Has anyone been to Churchill WITHOUT use of a tour?

For the past couple years I have been debating going to Churchill Manitoba in late October / early November to photograph the bears. It is my understanding that you can accomplish this without signing up for an expensive tour package. Getting a room is supposed to be your first task, getting tundra buggy trips on the days you are there is supposed to be second and flights are last from what I have read. I wanted to know if anyone has done this successfully. Any tips on maybe small unknown places that people might not normally check? Or do you have a group with one spot open that isn't expensive?

Thanks

Don Gorczynski

I've been to Churchill twice, both times with my family. We don't do "tours." The first time we went was about 1992, and this was well before the place was "discovered." We went in early June, a time of thawing. I had a 12 ga shotgun slung on my back loaded with two popper loads backed up with slugs. When on the tundra our goal was to NOT see bears, LOL! Our second trip was in 1998, I think. We went the third week of August, which I think is the best month. There are still some tiny flowers blooming, the bugs are mostly gone, and there are fall colors on the little bushes. It's also not as crowded. There are still bears lurking around so my wife & I each had a cannister of bear spray. We brought that because really, I don't want to shoot anything with a shotgun unless I'm going to eat it. We stayed away from places known to harbor bears.

There is a lot to photo in the area. I liked the old fort the best. We also went out on kayaks and saw beluga whales. There were birds all over the place, some of which I recognized from back home. I love the stunted plant growth and austere look. We spent some time exploring an old military plane that crashed on the edge of town, and I photo'd the railroad/port operations some. The people there are interesting subjects too. Make sure you do the train ride up there from at least Thompson, and get a berth. It's the best train ride I've ever been on.

We avoided the bears on purpose, but if that's your thing I would not advise going out on your own. I'm a very experienced hunter/outdoorsman and I wouldn't do it. The bears are very sneaky and smart. And hungry. As much as I don't like tours, I likely would do a tundra buggy thing if taking photos of bears. They're pretty low on my list though. I love the Arctic in late summer/early fall the best, and I like to simply walk it. We always just line up the train, hotel, etc. using a travel agent.

We are considering going again this summer since our youngest kid (10) has never been. If we do, we'll go about the third week of August, take the train, and rent kayaks. Make sure you order some char when eating at a local restaurant.



Kent in SD

I'm not one for tours at all but in the case of polar bears there's no way you'd find me out there alone. Those bears can be EXTREMELY dangerous. I'd play it safe and stick to a tour.

I had the great pleasure of going on a photo tour with Mark Lissick in Novmber. He goes to a lodge NW of Churchill where you are out with naturalists walking in the arctic seeing and photographing ptarmagin, snowy owls, wolves, Northern lights and polar bears. It is much better photography to be at the ground level when photographing the animals and the 2 "guards-naturalists" are extremely experienced with the wildlife and read the bears like a book. We never felt in danger and were as close as about 25 yards from a bear at times and we were on the ground. We did spend part of the last day on a tundra buggy at Churchill and it was interesting, but taking photos of the bears while 14 feet in the air was not nearly as successful for quality. The food at the lodge was fabulous, the other participants in the small group were lots of fun and interesting people. I would go on that trip again in a minute! I really am not fond of crowds so this trip was just perfect for my tastes. Easy to do, well organized, lots to learn (evening slide shows by Mark and one of the naturalists were wonderful and very educational), great food and fun people. Mark was exceptionally helpful and patient. I have always been very interested in zoology so I spent many hours spewing questions to the naturalists, one of whom had over 25 years of experience studying the polar bears.

I took a train from Winnipeg to Churchill in the late 1980s. I was not interested in photography at the time. It was an interesting, but grueling ride (in coach). It was August. We arrived without lodging reservations. That was ok, as it turned out, but things are probably different now. We saw many birds, lots of Beluga whales (many alive, some dead taken by hunters - we sampled Muk Tuk, yuck) saw a few polar bears and generally had one of our famously chaotic family vacations.

That doesn't help you much, except to say, of course you can get there without a tour.

Pete D.

It's getting a hotel room without the tour that is difficult. That is why I want to hear from people who had done that. Obviously once you are on a tundra buggie you are safe and with other people. I think I was misunderstood. I don't plan to walk out in the woods and be an appetizer on a stick. I would get on the tundra buggies on a day to day basis which costs A LOT less.

Thanks

Don