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My Coastal BC
Bear Hunt with Big Boar Outfitters…
1x1 Hunt - $5200 US
License & 2 Tags - $600 US
Non Resident Habitat Preservation fee - $140 US
5% Tax - $260 US
Trophy fee for 2nd bear - $2000 US payable upon harvest
The 2008 hunting season ended too early for me so in mid-January 2009, I
found myself browsing the available hunts offered by Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures
division. I’ve dealt with Travis Baker there for a couple years now and he’s
always set me up with great guides and outfitters. I’d never hunted black bears
before and the spring bear season would be here in 4 short months, so I gave
Travis a call. I was originally interested in a Vancouver Island hunt, but
Travis talked me out of it. My time to be away was limited and Travis explained
that I’d need to tack on another couple of days of travel to get to the island
and back. The coastal British Columbia bears are genetically the same as the
Vancouver Island bears, but the island seems to get all the exposure and press.
Travis set me up with Abe Dougan from Big Boar Outfitters and he assured me I’d
get my bear (or two). This would be a 6 ½ day hunt May 9th-15th.
I flew to Vancouver on May 8th and overnighted. Abe would be
picking me and two other hunters up in the morning. Abe showed up around 9am and
we loaded into his truck. We drove around 3 hours to his base camp in Pemberton
(just north of Whistler). Base camp sounds a bit rustic, it was really a
beautiful farmhouse and what a view of the mountains. We ate a nice lunch made
by Abe’s mother Carrie, then went out to make sure the rifles were still on
after all the travel. That afternoon, our guides took us out to the spike camps
that we would each be hunting from. Whenever we finished our hunts, we would
head back to the base camp for the remainder of the week. Abe and I left around
2pm and drove back toward Vancouver. We were going to camp and hunt in the area
of Furry Creek.
We set up our wall tent at 4pm and organized camp as quickly as we could. We
wanted to get out and start looking for bears. The weather was beautiful, 60’s
and sunny. We hopped on the quad with our rifles and spotted our first bear in
no more than 10 minutes. I was blown away. “Too small. Let’s go find a big one.”
Abe said. After an hour or so longer, Abe figured we should walk a hillside
overgrown with clover. We came over a ridge and 150 yards down the hill was a
bear sleeping in the middle of a clearing. He was big, really big, but Abe
wanted to see him stand up just to be sure. We watched him for about 30 minutes
before he decided to get up and stretch. Abe told me to take him if I wanted too
as soon as he was broadside. I was shooting a 300 Remington Ultra Mag with 200
grain Nosler Partitions. The bullet did it’s job and the bear piled up 30 yards
from where he was hit. 2 hours into my hunt and I had my 1st bear. I
was glad I bought a 2nd tag. We were about to ride the quad down to
my bear, when Abe spotted a brown color phase bear about 300 yards above us. We
stalked in close to get a better look, but it turned out to be a sow. That 1st
bear wound up weighing around 400 pounds and squared a good 7 ½ feet. The hide
was in perfect condition and Abe guessed these bears probably hadn’t been out of
the den for more than 2 or 3 weeks from what he could tell.
I
had many more opportunities over the next couple days, but managed to hold out
until day 4 to take my 2nd bear. The other two hunters also filled
their tags. The weather was typical of the mountains. The 60’s we had on day
one, turned into 40’s and 50’s and rain, then 20’s and 30’s with snow. I was in
awe of the abundance of BC wildlife… I saw mountain grizzlies, bald eagles,
moose, blacktail deer, and of course the BIG black bears.
We
stalked in to 20-30 yards of a few bears over the course of my hunt. I can tell
you that it really gets your heart pumping when you’re that close to a bear.
Back at base camp, Carrie managed to keep our stomachs full with some great home
cooking. Abe’s father Norm served as tour guide and chief story teller.
Abe runs a good camp and he knows his bears. He guides/outfits for hunters in
search of trophy sheep, goats, bear, moose, and cougar and excels at difficult
hunts. I leave August 15th to meet Abe again in search of a trophy
mountain goat. I’ll fill you in on that trip when I return.
If
you have any questions about my trip or about Abe and Big Boar Outfitters feel
free to contact me – Brett Barnes –
bwbarnes@bellsouth.net or (843) 270-9975.
Click on the thumbnails below to view larger images.
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Base Camp
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Base Camp
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View from base camp
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Bear #1
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Bear #1
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Bear #1 hide
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Blacktail deer through the trees
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Brown phase bear spotted on 1st night
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Camp at Furry Creek
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Locked and loaded at night
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Close stalk on sow
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Close stalk on sow
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Glassing coastal B.C.
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Glassing the valley
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Lucky day - about 25 yards
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Bear #2
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Bear #2 and Abe
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Bear #2 at Mamquam
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Bear #2
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Clouds from cut block
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Coastal B.C. range
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Coastal B.C. range
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Cut block at Furry Creek
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Field of dreams - Blacktail
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Furry Creek view
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In the clouds
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Snowing on May 12th
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Mountain stream
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