I am still wearing the smile from my very lucky successful black bear hunt in Alberta, Canada in May of 2001. I had never thought about hunting black bears because deer and elk was always my big game animals of choice for 40+ years.

My vacation trip to the Calgary and Jasper areas of Alberta only the year before planted a seed in my subconscious about the desire to hunt black bears. We went in the spring and had a wonderful time observing big horn sheep, elk, deer, moose and bear. While staying in Jasper, we watched a very large beautiful coal black bear not 10 yards away from our cabin searching for food. The Canadians were all warm and friendly people. The mountains and foothills were simply awesome to see. I knew then that I wanted to come back to the Alberta area to go spring black bear hunting.

Another reason I had the desire to hunt black bear was after last fall's elk hunt (in CO) during which my son Jason got his first 5 point bull elk and I missed mine at over three hundred yards, I went home feeling a need for a new hunting adventure. I also wanted an opportunity to take a color phase bear because several friends of mine had displayed their beautiful bears that they had taken a number of years ago in British Columbia. The most beautiful one of all was a large blond colored black bear that was simply gorgeous hanging on his wall. My goal was now set, now I just had to make it happen.

The first thing I did was to log on to my computer and start searching for hunting in Alberta and I found this wonderful web site, Alberta Outdoors (www.abhunting.com). This site is literally filled with very valuable information. It is necessary for any novice to read about the Canadian hunting laws for non-residents before getting too serious. Crossing the Canadian border with a gun is now a more engaging effort with a fee attached. If you are serious about hunting in Alberta, browse around this site, you will find volumes of worthwhile information as well as outfitters to plan your trip..

I started contacting a handful of outfitters via E-mail that advertised the sort of black bear hunt for which I was looking for. I contacted several and spoke to some of them. After a short deliberation, I chose to hunt with Blair & Kathy Trout. They were very helpful and patient in answering my many questions. My gut instinct helped me in making the right choice. Now all I had to do was wait for 4 months until May. I was really getting cranked up over the thought of this new forthcoming exciting adventure. I felt like a kid waiting for Christmas to arrive.

After flying from Los Angeles to Edmonton, Blair gathered up the 5 US bear hunters from the motels that we were staying in for the night. Three of the bow hunters (Jack, Rick and Doug) were from PA. and lived within 25 miles of where I grew up in McKeesport, PA. The other rifle hunter (Phil) was from Florida. We drove about three hours to get to our destination where we met one of our terrific guides (Wayne) and his wife (Pat) our wonderful cook. We all settled into a cozy bunk bed style comfortable room which was converted from a garage. This was home for the next six days, with delicious meals served in Wayne and Pat's house. The first afternoon, we rifle hunters were asked to shoot our guns to make sure the baggage handlers didn't wreck the sights on our guns. A target was set up about 75 yards away and my first 7mm mag shot was about 9 o'clock and one inch from the center of the bull's eye. Blair exclaimed that my shot was off by an inch. I was O.K. with it but I shot another round at 3 o'clock and about one inch to the right of dead center. Again, Blair exclaimed that I was off by an inch. My response was that I thought it was good enough to kill a bear, then he smiled and I began to read his sense of humor.

The method of hunting black bears was over bait. The bait consisted of meat scraps and a batch of cookies in a 5 gallon bucket. The contents were placed into a 55 gallon metal drum with a lid and a hole in the bottom of the cylindrical side big enough for the bear to get his paw through. These drums were placed at strategically located places within the surrounding wooded area, but miles apart from each other. Each hunter was taken to one of the pre selected bait sites according to the predominant wind direction in the late afternoon. Hunting was largely from tree stands or an occasional ground blind.

The following dialogue consists of a short description of each evening's bear hunting experience. Something I can recall with great detail, but don't ask me to remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Each evening was special to me because it was always a different location and a surprise package of sorts. I saw at least one bear every evening, so I was never bored.

Evening one, was a long ATV trail ride back into a swampy and wooded area. I got into my very first tree stand and the action started within about 30 minutes after my guide left me for the evening. Two beautiful chocolate brown cubs (about 50 lbs. each) came into the area where I was sitting. I was in the tree and they were playing all around it. I kept looking for their mother. One cub was chased up a tree by the other only 15 feet away from mine and to my level which was about 20 feet high. Within seconds, he was back on the ground. It was pure joy to watch them play. I thought I was in the middle of a Walt Disney movie and they were performing for me. After about 10 minutes, they disappeared over the hill. I was wondering where their mother was. About an hour later, a nice medium sized black colored bear appeared and started very slowly and cautiously to approach the bait which was about 100 yards away. After eating for about 5 minutes, she was satisfied that it was safe and let out a vocal bark. The two little cubs came scurrying out of the woods to her and joined in the eating from the barrel.

Evening two was a very memorable heavenly experience because I saw a total of 5 beautiful bears. Shortly after climbing into a tree stand with a shooting rest and a padded swivel seat, I proceeded to have a truly wonderful and totally private nature show. To my right was a beautiful lake where I watched Canadian honkers and ducks come and go all evening long. To my right was a nice grassy field, to my left was the trail through the woods and about 75 yards in front was center stage ( the bait barrel) for the bears. From 10 minutes after sitting in the stand the start of the evening show began with the appearance of a very nice black colored bear. He appeared to enjoy himself sitting in front of the barrel and scooping out the goodies. This time I didn't forget my video camera and I started taping the bears.

It wasn't long before a slightly larger chocolate brown bear came along to chase the black bear away from the food barrel. It was a very nice bear in beautiful condition but just not big enough.

Next came Victor, my name for a slightly larger black bear (still not big enough). I gave him this name because of the beautiful white V marking on his chest. I was trying to tape the bear so intently that taking it was not in the cards. I could not get a good shot of the white V on his chest (except when I was viewing with my binoculars) and was secretly wanting him to walk towards me and stand up. I think the bear God was listening to me because this bear walked directly towards my stand and when only twenty feet away stood up and looked directly at me as if on cue. I have it all on tape too. It was a cherished moment that I will never ever forget. Afterwards, he slowly returned for more food. This time it was joined by another brown bear, but not the previous one because each bear had distinguishing features that were predominant. These bears must have been pals because they shared the food together without running the other off. I called this brown bear "Buddie".

Then along came "Destructo". He was a black bear about the size of the other two but he had an attitude. He got to the barrel after 4 other bears had cleaned it out. Only crumbs were left and he took out his aggression on the metal barrel. He ripped off the lid and crawled inside looking for any crumbs. Then he tried to destroy the barrel by jumping on it and twisting it around the tree. You could sense he was an unhappy and hungry camper. Several of the other bears came back into the area, but Victor the actor bear was my favorite. Night fell without a shot fired, but it was a super fun evening of nonstop bear and bird watching.

Evening three, was a hunt with the outfitter. We set up in a ground blind, but only a single black sow came into the bait a half a dozen times during the evening.

Evening four was in a tree stand in a new spot. I was becoming concerned that it was going to be a bear less evening when I spotted a very large black bear as it was nearly pitch black. I made a very small noise moving my gun and he took off into the woods. Within a few moments he was back and approaching the barrel. I knew I wanted this bear. As I put the black cross hairs within my scope on this beautiful large black bear, I realized that I could not see the cross hair intersection any longer. I found that I could not shoot because I could not comfortably see my target point with the black hairs on a black back round. I did not want to wound a wonderful bear like this. I had no choice but to pass him up. Back at camp, I found that a total of four bears had been taken up to this point, but Doug and I were still looking for a special bear.

Evening five was a Friday and a very special day that I will never forget. I was taken to one of the previous spots in which one of the other hunters had taken a bear earlier in the week and he saw a number of bears. When I was taken to this spot, I noticed that bear droppings were all over the place. I asked my guide Rod if this area was the bear latrine of the woods. Several droppings looked very fresh. I literally could not walk with out stepping in these droppings. I had never seen such a place in the woods. After being in the tree stand for about an hour, a nice black colored bear came by for a snack and some rough horse play with the bait barrel. The barrel was wired to a tree but after the horse play the barrel was now 180 degrees from where was originally. The entrance hole was now on the far side of the barrel in relationship to my line of sight. My ability to shoot was seriously impaired because a large tree limb was in my line of sight with the barrel's new location.

At twenty minutes after eight o'clock, I heard a rustling of leaves in the path to the barrel. In a moment later, I saw the most beautiful bear ( number twelve) that I had ever seen in the woods. It was a plump looking medium size blonde bear with a brown head and legs. I knew I wanted to take this bear immediately. I watched the bear snacking on the bait but I could not shoot because of its location. The tree limb was in my line of sight and I did not want to miss this bear. I waited for my chance. After about ten minutes, the bear found a meat scrap and was starting to run into the woods. On the second leap, the 7 mm mag 180 gr. bullet caught the bear behind the left shoulder. Immediately, the bear leaped up on it's rear legs and started a series of pirouettes before dropping into the leaves over a little hill. I knew it was mine. I had the beautiful blond that I had been wanting.

I stayed in my tree stand because knew I had an opportunity for another bear and the evening was still young. Within 20 minutes, another medium sized black bear came by for a snack but he wasn't the other special bear that I wanted. Dark was now approaching very quickly. When I looked up the hill and saw a large brown colored bear approaching the bait barrel. This bear had a swagger which told me he was a brute. He moved very quickly to the bait and proceeded to eat before I could settle in for a shot. Again, I could not shoot and was forced to wait for him to finish his snack. I had to wait for a clear shot between several trees but in only moments it would be too dark. After a 5 minute wait, he finally stepped between the trees and I quickly took him. He also reared up on his rear legs, let out a growl and collapsed on the spot.

My guide, Rod was nearby in the truck and heard the shot. Within several minutes, he was at the base of my tree with his ATV asking if I got him. I said "yes" and he proceeded to locate the barrel with flashlight in hand. He was excited to see it was a large bear and then exclaimed it was beautiful brown. After admiring the big bear, I told him that I shot another one as well. He wasn't sure whether I was kidding until I started over the little hill to look for it. It was only 20 yards away. Getting the big brown bear on the back of the ATV took both of us pushing and pulling to no avail. It took his wench on the front of the ATV and both of us pulling to get it on the ATV. Picture an ATV with a large brown bear on the back, a beautiful blond bear on the front and a large guide driving this ATV. A have a picture of this scene, but I don't need it to help me to remember my very special and exciting evening of black bear hunting in Alberta. The blond bear will be life size mounted while the large brown bear will be mounted as a wall hanging.

I feel very lucky to have had this very special memory of my first black bear hunt and I highly recommend black bear hunting in Alberta!