To fully appreciate Fyfe's new venture, a review of the area's history is in order. Going back to the beginning of commercial hunting on Vancouver Island, Wayne Wiebe owned the black bear and elk outfitting rights for the entire island. As you may remember, Wiebe developed the hunting in the early 80s and in the final years of his operation, produced more black bears for clients than any other outfitter in Canada.
He routinely had clients arrive on the noon plane and depart on that evening's flight with two bears! Such is the unbelievable number of bears available. Looking back over notes from some of my hunts with Wiebe, I saw from four to 14 bears daily. By the way, both DeLuca and Fyfe guided me on those early hunts, so they have plenty of experience.
Since the island covers more than 12,400 square miles, it was impossible for one outfit to adequately tap its hunting potential. Over time, competent outfitters such as Jim Shockey and Zarco Wildlife purchased different concessions and expanded the hunting. Still, they hardly dented the potential. So, as the larger outfits spun off concessions, or as in the case of Zarco, just sold out, more and more outfitters, such as DeLuca and Fyfe, started offering hunts. Their areas are huge. DeLuca's area in Management Unit 1-8 and a portion of 1-7 is reported to cover 2,000 square miles. Fyfe's area is even larger, covering over 3,000 square miles in Management Units 1-09 and 1-11 on the north end of the island.
Fyfe's outfit, North Island Guide Outfitting, is offering hunts for Roosevelt........(continued)
