Any bear hunters?

[The Baron]

A friend of mine stopped by to thank me for putting him in touch with a road builder to help with his dream home project. He bought about 700 acres an hour or so north of here - I've seen the land and it sure is a dream. Very nice mixed bush and a private lake.

Trouble is, his wife is deathly afraid of bears and they are seeing far too many. He offered me an open invitation to come up and give it a go. I don't know anything about bear hunting, but he said there's a particular spot where all the local critters cross a narrows at the head of the lake and he's seen plenty of bear sign there. I'm going to go up and have a look to see if I can build myself a little blind or even better, put up a ladder stand near there. I'm thinking a .54 ball from my Leman would do nicely (if I can ever get the trigger working - long story).

Anyone ever hunt bears? My friend did say baiting was a bad idea, because if his wife found out we were trying to attract more bears she'd be unhappy. But I can certainly do a scent bomb or something like that. Any thoughts?

 

[fleener]

Since you are from CN, I will assume that you are familiar with how dangerous a bear can be. Black bears can be large and dangerous, especially if they are wounded. Looking for a wounded bear in heavy cover is not a fun thing to do. You really hope you find them dead and not still alive.

I have never shot one with a round ball, I have always used a conical.

Sitting in a tree has its advantages. Gets your scent off of the ground, you should be able to have a better field of vision.

I had a buddy hunting with me once and he has a sow with 2 cubs come in. She was not happy that he was there and got very aggressive with him. He was really glad that he was in a tree and off of the ground. She would stand on her rear legs, front legs on the tree he was in and growl at him.

I have heard of people doing a heated honey pot, but depending on where you are be careful not to start the woods on fire if it gets knocked over.

Fleener

 

[Flint311]

Yes, I have hunted bears. In your beautiful Province to be specific. The .54 is good medicine for bears.

A treestand set-up would work quite well. A bait pile just brings local bears in earlier (while light out) to get a shot at 'em. Not really to bring in all surrounding bears. They're territorial and try to keep other one's out of their food source. If there's a good blueberry crop, hunt these where you can see a little further.

A well-placed shot will do them in very quickly, but, as usual, caution prevails while tracking. Your friend may want to get a license too. You can hunt on the "buddy system" if it's still around, then have a crack at 2 bears for the season. Otherwise, you won't make a dent in the population, since Ontario has done away with the Spring hunt (political).

Sounds like a great piece of land and good luck!
Flint311

 

[Vaino]

Put a "smelly" bait in a spot for a clear shot, get in a tree stand and have "target practice". Is this really hunting?

Saw a video of a guy who had the above setup and actually speared the bear and killed it.

Have "fair chase" hunted all of 73 yrs and wouldn't partake of such a hunt. Running a bear w/ hounds is quite different if you've ever followed hounds on a hunt.

"Bear control", which possibly is necessary, is a different story, but, depending on the method, could be deemed "pest control" but not hunting......Fred

 

[crockett]

Well Ontario is a pretty big province. I did some bear hunting near Coe Hill, south of Algonquin Park. The baiting of bears takes an incredible amount of work. You need to put out bait daily maybe 3 months before the season. Bread soaked in Anise Oil works well. The smaller bears may work the bait in day light with the better bears coming in after dark. I was with a group- I think about 6. These other guys would scratch the bugs/skeeters- none got anything and most didn't see anything. You CANNOT MOVE so even with bait and a tree stand it still isn't easy.
I am not certain but at least at one time it was legal to trap bear in Ontario. If what you are trying to do is clear out excess bears- that would be the best option.
If you don't have time to bait correctly, then I'd try to find a travel route and sit along it (tree stand).
Black bears have proportionally small lungs. Should run about 30 yards and drop. They groan as they go out so you pretty much know exactly where they are.
Dogs would be best, I think you can use them in Ontario for deer but not bear- I think.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

imho find a man with hounds, make a deal if you can get him on the land, so long as he gets to hunt it he owes you one hunt a year. You get a good hunt, he gets privet ground to run his hounds. The land owner will have hard pushed bear that will fear his dog and so stay off the porch.

 

[Zonie]

About a year ago, my son took me to Bearizona, a drive thru wild animal park, just outside Williams, Arizona.

They have well over 60 black bears, basically running free in huge areas covered with Ponderosa pine trees. (A paved road passes thru the gated inclosures and people must keep the windows on their cars closed at all times).

Anyway, it is almost unbelievable how fast a big black bear can scale 20-40 feet up one of those big trees to reach the lower branches.

ff
In addition to the bears, they have the most remarkable owl show I've ever seen.

With special places for the owls to land on stage in front of the audience and more places to the rear of the audience they introduce and describe a number of different kinds of owls.
The owls fly over the audience's heads just clearing the people by a few feet.

Because their flight is silent you can't hear them coming or going. Just silence as a bird with a 3 foot wingspan flys within reaching distance of you. :shocked2:

The entire place is well worth a visit if your up around Flagstaff, Arizona.

http://bearizona.com/

 

[Blackbruin]

Make a "honey pot" put water with bacon grease and anise seeds in a metal coffee cab over a lit stern can........

 

[hanshi]

Make a "honey pot" put water with bacon grease and anise seeds in a metal coffee cab over a lit stern can........

Whoa! I'd come to that! :rotf:

 

[No Deer]

I went bear hunting in Ontario, a couple of hours north of Toronto, 3 years ago. Set up was a tree stand about 20 yards from a bait barrel. Used my 20 ga. trade gun. Saw 5 bears before I decided to shoot this one. He went about 50 yards and huffed 3 times and was done. He weighed 205 lbs.

I believe that Ontario now has spring hunting as well as fall.

 

[The Baron]

Put a "smelly" bait in a spot for a clear shot, get in a tree stand and have "target practice". Is this really hunting?

...

Have "fair chase" hunted all of 73 yrs and wouldn't partake of such a hunt. Running a bear w/ hounds is quite different if you've ever followed hounds on a hunt.

Funny how you think letting dogs run your bear up a tree so you can kill it is somehow more sporting than baiting. Unless you're the guy who trained the dogs there's no special accomplishment in that either. But, to each their own and I'm fully approving of either method... if done properly and the animal is given due respect in a swift end and proper care of the meat.

I went bear hunting in Ontario, a couple of hours north of Toronto, 3 years ago. Set up was a tree stand about 20 yards from a bait barrel. Used my 20 ga. trade gun. Saw 5 bears before I decided to shoot this one. He went about 50 yards and huffed 3 times and was done. He weighed 205 lbs.

I believe that Ontario now has spring hunting as well as fall.

Well done, No Deer! :thumbsup: Yes, they reopened the spring bear season 2-3 years ago in a handful of wildlife management units and greatly expanded it this past spring due to a surge in population and increasing problems. The area I'm hunting in is about 2.5 hours east and north of Toronto.

I've hunted bears a bit (saw a few on a spot and stalk hunt and tried spring baiting once, but the bugs drove me out of the woods and I never tried again). Black bears are far less dangerous than their big brown cousins, but yes they absolutely must be respected as capable of scarring ones hide. It is well known a black bear will often let out a distinctive death moan and, if I don't hear that before looking for my "dead" bear in thick brush, it will be with my flinter and a friend with his slug loaded 12ga. in the lead. :wink: This is assuming I'm lucky enough to get a shot.

My friend is a licensed trapper and is legally able to snare bears, which he said he will be doing. Apparently an older gentleman hunted this same property a few years ago (before my friend bought it) and killed 13 bears himself in a single season. I guess he had friends keep tagging the bears for him, which is highly illegal, but the story (and the grain of salt I take it with) illustrates the density of bears in this area.

I spoke to my friend again and now he's talking about baiting with waste milk products from a local cheese factory. He said his wife is fine with it as long as bears get shot. Waiting over bait is not really my cup of tea, but it's infinitely more effective than spot and stalk in this densely wooded region. It is also totally legal, a great way to get a close/clean shot with a flinter... and bear is delicious. Plus it really does sound like the population is way too thick and some bears need to go.

Hound hunting would probably work great too, and is legal in Ontario, but I don't (yet) know anyone who does that. I'd certainly try it if the opportunity arose as I'm sure it'd be an exciting experience.

Hopefully, I'll have some stories to share this fall. :v

 

[crockett]

That sterno honey burn puts out a lot of scent. The honey dries out into a solid but then a minute later melts- back and forth.
To make the honey burn more successful maybe do it around a bait so a bear associates the two smells.
If you can use dogs- without doubt that is best but you have to be physically up to it. If there are a lot of swamps in the area the bear can throw the dogs.
And....I tried baiting and it did not work. I was putting out about 10 pounds of beef fat, cutting etc. A guy said, bears are cautious, you need to do it long enough (3 months) to get them comfortable in coming and even then it may be 3 a.m. in the middle of the night.