ORIGINAL: Onestringer
JD, just saw your post on black bear hunts and here is my take. Scott (my husband) has been bear hunting MANY times. Killed his first bear at 16...and his 2nd at 34. We spent a lot of money on inexpensive hunts over the years for him to get that second bear. Finally, I said "make this hunt worth your time and money, because this is the last one" only because he kept coming home frustrated and empty handed and disappointed. And the money was going to fund that. So, he found a hunt that cost a little more, but the guides had a high success rate AND guaranteed hunt. He guaranteed an opportunity at a shooter bear or you can come back free of charge. Scott and his dad both got beautiful bears within 48 hours...Scott got a nice chocolate that we are waiting on a rug for.
The outfitter is Sandy River Outfitters in northern Manitoba. Don't know how booked they are for spring, but that is when he went last year. Great guys...well worth the money. Did I mention...my husband and his dad are both trad shooters.
http://sandyriveroutfitters.ca/
Good luck...oh, and we'll get some sweet wraps ready for you to run through a bear.
I could not agree with this more. I have been bear hunting 3 imes to come home with nothing. 1st and 2nd hunt they never baited sites(seen no bear). 3rd time I was put on a dead bait site, never baited. First day a guy that had been there for a week shot a small bear. so i asked to move there because there where a set of large tracks there and the fact that there was a bait there for a week too. The guide was lazy and decided to pick me up early from my stand and scared my bear away on the third day. After watching him come in for almost 2 hours and I was finaly ready to draw he was calm and relaxed. I was just waiting for him to turn his head away and it would of been adun deal.The kicker was he did the same thing the night before and I told him not to come to get me untill it was dark(no light left).Bear never returned the rest of the week.Your guide makes all the difference in a good hunt or a bad one. Next time I will spendthe extramoney to make sure that I have a good guide. I dont mind not getting a bear if i know my guide did his job, but when they dont do what they should do, it steams me!!!