

Sorry for the confusion about book bears, I was thinking our own BC records book.

Yes Island hunts are expensive, but it home of some the biggest bears in NA (in skull size that is).

Cheers

SS

That's too bad about Bella Coola. Some huge grizzly bears came from that area.

The GO in question, Leonard Ellis, tried for some years to sell to another GO and could find no buyers. His business was his retirement asset and so he finally sold to those who would pay for his years of investment/labour in building his business.

However, one of the real problems in that area, where I have lived and worked and hiked, etc. is that it is very rugged, the wettest region in North America and it has relatively little game compared with other parts of BC. So, it is not the best choice for many where a successful hunt is concerned.

As far as bears are concerned, the highway from Bella Coola east to William's Lake in central BC has more Blacks than anywhere else I have seen and there are several smaller GO operations in that area to choose from if you want an easier hunt and a nice pelt on the bear(s) that you shoot.

I was considering a Vancouver Island hunt until I realized the cost was as high as it was. Did some more snooping around and managed to find a 10 day black/grizzly combo near Golden for less than nearly all on the Island were quoting for one black. Had a great trip. I would continue looking elsewhere as already suggested.

Drove that road early last summer and saw more bears than we did vehicles on the road, and one very nice medium brown colour one. Three grizzlies near the west end and the rest black bears.

However, the most bears per mile or per minutes afield for my limited experience has been certain logging roads on Vancouver Island, and that is maybe zeroing on the location too much!