Furync

Hi everyone,

I'm going black bear hunting for the first time in my life next week-end.

I will be hunting in an area I'm very familiar with, I've hunted deer in that area for 10 years. I've also been scouting & baiting in 1 particular spot for the last few weeks. I know where to setup my climber, I know which bears I can take and how to identify them in the field, I know where to shoot them too, basically, I've been preparing a lot.

Basically, I was wondering if someone had any tips for a first timer?
what to do if it's spooked or worried... I cant exactly use calls like when deer hunting...
anything very different, in the field dressing ,from a deer?
stuff like that


thanks a lot in advance

Rebel Dog

I have done a few baited hunts in the past, The one thing that truly benefits baiting especially in dense cover such as we have in the east is it gives you adequit time to determine if the bear is a boar or not. Judging the size can be tricky I tried looking at the head and ears to determine it's size the ears on a small bear will look big I have heard that a bears ears never grow the head grows into them. Another thing is smell I use to set up away from the bait just to keep my scent as far away as possible, use rubber boots and try and stay calm. I couldn't believe it when I saw my first bear it was great. Good luck

Kriesis

I too am planning my first black bear hunt this fall. I can't wait to go--not only is it going to be my first bear hunt, but it is going to be time for my dad and I to get away from our families and hunt like we used to when I was growing up!

We are going hound hunting in ME in September--any pointers or anything that could help would be great.

shed33

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

shed33

05 spring... bears are awesome to hunt..good luck guys !

Furync

I will be using my rifle, .308 with 180gr. should pack a nice punch.


great advice guys, thanks a bunch
Thanks Shed33