Vicki's BC Spot & Stalk - British Columbia
Ralph & Vicki enjoying the scenery.
You never know what you might see.
We are hunting bears Vicki!
Vicki's TenPoint black bear.
Hunter: Vicki Cianciarulo
Cameramen: Ralph Cianciarulo, Tony Perillo
Bears are one of my favorite animals to hunt, and this spring found us, once again, in British Columbia hunting them with Glenn Venus of Trophy West Guide Outfitters. Ralph and I had hunted with Trophy West a couple of years ago and couldn’t wait to return! This time we had Tony Perillo, one of our POSSE and a second cameraman with us for the hunt.
This time we went on the boat hunt. We stayed on the MV Nitinat Chief, which is a 73 foot tug boat that was converted into a house boat. Matt & Shelley Roberts, owners and operators of the boat, were wonderful hosts and took pride in their boat, it is beautiful. We were hunting costal black bears in Knights Inlet and the scenery was second to none!!
A day on the hunt went something like this... We wake up and have breakfast and then get ready to head out on the ‘lil Grizzly, an aluminum boat that we would take out looking for bears. Because this is a costal bear hunt, the tides really effect what the bears are doing. Low tide is almost always better, as the bears come out to the shores and turn over rocks looking for crabs and other crustaceans. During high tides you can still spot bears, but not as many as during low tide. Shelley packed us lunches every day, and we would usually eat them on the boat during high tide and then continue to look for bears to stalk. We would put on some stalks and always make sure we had the wind in our favor. Every night as the sun was starting to set; we would head back to the Nitinat Chief and have dinner, which usually consisted of fresh dungeness crabs & prawns!! It was rough!! (Sarcasm inserted here!)
We had numerous opportunities at bears, and depending on if Glenn or Dave said it was ‘good to go for’ and also depending then on the wind, we would decide what the best way was to stalk the bear. I had taken my TenPoint Crossbow up there with us, as I have never shot a bear with one before! We hiked and climbed and got wet, all to try to get close to a bear!
It was raining all day and we had been on the Nitinat Chief because of it. The wind was blowing so hard that they said they were hurricane force! We wouldn’t have been able to ride on the smaller boat without it being way too dangerous! When the wind and rain finally slowed down, we decided to go out and give it a look. I am sure glad we did!!
We saw a black spot on the opposite shoreline and the closer we got to it, the better it looked! Glenn dropped us off around the side of the bluff so the bear wouldn’t be able to see us. Dave Vey, my guide, went first on the wet boulders getting into a position that we would be able to get a shot at the black bear with the wind in our favor. As you walk on the boulders you have to be careful, not just because they can be slippery, but also because they have barnacles on them too, and they can be very sharp! We crawled on the rocks and barnacles trying not to fall into the ocean or cut ourselves. We crawled to within about 30 yards of the bear. I got my TenPoint crossbow set up and loaded my Beman Lightening bolt tipped with a NAP Spitfire Maxx. I had to wait for the bear to present me with a good shot. He was facing us, turning over rocks and eating barnacles. He finally turned around and gave me a hard quartering away shot. The arrow entered in by the last rib and went quartering into him and exited out his front! He had no idea what happened and he only took about 6 steps and was down!!
Glenn was watching the whole hunt unravel from the boat with his Nikons, and as soon as he saw the bear go down he drove in to where we were at. We all jumped back onto the boat to get to where the bear dropped, as it was around a bluff and the tide was on its way in, so we needed to hurry!! Glenn and Dave were very impressed with the accuracy and performance of the TenPoint! My bear was 6’ 6” and absolutely beautiful!! Thanks Trophy West Guide Outfitters, and Glenn Venus and Dave Vey for an unforgettable black bear hunt!!