I'll have to remember that, Muley. Does it work in the fall, or just the spring? We Eastern hunters lack spring bear seasons.
And do you just do a high-pitched doe bleat with your mouth, or do you have a specific call you use?

Our spring bear hunt was taken from us by the tree huggers. So, yes it works in the fall. It's hard to describe, but what you want is the fawn to sound distressed like a predator is already on the fawn. You'll get any big boar in the area come running in ready to fight for the meal.

I use custom calls. Get ahold of this guy and tell him what you want. He makes the best calls i've ever found.

http://rrcalls.com/custom-calls.html

Thanks for the link; amazingly affordable for custom quality.

So do you call bear differently than coyote etc?

I've been on predator sets. Seen yotes, fox, coons and other varmints, and even bobcats come in.

But never a bear.

-Jake

No, not really. A bear will come just like the other predators but sometimes more aggressive. Some bears will sneak in, so will circle behind me and catch my scent and be gone. Some boars will come charging in throwing caution to the wind. Those are the ones to be ready for. You'll almost always have a frontal shot. Use good bullets. I use a muzzleloader and use Barnes. 290gr T-EZ. It will bust through a shoulder.

Another trick is to use a fawn or calf call and then after a while use a coyote howl. The bear will think a coyote beat it to the fawn/calf and come charging. Be ready.

Also, look for mountain lions. They'll come to a call but are so sneaky you'll hardly ever see them.

Calling isn't recommended to do alone but that's the only way I hunt, so I take the chance. Two hunters back to back is safer.

I don't worry about eastern bears. I have never seen one that was aggressive and I have seen probably somewhere between 50 and 100 in the wild. When I hunted Colorado I saw a few bears but they seemed wary of hunters but were bold around cabins. I had one actually climb a porch pillar in the night to the second story and try to get a mule deer I had hanging up. I heard the racket and scared it off. The lions though are another thing. I hunted Colorado about 10 years and never saw them but am sure they saw me. They were my biggest worry especially later in the day as dusk was closer.