Grizzly Bear (Alberta), Black Bear (British Columbia)

Looks like a trip to Canada BC is on the cards for you http://www.canadatravelspecialists....ife-holidays?gclid=CNPdkuiE1MkCFUoUwwodxAMDaQ
2016 flights all booked, We will do the research prior to departure, and then choose an area to visit. Then get local knowledge before setting out in search of the bears

I'm planning a trip to Romania to see the wild bears there..http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/s...nia-if-you-go-down-to-the-woods-today....html[/QUOTE]

Romania looks a very good "Bear option", you will have to drop me a message with more info after your trip - good luck it sounds great
 
that grizzly has a real sense of menace to him, certainly not one to get on the wrong side of!!

I will to check those links :)
 
Two very nice shots Steve, #1 in particular is a bit special.(y)

George.
 
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Hi riu,
I do guided trips to British Columbia and have done somewhere around 40 odd trips, if I can help just give me a shout, I see you where in Tofino, I stay at Marine West to photography the Black Bears on the shore, if you ever get a chance to float the Nitinat river you will see lots of Black Bears with Cubs on tree limbs ect.
Anyway if I can help give me a shout, I have travelled from the Okanagan to Vancouver and onto the Island many, many times.
Thanks Gordon.
 
Great grizzly shot, well spotted lurking behind a tree to bush-whack anything tasty that should cross his path:whistle:. He does look like he's in a real mean & hungry mood:cautious:
 
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Hi riu,
I do guided trips to British Columbia and have done somewhere around 40 odd trips, if I can help just give me a shout, I see you where in Tofino, I stay at Marine West to photography the Black Bears on the shore, if you ever get a chance to float the Nitinat river you will see lots of Black Bears with Cubs on tree limbs ect.
Anyway if I can help give me a shout, I have travelled from the Okanagan to Vancouver and onto the Island many, many times.
Thanks Gordon.

Gordon, thanks for the offer of the advice. The next time, we are heading to Wells Gray National Park, then onto Jasper, Revelstoke and ending up in the Okanagan valley around Kelowna
 
Hi Riu,
Just heading out the door but I know Kelowna and Vernon in the Okanagan very well, depending on what time of year you can get species of birds found nowhere else in Canada, as well as pygmy Owls, Humming birds, Avocets, Red Tailed Hawks Ospreys and much much more just in the Okanagan valley, these are all at their best in the early summer, I will be in the Okanagan at the end of May early June with a small group of photographers, later in the year I do Vancouver and Vancouver Island.
Let me know what time of year you are going and I will try and help you better.
Thanks Gordon.
P.S I stayed with the Okanagan first nations people for a few years.
 
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Hi Riu,
Just heading out the door but I know Kelowna and Vernon in the Okanagan very well, depending on what time of year you can get species of birds found nowhere else in Canada, as well as pygmy Owls, Humming birds, Avocets, Red Tailed Hawks Ospreys and much much more just in the Okanagan valley, these are all at their best in the early summer, I will be in the Okanagan at the end of May early June with a small group of photographers, later in the year I do Vancouver and Vancouver Island.
Let me know what time of year you are going and I will try and help you better.
Thanks Gordon.
P.S I stayed with the Okanagan first nations people for a few years.

Gordon, We should be in the valley last week in May.
kind regards
Steve
 
Neither of the Bears look very friendly!
Fine shots, though.
 
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Hi Steve,
I will send you a PM for different species in the Okanagan and send you a guide contact in Kelowna who can get you close up to lots of different birds the list is just to long to post right now, but its the perfect time for Mountain Blue Birds, Humming birds, Ospreys, Red tailed Hawks Avocets ect ect. the Okanagan is my favourite place in BC, just stunning lake country.
Will get some detail to you ASAP.
Thanks Gordon.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aviemore-Ospreys/443194042407751
 
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Hi Steve,
I will send you a PM for different species in the Okanagan and send you a guide contact in Kelowna who can get you close up to lots of different birds the list is just to long to post right now, but its the perfect time for Mountain Blue Birds, Humming birds, Ospreys, Red tailed Hawks Avocets ect ect. the Okanagan is my favourite place in BC, just stunning lake country.
Will get some detail to you ASAP.
Thanks Gordon.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aviemore-Ospreys/443194042407751
Hi Gordon, thanks, and will checkout your link. Planning a trip up your way !
 
Hi Steve,
Sent you some details of the Kelowna area and where to find some special species of birds.
Cheers Gordon.
 
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The grizzly in 1 is superb.
 
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Great image and having spent sometime with the bears in BC I know just how big they really are and how scary it can be, was fishing once and had a big male appear behind me, .....Howard does a great trip with great guides, one of the guys was voted wildlife photographer of the year in National Geographic for his Grizzly images.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiukdQsiisw


Hope you have a great trip in 2016 riu, if you are flying into Calgary I have a friend who has Wolves and you are allowed into the forest enclosure to interact and photograph, part of my planned trip for 2016.
 
Seen plenty Black Bears and Cubs on Vancouver Island,( no Grizzlies on the Island) but you still go to be careful when there are Cubs about, That Damn Grizzly nearly made me poop my pants, but there is nowhere like BC for wildlife Photography let alone the scenery, the exchange rate is at a long time high making it much more doable.
Gordon.
 
Hope you have a great trip in 2016 riu, if you are flying into Calgary I have a friend who has Wolves and you are allowed into the forest enclosure to interact and photograph, part of my planned trip for 2016.

My partner and I have had a couple of really good holidays traveling in Canada and its quickly become our favorite destination. We're hopefully going again next year so any info you have about places to visit would be great, Gordon! I'm usually shooting landscapes, but just been getting into wildlife over the last six months. (PS. This might be a better conversation to have else where as I know I'm on somebody's thread!:)

Cheers
 
Love those shots. It's a bit of a dream of mine to get to photograph wild bears. Maybe they'll be reintroduced to Scotland at some point!
 
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Hi SAuchterlonie,
I'm sure I can help, after 40 odd trips to Alberta and BC for up to three months at a time, I kinda know the place a little, let me start by stating the obvious and as you know, ..... its big... like really big and timing for different species is the key, the reason I do four different trips a year, I should say I am going to be a forum sponsor in a month or so for my trips in 2017.
Most wildlife companies in Canada are geared up for viewing not photography, so lets say you are going to photograph Killer Whales, picking the wrong vessel will see you looking on down on the whales in a slow vessel with 50 other people, but for the same money you can get a vessel with a max of 12 people that sits lower in the water and has a much bigger range and travels faster, now this might not seem like much, but is a huge detail, and why I used every company on Vancouver Island, so I get the best for Photography.
I sent riu some details for the interior for the time of year he is travelling as this area gets bird species at the time that are found nowhere else in Canada, and they are stunning looking also brilliant for predators .
Anyway, before I bore you, let me know what you would like to photograph as you can cover a lot on one trip, Orca's Humpbacks, Grizzlies can be photographed in the space of four days in the summer when the light is brilliant and the water really calm, all the trips are suitable for non photographers as well.
Just give me a shout if you need any help, the exchange rate is at a long time high, and flight costs have got a good bit cheaper.
you can even hang out with my friends bear if you want
. http://www.instinctforfilm.com/instinct-bear-commercial-reel.aspx#!prettyPhoto[pp-gal-3]/5/

Cheers Gordon.
 
Hi. Just had a quick speed read through your post (op) and responses from others. On the face of it, on your next trip to Canada it looks to me like you won't be anywhere near Spirit bear territory. As far as I know (having lived ten years in Prince Rupert, BC, they are only found in the Great Bear Rainforest in northwest BC. If you look at a map of BC look for Terrace, BC. That would be your starting point in your quest for them. The Okanagan valley is a FULL day's drive away-think 7-8 hours.
 
Hi. Just had a quick speed read through your post (op) and responses from others. On the face of it, on your next trip to Canada it looks to me like you won't be anywhere near Spirit bear territory. As far as I know (having lived ten years in Prince Rupert, BC, they are only found in the Great Bear Rainforest in northwest BC. If you look at a map of BC look for Terrace, BC. That would be your starting point in your quest for them. The Okanagan valley is a FULL day's drive away-think 7-8 hours.
Paul, the Okanagan valley is the last part of our 25 day trip. We fly into Vancouver then move on towards Prince George/Prince Rupert then back towards Wells Gray , Jasper , Revelstoke then to the Valley. We did a trip last year starting in Vancouver onto Tofino,.Uculcelot, Telegraph cove, then across to Alberta, so we expect some long days driving.
Cheers Steve
 
Hi All,
I will be posting the details of my wildlife photography trips for later this year and 2017, now I am a sponsor of Talk Photography, very small groups to get the best and travelling to cover as much wildlife as is possible, the trips are designed for Photographers and non photographers who just want to see all the wildlife.
Will post the details in the workshop section on Sunday, and riu i have a friend who gets lots of Hummingbirds at feeders in her garden, she has sent me some images taken with her phone, brilliant images of the birds hovering, i am sure if i ask her she will let you go photograph them if you like while in the Okanagan, May should be perfect timing for those and the Big Male Grizzlies fighting.
Thanks Gordon.
https://www.facebook.com/Aviemore-Ospreys-443194042407751/
 
Hi All,
I will be posting the details of my wildlife photography trips for later this year and 2017, now I am a sponsor of Talk Photography, very small groups to get the best and travelling to cover as much wildlife as is possible, the trips are designed for Photographers and non photographers who just want to see all the wildlife.
Will post the details in the workshop section on Sunday, and riu i have a friend who gets lots of Hummingbirds at feeders in her garden, she has sent me some images taken with her phone, brilliant images of the birds hovering, i am sure if i ask her she will let you go photograph them if you like while in the Okanagan, May should be perfect timing for those and the Big Male Grizzlies fighting.
Thanks Gordon.
https://www.facebook.com/Aviemore-Ospreys-443194042407751/

Hey Gordon, I've followed you on Facebook, so will continue the questions about wildlife in Canada over there as to not highjack this thread. I might also be interested in coming up to your hides! :)

Cheers

Simon
 
Hi Simon,
No Problem, not to highjack this thread but if you follow my facebook page you will see my new plans for 2016, I have quite a few dates for the Ospreys sold out as we were lucky enough to have birds everyday and three of the photographers won awards with their images.
I will post the British Columbia trips tonight on the workshop section, and I know riu will have some stunning images of landscape and wildlife from his trip that I am already looking forward to seeing, I am sure he is hooked on British Columbia.... I know that feeling.
Thanks Gordon.
 
I spent 3 months in the USA in summer last year and was fortunate enough to see 4 bears including a close encounter (too close!) with a huge brown bear in Yosemite they are fascinating animals and these are some beautiful pictures of them!
 
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