I'm not familiar with Santa, ID. I live in the southeast part of Idaho and have not spent much time in Northern Idaho. I will be spending the week learning the area while I hunt. I am plannign to make it a yearly tradition of going to Northern Idaho for bears. I hope I'm not disappointed. I don't think I will be. That part of the state is as pretty as anywhere in the country and the bear population is very high. It should be an awesome trip. I leave in 13 days. I can't wait!

Good luck!plenty of bears in northern alberta

Back in Ft Mac from bear camp. It was a fun first exposure to the northern forest. It was windy last week, but some guys managed to shoot bears. Two were P&Y sized bears, but they were gun kills.
4 of the other 6 bears in camp were small (below second ring in barrel).
The biggest bear was shot by an 85 or 86 yo hunter from Minnesota.

I saw 3 bears early in the hunt and passed hoping for a decent/respectable sized animal. The biggest bear I saw was just a little bigger than a German Shepard, and the other 2 were smaller than that. Three days, I saw nothing. I never had an opportunity on a shooter.

The guides worked hard for all of us in camp. My first bear is still out there somewhere...maybe in BC.

Wish you had been successful.. I went on 3 bear hunts in Canada before taking a bear.. To be honest the first 2 were baited in Ontario and Manitoba, I really didn't enjoy sitting waiting over bait and pretty well made up my mind to never do it like that again.. My last trip (last week) was in BC as you mentioned.. All spot and stalk and so much more fun. Seen tons of country and lots of bears.. For me it's the way to go.. I'd say give BC a chance. move more and see more.. I will post a couple pics in a separate thread if you want to see.. Best of Luck...