In Photos: Shooting B.C. bears the humane way
Bear-viewing tours on Vancouver Island and the province's south coast boast a 95-per-cent success rate for spotting a bear during high season
A spring cub makes its away across Glendale River in Knights Inlet, B.C., looking for salmon.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Bears are almost always in the region. From May to September every year, bear-viewing guides on Vancouver Island are so sure of encountering bears that many offer a “raincheque” for those rare days they draw blanks.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Cruising in to the estuaries on British Columbia’s central coast, where bears gather to eat sedge grasses in the spring or catch salmon in the fall, the bear tours report a 95 per cent success rate.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
A female grizzly bear shows her spring cub who’s the boss in Glendale River during a tour on Sept. 18, 2013.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
With big runs of pink salmon arriving in September, many tourists are getting the ultimate experience, watching bears pounce on spawning fish.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Several tour companies operate out of small towns on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. They search along the beaches or cruise up into river mouths searching for black and grizzly bears.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Using flat-bottomed boats to get into the shallows, the guides specialize in getting people up close to bears without disturbing the wild animals they have come to photograph.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail