West Virginia black bears

[Zbone]

I spent a good bit of time working down there in Webster County (near Pocahontas County) back in the 80's, but never seen a bear while there.


From what I gathered back then, the locals hunted them with hounds and any other way of taking one with a bow was while deer hunted and one happened by.


If I remember correctly, back then baiting wan't allowed and the season was short (only a week or 2). Haven't checked the regs lately though.

[Longbeard]

Baiting is still not allowed, but the bow season is pretty long.  Comes in on 10/14, & goes out on 11/18.  Use of dogs is prohibited during archery season.  Gun season ya gotta check the regs to figure it out

 http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/PDFFiles/regs06/HUNTregs06web.pdf

[Alex.B]

W.Virginia Black bears are now "dangerous game"???
I did not know that, thanks for the headsup!

[Zbone]

Hey Alex - See a photo in a magazine one time with guys and Plott hounds around a huge black bear kilt there and haven't seen one since bigger in photos compared to men and dogs.

[gcoleman]

You can bowhunt bears as kent said from 10/14 to till new years eve as bow can be substituted for a gun but there is one week or so thats closed to bow around deer gun season...I live in Fayetteville in Fayette County on the New river gorge we got lots of them and bears are plentiful in all parts of the state but the southern counties from Nicholas south seem to have the best bowhunting... not to be a negative guy but I have lived here and hunted most of my 47 years for deer and bear and have only killed one "Good bear" a 350 pounder with a bow and it was mostly luck it was feeding on acorns where I was deer hunting..since baiting is not allowed not even use of scent and cant use outfitter it is tough to LEGALLY take a bear,,most are killed when they visit a deer feeder...they are plentiful but very hard to pattern I have 5 or 6 different bears that get in my bird feeders and livestock feed here at house but over the years I have kept track of when I see them or when they tear up something and its a pattern of about every three weeks I see them at mid day or morning but mostly they are active at night heck one crapped on my back porch steps last week lol... If you have tons of time to scout and a good reliable food source like apple trees, acorns and soft mast you can find bears. Now is the time to scout look for broken down saplings, Blackberry and Poke berry bushes rode down and territory rubs (males mark their areas) find a bear now and keep tabs on him till October then find the local mast trees or soft mast and HOPE he comes by on his 30 square mile wandering lol, some bears are home bodies though so scout hard and often spend lots of time in your hunt area and you can make your own luck...I am by no means an expert but have lived in good bear country all my life and learned they are tough critters to find but are fairly predictable but their time frame aint like ours,,  enough rambling on my part lol!! as for dangerous??? well you got a better chance of getting hit by lightning as hurt by a black bear they are very secretive spookie animals unless you mess with there cubs..as for size we got some of the largest bears in north america if your ever on Route 79 near Flatwoods stop in at the big motel on the hill by the 4 lane and look at the full body mount of a bear that was once a world record I think it was over 600lbs closer to 700 but dont quote me on that but it looks like a small car in the lobby lol  good luck GC

[chris K.]

I know you cannot use electronic callers to call in bears but I am pretty sure that manual mouth calls and such are leagal in WV. I was thinking of using this method as well as glassing if I go up to Montana to hunt. What do you guys think about doing this there. If I would do this, I would not want to do it by myself. I would hate to be surprised by a dom. boar while I was calling. But I would think if a team of two hunters in climbers would make one heck of a team if they would try this there. What do you guys think about this.

[sswv]

hey Chris K!  
I agree with George on the southern counties holding more Bear. Kanawha, Boone, Raleigh, Fayette, and Wyoming are all good choices.

[gcoleman]

Wayne Carlton has a video on calling Black bears called "They come to eat" its amazing what and how they come in to a predator call out west..I used one here in West Va many times but never called any in...I also used a cub bear in distress call couple of times but sows come in ticked off and males come in to eat cubs very dangerous situation but worth a try i never could get one in bow range with a cub distress call but I wouldnt use one unless I was up a tree! way up a tree! As for Glassing for bears West Virginia is way to thick but if you could find a new clearcut area thats just growing back you might try it but never seem many in clearcuts in hunting season only in summertime and spring....hey danny dont we have a club shoot next weekend??

[sswv]

yeah George!   our next shoot is on the August 12th.   It's been hard to get much practice in with all this heat.
I don't think I would want anything to do with a cub in distress call in these thick hills with only a stick & string. Had a friend attacked by a momma bear a few years ago. He had to shoot her just about point blank. She had him backed up to the edge of a high-wall and was charging on all fours and he hit her right beside the neck head-on and drove the arrow clean thru. Even now when he tells the story you can see chill bumps pop up on his arms.

[gcoleman]

Danny email me at [email protected]
the WVBA is holding a big shoot (Fall Fever shoot) over here at the Fayette County Park 5miles from fayetteville on Sept 30-Oct1 need some helpers from WVBA members and WVBA affiliated clubs which our traditional club is a member.. got Lonnie ,Mike P. and couple of others lined out it will be great fun (56 targets and noveltys) if interested in helping let me know  thanks  George

[Art B]

I went to the shoot they had at the park last year George and the folks on the range weren't the most friendly you'ld want to meet. Why they acted like the never seen a selfbow at a compound tournament before! Never did hear how I placed on the 100 yard novelty shoot.  :D  Will try to get over to the club shoot next week-end.-ART B

[gcoleman]

Art:I know what you mean there was about 6 of us stickbow shooters doing the WVBA registration and they acted the same way with us when they saw the bows we had behind the table hanging but we just grined!! and they were all so called serious bowhunters but wouldnt join the WVBA to support bowhunting oh well they will be the first to complain when seasons start getting shorter pretty soon,,anyway this is a different shoot, that shoot last year was the General Ambulance Money shoot!  :(    We (The WVBA) took over their time slot at the park as their shoot FOLDED!! This shoot is a WVBA fun shoot only and most of the guys working from WVBA are Stickbow shooters so it will be a better Atmosphere and this has no competition at all just fun shoot at 56 targets and shoot as close as you want ,, also there will be several novelty shoots...PLEASE dont think  our shoots are like that hot shot tournamnet at all you were at last year it was a mess all WVBA did was set the targets and recruided new members the rest was up to  sponsers... come out and join us I guarantee you will have fun this year! and love to get you to join up if your not a member..  also we got another shoot on Sept 9 at Victor on sunday road at Hidden Hills archery range that George Bennett owns if you get time come over wont be many shooters just a fun shoot...I wont make it to next club shoot as WVBA has a large rendesvous at Poca River next weekend being secretary I have to be there to work on Saturday but I will be at the Club picnic in September so maybe we can talk then..I REALLY want to get with you sometime  to teach this old shop teacher a bit about building selfbow if you got the time  cya George

[Art B]

Looking forward to making both events if'n the old legs hold out George. Will certainly put the word out and you just know that many of my group will be there.
This shoot on Sept.9 is at the 3-D range on Saturday Rd, right? Thanks for posting all of this information George.-ART B

[gcoleman]

Art email me at   [email protected]      and I can send you a flyer for both shoots if youd like..I havent started putting out any flyers yet just a tad too early will also run ads in the Tribune cya gc

[Aaron Proffitt]

Glad someone brought this up,wife has family in the Parkersburg area. Any bears around there ?

[Gopherhunter]

No bears except the rare loner around Parkersburg.  Probably the best county for bears is Preston.  This is where I live and have seen 6 different bears the last 3 weeks in my neighbors yard.

Please put me on the list for flyers about the shoots in state.

[KenSel]

I was born and raised in Pocahontas Co, WV and it is crawling with black bear!!  Take Killdears advice and try Cheat Mountain, it's almost all public land and it's loaded with bear. The country is steep and covered with mountain laurel and spruce trees so it's tuff to get around in but you'll definetly be within shooting range when you find an old boar.  My family lives on Back Mountain Road between the towns of Cass and Durbin (Closer to Cass) and most of it is private land but the people are all very friendly and most will let you hunt.  In the last 5 years the number of bear has increased greatly in that area. You literally can't walk into the woods around my house without seeing fresh bear sign and a lot of the times seeing a couple of bear.  It's just my 2 cents, but if you go to Pocahontas Co you won't be disappointed.  Word of advice in that neck of the woods is be careful on the narrow roads during bear season because alot of fat lazies that have high tech radios and tracking devices drive like crazy trying to intercept a bear that there dogs are chasing across a road so they don't have to work so hard but they still feel manly because they killed a big bear.  I would steer clear of most of those guys because they think they own the road, the woods and the bears that are in the woods.  Some of my uncles are included in that group of $#&*((.   Best of luck on whatever you decide.  

[gcoleman]

Gopher hunter email me so I can get you some info   [email protected]   if you are a West Virginia Bowhunter Assoc member you should have all the flyers in our newest magazine thats coming out this week if not I will get what you need to you gc

[gcoleman]

kensel how can you stand being away from our beautiful mountains  :(  I love Pocahontas Co if I could find a teaching job Id live there  cya gc

[KenSel]

gcoleman,

I'm home right now visiting my folks and having a blast!!  I do miss this place a lot, but there isn't many employment opportunities.  I'm thinking of returning when I retire, but I really love it out west.  No matter where I'm at I have to come back here at least once a year.(Usually in the fall for bow season!!)