I am not nearly as experienced as many here, but will give you my bear hunting experiences to add to your decision.
I have taken 5 ranging from 150 pounds to over 400 pounds. I've been on many, many trips where I either did not even see one, or never got a shot opportunity. But that's hunting!
Maine bear hunting was tough for me, and where I hunted the most. I am in Maine hunting something or another several times a year, and my son now goes to UMaine...which gives me yet another reason to go! It is a fall hunt and very comfortable. Mosquitos are out, but bearable. I have not been any farther north than the Rangely Lakes area. Always saw moose, really cool.
Plenty of bears, but damn smart and well aware they are being hunted. Many do not come in until after dark, especially the bigger bears. I took one in Maine at 5 a.m. from the ground while walking to my tree stand.
A fun hunt, I was never all that far from comfortable lodging and a warm shower. I have no experience hunting any farther north.
Ontario and Quebec had plenty also, but the black flies were so bad I was considering drowning myself to end the misery. Went twice, shot one, the 150#, and saw a whopper at long range. Just too far for me, was set up for a compound hunter. A spring hunt. They were moderately comfortable hunts, except the horrific bugs.
All the rest of my hunts were spring hunts in Alberta. I stayed in remote tent camps each time around the Peace River (general Carcarjou area)and saw the biggest bears of my life, and shot a few.
I even took a month off before the season my third year there and went up to work for a guide, building the camp site, setting baits etc. Learned a lot, saw a lot of bears as they emerged from the dens. These animals being up in the remote areas had very little or no human contact. No roads, everything was by boat and you hiked in to your stands from there. Three that I either could not shoot because it was pre season and I was filming, or not what I was looking for climbed my tree to my foot platform.
Don't let them do that. I had a bad experience with one.
The human fear was just not there from the larger animals. That is good and bad, its not cool having one stalk you all the way back to your boat.
But you can get very close for whatever trad shot you are used to and not worry so much about getting picked off. They were much more worried about each other than me while I was up there. I saw one brute sneak up on a smaller bear while he was eating beaver carcasses and beat the living snot out of it. If he didn't get away, he'd be dead.
A great place to hunt, but that type of camp is a rough and tumble type of hunting. Its physical and far from the comfort of a warm hotel room.
All being said above, I did not have Trad Gang back then. The input like you are getting is so valuable, and I wish I had it back then. The bear hunting groups sound like an absolute blast, and you are getting input from real people all over the place.
I cant give you input on pricing, I haven't hunted bears in ten years. But this is getting me excited, I may use the info above and get going again myself.
Topic: Best Black Bear Hunting in the Lower 48 (Read 639 times)
