Read the full article - Willow Creek Outfitters

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My first bear hunt ended 14 minutes into
its first day. I saw a bear at the bait, and I took
it. Yes, it was small, but in the words of the
Canadian guide "Well he sure does have a nice
coat don't he."
I spent the rest of the week fishing and horseback
riding and wishing I had waited. My second bear hunt
ended at 5:00 p.m. on the last day and it was a decent
cinnamon. My third bear was with a bow and came in
over 200 pounds. It was my best yet.
It was time, however, to raise the bar. Instead of
hunting over bait I decided to book a spot and stalk
bear hunt, choosing Willow Creek Outfitters in Alberta,
Canada as my guide service.
Andre van Hilton, owner of Willow Creek,
opened his own guide service in 2001 and in 2003
added a few bear tags to his outfit. All hunts with
Andre are spot and stalk. It is very important to be in
your best shape because the area where they hunt can
be quite demanding.
When I arrived in spike camp I was very surprised
how nice everything was set up. The camp was in the
foothills of the Alberta Rockies. The country was
beautiful. The camp was comfortable, the food edible
and the weather was horrendous. It snowed, rained and
was absolutely freezing. After four days of never seeing
a bear, they were smart and stayed in bed until it
was warm, we ended the six-day hunt early.
It was very disappointing to say the least. My
record now stood at three for four.
In 2004, I was planning for a second spot and
This is a great first, second or
even third bear, but eventually
the author wanted a big bear and
was willing to go home empty
handed unless it was something
he was satisfied with.
stalk bear hunt, but the stork
messed that one up. Little Lucy
was born May 28th. I tried to convince
my wife that doctors' due
dates were accurate to the day.
That did not work out, so I had to
skip that year.
The following year I was all
set to go back to Willow Creek.
Those plans quickly changed. My
good friend Angelo, his friend
Eddie and my other buddy Tom
decided they too wanted to go
bear hunting. We were now a
party of four and we were going
to Peace River, Alberta on a baited
bear hunt. The hunt was a disaster.
It rained every day to the
point that the all terrain vehicles
could not move. We were covered
in mud for a week. By the fourth
day, the guides quit. I did not
Bear Hunting 15

lame them as the conditions were horrible. On the
last day of our now self-guided hunt, my friend Tom
took a 150 pound cinnamon. I, on the other hand,
came up empty.
In 2006, my friend Tom decided to go with me to
Willow Creek. It was great to be back in spike camp.
We saw a lot of bears but nothing of trophy value. It
was a wonderful trip and when it was over I was
thankful for the experience, but I still was not happy.
I was now three for six. Once again I came up empty.
May of 2001 found me back in spike camp. Tom
decided to give it another try as well. After arriving,
our rifles were checked and we were ready to go. On
Monday, Tom and his guide took off to scout some
hills. Andre and I stayed at camp. Andre was cooking
lunch as I sat on a stump reading and enjoying the
beautiful weather. Our camp was in the middle of a
valley. There were two steep slopes on either side with
small rolling hills in between. It was a breathtaking
place. I finished a page in my book and happened to
look up towards one of the slopes. Low and behold
there was a bear scampering down the hill about 500
yards in front of me. I alerted Andre, grabbed my rifle
and off we went. We had to cross a very wide and cold
creek (boy I wish I was not wearing sneakers), and
then we went up and down a couple of hills, closing
the distance quickly. We stalked within 20 yards of a
beautiful blackie. He would make someone a wonderful
trophy, but it was not what I came for.
The following day Andre and I were out scouting
on the quad when we came upon a large valley that
had timber on both sides with grassland running up
the middle. There were a few small hills in between
with tall grass and other vegetation. We stopped to
glass when eagle-eyed Andre yelled "Bear!"
The black spot was about two miles away feeding
in the grass. There were a few mule deer in between us
and him, and a few elk above him on a hill closer to us.
Andre and I grabbed our gear and ran downhill to
close the distance and get a better look at the bear. We
made it to the hill where the elk were, but the bear was
gone. After a few tense minutes, Andre spotted the
bear laying down 200 yards up on an adjacent wooded
hill. We decided to get closer. We were about 125
yards away when we set up. I had my collapsible
shooting sticks and I was shooting my .30-06 Blaser
with 1SO-grain triple shock bullets.
I sat in shooting position looking through my Leupold
3x9 scope. I could not for the life of me judge
the size of the bear. Andre was five feet to my right

looking directly at the bear through
his spotting scope. He also could
not judge the size of the bear. After
20 minutes of watching, Andre decided
to do moose calls. He grunted
and rubbed a log against a tree. The
bear just laid there. After repeating
this process quite a few times the
bear'finally got up and lumbered ten
feet closer to us, resting his head on
his front paws, facing us.
I reahzed after watching the
bear lumber towards us that he was
not small. Andre kept saying, "I
think he's a good bear." I did not
want to make a mistake. This area is
a one-bear zone, and I did not want
to ruin my hunt on the second day.
We had the wind with uS, but that
could change at anytime. Andre
looked at me and wanted an answer.
I just knew in my gut that he was a
good bear. "Okay," I said, "but I do
not have a shot." The bear was facing
ffie, lying down. Andre again
started to act like a moose. The bear
lifted his head. I took aim at the side
of his neck, steadied myself and
fired. The bear's head just fell. He
never flinched, expiring on impact.
It was a perfect shot; the triple shock
did its job. But how big or how small
was this bear. I knew he was not a
juvenile, but I still had my doubts.
Andre and I proceeded down
the hill and around the bear. I have
read bear hunting articles enough to
know not to approach a downed
bear from the front. I was leery and
came up behind the bear to his
right. Andre, with video camera in
hand, came around the left. "Small
bear," I yelled in anguish. I was
devastated. How could I travel so
far and work so hard to have it end
this way. I would not have taken the
shot if I did not think it was the bear
I wanted. I was miserable. Andre
walked closer and yelled,, "I disagree.
Look at your bear." I walked
to the left of the bear and to my surprise,
my new trophy was laying in
v,/l,y'w,/. b e a r- h u nt i n g. E o m
"#*.i
It took the author four more bear hunts to finally bring home a bigger
bear, just going to prove that mature bears are tough to get.
an indentation in the forest floor. He was huge ! He was jet black with a
beautiful white spot on his chest. I was overjoyed. This had been an
emotional roller coaster.
We were loosing light and if we were going to finish the job right
we had to move quickly. After taking quite a few pictures we began to
skin the bear. After an hour or so the hide was tucked in Andre's backpack.
I took the rest of the gear. It was two miles downhill in pursuit of
the bear, and what goes down must go back up. As exhausted as I was,
there was nothing that could take the smile off my face when we finally
arrived at the quad. ,t'
Lochlomond Canrp in Northwestern Ontario offers you some of the best Black
Bear hunting in the world. We will guarantee you a fair and honest hunt.
We have l534sq. Kilometres of "Lochlomond Camp Only" territory. tWe take
30 hunters only per season, rifle or archery.
Phone: (807) 876-2801
P.O. Box 368 - Longlac, Ontario POT 2A0
info@lochlomond.ca
Includes
. All taxes and bear export permit
. Ontario non-resident bear license
. Modern house-keeping cabin
. 3D target (archery only)
. Boat, motor and gas for every 2 or 3
people
. Guaranteed - active bait
. Skinning assistance and freezing of meat
aird hide
IpchLornond,Cam
LONGLAC, ONTARIO
lochlomondcamp.ca
Bear Hunting t7