mike838

i am planning on going on a baited bowhunt for blackbear. i was wondering if the black bears are as "spooky" as the heavily hunted whitetails here in ohio. how would you rate the hunt compared too deer? as of in their eyesight, sense of smell,and their all around warriness.just like to know what too expect.

Porintree

There are some differences when hunting black bears. First of all you are hunting over bait, so the bears will have an idea of human presence in the area, and they are coming to you for a specific reason. For this reason the larger more mature bears will be much more cautious than smaller bears. Smaller bears often need the food more because they will be pushed out of the prime feeding areas by larger bears. Therefore the smaller bears may not seem to even care that u are there, even if they notice ur scent or hear u make noise or whatever.

As far as comparing the senses, i would say that bears have as good or better noses compared to deer, but won't be as easily scared off by picking up human scent as a deer is. Bears use their sense of smell the way we use our eyes. If a bear sees u, it will usually try and catch ur scent in order to verify what its eyes are telling it. Mature bears often circle baits and check things out thoroughly before coming in to the bait. If you are looking for a large, trophy bear, it would be wise to take all the precautions that a deer hunter would take in regards to controlling ur scent and wearing camouflage clothing.

Not being from Ohio, I can't necessarily compare bears and deer the way you asked, but the deer up here in Manitoba are extremely spooky here due to poaching pressure.

Good luck with your baited black bear hunt... it is likely the most entertaining hunt on average if u are in an area where there are a lot of bears. Hope you get a nice one!