Thanks very much! This was a rather difficult trip to do, from an effort and discomfort point of view. We spent long hours being pulled in sleds behind snowmobiles, banging across the bumpy sea ice. It was cold enough that I got frostbite on my face, in spite of all my experience and preparation. Bear sightings were of course not guaranteed, and for the first 3 days we saw nothing at all. But then the guides started having success, and it just got better from there. Being around the bears was not dangerous at all, because the mother's instinct is always to run away. So the object was to catch them near an iceberg, of which there are plenty in the area, frozen into the sea ice. As we approached, the bears would just climb up the iceberg to safety. From there we could walk around and fire at will. The Mothers would quickly realize that we weren't a threat, so she'd be quite relaxed and the cubs would also follow her lead.
As a bonus, we also had a few great nights of northern lights:
Thanks for your interest!
Originally Posted by Jonathan Huyer
Thanks very much! This was a rather difficult trip to do, from an effort and discomfort point of view. We spent long hours being pulled in sleds behind snowmobiles, banging across the bumpy sea ice. It was cold enough that I got frostbite on my face, in spite of all my experience and preparation. Bear sightings were of course not guaranteed, and for the first 3 days we saw nothing at all. But then the guides started having success, and it just got better from there. Being around the bears was not dangerous at all, because the mother's instinct is always to run away. So the object was to catch them near an iceberg, of which there are plenty in the area, frozen into the sea ice. As we approached, the bears would just climb up the iceberg to safety. From there we could walk around and fire at will. The Mothers would quickly realize that we weren't a threat, so she'd be quite relaxed and the cubs would also follow her lead.
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