I went my first bear hunt in Ontario this August. I got skunked (didn't even see a bear), but it was no fault of the guide. Everyone else saw a few different bears and 4 out of 6 guys shot bears. Three with compounds and one with a gun. It was a great week long remote camp hunt with everything provided, including tents, cots, portable shower, boxes of snacks and beverages, and meals for $1,700. The dinners each night were better than most restaurants. We were his guinea pigs on the remote hunt, so next year he said he is planning on lowering his rate to $1,500 for a week after he figured out what it all cost. The camp is right on a lake and he provided canoes for fishing. There are also miles of backcountry roads to drive 4-wheelers. We plan to go back in 2010.
I thought I had gotten lucky when I drew a stand that the guide had trail cam pics of 4 different bears including a 400 lber, but it just wasn't meant to be. I ended up sitting at three different bait sites, but I think as the week wore on the berries really ripened up. The weights of the other bears were 250, 200, 350, and 130.
He said we could come up a few weeks before the hunt if we wanted to, so we did. We helped him bait and set up a couple of new sets. He fed us for the weekend and we stayed at his lodge all for free on that trip.
The guide is an all around good guy who does everything himself. He has rights to 800,000 acres in his bear management units (no other legal guides can hunt that land). He baits 32 sets with as close a shot as you want. He only guides a maximum of 18 hunters per year. He basically just does it as a hobby and uses all of his vacation time on it. I think he has an over 90% success rate including many who had never hunting anything before. Send me a PM if you would like his contact information.
Topic: bear hunt? (Read 516 times)
