MIKE'S OUTFITTING
2001 SPRING BLACK BEAR HUNT REPORT

Spring bear 2001 was another successful year. We had plenty of bears on the 25 baits and everybody could have killed 2 nice bears. We could hardly keep up with the baiting. The bears ate up about 12,000 lbs. of meat scraps, 4,500 lbs. of donuts, 150 beavers and several gallons of syrup. We had so many active baits that some were never hunted all season. A couple of hunters saw as many as 15 bears in one evening and one group estimated they saw at least 70 different bears in 5 days of hunting.

We ended up with 15 hunters shooting 14 bears and 4 of those, 27%, being big bears with skulls over Pope and Young's minimum of 18". The biggest bear killed was by Michael Ambur from South Dakota. The 7 ft., 400 lb. giant had a skull of just over 20". This was Michael's 5th hunt with us and his 3rd big bear. His 2 others were 20 4/16 and 19 8/16. Gary Gillette from Alberta brought up a load of bait in exchange for hunting and ending up killing the next biggest bear, a 325 lb. cinnamon with a skull just under 19 inches. Joel Adam from Texas killed his 2nd large bear in 3 hunts with us with a boar weighing about 280 lbs. and having a skull of about 18 1/2". Joel's 1998 bear was a huge 7 1/2 ft., 21 4/16" skull, 500 lb. monster. The mule deer killing team of Dewey and Steve Adkison came also from Texas to try their luck on bears and all 4 in their group shot a bear each. Joe Kirk killed the biggest one at about 280 lbs. and an 18 plus inch skull. A 300 lb. dry sow was shot by Pete Anderson from South Dakota on a hunt with his dad Paul, who has been on 3 bear hunts with us. The bear was one of the oldest and thickly furred bears we've ever seen. Its' coat was flecked with gray hair and the teeth were stained and broken. It was probably older than Pete at 19 years. A smart old bear of either sex is a rare trophy.

There should be many old trophy bears for next year. The spring was late in arriving and slow in warming up so there were very few rubbed bears which was good but the cool, windy weather made the hunting tougher. The wind often made the big bears too nervous to stick around so quite a few large bears were seen but not taken. Spring bear 2002 only has a couple of spots open and cancellations frequently occur so don't hesitate to call and check what is available. We are also booking for 2003 and you need a deposit in before the 2002 season to avoid any price increase. Price for 2002 and 2003 is $2500.00 plus $160.00 license and $700.00 for a 2nd bear.

I also have a web site up titled www.mikesoutfitting.com. Have a look at it, see if your picture is on it, and send me your e-mail address and I'll keep you up to date on what hunts are available and discounted. Right now I have 2 mule deer bowhunts in 2001 available for a reduced rate. I am also booking for 2002 mule deer and antelope hunts so call or e-mail me, I hope to see you up here soon.

Yours Truly,

Mike Ukrainetz