CANADA: Big Bears During The Rut In Saskatchewan

[BGGMKLR]

Dean also has some decent Whitey hunting. If you get a moment around the fire ask him if he knows this reprobate.
Best of luck on your hunt for a jumbo Yogi
Regards
Spike

 

[Green Chile]

Just got back from first afternoon/evening of hunting. 12 hunters took 6 shots…3 recovered and 3 will be tracked in the morning. I had from 2 to 5 bears in front of me at all times. I had 1 good bear but his face was rubbed so no shots taken by me.

Here are some bears we have patterned to my stand…

 

[Green Chile]

Here are the 3 bears recovered last night. They are tracking the other 3 now. It sounded like at least one had a very good blood trail but they jumped it again last night so they wisely decided to not press it and come back in the morning. In this swampy area, you don’t want to have them cross water and lose the sign. Bears often don’t bleed much and their hair soaks up a lot of blood. I will be back at the same stand this afternoon.

You can see the age difference in these 3 bears and the last one is the oldest. Apologies for the conditions in photos as I just snapped some quick photos and these aren’t my bears to adjust or clean. I know at least 2 of these bears are firsts for their hunters. Personally, I am passing on this age class but I’m happy for the hunters’ successes, particularly the first timers.

 

[davidg8480]

Nice!
Glad to see that your being verry selective.

 

[Art Lambart II]

Waiting for the next report.

 

[Green Chile]

Headed out now…7 hunters looking for a good bear. Rut activity is strong.

 

[V.Veritas]

Good luck! Awaiting next report.

 

[Hookboy88]

Good luck!

 

[Green Chile]

Success on day 2. This wasn’t my target bear but it’s warming up fast here and will be 90 degrees in a day or two. Broke both shoulders and it only went about 15 feet. Just like any dangerous game, I put one insurance shot in but it wasn’t going anywhere. I know too many bear hunters with stories of the bear bouncing back up and disappearing. 300 win mag with 180 TTSX.

 

[BGGMKLR]

Success on day 2. This wasn’t my target bear but it’s warming up fast here and will be 90 degrees in a day or two. Broke both shoulders and it only went about 15 feet. Just like any dangerous game, I put one insurance shot in but it wasn’t going anywhere. I know too many bear hunters with stories of the bear bouncing back up and disappearing. 300 win mag with 180 TTSX.

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Very nice growler. Well done.
Congrats
Spike

 

[davidg8480]

Verry Nice! Good call before the heat kicks in

 

[HankBuck]

Our travel begins...we are starting in DFW on Delta...flying to Minneapolis...then to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Layover in Minneapolis is long enough (7 hours) that we will probably go see a movie and get some food. The Mall of America is just 4 miles from the airport. All of the travel today is really just 2 flights of 2.5 hours each but we won't get to Canada until about 12 hours after we leave. We are scheduled to be in bear camp Sunday afternoon and the best way of doing that is by flying in the day before and overnighting. The airport has rental cars and hotels right there so that's easy. It's simple logistics on this trip.

There is a Sportsman's Warehouse and Wal-Mart next to each other in Saskatoon that is really convenient for last minute items like butane fuel canisters for the Thermacells. It's also ideal for getting a cooler or duffel bag for flying frozen bear hides back home. The bear camp has a walk in freezer, which helps tremendously.

The drive to bear camp tomorrow is about 3.5 hours to get up into the boreal forests where the bears are located. Once we leave Saskatoon, there are no large towns for supplies so we will get anything needed before leaving town.

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@Green Chile - I don’t know anything about your Outfitter but really like the way that you’ve “Planned” your trip. You have done a great job of removing as many “variables” as possible and taken some direct control: 1). You booked connecting flights with long layovers inbetween so less likely to miss your connection, lose luggage etc. 2). Once in Canada You are renting a car and driving yourself into camp, allowing for supply’s and extra stuff to be taken Plus enjoy the area and the drive. 3). You added an Extra Day, always nice to Not be rushed or have extra time to fix any unexpected problems that might pop up. Hope you have a Great hunt - you’ve done all you can to insure things go well.

 

[Art Lambart II]

Congrats on a nice Bear.

 

[Fatback]

@Green Chile, congrats on a great looking bear. Should pair well with that color phase monster you got last year.

 

[Green Chile]

@Green Chile - I don’t know anything about your Outfitter but really like the way that you’ve “Planned” your trip. You have done a great job of removing as many “variables” as possible and taken some direct control: 1). You booked connecting flights with long layovers inbetween so less likely to miss your connection, lose luggage etc. 2). Once in Canada You are renting a car and driving yourself into camp, allowing for supply’s and extra stuff to be taken Plus enjoy the area and the drive. 3). You added an Extra Day, always nice to Not be rushed or have extra time to fix any unexpected problems that might pop up. Hope you have a Great hunt - you’ve done all you can to insure things go well.

I appreciate your comments. I’ve certainly done trips with faster connections and more pressure but this one had friends that were hoping to get their first bears so I wanted to make everyone more comfortable and try to account for Murphy’s law issues. So far so good…4 hunters in my party and 3 bears taken by day 2. With some research preparation and effort, you can have reasonable expectations.

 

[Muskox]

Congrats really nice post!

 

[smokepole]

Nice bear, good report good trip

 

[Green Chile]

Ok so here I sit in camp on day 3 of a 5 day hunt. Out of 12 hunters, 7 have tagged out or lost their wounded bears. Three hunters are out on stand and I wish I was still hunting! Here is what my friend is seeing on stand…it’s like someone opened the doors to Jurassic Park!

Last year I focused on 1 bear for the entirety of the hunt and took it on day 4, I believe. This year I was a little concerned about temps increasing to 90 degrees over the last half of the hunt. It’s always a little melancholy when the hunt is over or almost over!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Ok so here I sit in camp on day 3 of a 5 day hunt. Out of 12 hunters, 7 have tagged out or lost their wounded bears. Three hunters are out on stand and I wish I was still hunting! Here is what my friend is seeing on stand…it’s like someone opened the doors to Jurassic Park!

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Last year I focused on 1 bear for the entirety of the hunt and took it on day 4, I believe. This year I was a little concerned about temps increasing to 90 degrees over the last half of the hunt. It’s always a little melancholy when the hunt is over or almost over!

I'd like to see the head of the one on the left with his head in the barrel.

 

[Green Chile]

As I typically do in my hunt reports, I will be posting some lessons learned and additional photos and details for those who are interested in learning more about the area and outfitter. I smiled earlier today as one of you (you know who you are) had reached out to Dean the owner of Spirit Creek Outfitters asking about future openings for bear hunts. Believe me, you would be in good hands if you book with him. They take 60-80 bears a year plus lots of whitetail deer in the 145-180 class as well as loads of waterfowl.

Here is a photo to give you just a sense of the arboreal forest you are hunting in Saskatchewan. Pines, birch, etc of 50-60 feet tall are typical. There is a lot of water in ponds, sloughs and small lakes as this is the duck factory of North America. Many of the continent’s ducks, geese and cranes are born here before starting migrations to the south and the US. Guides take you out in all directions to one of 60 bait sites/stands. You might be 30 min from the camp or over 1 hour plus a 20-30 min ATV ride from there to the bait site. This operator uses the 6 wheel ATVS with built in flat beds for hauling in bait and hauling out bears. No cleaning of bears is done in the field. More to come on that shortly.