ROAD HUNTER
Author Scott Haugen called in a couple black bears using predator calls, but couldn’t get a shot with his bow through thick brush. Finally, this British Columbia bruin presented an opportunity and Haugen didn’t hesitate.
COUNTRY OF BIG BLACK BEARS
Hardcore hunter’s search for unparalleled bruin opportunities, color phases pays off in British Columbia. STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN
aving just arrived in camp, and with only an hour of light remaining, Rob Cork suggested we go for a quick drive. Heading down a remote logging road, daylight quickly faded. But by the time we reached the end of the first spur road, we’d seen four black
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bears and a grizzly. “I just wanted you to get a feel for the land before we get serious,” smiled Cork, owner of Tweedsmuir Park Outfitters in British Columbia. He had my attention. I love hunting black bears, big black bears, and am always searching the western haunts of North America for that “undiscovered” place. Cork’s newly acquired concession encompasses some 900,000 acres, butting up against
his already existing 1-million-acre property where he pursues moose, grizzly and mountain goat. “It’s actually like an island, surrounded by two giant man-made lakes,” Cork pointed out. “Technically, it’s not really an island, as there is a narrow, 200-yard stretch of land connecting it to the mainland on one end.” This remote chunk of country, along with the fact that it hadn’t been americanshootingjournal.com 59
