Spring bear 2019

[Pioneerman]

I am sitting here shaking my head, not sure what to tell you. Some are saying go north rather than here on island. Good for us, less people coming here lol. We have tons of food and berries fore them to thrive and grow here, they do not need to eat fish but they can, so do not shoot one lower down around rivers, simple. I have shot and seen many big bears. We have a very healthy supply and contrary to some statements ours can get very large, but really for eating I like 150 - 250 lb bears. I have taken a lot of bears in 45 years of hunting here and I have never had a bad one, although that usually comes from those to will not eat one to begin with lol Spring bears have so much less fat and that can make them weigh 40 to 60% less, but who really eats all the fat lol. Most bears taken to fill my freezer has been mid island, but when you want to see more bears and lots of time to watch and choose one then north island is better. I have camped near Woss for 5 days and 4 nights so part day start and end, and seen 33 bears. No not all the same ones I tried to not recount from same slash area. unless total different bears, not always easy to tell lol. Also north end of island is very steep so you can get up on hill side and watch three of 4 other mountains looking for one you might want to pout a stalk on, so spotting scope is nice to have. Also there is more wolves and cougars that way too and over the last few years , Grizzly bears on the island spotted as far south as Campbell river or so I was told by CO last year. Good luck where ever you go. Oh also if going north island it might rain lmao be prepared

[Wild one]

Hunted the north island it’s good but I prefer north western BC. If you live on the island there is no point in leaving it to hunt black bear but if you have to take a ferry to get there I say go north

You might be shaking your head but I reached my judgment from hunting both areas and many others

Truth is BC hold lots of good black bear options

[Pioneerman]

Hunted the north island it’s good but I prefer north western BC. If you live on the island there is no point in learning it to hunt black bear but if you have to take a ferry to get there I say go north

You might be shaking your head but I reached my judgment from hunting both areas and many others

Truth is BC hold lots of good black bear options

Yes all of BC hold a lot of bears, but per Sq kms there is more on Van island. Island is est 12000 so 1 every 3 kms mainland is estimated 108,000 after you remove island volume, that is 1 per 9 kms. I am curious why you feel north is better ? You do get colour bears which we do not and that is always a nice treat. I hunted moose every year north for 40 years and I saw bears for sure, but nothing like island quantities. True I live here so feel I can give pretty good facts and trying to give insight, so how long did you live and hunt here and time in the regions you are living in now. Success rates would be higher here, or at least sightings. What in your opinion makes northern BC better for bear hunting ? Always willing to learn more facts. And yes I will keep shaking my head, there was as lot of different suggestions, where will the new guy start ? Sorry should have said Western, above

[Wild one]

Yes all of BC hold a lot of bears, but per Sq kms there is more on Van island. Island is est 12000 so 1 every 3 kms mainland is estimated 108,000 after you remove island volume, that is 1 per 9 kms. I am curious why you feel north is better ? You do get colour bears which we do not and that is always a nice treat. I hunted moose every year north for 40 years and I saw bears for sure, but nothing like island quantities. True I live here so feel I can give pretty good facts and trying to give insight, so how long did you live and hunt here and time in the regions you are living in now. Success rates would be higher here, or at least sightings. What in your opinion makes northern BC better for bear hunting ? Always willing to learn more facts. And yes I will keep shaking my head, there was as lot of different suggestions, where will the new guy start ? Sorry should have said Western, above

One of my mentors guided bear in a number of areas in BC and was a bit of a bear nut. Myself and a few others caught the bug and went OCD bear hunting all over seeking quality bears and numbers. Only area that was never put to the true test was QCI and region 4. All of us targeted the island in the past but most of us won’t go there to strictly hunt bear any more. We have been asked many times why put in that much effort for black bear lol

Not all of BC hold a lot of bears and some ares hold way higher density. Well aware of the numbers you are quoting but 2 things to remember when comparing the mainland and the island. The quality of bear habitat and bear density vary a lot more on the mainland vs the island. Big difference hunting the mainland is targeting pockets vs the whole area holding high density

When hunting the mainland you can experience high bear sightings easily in the right locations. But if you are going to wonder at random you are going to see more bears on the island. Mainland if you just wonder you will find the density of bears varies a lot more. Target the right areas in the spring you will see just as many bears on the mainland hunt the wrong area and you will see way more on the island. Best day I have had spotting bears in northern BC was 60+ average is 10-20 in many of my good mainland locations. Not much different then I experienced in the North Island with the average of sightings

You mentioned not seeing many bears on your moose hunts not surprised. Fall bear hunting in the North is not near as good. One of the things about the North the spring bears are less spread out compared to the island. This is when the density becomes like the island. Come fall they spread out and you really need to target them to find 5 a day. Even in the spring there is plenty of areas you will only see ok numbers

Here is what made my crew stop targeting the island and that is size. Yes this may sound nuts but the biggest bears we have found are on the mainland(only one of us got to hunt QCI bears but this held huge potential to change my opinion ). Now that said the average size is better on the island. What we found is Northern BC and some other parts of B.C. there is more bears breaking the 19 inch mark do to lack of pressure from both residents and GOs. There are so many places hunters don’t target bears and often pass on them because they don’t want to screw up their hunt for another species. Now if you target some of the out of the way areas that hold poor ungulate numbers very few hunters even bother with the area bears increase their odds of getting old.

I found the highest numbers of bear hunters are on the island and region 2. The GOs on the island also target bears more then mainland GOs do to lack of other species. There has been little to no effort to market guided hunts for black bear outside of the island and some don’t target them at all. Parts of the mainland the bears just have a better chance of getting old

Another thing we learned over time was the different physical traits in different parts of B.C.. Island bears are common to have that classic short nose and wide head giving them the basketball look. In the North west the bears are prone to have a longer nose and won’t have that look. We also found island bears are more prone to being meat heads and often have a smaller skull than they appear to have. Their body’s are even proportioned slightly different

We found a mix of different physical traits throughout BC. Sometimes A few mountain ranges over is all that is needed to see different traits

As for success rate if your timing is good taking a bear in Northern BC or the North island is a cakewalk in my opinion. But odds of finding a big bear that gives you a high % opportunity of taking him the island is not my choice

Black bear is one animal I put a stupid amount of effort into compared to most. I have my reasons for my opinions and I know the mainstream opinions of where to hunt bears because that is where I started.

I could ramble for days on black bear and type too slow so just going to stop here lol

[Pioneerman]

I could ramble for days on black bear and type too slow so just going to stop here lol

Let me say I appreciate this far more than , hunt here I am right you are wrong attitude I have seen so often on sites and our messages going back and forth were heading in that direction. I know the animals per sq kms are kind of skewed, mainly becasue there is not a plentiful food source everywhere in BC that allows bears to lumber around and drop their heads and come up with a full mouth of food. Like what happen in the damp rain forest coasts we have . That is why our bears tend to have weight compared to many other places, for your fat head examples. This posting you made is far better and gives the OP an idea what you are meaning and also gives me an idea the point you are trying to get across when saying you do not want to come here. I do know there are many places in BC that you might not see any bears and pretty much never anything big if you did see them. No doubt you have some good spots picked out and as I do also, so comes down to the old saying we had in school yards. My bears dad will kick your bears dads ass lmao

[caddisguy]

They're blackbears... they are everywhere and not particularly bright. Let's not overcomplicate it

[snipersights]

Vancouver island region come get em

[Wild one]

Let me say I appreciate this far more than , hunt here I am right you are wrong attitude I have seen so often on sites and our messages going back and forth were heading in that direction. I know the animals per sq kms are kind of skewed, mainly becasue there is not a plentiful food source everywhere in BC that allows bears to lumber around and drop their heads and come up with a full mouth of food. Like what happen in the damp rain forest coasts we have . That is why our bears tend to have weight compared to many other places, for your fat head examples. This posting you made is far better and gives the OP an idea what you are meaning and also gives me an idea the point you are trying to get across when saying you do not want to come here. I do know there are many places in BC that you might not see any bears and pretty much never anything big if you did see them. No doubt you have some good spots picked out and as I do also, so comes down to the old saying we had in school yards. My bears dad will kick your bears dads ass lmao

Like I said Vancouver Island is still a good place for black bear and it holds some big bears ones I just don’t think as highly of it as most. If it did not involve a ferry I would recommend it over some other areas I suggest.

Plus we all know my Dad could beat your Dad any day of the week so that’s all that matters

[Wild one]

They're blackbears... they are everywhere and not particularly bright. Let's not overcomplicate it

Its too late for me my OCD took over years ago when it comes to black bear lol

I am beyond help now

[caddisguy]

Its too late for me my OCD took over years ago when it comes to black bear lol

I am beyond help now

LOL I hear ya. I'm thinking about it recently too. It's hard. I know I won't get out much this year.

Oh well. I only just started eating the 2018 bear. Burgers are cooking at this exact moment. Small bear but probably the best I have had so far.