For all you seasoned bear hunters. What is the appropriate distance to shoot at bear (with a bow) and what equipment specs do you recommend to make a good kill? Please advise as far a broadheads, arrow weight, Boiw draw weightetc

Bears are not hard to kill. I have use a 165 gr 30-06 and my bow. I use the same set up for my bow as I do for deer. I would say that if you are sitting over a bait and using a gun I would get as far away from it as you can and still hit what you are shooting. I would be atleast 50 yards away. I have seen several bears circle the bait in between 30-50 yards. it seems that once they get within that 30 yards they come right in, but they circle for a while, so be paitent. If you are using a bow, don't go as high in the tree as you would with a gun and put your stand up at the distance you feel the most comfortable shoot from.

I treat bear the same way I do deer as far as distance is concerned. It's pretty much up to whatever you feel comfortable with. As far as specs anything from a .270 on up will do the job as long as you use the proper load. I took my boar with a 130 gr cxp2 out of my .270 and he dropped like a rock. Now granted that's a pretty light load and I would recommend something a little heavier but I had complete confidence in the shot placement and knew what I could and couldn't take. I waited until he was 30 yards broadside and put one right through the boiler room.

I don't think that black bears are hard to kill, but hunting with a bow is a little trickier than hunting with the rifle.

1. I would recommend leaving your mechanical broadheads at home. I don't know if they are actually bad or not, but there is enough argument on the subject to make me take notice, especially when traditional broadheads work perfectly fine!

2. Don't get too high in the tree. You are going to want to double lung this bear to take him out quickly. If you are at too steep an angle you have a good chance of having the arrow go out of the bottom of the bear before it hits the off side lung.

3. Use enough bow. I would say that anything over 50 pounds for draw weight will be fine for black bear.

4. As far as distance, I would recommend going no further than 40 yards with the bow, and only that far if you are a 40 yard marksman. Basically, shoot within your limitations. Seeing a big bear in the woods, brings an entirely different kind of fever than a buck does. So, be ready for a little shakiness.

5. If for some reason, your bear doesn't take off like a bat out of hell, please do yourself a favor and put another stick in him. If for some reason you shot too low, or too far back you will want to send another stick through his lungs to make sure he's finished.

6. Study bear anatomy. This will help you make a good shot. Some good advice when hunting bear with the bow is to use the quartering away shot whenever possible. This will put the arrow through the near lung, and maybe through the heart and the off lung too, then it sends the broadhead up into the throat and head area doing more damage. This is your BEST angle for bear.

here is a good link for bear anatomy

http://www.theidahosportsman.com/bear%20anatomy.pdf

happy shooting

AL

Normal deer setup would do. I shot mine this spring from a ground blind at 15 yards, but most hunt from a tree stand over the bait. Good advice given on bears anatomy, it is a little different than a deers. Good luck to you. It gets addicting