RE: Hunting bear for the first time
Find where they are eating. The only thing that bears are doing this time of year is eating eating eating! If you can scout a few areas to find out what the bears are feeding on then you should be able to find the bears. I would set up a stand over a good looking feeding area and get in there in the early afternoon (maybe 1:00) and then wait 'em out. I don't know how successful a drive would be. Black bears are fast and silent and very reluctant to travel out in the open. If you want to try driving them I would set up two shooters and have three guys drive a wide path toward a heavily used game trail. You don't have to move fast or make a lot of noise, because the bears will hear you and smell you and they will start moving. Above all else, study your bear anatomy and make your first shot count. Bears don't lay down and die like a deer will. After your rifle goes off they will take off and run until they are dead. I shot mine this year with the 30-06 and took out both lungs and the heart and he still ran 10-15 yards through heavy cover...AND FAST! You would be surprised.