Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game ANYONE HUNT WITH JIM SHOCKEY FOR BLACK BEARS?

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