Every hunter dreams of leaving his home turf and going on a dream hunt of some kind in a far away place. For many hunters, their dream consists of chasing big whitetail bucks in places like Illinois, Kansas or Iowa and there is nothing wrong with that but if they plan to go on an outfitted hunt, it can be very expensive and the success rate is often very low.
I often tell hunters who haven’t hunted away from home and are looking for a big adventure to consider a black bear hunt. Black bears are a bowhunters’ dream come true. Hunters often hunt over some type of bait and in most cases their longest shot will be twenty or thirty yards which is a shot most bowhunters can easily make.
Another reason to consider going on a black bear hunt is because it doesn’t cost a lot of money. While most guided deer hunts will set hunters back several thousand dollars, a guided black bear hunt is typically under $2,000. The bear hunt I went on in the spring of 2008 cost $1,000 which included lodging.
One great thing about guided black bear hunts is most of them take place in Canada in untamed wilderness. While bear hunting, hunters may hear wolves howling or see a moose go wandering by their treestand. If hunters are looking for an adventure, they can hunt in a remote camp that can only be reached by bush plane. A ride in a bush plane is worth the price of admission by itself.
Many people believe hunting bears over bait is a piece of cake but it is still hunting. The bear I shot in Quebec was the only bear I laid eyes on during a 7-day period. I shot him the last night of my hunt but my hunt was out of the ordinary. Often one of the nice things about bear hunting is you see lots of bears during a week long hunt.
Mike Mix and Doug Vandewater from EP Hunting, makers of the Reign Broadhead, had an amazing hunt in Saskatchewan while bear hunting this past spring. During a week of hunting, Doug and the group of hunters saw over fifty bears. “The nice thing about bear hunting is hunters get to see a lot of bears which helps keep the jitters under control. I didn’t shoot my bear until the second to last night,” Mix said. “I just filmed and enjoyed watching bears.”
Mike Mix with his big black bear
With a well-placed arrow, black bears don’t go far after the shot which was the case with Mike's and Doug’s bears. “Since the blades on the Reign Broadhead swivel from side to side, the broadhead quickly passes through without hitting much bone so in many cases animals don’t even know they are hit,” Mix explained. “My bear never had a clue it was shot. After I shot him, he took about three steps, looked around, and fell over.”
Doug shot his bear on the last night of the hunt. The bear only went thirty-five yards after the shot. “There were six bears shot with the Reign Broadhead on this hunt and they were all pass-through shots. Not a single bear went more than forty-five yards after the shot,” Mix said.
Doug with his nice bear
If you are looking for an adventure that offers a high success rate, doesn’t cost a lot of money and is a bowhunters’ dream come true, look no further than bowhunting for black bears.
The Reign Broadhead
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