Bear Hunting
A Unique and Challenging Hunt
For most hunters the words bear hunt invoke dreams of hunting in the absolute wilderness. Ever since mankind began to paint on cave walls, bears were one of the most important motivs. Bears, and the idea of hunting them, speaks to something deep inside all of us, and for this very reason bear hunting is still extremely popular.
Canadian Black Bear Hunts
To hunt black bear in the Rocky Mountains of Canada is a dream of many hunters - and in reality it is a dream that is easy to make come true. Populations are strong, and the hunt is relatively affordable, which helps bring this incredible experience within the reach of most hunters. Black bears hunts generally take place in the spring, when the mountains are seen from their most beautiful and most co-operative sides. The wilderness experience is a crucial part of the hunt, and the Rocky Mountains, with heir tall peaks, deep valley, torrential rivers and huge lakes, give you excellent value for your money. To hunt in such surroundings is simply intoxicating. The only really correct way to hunt bears here is ”Spot and Stalk”, where you roam through the untamed mountains, trying to spot bears on the mountain slopes. Once you find a suitable bear, then begins one of the most exciting stalks you could ever imagine!
Dreaming of Brown Bears
A fully grown brown bear can, under optimal conditions, achieve a body weight of over 700 kilos. However, there are skins from bears, which were never weighed, of such a length that suggests the animals they cam from were much heavier than this! It is a fascinating creature in every way. The very biggest brown bears are typically found in remote, coastal districts such as Kodiak Island in Alaska and the Russian Kamchatka peninsula. One might ask oneself why two such isolated districts, far flung from each other, produce such huge bears that are nearly identical to each other. The answer is given by the Aleutian Islands, which form the border between the Northern Pacific Ocean and the Berings Sea. Today, the Aleutians consist of around 300 small islands, but once formed a land bridge between Kodiak Island and Kamchatka, which is why the two populations of bears share much of each others DNA. The Grizzly bear, which lives further inland on the mainland, can also brown very large, but here it is largely the environment and the availability of food which govern exactly how big the bears will grow. This is important to keep in mind, because despite of its reputation Grizzly bears are not always huge in size, even though they can certainly be so.
Russian Bears
Russia is without doubt the country in the world that is home to the most brown bears. Today the global population of brown bears is though to be made up of between 150,000 and 200,000 individuals, of which between 90,000 and 120,000 are found in Russia. On top of the coastal giants of Kamchatka, Russia is home to five other sub-species of brown bear, of which the Siberian- and European brown bear are particularly important for hunters. Typically brown bears hunts a re carried out as “Spot-and-Stalk” on the continent of America (and in Kamchatka), while Siberian- and European brown bear hunts involve the use of shooting towers, which in its very nature is not so physically demanding, opening up the chance to take part in a bear hunt to everybody.
Europe can too!
Europe is actually home to a very respectable population of brown bears. In Scandinavia alone the population is estimated to be over 5,000 animals. Therefore it is possible to hunt bears in a number of European countries, of which Croatia and Romania distinguish themselves with their large bears and high rates of hunting success. Currently bear hunting is, unfortunately, temporarily closed in Romania.
