Alberta B&C Black Bears! REMATCH 2005

Those bowhunting.net followers that read my "on line" hunt report series this spring should have been waiting for "the rest of the story". Those that didn't join me last spring should check out the series of articles to get up to speed (Click Here). The series ended with the hope to be able to plan a rematch with those lucky trophy sized bears for the spring of 2005. I also hoped to arrange things so that a few members of the bowhunting.net family could join me on the adventure.

Well, I got it done!

Eric (Silvertip Outfitters) has confirmed that the week of June 7th is reserved for a maximum of five bowhunters (me and four others).

           

The dates are very important! This particular hunt will be in the hill country to the northwest of where we camped and hunted last spring.

We got into the fringe of that area a couple times last spring, but it was a long haul on the quads and spring was later coming at the higher altitude. This is an unbelievable area for trophy class bears, but like most trophy areas, there are all sorts of problems associated with hunting it. The first problem is the lateness of the spring thaw. The bears were just starting to move around the last few days of our hunt last spring, and you want the baits active for a couple weeks to have ideal baiting conditions for large bears.

The season ends June 15th, which means the optimum season for this hunt, in this area, is only two weeks long. Go find an outfitter willing to do the work involved to run a quality bear baiting operation for a two week season! I did! What's even better, Eric has committed to let us be the only group to hunt this area for the season! Oh, by the way, the area has never been hunted before! just thought I should mention that!

The next problem was access. As mentioned last spring, the one winter access road into this area (for oil exploration) is barely passable with four wheel drive quads in early spring, and the ride to the start of the hill country is a painfully long one on a daily basis.

To solve this problem Eric is trucking in the camp, bait, and most of the supplies a couple months early when the road is still frozen.

While in there he'll establish the bait sites and get the base camp ready. The new base camp will be with-in Argo range of the camp he'll be hunting out of the several weeks before our arrival, so he can get in there and keep the baits active once they start getting hit.

He will also use the Argos to get us and our gear into the camp on arrival. Once we get into the hill camp, we'll be able to access the bait sites by Argo, quad, and boat. Did I forget to tell you he's bringing at least one boat into the camp? The base camp will be set up on a large lake. This will make for a nice camp, but more importantly we'll be able to access bait sites around the shorefront via boat, and get in some awesome northern fishing in our spare time.

For those that don't remember, the area we will be in the center of is the most northwesterly section of Alberta. It is tucked right up in the corner between BC and NWT. Baiting is not allowed in either of those Provinces! Access to this area even in the fall is very difficult, but a few people have flown in to moose hunt off some of the lakes in the past.

Stories abound of the huge bears that have occasionally been seen by these moose hunters. Anyone that knows their bears will tell you that Alberta has some of the biggest bears anywhere. They will also tell you that, if you want a good chance to take a trophy class bear, you need to hunt where there is very little hunting pressure.

This place has the bears, no pressure, and bears that have not become bait wise from years of being fed by other hunters. I have several friends that have hunted the area to the east of this one with Eric in the past.

They all told stories of monster bears, multiple shot opportunities, great fishing, and the best wilderness experience of their lives. Because Eric likes to move around and not over hunt any area, he is always looking for new areas to explore with his clients looking for those special trophies. This will be year one in what looks to be the best area he has hunted thus far! If you've ever wanted a good chance at a monster bear, or want to take a color phase black bear, this is an opportunity not to me missed.

OK, here are the details:

NOTE: I will be doing a full on line hunt report of this trip for www.bowhunting.net, so all those who join me will get to be included and share their trophy bear hunt with the bowhunting.net world. This is a great chance for you to get your smiling face on the web site with a nice trophy.

Feel free to Email me with questions, but read the columns from last spring first , you'll get a great idea what to expect complete with photos. Also, if you want to join me, email me for instructions for mailing your deposit and to get on the list. Remember there are only four openings!

PS: For those that don't get in on this in time, Eric has a couple openings at the camp accessing the area to the east of the camp we hunted last spring. This is lower country (on the river) so the bears will be very active earlier than our hunt. He will be hunting a section of this area that has also never been hunted before. Great potential for a trophy, but no fishing. Prices are the same. There are an additional 4-6 openings at this camp for those interested. All hunts will be booked on a "first come, first served" basis.