Spring B-Bear Pursuit 2019

[Ltbullken]

I’ll start by saying that I should be taking more pics! My buddy and I have been putting in some time on b-bears. Went out on a warm day and came across a few bears: a sow and cub, a 2 year old, a decent boar, and a smallish bear that sat in a ditch and didn’t want to move! The boar was nice. Stocky, round and very healthy looking. He was under 5 ft and not what we were looking for. Want a slightly bigger bear in the 5 ft plus class, preferably a boar. Came across a logging cut that was L-O-U-S-Y with deer tracks, same place we saw the boar.

Went out a few days later and it was rainy and cool. Overall, not as many bears. Lots of scat everywhere, though. We went back to the cut where we saw the boar earlier. We came across the largest mule deer track we’ve seen in years – huge! Will definitely need to go put up a game cam to see what kind of deer are hanging around there! Anyway, we came across a large sow in the company of a good sized boar. We watched them feeding for about 45 minutes. The sow eventually went to bed down in the treeline in a hollow. The boar joined her about 15 minutes later. He walked around her and bedded right beside her. Any other day, we probably would’ve taken that boar but we decided that because they were a breeding pair, we let him walk. Good bear, good genes.

The second day wasn’t as productive for bears. Probably too cool and wet. But we saw a lot of scat, more than the first day, so they are moving. Next step is to take a quick trip to the North Thompson. Always good for bears! More to follow! Hope everyone is having a great time out there and being safe!

[HarryToolips]

Good to hear your seeing good deer sign, and any day getting out for spring bear is a good day...hope ya nail him next time...

[IslandWanderer]

I dropped a decent one today. Is there anyone that could post a couple pics for me?

[RyoTHC]

I dropped a decent one today. Is there anyone that could post a couple pics for me?


I dropped one Tuesday and still can't get the pictures up on mobile. Glad I'm not the only one, I'll have to borrow a laptop and get them up asap.

[IslandWanderer]

I dropped one Tuesday and still can't get the pictures up on mobile. Glad I'm not the only one, I'll have to borrow a laptop and get them up asap.

On a gross note, i changed the game bag after of few hours and the neck had lots of filarial worms crawling out of it. Yuck...

[RackStar]

On a gross note, i changed the game bag after of few hours and the neck had lots of filarial worms crawling out of it. Yuck...


Thats why i cannot eat bear meat...

love hunting them... let some big ones walk this year so far, I’m looking for the perfect bear for a rug. I’m prob going to eat my tag. At least it won’t give me worms.



Hope you guys get your pics up !! Congrats to the bears.

[plumberjustin]

I dropped a decent one today. Is there anyone that could post a couple pics for me?

Contact Ironnoggin, he posted some of my success pics for me a couple weeks ago.

[caddisguy]

I’ll start by saying that I should be taking more pics! My buddy and I have been putting in some time on b-bears. Went out on a warm day and came across a few bears: a sow and cub, a 2 year old, a decent boar, and a smallish bear that sat in a ditch and didn’t want to move! The boar was nice. Stocky, round and very healthy looking. He was under 5 ft and not what we were looking for. Want a slightly bigger bear in the 5 ft plus class, preferably a boar. Came across a logging cut that was L-O-U-S-Y with deer tracks, same place we saw the boar.

Went out a few days later and it was rainy and cool. Overall, not as many bears. Lots of scat everywhere, though. We went back to the cut where we saw the boar earlier. We came across the largest mule deer track we’ve seen in years – huge! Will definitely need to go put up a game cam to see what kind of deer are hanging around there! Anyway, we came across a large sow in the company of a good sized boar. We watched them feeding for about 45 minutes. The sow eventually went to bed down in the treeline in a hollow. The boar joined her about 15 minutes later. He walked around here and bedded right beside her. Any other day, we probably would’ve taken that boar but we decided that because they were a breeding pair, we let him walk. Good bear, good genes.

The second day wasn’t as productive for bears. Probably too cool and wet. But we saw a lot of scat, more than the first day, so they are moving. Next step is to take a quick trip to the North Thompson. Always good for bears! More to follow! Hope everyone is having a great time out there and being safe!

Sounds like a great outing. It's always exciting to see some bears, even if the situation or bear is a pass. Looking forward to your next trip report. Pictures are a bonus but secondary to write-ups in my opinion.

That muley buck track sure sounds exciting too! :)

[RyoTHC]

Thats why i cannot eat bear meat...

love hunting them... let some big ones walk this year so far, I’m looking for the perfect bear for a rug. I’m prob going to eat my tag. At least it won’t give me worms.



Hope you guys get your pics up !! Congrats to the bears.

Is it a population thing to certain areas ? Myself and my two hunting buddies have pulled 8-9 bears out of the same couple KM of valley and the meat has been nothing short of fantastic. No sign of worms or any nasties.. but I hear alot of people complain about it so I wasn't sure.

[IslandWanderer]

Thats why i cannot eat bear meat...

love hunting them... let some big ones walk this year so far, I’m looking for the perfect bear for a rug. I’m prob going to eat my tag. At least it won’t give me worms.



Hope you guys get your pics up !! Congrats to the bears.

The worms look gross, but not a health risk for humans. I'm telling myself that the worms all crawled out of the bear as it hangs on a hook at my butcher.

1/2 mild, 1/2 medium pepperoni. Skinned and gutted it weighed 128lbs.

[caddisguy]

Maybe I'm just lucky or oblivious. We spend hours cutting, trimming and cleaning the meat before we vacuum pack. Every little hair or spec of dirt is gone and I've never missed a bullet fragment. I have never once seen anything that resembled a worm, let alone seen anything crawling. Hoping my luck continues!

[IslandWanderer]

Maybe I'm just lucky or oblivious. We spend hours cutting, trimming and cleaning the meat before we vacuum pack. Every little hair or spec of dirt is gone and I've never missed a bullet fragment. I have never once seen anything that resembled a worm, let alone seen anything crawling. Hoping my luck continues!

It was a first for me, but apparrently it does happen. Mostly around the neck. Long- some were maybe 6".

[caddisguy]

It was a first for me, but apparrently it does happen. Mostly around the neck. Long- some were maybe 6".

I wonder how common this is and if it is more common in some areas than others. I know guys who have harvested bears around where I hunt and have had these worms.

My understanding is they are transmitted by mosquitoes so you'd think if one bear in an area has them then most would have them. Also curious why people don't get them from the flies / skeeters around BC but can in tropical regions? Maybe different strain I guess...

From the little bit of reading I did, it sounds like they commonly infect the lungs and lymphatic system. Maybe that is why people are seeing them in neck meat as there are a lot of lymph nodes there?

[CVMike]

I shot my first bear last week and it also had the filarial worms. I always take my time processing and found they liked the neck/ groin regions best and they we’re all in between the meat layers. Im fairly confident I got rid of 95% of them and seeing as they are harmless to humans the remainder of them will be extra protein in the sausage.

[RackStar]

The worms look gross, but not a health risk for humans. I'm telling myself that the worms all crawled out of the bear as it hangs on a hook at my butcher.

1/2 mild, 1/2 medium pepperoni. Skinned and gutted it weighed 128lbs.

thats a good bear. Just with some extra protein.

Congrats

[IslandWanderer]

thats a good bear. Just with some extra protein.

Congrats

Thanks, here's a couple of pictures:

https://ibb.co/xMddNRd
https://ibb.co/Z89K6qC

[RackStar]

Black on black. Nice.