Black Bear with Hounds

[Juniata]

I'm in PA.
I'm a houndsman and I run rabbit dogs.
Running big game isn't legal in Pennsylvania.

I've said for years my bucket list hunt would be a lion over hounds out in New Mexico.
Lately I thought how fun it would it be to shoot a bear treed by hounds in the Appalachians, in a state where it's legal like West Virginia, Tennessee or NC but gotta sit out with a flint.

Has anyone done this or would you have any insight how to go about doing this?
I thought about contacting some guys I've no watched on YouTube.

 

[Stykbow]

I went on a “guided” bear hunt with hounds here in Tennessee years ago. I wouldn’t recommend the guy I went with or any of the guys we talked to while hunting. Maybe there are some good ones now, but I haven’t checked. I recommend research, research, and more research before hiring anyone.

 

[SDSmlf]

The group I hunt with on a lease in the North Carolina mountains has in the past brought in a group with hounds to help remove some of the many ‘problem’ bears on the land. A few bears were taken by those on the lease (the group with dogs were only to shoot a bear if they or a dog was seriously threatened), but even though we had a few thousand acres to hunt, the dogs managed to chase bears onto other properties and upset some of the neighboring land owners. That ended hunting bears with hounds for us. The guys with hounds were really just interested in running and treeing bears, not shooting them and I believe only carried handguns. From what I saw, any ‘big game’ legal and appropriate long or hand gun seem more than sufficient to take a treed bear with little trouble.

 

[Sparkitoff]

My opinion is that the best place to have a successful hound on bear hunt with a muzzleloader is Arizona. There is a high success rate, reasonable season and no issue using a muzzleloader.

 

[Stykbow]

The issue in Tennessee isn’t bear population. The damn things are everywhere on the east end of the state. In fact, they’re a nuisance in a lot of places, but hound hunting is limited to select areas. I really think you’d have about as good a chance as anywhere IF you can find a reputable guide with good hounds.

 

[Juniata]

I'll dig into it. Thanks for the advice