All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

I don't (or HAVEN'T) hunted black bears......but EVERYTHING I read about hunting black bears makes me think my home state is a GREAT place to hunt them. I know an outfitter that takes SEVERAL bears in the 5-600lb. range EVERY year.....and I don't see ANYONE else touting those kinds of harvest records.

So.....though i admit to being somewhat ignorant as to the black bear world......why WOULDN'T someone choose my state if they wanted to kill a BIG bear?

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

NC is known for HUGE black bears. I have always assumed that the tag quota is very small and for a nonresident to hunt there is probably impossible or nearly impossible to get a tag. Am I wrong?

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

Don:

As far as I know.....it's over the counter. Rob/PA's got a NC license that he purchased over the internet before coming here to deer hunt with me, last Fall.

HE has a bear tag......SIX deer tags (Including FOUR bucks if he wanted to hunt 'down East')......TWO turkey tags......and all that cost him about $150 (+/-).

I'm ONLY asking these questions....becasue, like I said, .....I don't know. I'm SURE you can get the info if you go to NCWRC site. I'm thinking it would be a closer destination to MANY.....and a downright BARGAIN, too!

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

It was $120. $60 for the license and $60 for the Big Game Tags. I don't remember seeing the bear tag, I'll have to look when I get home, but I do have 6 deer tags and 2 turkey tags. We'll fill them next week right Jeff? Then we'll work on the deer tags come Sept.;)

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

You have to pay an extra $125 dollars to validate your out of state bear tag in NC. I live in VA and get my NC license every year(great place to hunt), and you are right there are some big black bear in the state. I was wondering how the deer were eating so much corn so quickly at one particular spot so I put my camera out and found out why. It may come with a bear tag but it is no good until you pay the additional money.

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2v0ofvr

This picture link sucks but it will eventually come up.

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

Thnaks, NEW!! In the realm of bear hunting, though.....isn't this STILL a "bargain"? I'm considering travel budgets in there, as well.

It's got me to thinking I "might" want to take one with the bow. I DO THINK (though...like I said...I AM ignorant to much black bear talk) that baiting is NOT legal, here.I could very well be wrong about that, too, though.

I DO KNOW we have 600 (and bigger) lb. bears killed here EVERY year.....and with 'some" regularity.

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

Well...you're gonna have to do some of that calling (%$*&)....lol. I've NEVER claimed to be a great turkey caller.....and they've split up since I began scouting them a few weeks ago.

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

Thanks New, I know I didn't remember seeing a bear tag on my license. Yes Jeff, that is still a bargain considering. It then comes down to numbers of bear per mile etc...that's why many travel to Canada, regardless of cost etc, the numbers are amazing. PA has some huge black bears, records boasting into the 800 lb ranges and many are taken every year over 700lbs. however the odds are highly against ever seeing a bear in our 3 day season or even the week of buck in those areas where bear stay in. It's a numbers thing. I've never purchased a PA bear license. I shot my bow bear in Quebec.

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

You are correct, you can't hunt them over bait in NCbut itis stilldefinitely a bargain. I abandoned putting corn out at that spot because it was getting very expensive as it was not the deer eating all of the corn. When the season opened I hunted in that area and saw bear in the bean field about 200 yds from this spot on two different occasions and one of them was an absolute giant, to be honest it had me a little shook when I was walking in and out at dark.

RE: All you bear hunters (black bear)....Why not NC?
 

I didn't know NC had those kind of bears. Do they allow baiting of bears? Most folks looking to book a hunt for bears are looking to hunt over baited sites because otherwise it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It is nearly impossible to kill a bear with a bow unless you are hunting behind hounds or over bait.

For the record, PA has bears of that size consistently. Last year there were 11 bears killed over 600lbs with one weighing in at 690+. Our season is really short though (3 days IIRC) and doesn't allow you to hunt over bait, the hunters here do huge drives to kill these bears. Not a great option for someone traveling from out of state that wants a high percentage of at least seeing one.