First of all........ good luck.

1. Bears that I hunt often come out in the evening better than daytime, but that doesnt mean yours won't visit your baits throughout the day. I hunt natural food sources instead of baiting.

2. Field dress a bear just like you do a deer. Dragging them out may surprise you, a heavy bear can be cumbersome to drag, we always take rope to tie around their front forearms, we make a harness and drag them out.

3. Bears don't bleed as much like a deer from my experiences consider this when your blood trailing them.

4. Aim for the vitals, bears amaze me with their toughness. I have placed perfect shots in the vitals and they still live for 3-5 minutes. A bear can cover a lot of ground if pushed! They are extremely fast. Tracking a bear is different from deer in that deer hooves dig into the ground and tear up the turf versus a bear running on the grassy areas I hunt them in. They often leave a subtle trail. When a heavy bodied bear hits the dirt and or less grassy areas they leave a pretty obvious track.

5. They can be extremely quiet, stay very alert.

6. When in doubt on a marginal shot, back out, wait and recover after some time has passed.

Are you rifle hunting or bowhunting this spot? The 3 bears I have harvested with a bow in the past have all traveled around 100 yards with double lung shots. The bears I have harvested with a rifle have traveled just as far or fruther, I think the noise of the rifle really spooks them, versus the bee sting of the arrow, when I have witnessed them running off then slowing up and wondering what bit them.

I hope some of this may help. Expect an ole wise bear to come in downwind of your bait, just like any educated critter.


Shed