Black Bear Safari - Review
Richard Mellon of Outdoor Quest TV recently sent me a copy of his new DVD, Black Bear Safari. The DVD shows 14 hunts and 13 kills. Rifles, bows, and muzzleloaders are used for the hunts. Out of the 14 hunts shown, 4 are bow, 7 are muzzleloader hunts, and 3 are rifle hunts. There are also 2 partial hunts in addition to the 14; one where the camera man falls asleep (not Rich!) and another that they have the bear recovery. The hunts take place in Alberta using Smokey River Outfitting.
It was awesome watching some of these huge bears. Several of these bears are over 400 lbs and I believe one of those was around 500 pounds! I was also amazed at what they have to do to hunt them. They were literally building bridges to cross streams and in a few cases they have footage of the Argo's just going through the water. There's even one scene where Rich's wife Sandy is talking about the weather conditions, 70 one day and snow the next.
There are a number of memorable hunts on this video. A bear coming into the bait while they are setting up, a close shot and on the ground no less! The partial hunt where the cameraman falls asleep was humorous ("somebody left their Volkswagen bus in the woods", LOL!). Possibly the prettiest bear of the bunch is Sandy's blond bear. The craziest hunt is the very last one. Rich and the Greg the guide go hunting in the tall oats with a muzzleloader and no back up gun! They are braver than I am! That last hunt is my favorite hunt on the video.
A nice bonus is the field judging segment. Rich and Greg Sutley discuss field judging bear. I won't ruin it for you but it really has to be seen to be believed! It's not your typical discussion!
If your an avid bear hunter you'll enjoy seeing these big bears and if your a novice like me it's just fun to see em. You can order it for $19.95 CAD + 4.95 S&H. It can be ordered at: http://www.theoutdoorquest.com/videos.htm
