March 31, 2014 by Gildas Paradis

We have a few spots left for our big exciting spring bear hunt! These hunts are always exciting with some very nice bears brought in every year. We absolutley love spring bear hunting as firstly, it is spring! Who wishes more for spring than a Manitoban? But also the bear hutning is excellent, all things are blooming, and summer feels underway. The hunters are always a great bunch of people, all excited yet relaxed. It is a very interesting time of year with bear breeding season underway late May early June.

Bears go thru a Rutting behaviour simular to other creatures. They leave scent and markings behind to communicate and estimate timing of a sows cycle. The boars will create a marking tree, rubbing tree near baits and travel routes. They will stand and rub on a sappling and then turn around while standing and bite the tree as high as they can. In some cases the tree will be bit off 7 ft up! Gulp, that's a big bear that does that. Lots of visible sign if you look for it. if you know what to look for you might find sign of a colored bear in the area too.

It is obvious when there is a sow with cubs around as the little guys leave distinct scat everywhere. We will only hunt those baits with seasoned bear hunters who know what a big boar looks like. We try to kill the big boars at those sites to help out the sow and cubs. Big boars will eat the cubs so the sow can come into heat. I have seen a site where a boar attacked 2 cubs, it was a bloody mess. Can't imagine what kind of fight that was, the sow probably put up a heck of a fight trying to save her cubs. The blood was all the way up 2 big poplar trees and scratch marks from the bear claws are still engraved in the bark of those trees today.  Two days later i found big boar scat with 3 inch long black hairs in it. He ate them whole, nothing left. So we try to kill the big boars at the bait sites. Helps the little guys get a chance to grow.

This is all contrary to what the Antis want you to think. They think we kill sows and cubs. To prove this, we as an industry have contributed hard cash to assist in the Manitoba bear study program. This program makes it mandatory for us to save samples from killed bears. We save the reproductive tracts (ovaries) from the sows and a premolar tooth, and a premolar tooth from the boars. The teeth are cut like a tree and rings are counted to age the bear. The ovaries tell the reproductive history of the sows. How many litters, how many years apart. We VOLONTARILY PAY FOR THE STUDY so it stays in place. This is contrary to what the anti hunters want you to believe as they say we kill sows and cubs, i say bull caca. 

This turned into a bigger story than i planned. I could go on but get your butt over here and we can go learn more together in this big "University we never graduate from". 

Couple spots left, going to be a great hunt, best there is, Riverside Lodge bear hunting. 

Posted in: Bear Hunting