USA: Bad Bear Hunt Arizona Cannot Recommend

[TakeMeLord]

Had a horrible bear hunt experience in ARIZONA. Guided hunt with hounds. Guide / outfitter was Kyle King. KingsHounds . Hunted pblic land that was over hunted. Everything was bad. First morning he said he would be up early and pick us up early. He overslept. When we finally got to area, it already had 4 groups of hunters. Everytime he saw one of budddies, he would stop and talk to them for 30 minutes without regard for me or our hunting time. I have hunted Africa 6 times, Alaska over 20 times, Texas hundreds of tmies, and Wyoming New Mexico and Colorado as well. I have been involved in over 30 bear hunts with family and friends. This was the WORST. Avoid at all costs.

 

[BnC 04]

Dang, hate to hear something like this as we all (most) work too dang hard to have a trip flushed down the drain.
Curious how you got linked up with this outfit?

 

[JimP]

It is sad that these kind of things happen, but I wouldn't consider Arizona a hot spot to hunt bear at. Even if they do have a good population of them.

I had a bad experience up in British Colombia on a grizzly hunt. We only saw 3 black bears and 1 grizzly on the second to last day. I managed to shoot a small black bear to semi salvage the hunt.

Stuff happens. What were your guide and his friends talking about if you heard? Could they of been trying to see where bears had been seen?

 

[BourbonTrail]

That’s a bummer. What unit were you?

 

[buck wild]

That guy also advertises on another Texas hunting site a lot. I actually engaged in a few text messages several years ago about the a mnt lion hunt. He wasn't able to provide any current successful pics and the "references" he provided seemed surprised to be contacted and two were his "friends". I ended up not booking.
Sorry to hear your experience.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Sorry to hear this..

 

[Mekaniks]

That’s a bummer, but thank you for sharing

 

[Philip Glass]

I recommend David Martinez in NM.

 

[Randy F]

Yeesh! I wouldn't even cancel a root canal for that one. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[rookhawk]

There are a couple schools of thought on bear hunts. Here's a couple of scenarios:

1.) If your budget was infinite, the go-to guy for huge bears is Captain Purvis in the Carolinas. Shall-issue tags, no wait, but Purvis fills up sometimes 1-2 years in advance. Pre-Covid he was getting $8000. It may be more now. You will not find larger bears. His reference clients include Don Jr, Shockey, and every other who's-who.

2.) If you can be patient and draw a tag which does take 4-12 years, Wisconsin is a great bear state. You'll kill a bear with hounds no problem, probably in the 200-325lb range. Guide will cost you $2000ish.

3.) Ontario has great bear hunting in the month of August. Plenty of places to go, often they are cast-and-blasts with a bit of pike and walleye thrown into the mix. Those used to be $1500 trips but are now in that $3800-$4500 range and you need to really research the references before you book. Good bear is plentiful. Permits are over the counter, no wait. You can drive the meat back with you.

That's what I know. I've hunted WI twice and Ontario once. I've looked into Purvis but I decided African hunts are a better value for my dollars than killing a 700lb blackbear for ten grand.

 

[Nevada Mike]

If I was choosing a time and place to hunt black bear in the continental USA, I would choose a spring spot and stalk hunt in the Snake River Canyon area - Oregon or Idaho. I see them there when bird hunting, elk hunting, deer hunting, fishing, or just traveling around. Black through blonde colored bears.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I have heard horror stories about bear hunting being overrun in both Arizona and NM. They shoot a LOT of bears up here ... over bait mostly (pretty much exusively). I don't know anyone who runs them with dogs. May not even be legal in the spring (moose are calving). Believe it or not, it is legal to run moose with hounds in the fall. Or it was when I last hunted them. Resources are managed horribly here. I quit hunting moose more than twenty years ago.

 

[flatwater bill]

I've had two kinds of bad hunts:
1. there was no game
2. the guide and outfitter was essentially a worthless drone
and once I had both together. Like you did. Thanks for the heads up...................FWB

 

[buck wild]

This guy is advertising bear hunts gain on another forum

 

[TakeMeLord]

YEP

 

[Rem280]

Sorry to hear about the hunt. Buddy and I went with these guys last month: https://www.timberlostoutfitting.com/hunts/black-bear-hunts/
I have never had so much fun on guided hunt. Let me know if u need any info. Did not do a report because I am lazy and shot a small one because I wanted to fish and drink.

 

[Red Leg]

Can highly recommend BC Trophy Mountain Outfitters in British Columbia. Spring spot and stalk in some of the most beautiful country on the planet. A large wilderness bear is a real possibility. One of mine.

View attachment DSC01351.jpeg

 

[TheGrayRider]

Thanks for calling out that underperforming guide service. Knowledge is power. Sorry to hear about your experience with him. Happy future hunting, TheGrayRider.

 

[fourfive8]

Bad deal and thanks for posting- may help future hunters avoid that infuriating crp. Boy Oh boy could I tell some horror stories about guided western US hunts!... not just bear but mtn lion, deer, sheep and especially elk! Not my hunts but by indirect involvement and inside knowledge. I think it can happen hunting anything anywhere in the world, even after research and talking to so-called references. The thing about references is, if supplied by the outfitter, they are going to be cherry picked or worse yet could be shill friends thus fraudulent. Much of the bear hunting in the western US is either spot and stalk or behind dogs. Personally I have no interest in plugging a bear over bait from a tree stand. So no opinion on that. No guarantees on any type of hunt for quality. If searching from out of state for a black bear hunt, I would maybe concentrate on unsolicited word of mouth info and some direct calls to the local Game and Fish offices in the areas of interest. Some state personnel may be forthcoming with info and some not so much- never know, just have to ask to find out. After pondering a lot of possibilities, if I wanted to hunt a black bear with good chance for quality of trophy and success, I would seriously consider a boat-based, coastal hunt in AK. If thinking a classic horse back/foot hunt in the western US behind hounds a possibility?- whew, they can be the best hunting adventure of them all or the worst nightmare.

 

[Houston Bill]

Sorry to hear you had such a bad bear hunt. My kids and I have hunted black bears on 4 different occasions. All in British Columbia and all with Stewart Frazer, Itcha Mountain Outfitters. I can highly recommend him and his area has big bears. My kids all shot 7 foot+ bears (mine was only 6.5')

If you want Stewart's cell number send me an IM.