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 Bear Action III Video Review - By Bear Hunting Magazine

Join Glen Berry, of Berry Game Calls, as he travels to southeast Alaska to hunt big black bears. Glen is joined by his son Chad and other hunting partners as they hunt over bait in some of the thickest and most beautiful country on Prince of Wales (POW) island. If you have ever hunted this area then you know the amazing road system this island has due to the logging that has taken place over the years, enabling Glen and his team to find some great locations to place their baits. This entire production is a do-it-yourself, unguided hunt, which took two seasons to complete. The journey starts in Washington as the truck is packed with bait, stands, food and necessary gear to last for a two week hunt before they load a ferry for a 30+ hour cruise to POW. Scouting is done to ensure baits are placed at least the 1/4 mile legal distance from any road, then trails are cleared to enable the bait site and stands to be set up. Baiting begins and it does not take long for activity to begin. There are five great bears taken on this video with the smallest measuring 19 3/16" and the biggest at 21 11/16". The other three are over 20 inches. There is a lot of bear action packed in this 60 minute quality video, we give this video a very good 3 paws.

A Calling in the Wild - By Rich Landers

It's nothing new for Glen Berry to disappear from his Medical Lake shop for five or six weeks during the fall hunting seasons. But this year at least, friends and customers can at least keep track of him on TV. Berry, who founded Berry Game Calls 20 years ago, has produced a series of 8 episodes called "Berry Game Calls Hunting Adventures", which started running in September on The Outdoor Channel. Berry is not just a Curt Gowdy or some other talking face in front of the camera. Going into this season, the 45-year-old game calling champion had taken 33 elk with a bow. "I've been successful, but then I hunt five or six weeks straight in different states every year," he said. "If you figured my success in terms of effort, it doesn't sound quite so good." Todd Klement, a Spokane hunter who's seen some of Berry's videos begs to disagree. "That's flat out incredible," he said. "Getting a couple of big bulls in a lifetime with a bow is a big deal." Berry Game Calls is a small family business. "My wife is key to it," he said. And archery is a family affair in the Berry household. Daughter Brett, 13, and son Chad, 21, both finished ninth in their divisions this fall back in West Virginia among 3,000 top shooters entered in the International Bowhunting Organization World Championships. But when the elk start to bugle in September, no competition gets in the way of the hunt. "We're out the door for six weeks," he said, noting that he'll drive back and forth between Montana and Idaho to orchestrate his hunts. "I've learned you get out there the day before the seasons open and you don't quit until after they are over." Of course, he counts it as work. In the early 1980's, Berry was on the ground floor of the elk call manufacturing and elk hunting video industries. Elk diaphragm calls were just coming out when Berry started building calls for himself. They worked so well, he made a few for local stores, and he started winning game calling contests. The business bloomed. Berry said his "Thunder Bugle" revolutionized elk calling when it came out in 1994. "It was so easy to blow, anybody could use it," he said. His "Sleazy Cow Call" was another boon for the common hunter because it automatically indexed to the right place when the hunter would bite down on the plastic around the reed. But he said he's never told people that a call will work every time. "In my opinion, it's never been easy," he said. "There's a lot of technique and timing in making the right calls. Elk sound different from animal to animal and time to time." Years of hunting are required before a hunter learns which call to use at the right time, he said, noting that calling is a sport in itself to many hunters. "Even if they don't get a shot because of brush or whatever, they can be completely fulfilled by just getting a bull to come in close." Hunting in front of a camera makes everything a little more complicated. "Businesswise, videos are a step we have had to take," he said. "Personally, I like to hunt. Cameras are enjoyable, but sometimes they're not." Berry takes pride in hunting and filming on public land. "Even today, a lot of the videos out there are shot and phonied up to look like everything happened the way they say, but half the footage is taken in a park," he said. "We called ours True Hunting Adventures because we hunt where everyone else hunts, not on high-dollar private ranches, leased areas or enclosures with pen-raised animals." Berry said his 1986 video, "Bugling with Success," has been used for years to train hunting guides. Idaho and Montana still have some of the nation's best elk hunting, he said. Washington's opportunity is limited by restrictive seasons. "Washington bowhunters do best in September on the west slopes of the Cascades, but muzzleloaders actually have better seasons than archers in Washington," he said. The key to success in Idaho and Montana has been finding prime land - all public - and learning when and how to hunt it. "It's all about putting in the time," he said. He recommends heading to elk country well before the seasons in August. "Get up high and glass so you know where the animals are," he said. "Then pattern the animals and put yourself ahead of where they want to go. "A call is much more effective when you're already where the bull wants to go."

Getting Answers from Five of the Top Turkey Hunters - By Skip Knowles

Glen Berry, Medical Lake

Glen Berry of Berry Game Calls (299-5524) is all turkeyed out. His Medical Lake based company makes hunting videos and is currently completing a three year film on hunting turkeys in the Northwest. "The last three years have been hell. I've been hunting turkeys from California to here," he says. "I've called in at least 30 to 35 toms on film." "The thing about turkeys is they can wear you out!" Berry says. "You've got to put them to bed and then get on them before daylight." Berry has killed 39 elk with a bow and says turkeys offer the same excitement, just a smaller target. "We had gobblers come in last year up by Colville and they were fighting right in front of us on film," he says. "The shooters could have shot them but the turkeys use the terrain so well they use their head like a periscope. They use every piece of terrain they can coming in. You never get a whole look at a good bird when they come in. One thing he has noticed is that many people don't kill the bird when they do get a shot. "People need to pattern out their shotgun, and shoot where the feathers connect to the neck at the base. They want to put the bead on their head and throw half the pattern overtop."

 

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