What to Bring Hunting on Vancouver Island

April temperatures range from daytime highs of 65° F to nighttime lows of 32° F.
May to mid June temperatures range from daytime highs of 70°F. to nighttime lows of 35°F.
Mid October to mid November temperatures range from daytime highs of 50°F. to nighttime lows of 25°F.
Hunters must be prepared to hunt in a temperate rain forest with the potential of daily weather fluctuations and rain any day.
It is best to travel with soft sided duffle type bags.

Suggested Equipment List:

• 1 scoped rifle .30 caliber rifle recommended
• 2 boxes of heavy grain ammunition
• 1 pair of binoculars
• 2 large duffle bags - one for gear, one for hides
• 1 medium weight coat (quiet material) **
• 2 light hunting shirts **
• 1 light weight hunting pants (quiet material) **
• 1 medium weight hunting pants (quiet material) **
• 1 suit of light weight underwear
• 1 suit of medium weight underwear
• 3 pair of cotton underwear shorts
• 3 pair heavy wool socks
• 3 pair of light socks
• 1 vest
• 1 ball cap (waxed)
• 1 pair of gloves
• 1 pair of boots with vibram type soles
• 1 pair camp shoes
• 1 set of rain gear
• 1 day pack

Camp Supplies

• small packages of the following
  • Aspirin
  • Antacid tablets
  • Band-aids
  • Chapstick
  • Cold tablets
  • Moleskin
  • prescription medicines

** for Fall Hunts only
change to the following:

• 1 medium weight wool jacket
• 1 medium weight wool pants
• 2 medium weight wool shirts

Optional equipment

• range finder
• 1 satellite phone
• 1 camera c/w 6 rolls of film
• 1 hunting knife
• 1 sharpener
• compact cleaning kit
• 1 head lamp (early April and Oct. hunts only)

Equipment Guidelines
here are some tips to make your trip more enjoyable

• Clothing and equipment needs will vary depending on the time of year and type of hunt.
• For those items listed as optional, please contact us before you bring any of it. It's not the personal clothing that adds extra weight to your packs, It's all the items like snack food, extra batteries and gadgets. Our guides have everything that is required in the way of optics etc. More often than not clients optional equipment never leaves the base camp.
• Coast Black Bear are tough animals. Bring a flat shooting rifle that you can comfortably handle. This should be in the 300 win mag. to .338 cal. range, if possible use a rifle with a 3 x 9 compact scope and a synthetic stock.

Optics

• 1 pair of superior quality 10 x 42 binoculars, such as Leica, Swaroski or Zeiss

Hunting Clothes

• always think in terms of layering
• should be made of quiet material
• pants should be loose fitting
• goretex clothing
• early April and Oct, hunts use wool outer clothing

Boots

• pair of superior hunting/hiking boots with vibram soles, well broken in and waterproof.
• 1 pair of rubber boots 16" to 18" high (optional)

Camp Shoes

• light tennis shoes
• rubber bottom slip-ons

Head Lamp

• such as Cabela's "Pretzel" - optional
• Browning 10mm Ballistic lite - optional

Rain Gear

• set of top quality rain gear, natural colours
  
  • jacket with a hood
  • pants with bib and suspenders