Bear Hunters

[Shifty]

How many are Bear Hunters here?

 

[wet]

:wink: yup got one here.
Have taken two with a 50 cal and round balls

 

[biliff]

Been known to take one now and then.

 

[longcruise]

Have seen em while hunting other game but only specifically pursued bear once. No luck! Might be time to try again.

 

[Flint311]

Hunted 'em for a couple years. Got 3. Their fun to see in the wild...

 

[morb]

We bear hunt every spring, I've only ever shot bears with my bow but would like to try muzzleloader.
My rifle is a Hawken style .45 not sure how good it would be on a bear, all our shots are in the 20 yard range.

 

[No Deer]

I got one last year in Ontario, Canada with my 20 ga. trade gun.

 

[Shifty]

I have saw a few while Deer hunting but season was not open for Bear,most dedicated Bear hunters hear use Dogs but I have never joined one of their groups .I knew a guy yrs ago who sucessfully hunted them without Dogs or bait, he had the best luck in yrs that had a bad mast crop.How do youall hunt them.

 

[biliff]

Dogs and bait aren't legal in Oregon so it's all spot and stalk. Technically, you could smear bacon grease all over yourself and wait for a bear to show up, but I haven't gone that route.

 

[Rifleman1776]

How many are Bear Hunters here?

I hunted them for years. Never saw one in the wild. And, of course, never got one.
Does that count? :rotf:

 

[Patocazador]

Bowhunted them in Montana several times. Blew the shot on two .. one was chocolate. Got one in Washington and one in Montana with a rifle. None were hunted over bait or with dogs. Hunted over berries and acorns mostly.

The easiest way is to hunt bear trails going to a dump or an unpicked corn field.

 

[longcruise]

We have similar laws here in CO. The bacon grease would be illegal here. No bait or even scents allowed. Calling is legal but not with electronics.

I see them often while hunting in late september and october in areas with a lot of serviceberrys and scrub oak. Never have a license then!

They have always been low priority for me. Probably cause I grew up in the UP where they were considered a nuisance rather than a game animal.

Think I gotta try again though.

 

[crockett]

I've done stand hunting in Maine, Quebec, and Ontario. Can't hunt bears any more in Florida and they are now all over the place- peoples back yards, etc. I'll see a bear or two about every third day in the woods. That is- two bear days.
If my legs hold up I'd like to try hound hunting. There is a guy up in the Smokies but the dogs take off and you run after the dogs. If it is 7 plus miles up and down mountains- then that's the deal. Hard to do when you are used to flatlands. Course you have to like dogs- half the deal. Sounds exciting.

 

[longcruise]

That's how lions are hunted here in the west. At my age, no kind of hound hunting is going to be happening!

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Went once wife killed a black bear I didn't

Still have not lived it down :redface:

 

[nit wit]

I've been to New Brunswick twice(skunked). Killed a bunch here in Maine.
Nit Wit

 

[John Neslen]

Yep shifty, I do. Have baited in the same spot for 25 years. Lots of fun to sit in a tree stand and toss sugar dough balls down to bear 14' below your feet.
Have only had four "guests" come in 25 years and each harvested a bear. My wife and I have each taken one. Lots of color phased bear and we do not want to over harvest the colored genes. The last four years we have only taken pictures. We live on a remote ranch and border millions of acres of USFS and BLM.
Anyone interested in hunting with me please send pm.

 

[rodwha]

I'm curious what calibers you black bear hunters use.

I have a .50 cal and bought it figuring if a ball wasn't enough I could switch to a conical. Knowing what I know now I would more likely have bought a .54 cal though...

 

[BrownBear]

Our local bears are a little over the top for muzzleloaders. Could have hunted one any time over the last 40 years with a CF, but just never got around to it. Evidently they're not much for eating, and I refuse to shoot a 1,000+ animal and walk away from the meat. Or, as I tell my wife, we don't have a wall tall enough for a rug! :wink:

I spend a lot of time around them, both intentionally for photos and accidentally while fishing or hunting. The one in my avatar is a neighbor we used to see fairly frequently. He was a youngster about 500# when I took the photo several years ago, but now he's a full grown boar and I don't see him so often these days. Fresh snow yesterday, and we have a decent set of tracks in the yard now. Only about 5" across the front pads, so a 7' or so bear. Could be a sow or a young bore, but I'm not acquainted with it yet. Strangers take a little getting used to! :grin:

When I was growing up in the Southwest we ran cats with dogs and followed on horseback, mostly armed with pistols. Every so often we'd tree a black bear too, and it went down just as well with a pistol. Last I killed was with a 22 behind the ear from about 15'. Those little "desert" black bears seldom hit as much as 200#, though. Picked up one here and there over the years deer hunting in the mountain west back when the deer season overlapped bear season, but all with CF rifles. Biggest was a HUGE cinnamon boar that nudged over 300# dressed weight. Never saw another much more than about 225-250#.

Lotsa black bear hunting here in Alaska, but just none here on Kodiak. No dogs, but baiting is legal and popular in some areas and limits are quite liberal in a few. Haven't made the jaunt to the mainland for a black bear, but I'm sure tempted. Nothing better than bear fat for frying donuts, and my mouth waters at the thought. :thumbsup:

 

[Shifty]

Looks like you have had some very good experiences in the outdoors,here(TN)I have saw a few Blackys while Deer hunting but never shot one may try this year ,our seasons are open a few days then close for a few them open again for about four times I think,opening again tom . I have relatives out west and while visiting them at Glacier Park wanted to see a Grizzly never did then while a Yellow Stone never saw one so no luck seeing Grizzlies for me.Talking about pistols I have a ML pistol that I would not hesitate to use on one at fairly close range.