Bear Camp, our film from a spring black bear hunt in northern Saskatchewan, drew more questions than our films usually do. So James sat down with Joe Griffin, who took the bear, and Jordan Parham, who filmed the hunt, to answer them. If you have not seen it yet, watch Bear Camp first.
1. Where Was the Hunt, and Why Were the Bears So Relaxed?
The hunt ran in early to mid May, about an hour and a half north of Saskatoon, where farm country turns into boreal forest. Camp sat on the Beaver River, where the crew ran baits during the day and hunted until 10:30 at night.
Many of the baits were old, and Joe was told some date back to the seventies, while his oldest bait in Michigan's U.P. is four years old. Trails into the baits were worn into deep depressions. The bears barely cared that hunters were there, though mature bears stayed more cautious. Joe credits the age of the baits, how remote the country is, and how little contact the bears have with people.
On his first day, a group of wolves lit up nearby and no bears came to his bait. The next day, at a new bait, he saw more than a dozen bears, and the boar he later shot was in that group. He held off that day because none of them stood out as a giant. A big bear showed up around midnight, so they got up at 3 a.m. for a morning sit. Joe estimates 16 to 18 different bears came to that bait.
2. How Do You Film Two Hunters From the Trees?
Jordan was filming two hunters with one self-film kit, so it went back and forth between them. At each bait, Jordan set up in whatever tree stand was already there, and the hunter sat in a saddle, free to pick a tree. The main cameras were a DJI Action 5 and Action 6, one aimed at the bait and one at the hunter. For the shot, Joe put a camera on a light camera arm, about four feet up, looking straight down at him.
3. Why Beavers, and Is That Legal?
This was the most common question. Joe says beaver is not legal as bear bait in Michigan, and he would like to see that change. He thinks the oil in beavers is what makes the scent travel. Every time, the beaver was the first thing the bears hit. They tore it off the pole, almost like a cat with catnip.
It is fully legal where they hunted. There is also a bounty, and people who harvest beavers send in a notch cut from the tail to get paid. The beavers are overpopulated there, and you can hear tail slaps on the river all night. Joe hauled beavers in his Latitude Praxis pack, and he says dead beavers do not stink much.
4. How Did the Meat Get Home, and How Does Spring Bear Taste?
The outfitters made it simple, with piles of totes on hand. On a 200-pound bear, Joe says you get about 45 to 55 pounds of deboned meat. They froze the meat, fleshed the hides, left the claws and skulls in, and rolled the hides up. Everything went into zip-tied totes and onto the plane. Joe thinks a bigger airport might have been a hassle, but at Saskatoon it was a sticker on the tote and zero problem.
Joe says the meat tastes very similar to a Michigan bear. Spring bears carry little fat because they just left the den, while fall bears have more marbling. The beaver bait did not seem to change the taste.
5. Should Your First Bear Hunt Be Over Bait or Out West?
Joe calls it a toss-up. A baited hunt teaches you a lot about bear behavior, and hunting bears out West teaches you something different. His advice is to try every method, from bait to hounds to spot and stalk, before forming an opinion about any of them. He has no ethical issue with baiting, and he enjoyed this hunt enough to book it again before he left camp.
With an open schedule, though, he would point a first-time bear hunter to a spring spot and stalk hunt in the West. He says bears do not get enough respect, and spring in the mountains is where they shine brightest for him.
6. How Much of the Shot Should a Film Show?
Joe's bear was vocal after the shot, and Jordan had to decide how much of its final moments to put on camera. He weighed that against Joe's excitement and settled on a little of both. We want our films to be realistic and honest without being graphic or disrespectful. Showing the shot also lets viewers see that it was an ethical one.
Watch or Listen
- Watch the Bear Camp Q&A on YouTube
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- Listen on Spotify
- Watch the film: Bear Camp
Have a question about one of our hunts? Leave it in the YouTube comments or send us a message, and subscribe to The Fair Chase on YouTube so you catch the next film.