I want to try my hand at black bear hunting this fall, but have never been and baiting is not allowed where I live. I really dont know where to start. does anyone have some bear hunting 101 tips. anything is much appreciated.

find standing crops such as cornfields with heavy bedding nearby, get permission

what state are you in, as this matters, IMO
bears in places that have crops, and then mountain states where there are NO crops
so, pending where you live, sort of dictates HOW you hunt bears
and are you looking to bow hunt them or rifle hunt them?

Western Mass

Get up high, find berries and sign...burns are also good sources of berries in my experience. Rivers with running salmon are hot spots depending where you are but I've heard mixed reviews on the taste, can't go wrong with a berry bear though.

I can confirm that berry bears taste great. I don't bow hunt so didn't comment earlier. I mainly still-hunt and the bears are already skittish enough at 150-200 yards. I'm sure somebody stalks them with a bow but wouldn't have anything to add on that. I'm considering calling them in conjunction with still-hunting to see how that works.

All depends where you go, areas that get pounded have pretty skiddish bears, went to a fairly remote area this year though and shot one at 20 yards. I've heard about people using black umbrellas out in front of them and being able to walk straight at them as long as the wind is right, apparently fairly easy to trick them into thinking you're another bear but I haven't tried that. Aron Snyder "huffed" one out of the bushes this year, don't miss when they think you're another bear and they're coming in to scrap though!