Hunt trophy-size coastal black bears in British Columbia

Some of the biggest black bears in the world live along the Pacific Coast of British Columbia. Rich LaRocco of Hunts.Net shot two boars on this hunt. The bigger animal weighed about 400 pounds and sported a big Y-shaped white chest blaze and a chocolate pelt that stretched out past seven feet. Rich and Hunts.Net Customer Gary Rodgers from Illinois were guided by the outfitter, Mike. Gary killed two boars, too, but he did it with bow and arrow. Gary and Rich hunted only four days before they filled their tags and still saw 43 bears.

"This is an excellent hunt for a guy who isn't in the greatest physical shape but wants a fair-chase hunt where he has a chance to take a great animal," Rich said. "Neither Gary nor I were at 100 percent due to recent surgeries, and we had no trouble because most of the hunt was spent glassing clearcuts and old logging roads, and none of the hikes or stalks we made was physically difficult. We also enjoyed staying in a fishing lodge, where we could take a hot shower each evening and enjoy some excellent home-style meals. We got some great trophies and that was despite a heat wave. One of the locals, who outfits hunters in a bordering unit, said the bear hunting was the worst he could remember, but if what we experienced was bad, I'd like to see how good the hunting is in a normal season."

Bears in the coastal regions of northern British Columbia enjoy a long growing season, abundant lush grasses and berries, and several species of salmon that spawn in and die in the many rivers and streams. Some of these bears grow to grizzly sizes with blackies in the eight to 8 1/2 foot range taken. There are so many bears that you can hunt spring or fall, and you may take two bears,

The area you'll hunt drains into the Pacific Ocean or into the Skeena River, which is famous for yielding gigantic king salmon as big as 97 pounds. It's not far from Alaska, but you can fly a commercial jet into the town of Terrace, where the outfitter picks up his customers.

Hunter success is close to 100 percent. Occasionally a heat wave will reduce the number of bears seen, and some hunters have missed their targets or passed on bears while looking for a monster.

Though this area is famous for producing some giant black bears squaring over eight feet and ranging up to 8 1/2 feet, anything over 6 1/2 feet is considered a trophy. Most hunters should have chances to take boars in the 6'3" to 7"4" range. The outfitters report that the No. 2 and No. 3 black bears in B.C. came from their area. Most skulls to range from 18 to 21 inches. Hunters seldom go a day without seeing a bear, and some have seen as many as 20 bruins in a single day.

Six-day spring hunts are from April 15 through June 15. May is usually a prime time.

Hunts.Net Customer Tony Ogrydziak, right, and his son David were happy with Tony's great chocolate black bear that he took this spring in British Columbia. Tony got the bear in the same canyon where Hunts.Net President Rich LaRocco shot his 7'6" chocolate bruin two years ago. Congratulations, Tony. "The first three days of the hunt were extremely hot and bear numbers were down because of this," Dave said. "However, we saw a total of 58 bears, 25 of which were seen in one day. My hunt was all done Saturday night, and I passed on a lot of bears, primarily because they were under 6'. As I didn't have a chance at a bear over 6', Allen decided to take me out Sunday morning before my plane left. I ended up shooting a 6' bear, which was smaller than I had hoped to get, but it has a large white spot on its chest, which makes it unique. We thoroughly enjoyed our hunt and would recommend it to anyone. The guides and cook were excellent, and even with the hot weather, we still saw a lot of bears. Thanks again."

Update 9/1/06: The outfitter reported his best spring ever in '06 with great success and some really big bears, including six over seven feet.

Gary Rogers of Illinois, left, and Rich LaRocco of Hunts.Net are happy with the bears they took within minutes of each other on the same abandoned logging road.

Update: Rich LaRocco of Hunts.Net reported on his spring hunt::

"Gary and I saw 43 bears, and we didn't even hunt the last two days. Both of Gary's bears were matching hefty solid-black Pope and Young class trophies, and I shot one smaller and one bigger than his. My big one was chocolate brown and had a huge Y-shaped blaze on his chest. He was a monster and ended up at 7 1/2 foot. Gary and I also saw a gorgeous grizzly boar and several dozen mountain goats, which were working their way up the mountain ridges in most of the valleys we hunted. We saw bears early in the mornings and in the evenings as expected, but we saw a surprising number of bruins in the middle of the day. We didn't see a resident hunter the whole time even though we spent most of our time on crown land. Most of the bears we saw were grazing in clearcuts and along logging roads. We did the four-wheel-drive hunt, which is based out of a salmon-fishing lodge about half an hour from the hunting zone. The food was excellent, prepared by a cook who stayed in the lodge. It was nice to have our own shower and bathroom. Next time I'll take the seaside hunt out of a camp reached by boat, and I'll enjoy catching and eating crabs, clams and prawn as well as hunting bears that live in mountain valleys inaccessible by truck.The outfitter guided Gary and me and did an excellent job. Our hunting style was to drive up old logging roads to vantage points, then glass with high-quality optics, concentrating along abandoned roads and in clearcuts, locally called blocks. It was fun to spot a bear and try to decide how big it was. We were pretty selective and passed on some excellent animals, including a bear that was pushing 6 1/2 feet nose to tail. We got some excellent video of him as he posed on rocks and logs 70 to 200 yards away.--Rich LaRocco.