Trophy Black Bear hunting at its finest!! All of our bear hunters had the opportunity and experience to see first hand, awesome bear hunting, once again this past spring. And what a spring it was!

Since I can remember, this spring was one of the earliest I had ever seen. March 10^th saw very little snow in the bush and lots of local Canada geese and mallards back around the lodge. April then saw one of the warmest on record, and the bush by now was extremely dry and the threat of forest fires loomed over our region. The river was way down, as very little run off all spring, due to very little snow all winter. These conditions would change very quick by the end of May as rain would set in and not stop!

With the extremely warm April, I new that we might be in for one heck of a rut come the middle to end of May and one on time, compared to last spring (2009) that was extremely behind with boars chasing sows still into late June/early July. By the end of April, both camps had tremendous sign around the bait sites, and such is the case most springs, more young bears than older bears first, but it was just a matter of days the big boars would be getting more active. My “Bushnell Trail Cameras” already had pictures of some huge black and color boars during the nights. One bear for instance I have called “The Tan Lake Tank”, a big chocolate weighing an easy 500+ lbs in the spring, would show at 11:00 p.m. and leave at 5:00 a.m. His pattern changed a bit once the rut started and presented a shot to my good pal and re-peat bear hunter Russ a.k.a. “Uncle Rusty” from Minnesota. “The Tank” came in at 9:40 p.m. but the shots that he presented, where not good at all, during his 15 minutes around the area. Yes, “The Tank” will spread his genes again this spring! A bad shot of course on a bear is not good nor recommended and thanks Russ for showing great patience! This bear is a living legend and will only be taken with a good clean shot hopefully one day. During the same time frame at another bait, Russ’s nephew Brian had arrowed a huge P&Y bear. But “Uncle Rusty” of course could not be out done, the next night hunted a different bait and shot at the 9^th bear he saw and was another tremendous black. After waiting the usual half hour to look for signs of a good hit, Russ was chased up his stand 2 different times by 2 different bears. He was very glad to see his guide Alan at dark. Congratulations to all of your group including Steve who’s big black bear grosses 19 14/16 and squares 7’.

This past winter I actually talked my wife into getting her guide license. She had always wanted to try it as she was fascinated with the stories at the lodge when everyone returns in the evenings. Her first night guiding “Lucky” Luke from North Dakota and “Rapid Fire” Mike from Wyoming was one they all wont soon be forgetting! Getting to both baits is an extremely “Wet” walk through swamps and/or beaver pond and having the comment “who did you p**s off to get stuck taking us into theses baits“. After enduring the walk in and getting very wet with water filling up in her hip boots she managed to get Luke to his stand dry, she walked out slow but left the hip boots he wore under his stand. Luke arrows the 5^th bear he sees, and after watching 5 more all take turns eating and putting holes in his waders. By the sounds of it, Luke was so excited he didn’t need them to get out as he ran across the top of the water? I think his laughing can still be heard around that area! Myself, my youngest son Jordan and Alan all stayed dry using the Argo to retrieve his bear at 2:30 a.m. She still doesn’t see the humour in this one! LOL! She did however go 2 for 2 as Mike also had arrowed a nice black that evening. I will never forget getting back to the lodge that night with her smile and saying “My hunters are both done!!” Yours?? In the midst of all the bears and excitement every night, we had 2 huge chocolates which I had pictures of too from my cameras missed cleanly. Both these chocolates would top 400 pounds and are both true 7 footers. Both searches lasted 4 hours each with no signs of a hit. Hopefully they will turn up at another bait somewhere real soon!

I also had the honour and pleasure to guide for the third year in a row, my good friends Bob Kaleta of Zeiss Sports Optics and Luke Hartle, Associate Editor for North American Hunter. Both are excellent bear hunters and both had great opportunities and saw good bears and also some awesome video. Bob let a good 350-400 lb chocolate walk after 20 minutes of video the first night. Luke takes a great red bear with his bow again and videos the whole thing.

Congratulations to Earl of Michigan, who was up for a color bear. I had Earl where I had pictures of three different cinnamons at one bait. However, a huge black that squares 7.5 feet and grosses

20 2/16 presents a good shot right a 9:00 p.m. While we are winching him out of a swamp, a much heavier and aggressive boar is bluff charging us the whole time! He did not like this other bear around his territory. Earl is 80, a fighter pilot of 37 years, a general and his best friend and potential NEW bear hunter next spring, an Apollo 9 astronaut. Seeing the smile on his face was amazing as a guide and all he asked of was “How did everyone else do?” I was more worried at the time about the aggressive bear only 10 yards away, Lol! I still wander how big this bear must have been and wish I had a better look at him than just his eyes!!

This spring marked 21 years of guiding fisherman & hunters for me as I have been enjoying my passion since I graduated from high school in 1989. During these 21 years of guiding, I have learnt to feel out a hunter and therefore listen good when they tell me they have made a shot. I had been in contact with my hunter Bruce, North Dakota via hand helds which he told me he shot the 8^th bear he had seen that night, which was a beautiful chocolate bear. On my way up to get Bruce, I noticed one of our other hunters on the trail(flashlight) and figured he must of shot at one too. Sure enough he did, but myself and Greg(other guide) had to get Bruce, his bear and another hunter first, then on our way back, look for his bear which hopefully wouldn’t be to far. After about an hour search, we never noticed any sign of a hit. After listening to his story carefully on the way back to the lodge, I told him what I thought had happened. Then, again, I asked him; “Are you positive this bear is hit and do you feel good about the shot?” There was no second guessing as he swore this bear was definitely hit hard and laying somewhere close. I knew than out of respect for this bear and my hunter(Gerry), we had to go back in the morning, spread out, and look in the daylight. With 3 more bears to get pictures of and skin that same morning, I decided to stay back with Alan(other guide) and help skin. Greg(guide), Gerry and his two hunting buddies ventured back to look for this bear. After an hour, Greg was about to call off the search when he heard: “Over here, I found it!” Gerry tripped over his 6 ½ foot black laying approximately 100 yards away in real thick cover, making a big circle and not one drop of blood. Way to go guys!! Good job! 21 years of guiding and I stuck to my #1 rule to always listen to your hunter AFTER a shot. Any second guessing or uncertainty may of just put him on another stand. This bait is a good hour from our lodge too and a good ½ hour by quad. To top it off, my good friend Jared from North Dakota from the same group shot the biggest bear this spring at a brand “NEW” bait that squares 7 ½ feet and grosses 21 B&C with his bow qualifying him easy for P&Y and MBGTA awards. Could be and will certainly be one of the biggest bears ever killed with the bow this year and will rank very high all time too. Congrats Jared! I think Alan still hears the growls of that night, Ha Ha!!!

This is just a short summary of our spring and wish, time permitting, I could keep writing about black bears. All in all we were a perfect 26 for 26 with some awesome color bears with a lot more seen. Six bears will make Manitoba (19+ inch skull), some definitely P&Y. Our biggest was 7 ½ feet and grossed 21 inches.

Congratulations to all of our spring black bear hunters this year on your success and great bears! Thank you all for choosing Agassiz Outfitters, we appreciate your support and time you spend coming to see us all. Everyone of you touch our lives in some way!

Our lodge is family run and operated and this year my youngest son Jordan, who is only 14, helped out tremendously the whole spring in the lodge and outcamp with our other good guide Alan from Skownan. Cooking, hauling firewood, dishes, hauling water, skinning, tracking bears, etc.. and he loved it! Therefore I encourage anyone to take your kids hunting and fishing! Brendan(our oldest son) and Jordan have been on the water, out in the fields and in the bush since they could barely walk. I can still remember them in my back pack checking and running baits. Memories will last a lifetime!

Last but not least a huge thanks to my terrific guides Alan from Skownan and Greg from Waterhen who showed their hard work once again. Oh ya, my new guide Colleen a.k.a. “wife” and Jordan a.k.a. “Junior Guide” & “Slim”!

Looking forward to seeing all of our bear hunters this fall.

Happy Hunting,

Rick

Outfitter/Guide

Agassiz Outfitters

1. Please watch for Associate Editor of North American Hunter, Luke Hartles, 2009 spring black bear hunt with Agassiz Outfitters to air July 5 and again in October. Watch Luke harvest a gorgeous cinnamon bear with his bow!

2. Dick Metcalf, writer of Petersens Hunting, 2009 Black Bear hunting article will appear soon. Please watch for details.

3. Please watch for our “New” bear hunting ads in Bear Hunting Magazine to appear in Nov/Dec(2010), Jan/Feb and March/April(2011) issues.

Congratulations once again to Mr. George McCoy from New Mexico who is also a Chairperson of RMEF for winning the “2010 Zeiss Experience Contest” as he accompanied Mr. Bob Kaleta, Optics Specialist for Zeiss Optics this past spring black bear season. Congratulations on your bear George and it was a pleasure having you hunt with Agassiz Outfitters. We look forward to seeing you again real soon.

We are now taking bookings for our spring 2011 and 2012 World Class Black Bear Hunts. Anyone wishing to join Luke Hartle of NAH and/or Bob Kaleta of Zeiss in 2011, please call or e-mail for details. Watch for another exciting announcement of a world famous writer coming next spring!

Our average spring bears in Manitoba are approximately 250 lbs. with of course much bigger seen and taken. However, due to all the berries and acorns last fall and a very mild & short winter our bears wintered excellent and were much heavier this spring. We averaged 300+ this spring and once again all hunters saw sows with 3-4 yearlings with them making our bear hunting future very bright! All 26 bears taken this spring were boars!

Also, another bonus to the incredible bear hunting is the fantastic walleye fishing that is included once you harvest your bear. Just ask “Lucky” Luke and his dad Terry from North Dakota. Catching walleye this time of year, trolling shallow diving crank baits in 4-5 feet of water, is unbelievable!!!