Two weeks into bear-hunting season some outfitters say they are seeing more Canadian hunters, and more looking for meat instead of trophies.

"Now I’m seeing a lot of my bear hunters targeting the meat as much as the hide, said George Theriault, who runs Air Ivanhoe which has two dozen fly-in camps in the Foleyet area.

“The hide was important years ago, now the meat is as important or more important.”

Theriault says the number of bear hunters has dropped since the spring hunt was canceled in 1999.

He also added that many of the American bear hunters now go to Manitoba or Quebec, where it is still legal to hunt bears in the springtime. There is also the issue of the high Canadian dollar that may also be keeping many Americans away.

Meanwhile, the ministry of natural resources says it received more calls about bears this summer than in recent years.

It says there were nearly 2,300 so-called "bear occurrences,” which is up about 800 from last year, but is less than half of the 4,700 bear encounters reported in 2009.