ROADHUNTER: COUNTRY OF BIG BLACK BEARS

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

Having 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 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

When it comes to bears, you can never go wrong focusing your hunting efforts around food sources, which in spring includes fresh green grass.

hunted much at all in the past six years, intrigued me. Logging along the island shut down five years prior, and based on my past experiences with bear hunting throughout the West, I felt the ingredients were in place for a potentially exceptional outcome.

A STROLL DOWN ‘TIFFANY BOULEVARD’ The next morning we were on the hunt, trying to get my wife Tiffany her first black bear. Though Tiffany had seen, butchered and prepared many bears over the years – including black, grizzly and even polar bear from our time spent in Alaska’s Arctic with the indigenous Inupiat peoples – she’d never pulled the trigger on a bear before.

Intense winds and the presence of grizzlies kept black bears on edge this day, and we didn’t see a single animal until late in the afternoon. Heading down a most alluring grass-lined road, you could tell it was going to happen.

The road had been built up with gravel, leaving about a 6-foot-deep ditch on both sides. The runoff from spring rains left both sides of the road covered in tall, lush, freshly sprouting grass. Bear scat was thick.

We slowly started down the walkin-only road, studying bear sign as we went. We hadn’t gone 200 yards and had a small bear dart across the road. It was a great start. A short distance later, another bear worked along the edge of the road. He was pushing the 6-foot mark; a good bear in many areas, but not here.

“We still have an hour or so of daylight and the breeze is holding steady in our face,” Cork confirmed. “You can shoot that bear if you want to, but I think we can do better. It’s your call.” Tiffany looked at the bear through her scope. “He’s nice, but if we can do better, let’s keep going; I’m not in a rush to fill a tag.”

We hadn’t gone 100 yards and saw another bear, this one fed precisely where you’d think – along the edge of the timber, amid brush, in rich green grass near the roadside. Moving closer, it was tough getting a good look at the bear through the brush. Then he dropped into the ditch line.

Without hesitation, we dropped into the opposite ditch and quickly, but quietly, covered ground. The slight breeze coming off the lake continued to hold in our favor. Of all the bear hunting I’ve done over the decades, keeping the wind in my favor is the number one goal. I don’t really care if a bear sees or hears me, but if they smell a person, the jig is almost always up. Bears have good noses, capable of smelling carrion from 10 miles away. When the bear we pursued popped up on the edge of the road, I took a quick reading on the rangefinder. “Eighty yards. Let’s set up right here.”

Quickly Cork had the Bog-Pod shooting sticks in position and Tiffany wasted no time getting settled in. We’d still not gotten the best look at the bear, but when it turned our way, a deep crease in the forehead left no question it was a mature boar. The bruin’s front legs were thick, carrying no differentiation between the shoulder, elbow and wrist. We were looking at a shooter, no question.

Though Tiffany had shot many game animals, this was her first bear, but she didn’t skip a beat. Of all the big game camps I’ve been in throughout the West, bears are the most often missed and crippled, I think because hunters get in a rush, and the long dark fur hides muscle and bone definition, meaning you must concentrate on placing the shot. In the waning moments of light, Tiffany had no problem placing the apex of the Trijicon AccuPoint on the point of the bear’s shoulder. At the shot, the .300 Winchester Magnum blew fire out the barrel, and the 200-grain Nosler

Tiffany Haugen, the author’s wife, sets up her tripod shooting sticks, while guide Rob Cork of Tweedsmuir Park Outfitters keeps a watchful eye. Nonresident hunters are required to hire a guide to pursue any big game in British Columbia.

Tiffany, who is a noted wild game cookbook author, poses with her B.C. black bear taken in the waning moments of the first day of her hunt. AccuBond hit the mark, dropping the bear on the spot.

It was a gorgeous black bear, his long, thick winter coat firmly intact. Even the hair between the toes was long, indicating it had not been out of the den very long. Tiffany’s bear squared 6 feet 9 inches and carried a 202/8-inch skull. After having seen three bears on this roadside in only a matter of minutes, and given how Tiffany took her first bear from it, Cork aptly nicknamed it Tiffany Boulevard.

CHOCOLATE THUNDER With five days left to hunt, I had two tags burning a hole in my pocket. The first tag I filled with my bow. I had multiple opportunities on various bears, but finally drove an arrow through one as it stood on the edge of a logged unit. It wasn’t the biggest bear on the block – I’d been much closer to larger bears, including two that were well over 7 feet – but this one provided the most ethical shot opportunity so far. Bear meat is

among our family’s favorites, and we were getting a good cache; the middleaged boar I’d just taken was sure to be great eating.

With one tag left, I set my sights on a big bear. Having seen two bears that pushed the remarkable 8-foot mark – ones I couldn’t get within bow range of – I wanted a bear of that caliber or nothing. A big blond bear also stood out in my mind, one that wasn’t giant, but carried one of the most striking coats I’d ever laid eyes on.

By day four of the hunt, Cork and I had seen over 30 black bears, including four color-phase bears. We’d also laid eyes on some beautiful grizzlies. The more I thought about it, the more my mind drifted toward wanting a colorphase bear. I’d been fortunate to take some exceptional black bears over the years, but never a really good colorphase bear. This place had them, and if it was ever going to happen, it was

Haugen with one of the biggest black bears he’s ever tagged, a chocolate color-phase brute taken by spot-and-stalk in British Columbia. Now is the peak of spring bear season and there are many places and ways to pursue them.

LOOKING FOR ADVENTURE IN ALASKA?

A service FREE for you, exclusive to Alaska – we have made it easy to browse hunting and fishing trips that match your timeframe, species, and budget. Looking for something different! Let us know? We are your one-stop booking agent for Alaskan adventure. Locally owned and operated.

Follow us @alaskanomadicventures

going to be here, with Rob Cork.

Concentrating our efforts around where we’d seen the striking blond bear, we headed to a logged unit one afternoon. But before we made it, a bigger bear demanded our attention. The brute we now looked at through binoculars was a giant. It had its head down, feeding, but the size of the hind end left no doubt it was a whopper.

When the bruin lifted its head and turned broadside, the sun caught the shimmering chocolate, almost cinnamon-colored coat, leaving me speechless. Cork checked the wind while I kept a close eye on the bear. The breeze was once again in our favor, and every time the bear dropped its head to feed, we moved closer. Closing the gap to 250 yards, I felt solid in the shooting sticks. But when I squeezed the trigger I sent the bullet high, hitting the dirt bank on the other side of the bear. The old bruin glanced behind at the point of impact, rolled its ears back, then half-heartedly faded into the timber.

I was so sick I almost threw up. It was an exceptional bear, both in size and color, and I’d just blown it. My sickness turned to frustration as my mistake became more real. But in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but reflect on the bear’s delayed reaction to the shot.

“Can we keep walking to see where the shot hit?” I asked Cork. I knew the shot cleanly missed, but honestly wanted to keep walking, hoping the bear would pop out.

We hadn’t gone 50 yards and sure enough, the massive bear stepped out of the trees. The allure of fresh green grass and sprouting dandelions was too much, and each time the bear buried its massive snout, we moved closer.

Taking a range at 260 yards, there was no more cover to hide our stalk. The shot was going to come from this point. Blocking the previous shot from my mind, I sat cross-legged in the dirt at forest’s edge, elbows on each knee, bench-steady in the tripod shooting sticks. This time the shot flew true, and the 200-grain AccuBond once again did its job.

A short tracking job ensued and when I lifted the massive head of the stunning bear, it was even bigger than I’d anticipated. Well over the 7-foot mark, and carrying a skull just shy of 21 inches, the bear exuded so much character. Its glowing red hide, so long and thick, was mesmerizing. It was a fitting bear to put our final tag on, one that goes down as perhaps the best black bear hunting experience of my life.  Editor’s note: Want to learn how to skin and break down a bear? Order Scott Haugen’s popular DVD Field Dressing, Skinning, & Caping Big Game at scotthaugen.com. Mention in the Order Notes upon checkout that you want the ASJ special, and you’ll receive a free copy of Tiffany Haugen’s best-selling book Cooking Big Game, a $20 value!