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2023 Bear Season Wrap Up

Dec 20, 2023

Greetings from the team at Discover Churchill,

As we wrap up operations for 2023 we would like to take a minute to say thank you to everyone who made the journey to Churchill for this year’s polar bear season. While there is still lots of open water seen from town there hasn’t been a bear sighted for 10 days or so. Hopefully that means they are all out catching seals and making up for lost time. 

Image 1 © Kristi Odom, Image 2 © Adam Robinson, Image 3 © Alex de Vries, Image 4 © John Beck

Bear season this year brought familiar faces, both human and ursine, back to Churchill. Joining returning guides, Tomas Taylor and James Wells, long-time Churchill resident Dave Allcorn joined the team rounding out what we feel is the best crew we’ve seen. We feel lucky to have assembled a crew that can operate at such a high level in terms of both ethical wildlife standards and knowledge of bear behaviour.

Image 1 © Jazz Dudeman, Image 2 © Alex de Vries, Image 3 © April Stampe

This year was a good reminder that it isn’t just the bears that can put on a show in Churchill. October brought some of the best wolf encounters we’ve ever had and in November the birders in our group barely survived encounters with snowy owls, purple sandpipers, and willow ptarmigan. On top of that, 2023 will be remembered as a great year for foxes photo ops (both red and arctic). Just goes to show you never know what will turn up when you go out the front door.

Image 1 © Tomas Taylor, Image 2 © Alex de Vries, Image 3 © Mirela Ofearth, Image 4 © April Stampe

October and November aren’t the best time to see northern lights but that didn’t stop lady aurora from putting on a few shows during the season that were a nice added bonus for people hoping to have a bunch more photos to edit after a trip to Churchill.

Image 1 © Hazel Sharples, Image 2 © FairOaks Foto, Image 3 © Drew Hamilton, Image 4 © James Wells

Polar bear season 2024 will be here before you know it and we have some new twists to offer folks. In addition to staying at Bear’s Den 1 & 2 we will also have reserved rooms at Inukshuk Rooms, a new B&B operated by Dave Allcorn and Celine Mathieu. This will make us much more versatile in accommodating guests. Also, we have added 9 day departures to our calendar that include 5 full days of bear viewing.
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