FisherMike

that is a wicked photo!!! nicely done!!!

Dr. Sal if you read ahead its been mentioned that london, ontario is not equipped to deal with bears. there probably hasnt been a bear in town in 40 years. so to answer your question, no a bear probably isnt shot if it wanders into dryden. im guessing the MNR would use one of their many bear traps, but you should know that. my buddy from school worked in manitouwadge as a bear trapper. towns that have bears have ways to deal with bears. towns that dont have bears typically dont have ways to deal with bears.

Dara, (i cant get the quote thing to work) when you say to me, "come up here and deal with avoiding bears everyday". i live in the woods. im from london ontario, and in london at the moment, but saturday morning im driving back up north for my 9th year. from may till almost october i live in the woods. i drive garbage out of camp to the dump where bears are everywhere every single night of the week. i work and live in bear country. the closest town of Dryden, ON is an hour and half drive from camp. there is nothing but NW ontario bush between where i live and town. so please dont try to tell me what its like to deal with bears everyday.

BillM, i dont think it was mentioned that people think there isnt a bear population in the Grey/Bruce. that is where they have supposedly wandered down from. as for lots of bush around london, im not sure what you consider bush, but there is definately not a lot of bush around london.

1 year in the bush out of a tent, 8 years total........in the bush. im no expert, but im no rookie either. ive assisted on guided bear hunts over the last 4 years, but i guess because im from london and not the great white north, i cant know anything about bears and bear behaviour.

i would imagine a black bears behaviour is absolutely different in the south. the bear wandered from the bruce penisula into a major city with a population of almost 400,000 people. i dont think a bear would be in a normal state of mind being in that situation. i really dont understand the argument here. a bear wandered into a major city, extremely close to a private school, a high school with almost 2000 students and a mental institution. like its been mentioned many many many times in this post, bears are extremely uncommon in southern ontario. as for the comment of the bear only being 200lbs. think about a 100 pound pitpul then times that by two. not all of us in the south are ignorant or misinformed about the dangers of wildlife. i myself have logged over a year of my life living out of a tent in bear country, from val dor quebec to the pas in manitoba. manitouwadge, geralton, wawa, dryden, timmins to name a few more. i am not a rookie when it comes to bear encounters. for people on here to insinuate that black bears are not a threat and/or dangerous is absolutely ridiculous. even a 100 lb bear is extremly able to cause massive injury to any person. ive been bluff charged, jaw popped, foot stomped, you name it. lets all just keep in mind that the officers who dealt with this bear have probably never seen a bear in their lives. im sure many people on here have many better ways that this situation could have been handled, but you werent there, and neither was i.

good luck!!! im guessing the water levels may be a little low. im also heading north this weekend. it'll be a 2 day drive upto lac seul. our walleye opens on the 17th??? i think, but im sure the pike will be hungry.

im sure they will educate the kids about bear safety now. my main point here is that there hasnt been a bear in london in many many many years. this is not the norm. im sure bear education/control is about to change in southern ontario.

the difference between a community up north compared to down south is up north is bear country. police, animal control and the MNR up north live with and deal with bears on a regular occasion. like i said with the london police, even if animal control was called, i guarantee there is not an animal control officer in london capable of dealing with bears. im not at all saying that human safety is more important down south compared to up north whatsoever. the simple way to put it is people up north are more educated on bears and bear safety compared to people in southern ontario. i deal with bears almost daily on my job up north. if i see a bear up north im typically not too concerned. that bear is doing its daily routine in its typical habitat. if i was fishing in london and saw a bear it would be a completely different story.

its not just that theres a private school there. there is also a high school and a childrens mental health hospital all very close to eachother. its a shame that the bear was shot but bears in london is extremely rare and its not something that probably any london police officer has ever had to deal with.

nicely done!!!!! great report and pics!!!

Rizzo, a boar is a male bear.

i just heard on the radio that police just shot a bear in west london today. thats pretty shocking news for london. i guess a lot of the boars from the bruce peninsula are moving further south to establish their own territories. pretty crazy!!

x-raps!!!

thanks for the info everyone. i just got in after a day of being skunked so i didnt even get to use it. oh well, maybe next time.

i just picked up this berkley digital scale and was wondering what some of your opinions are on it. it was the only scale in the store i went to and i need it for fishing tommorrow so i didnt have much choice. are they fairly accurate?? any problems with them?? thanks

i think he meant 40-48 pounds was the combined weight of 3 fish brought in for the tourny.

the cabelas brand cameras are decent and fairly priced. ive had no problems with mine.

great report!!! im glad you didnt let your buddy grap the musky by the eyes.

just watched it on global this morning. looks like an awesome camp. thanks for the heads up!

im pretty sure his normal hours are 9:00am-5:00pm.

beauty!!!!!

haha!!! yeah the road is a bit of an adventure, thats for sure. i had no guiding experience when i started. the training program is awesome!! it would definitely be a little difficult because youve got a baby, but at least its not too far from town. we are all hired up for this year, but maybe keep it in mind for next season.

yep!!! i fish williams regularly. its about a 15 minute boat ride from the lodge. i typically only fish williams for pike but i do know there are some monster walleye in there. the lodge is silver water wheel. im sure you've seen the signs. theres actually one right in town.

"Where ya goin Mike? If your in the neighbourhood gissa shout." i'm going to lac seul. dryden is the last stop before i head into to the woods to the lodge i work at. the lodge is a little over an hour drive from town. im pretty excited!!! for the past few years the lake has been frozen when i arrived. it should be ready to rock by the time i get there ont the 6th of may. once again, congrats on that beauty walleye!!!!