Whitetail and Black Bear with Terry Parsons

I’ve been hunting big game up here in Saskatchewan roughly 20 years for whitetail and then 3 years for black bear up here in Saskatchewan. So, I started hunting um with my dad and my grandpa, probably around the age of 16. We hunted the whitetail there in Michigan. That’s primarily what I hunt in in Michigan. Just addicted to the whitetail, that’s mainly what I hunt. The whitetail opportunity is very good to shoot deer in Michigan, I mean there’s there’s a ton of deer in Michigan. There’s a lot of hunters in Michigan. Seems like every year it’s fairly easy to shoot an animal I guess I should say. So here it’s a lot different. You know up in Saskatchewan here what the potential could possibly be up here in this forest and patience is the key.

So that’s the big difference, you know the potentials here. You see see big whitetail, body and antler wise, horns, and that’s the difference between where I live and here basically.

So I’m very picky on what I shoot. I rifle hunt in Saskatchewan and my biggest deer to date is a 168 incher. So on that hunt, the guide actually, I was hunting in a separate stand, saw lots lots of deer, tons of deer at this stand, and he was big on cameras and this Buck came in and he had it on camera so we moved.

I passed up 150 inch 10 point the first day on that stand and uh saw a ton of deer, bucks and does and he happened to come out the next morning, I believe at 9:30 and it was a done deal then.

We’ve been hunting up here in Saskatchewan for about 20 years for whitetail. Originally we were with two other outfitters bouncing around. Landed with Chaparral Outfitters here in Saskatchewan. It’s by far better than the uh other two places that we hunted with and we we’ve been here since. So after hunting up here for whitetail my father and uncle and I decided to try a bear hunt and we’ve tried it the last three years and it’s action packed. I mean a big adrenaline rush with bears all around, pretending like they’re going to come up the tree and and the color phasing of the Bears is pretty awesome too.

First stand that I went to probably saw four or five different Bears of which three were color phased. Moved to a different stand and saw four black bears that evening.

What I’m looking for in a bear when it comes in first of all if it’s bigger than the barrel, if it has a color phase, not saying I wouldn’t turn down a a nice black bear that’s big. Big head, weight wise big bear, that’s what I’d be looking for in a bear.

My go-to gun is a .300 Winchester short mag that I use a 180 grain Acubon tips on for the white tail and the bear. For some reason with trying to get different bullets and all that, having a hard time getting different rounds for that, I ended up switching up to a .308 this year and that’s what I’m hoping to kill this bear with is a .308 with 180 grain Acubon bullet so hopefully that works.

In my perspective when I’m hunting them they’re milling around before they they come. They come in nice and slow to check the stands out. They come to the barrels which they they fill daily and take care of the bait sites. They’ll come in they’ll roll the barrels around. They’ll feed for a good amount of time enough to get a good shot. The the bears come in, can come in, like an hour or so as soon as you get there basically, till right till shooting time which is I believe around right before dark. All different times the bears can come in.

The accommodations, the guides, the cook it doesn’t get any better. Bernice the cook is just amazing. She just cooks five course meals, the sweets, everything is just outstanding. The amenities here, you get your own room, there’s plenty enough showers to shower. It’s just a beautiful lodge. The bunk house is really awesome so it’s hands down just one of the best places.

As far as the guides, Greg and his team, they actually, you can tell and see, like when you’re sitting around for a bear hunt, and I know for white tail it’s the same thing, when we’re in the lodge they’re out there in the field checking stands, rebating, looking at cards to try to actually get you on the game. I’m know for whitetail it’s the same way. They bust their butts to get you what they have on the camera. Although on camera, you know, something new could come in daily. They they work hard for you and you can tell that they really like their jobs and what they do.

On this hunt there’s numerous favorite things that come to mind on this hunt. Hunting with my uncle, my father, fishing with those guys, catching big Pike in the Turtle Lake there while you’re not hunting, which is a good option to have.

Just the action at at the bear stand. Bears faking like they’re going to come up your tree, staring at you, just the adrenaline rush and seeing some good amount of bears you know every day. I think this is my, we’re through day three, and I’ve saw a bear every night and not just one but multiple. Like I said the the amenities, the food everything, everything about this place really.