Agreed on both points... but you forgot to add "and close together" at the end. I studied and worked in forestry... it is a simple natural growth fact that the higher and thicker the canopy, the more limited the undergrowth... in the NorOnt spruce flats, you do an awful lot of walking perpendicular to your direction of travel to get around blocks of standing spruce. Having been in the heavy BC timber, and experienced the unholy stands of devil's club, I know you have your own crosses to bear when it comes to visibility. Of course it is not a competition, but I do think that the terrain is the primary dictator of the tactic used. Of course, if you prefer a particular hunting method, you simply have to seek out and travel to suitable terrain.
baiting or stalking
- Thread starter cz1997
- Start date
Agreed on both points... but you forgot to add "and close together" at the end. I studied and worked in forestry... it is a simple natural growth fact that the higher and thicker the canopy, the more limited the undergrowth... in the NorOnt spruce flats, you do an awful lot of walking perpendicular to your direction of travel to get around blocks of standing spruce. Having been in the heavy BC timber, and experienced the unholy stands of devil's club, I know you have your own crosses to bear when it comes to visibility. Of course it is not a competition, but I do think that the terrain is the primary dictator of the tactic used. Of course, if you prefer a particular hunting method, you simply have to seek out and travel to suitable terrain.
Hoyts more informed that most here having outfitted bears in Ontario and guided Grizzlies on BC’s Pacific Coast.I know that many people have hunted bear by both methods, and enjoyed their hunts.
Just depends on what your personal goals, interests and ideals are.
Baiting of predators is illegal in BC, and therefore not an option here.
I have not hunted over bait, so cannot say, but have spot and stalked all of my life, and enjoy the "hunt" aspect of it. I have a treestand, but it hasn't ever been out of the box in over 10 years. (Originally bought to bowhunt a mooselick)
There is a huge variety of bear hunting opportunities in BC as well. Bear hunting along the coast, along stream and on tidal flats. Hunting bears along old logging roads and in logging cut blocks. Bears eating grass in the avalanche chutes in the mountains, or in backcountry meadows and farmers fields.
April may be a touch early for the best bear hunting, but if that is your window, then southern BC and the coast/Vancouver Island would be your best options. INterior and northern BC, the latter half of May would be better. Of course, all of this is dependant upon how early/late our spring is. Yes, our season typically opens April 1st, but we usually do not see bears until May in northeastern BC.
Just depends on what your personal goals, interests and ideals are.
Baiting of predators is illegal in BC, and therefore not an option here.
I have not hunted over bait, so cannot say, but have spot and stalked all of my life, and enjoy the "hunt" aspect of it. I have a treestand, but it hasn't ever been out of the box in over 10 years. (Originally bought to bowhunt a mooselick)
There is a huge variety of bear hunting opportunities in BC as well. Bear hunting along the coast, along stream and on tidal flats. Hunting bears along old logging roads and in logging cut blocks. Bears eating grass in the avalanche chutes in the mountains, or in backcountry meadows and farmers fields.
April may be a touch early for the best bear hunting, but if that is your window, then southern BC and the coast/Vancouver Island would be your best options. INterior and northern BC, the latter half of May would be better. Of course, all of this is dependant upon how early/late our spring is. Yes, our season typically opens April 1st, but we usually do not see bears until May in northeastern BC.
Actually- Baiting of predators other than bears is legal in BC. Only big game you can’t bait in BC is bears!
Hoyt,
We also have a lot of muskeg/black spruce swamps here in northeastern BC too. Awful stuff to hunt in! But plenty of bears and moose! Some good sized black bears out there.
I have pics of a honey coloured bear and a cream coloured bear from there that are pretty cool! (sorry, I cannot load to here, but can e-mail to those interested) Other guys I worked with had also spotted a "painted" bear; cream coloured with cinnamon splotches on his sides.
Plenty of grizzly bears and wolves out there too, and even cougars are starting to show up in some spots.
Have worked in the oil and gas industry throughout a lot of that country and the only easy time to get around is in the winter (so no bears) after they have pounded the frost into the winter roads and installed stream crossings. Spring bear hunts can be fun there, but usually later in May when the grass starts to appear along the siesmic lines and pipelines. The melt makes stream crossings unpredictable, and the muskeg fun as the frost is coming out. More conducive to trapping and lynxand wolf hunting!.
Unfortunately this is not an option for the OP as it past his hunting window of opportunity.
Those venturing out on their atv's better have a buddy on a second machine, winches and shovels and axes, cause they are going to get stuck and need to work to get out! There is a trick to riding an atv on the muskeg, but it takes practice to and experience to learn. Biggest mistake is using deep mud lug tires that eat through the keg and get you stuck quicker and worse.
We also get some pretty thick stands of conifers and other bush that is so thick and dense, only rabbits and pine martens can get through them! I know I can't! LOL
We also have a lot of muskeg/black spruce swamps here in northeastern BC too. Awful stuff to hunt in! But plenty of bears and moose! Some good sized black bears out there.
I have pics of a honey coloured bear and a cream coloured bear from there that are pretty cool! (sorry, I cannot load to here, but can e-mail to those interested) Other guys I worked with had also spotted a "painted" bear; cream coloured with cinnamon splotches on his sides.
Plenty of grizzly bears and wolves out there too, and even cougars are starting to show up in some spots.
Have worked in the oil and gas industry throughout a lot of that country and the only easy time to get around is in the winter (so no bears) after they have pounded the frost into the winter roads and installed stream crossings. Spring bear hunts can be fun there, but usually later in May when the grass starts to appear along the siesmic lines and pipelines. The melt makes stream crossings unpredictable, and the muskeg fun as the frost is coming out. More conducive to trapping and lynxand wolf hunting!.
Unfortunately this is not an option for the OP as it past his hunting window of opportunity.
Those venturing out on their atv's better have a buddy on a second machine, winches and shovels and axes, cause they are going to get stuck and need to work to get out! There is a trick to riding an atv on the muskeg, but it takes practice to and experience to learn. Biggest mistake is using deep mud lug tires that eat through the keg and get you stuck quicker and worse.
We also get some pretty thick stands of conifers and other bush that is so thick and dense, only rabbits and pine martens can get through them! I know I can't! LOL
I use baiting because I am in a wheelchair BUT if I was able to walk I'd be stalking. All I can say is this: anyway you go out hunting (bait or stalking) is a great day to be out in Gods natural settings. Love being out side in natures habitat smell the fresh air enjoy the serenity.
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
BC is an odd place. You’ve got temperate rainforest on the south coast, colder rainforest on the north coast, and the various climatic zones maritime, Mediterranean, true desert with cactus and rattlesnakes, black spruce boreal and muskeg, mountain, icefield... it’s just about all in BC, at least for some portion of the year. Folks from outside Canada almost can’t believe it when you try and relate all the different zones you drive through when you go diagonally across the province from Vancouver to Fort Nelson. It looks like different continents at times, and bears live in all of it, differently.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
I'm guessing price isn't a consideration? Generally speaking, hunting anything gets more expensive the further west you go, very much true for black bear also, with Van Island bear hunt prices being close to triple of what a NB hunt will run you. That said, the bears are generally bigger.
Best is to talk to the outfitter, many BC hunts entail driving around on logging roads in a pickup all day and glassing. Stalking isn't usually done until you find a bear and terrain worthy of a stalk. NB hunts would mean you're sitting in a stand over bait. Both are fine, just so long as you know ahead of time how it's done.
Most bears everywhere are small to medium... bears have a higher "ground shrinkage" ratio than any other game animal... managing disappointment is something every bear guide learns to do, if they have been at it any length of time.
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Black bears are pretty consistent in BC, I’ve hunted them on the south coast, north coast, Kootenays orchard bears, and the Peace Country. Just about four corners of the province, the honest answer is a good shooter boar averages 300lbs with the exceptional doubling that, live weights (I freight scaled a 6’3 nose to tail shooter whole to establish a mean at 293lbs). Most grain/crop fed bears from other provinces will equal and beat them, but a truly exceptional coastal BC bear can be a furry Mack truck. Hoytcanon saw one of those through the glass while guiding Grizz here at our outfit, they’re real, they’re also rare- like truly big bears everywhere. They don’t necessarily have big skulls, just huge.
The biggest BC bears are from the coast on account of the need for hardly any hibernation and the longest growing season, I’m sure competition with Grizzlies doesn’t hurt, but the last three we’ve guided on the coast were all pretty typical 6’ bears. Skull sizes don’t correlate as well as you’d think with body weight across the province, my biggest scoring bear was nowhere near the heaviest. The smallest BC bears on average in my experience have been the boreal bears, but they’re still respectable and haven’t hunted many under the 250lb range. Overall bears are always smaller than most expect, even the really big ones, people picture a cow when even a huge black bear is a belly button high animal dwarfed by a pony.
The biggest BC bears are from the coast on account of the need for hardly any hibernation and the longest growing season, I’m sure competition with Grizzlies doesn’t hurt, but the last three we’ve guided on the coast were all pretty typical 6’ bears. Skull sizes don’t correlate as well as you’d think with body weight across the province, my biggest scoring bear was nowhere near the heaviest. The smallest BC bears on average in my experience have been the boreal bears, but they’re still respectable and haven’t hunted many under the 250lb range. Overall bears are always smaller than most expect, even the really big ones, people picture a cow when even a huge black bear is a belly button high animal dwarfed by a pony.
Isn't Quebec closer to you?
They also have spring bear hunt, and many good outfitters to choose from.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
My normal method of hunting for most species is spot and stalk or still hunting. In the 28 years I've been hunting the thick bush of Sask, I've walked countless miles and can count the number of bears I've seen on one hand using that method. It's tough going. If you can get into an area with logging clear cuts or oat fields in the fall then you have a better chance of spotting them and I've seen lots that way. By far the most successful way of hunting bears in the thick bush for us, is baiting and we really enjoy it. It's a lot of fun to watch the various bears and cubs and when you do see one you want to take, it's a nice controlled, easy shot. I personally enjoy the sit as well. I find the peace and quiet relaxing.
That being said, this spring my son and I are going to be doing some back country hiking and camping with glassing logging clear cuts as our method of hunting. We aren't getting our hopes up of taking a bear but it will be a neat experience and a lot of fun regardless, so we are both really looking forward to this years spring season.
That being said, this spring my son and I are going to be doing some back country hiking and camping with glassing logging clear cuts as our method of hunting. We aren't getting our hopes up of taking a bear but it will be a neat experience and a lot of fun regardless, so we are both really looking forward to this years spring season.
Thanks! Sharing the outdoors and the hunting experience with your kids is a special thing and your kids are lucky to have such an accomplished hunter as yourself to guide them. Heck, I wish I was one of your kids.
