My bear hunt experience

by Eddy Van den Branden
(Belgium)

Dear huntingfriends,

My name is Eddy Van den Branden and I am from Belgium. My hobbies, passions and sometimes manias are hunting, shooting (IPSCH pistol, rifle, pigeon clay shooting en bow) and fishing (rod or bow on trout).
Hunting is my biggest passion. Around Europe I have hunted most of the huntable species. But for over 35 years I dreamed about bear-hunt the most. Seeing it is very difficult to hunt bears in Europe (limited number), I started looking at hunting trips towards USA or Canada. But my fear of flying held me back until a friend invited me to join him on a hunting trip to Russia for the European brown bear. After long consideration I decided to finally go along and have my very first bear hunting experience.
The day of departure we travelled from Brussels to Moscow by plane, from Moscow to Vologda by train and from Vologda to the outback by SUV. After 4 days of hunting by night in a tree, I shot my very first brown bear. I still remember the feeling of utter happiness. The bear was 180 pounds and later on mounted to get a nice spot in my living room. After this experience I no longer feared flying. So when I got back home, one of the first things I did was book my next hunting trip. This time destination Kamchatka.


During that next hunting trip we travelled form Düsseldorf to Moscow and from Moscow to Petropavlovsk by plane. Followed by another 4-hours helicopter flight. After 17 hours we arrived in our camp that was completely surrounded by 2 meters of snow. I looked at our tents and sleeping places and I couldn’t think anything else than “what have I gotten myself into?”.
After some practice shots we started hunting by snow scooter and attached slay the next day. Six hours of enjoying the exhaust fumes of the snow scooter later we spotted a bear and although I thought it was more than big enough, my Russian guide said it was too small and we decided to return back to our camp.
But on the way home we discovered tracks of a very big bear. We followed him for about 45 minutes. When we finally spotted the bear, my Russian guide signaled me that this was a good one. From that moment on my hart pounded 3 times as fast. When we were at 30 meters from the bear (he had turned around at this point), I did my first shot right in the chest. But the bear his adrenaline kicked in apparently and he came charging at us. My second shot also hit the chest but it seemed like it had no effect. At his point the bear was only 20 meters away anymore. My third shot in the chest seemed to have some effect but he was still charging. When he was at about 10 meters from us he started to lose control of his steps and I was able to place a fourth and final shot above his head in this spine. Luckily this caused him to drop dead on the spot. I am sure that my face and my guides face had the shade of snow. Later on it became clear that I shot him right in the heart 1 time, 2 times around the heart and 1 time trough the spine with my cal 375HH. This monster bear was 840 pounds and 10 feet tall.



Back in Belgium I started thinking of a new hunting trip and this time to the bear-country of my dreams; Canada.
The next year I went to Alberta at a German outfitter who lived there for over 20 years. This time I also wanted to shoot a bear with a bow. Personally I find this even more satisfying. So I bought myself a license for a bear by weapon and a bear by bow (HOYT).
On the second day of my hunt, a beautiful black bear came near the bait where I was sitting in a tree stand and I managed to shoot this bear in the heart with my bow at a distance of 20 meters. After this had happened I decided to go down, stretch my legs, smoke a cigarette. It was getting dark and suddenly I saw a black silhouette at about 20 meters. Luckily I told the outfitter that I was also bringing along my weapon while hunting by bow. First he didn’t want me too but this was not open for discussion for me. The black silhouette was another bear. I shot him more out of precaution than anything else (still with Kamchatka in the back of my head) so I shot him with my weapon (cal 300 )in the head. So I had my 2 bears on 1 day. I had to wait another 2 hours in full darkness until the outfitter finally found the time to come and get me . Apparently something came up, he said ???. The Bears were 180 and 320 pounds. Later on I also was able to shoot a coyote.


My next hunting trip had to be in Canada to. But this time I looked for some real Canadian outfitters and on the internet I found Y and R guides. I booked my hunt with them and this time my daughter was going to join me. We travelled from Brussels to Düsseldorf, from Düsseldorf to Montreal and from Montreal to Bathurst. Raymond and Paul were waiting for us at the airport in Bathurst and they drove us to our very comfortable, nice and authentic cabin.
The next day we went hunting. Raymond guided my daughter. I didn’t want to leave her alone at her tree stand, so I was very relieved that Raymond wanted to stay and guide her. He did this with success, on the very first day my daughter shot a 200 pound bear. Both she and I were very happy. The day after I shot a 160 pounds bear. I was very satisfied, tough my daughter did have some fun with the fact that her bear was a bit bigger.



The following days of our trip we went fishing and did some sight-seeing. Raymond really looked out for us. And the food and especially his cheesecake were amazing. Back at home I saw the result at the scale: + 5kg.
The next trip I did not need to look any further I wanted to go back to Bathurst, back to Y and R guides. This time my son-in-law joined me. He had never hunted big game before. He immediately went for a bear by bow. For him it didn’t matter what size the bear was. The first bear that came along would be good enough. He kept his word. On the first day he shot a bear (110 pounds) with his bow. I shot my bear (265 pounds) 3 days later with a weapon from my American friend Monty Celo . I already saw this big bear a few times around my bait but he kept his distance and never came within bow range. That is why eventually I brought along a weapon.


This year we are going back. Me, my daughter and my son-in-law. You might wonder why we are going to the same place again. Well because of the will to please, expertise and cooking abilities of Raymond and the jokes and fun-loving personality of Paul. They really have become good friends and we all share the same passion: BEARS.

Eddy Van den Branden
Ann Van den Branden
Gilbert Meskens