My 15 y.o. son is wanting to shoot a black bear. We have 2 weeks of bear season here in N.C. starting yesterday. I have never been a bear hunter but we do have a good idea of where we may run across one as we ran across a sow and cub earlier this year while deer hunting. My question is how dependent are the cubs on their mother at this point? Do most bear hunters hold off on shooting sows with cubs? I don't shoot does with fawns but am told that the fawns are plenty independant by this time of year to live on their own. Justpersonal decision I have made. What's the normal practice among bear hunters on this.