Bear huntin'-Tips, tricks, stories and pix?

[Fattony77]

Hey, gang!

I'm a little less than 3 weeks away from my bear huntin' vacation in SE Oklahoma and I'm getting excited!

 I'd love to hear your stories, tips, tricks, and see your victory pics!

 I'm planning on hunting public land (National Forest) and I'll be hunting strictly from the ground (this fat guy and trees/heights don't mix!). Still hunting, and stalking if I spot one.
 
 Any and all advice or stories to help get me even more excited would be greatly appreciated!! And, let me see your pix of these magnificent creatures!

Thanks, in advance!!
 -Tony

[Ibow]

Best wishes for your success, especially hunting from the ground - you'll love it! Be sure to post some picts and the story when you finish.

Here's a bear hunting story and pict from back in 08'...

Back in the spring of 08’ I decided to give the try for a color phase bear another attempt and I traveled north to Swan River, Manitoba. While a color phase bear was my objective, I was looking forward to seeing what I’d been told would be a good number of bears and big ones at that. I flew out of Grand Rapids and in Minneapolis I met up with a friend and from there we flew into Winnipeg.

The drive northwest from Winnipeg reminded us of the same terrain you’d see in the Midwest. Lots of farm country with small towns along the way and having never been in Manitoba, it came as quite a surprise to both of us. We expected it to look much different yet it was beautiful and we were impressed by the size of the farms and the vast herds of cattle and crop fields. Even more impressive was the number of horse farms we saw. As we got further north, the terrain became more “hilly” and as we got even closer to Swan River, we could see the foothills of the Duck Mountains off in the distance. Beautiful country for sure.

By almost anyone’s standards the hunt could not have been better. Our outfitter worked very hard and we saw a lot of bears. To add a new dimension to my bear hunting experience, the outfitter allowed me to hunt from the ground, ten yards from the bait. To say it added an interesting and exciting element to the hunt would be an understatement. I loved the incredibly close encounters and most of the bears displayed nothing more than curiosity and went on about their business.

However one bear in particular, smaller than most (by Manitoba standards), did put me on edge a bit. A couple of nights he’d come in, circle around me with a lot of huffing and puffing and then eventually move off letting me know he wasn’t at all happy with my presence. About the third night he decided he’d “show off” a bit and he came ambling straight for me, snapping his teeth. When he got to about three to four feet, with my hand on the bear spray, I whispered something along the lines of, “OK big boy, hit the road.” I didn’t think bears could move quite that fast but thankfully this one did. Inside out he went, not to be seen again that week.
 
Almost all the bears were black – except one and one that hung around almost every night. Unfortunately the pecking order had long since been established and he spent most of his time circling the bait, keeping his distance from the larger, and more experienced and aggressive bears.

He was a gorgeous bear – blonde with dark “socks” and dark rings around his eyes - almost raccoon-like. He never did present me with what could be deemed an ethical shot and it was frustrating to come SO close so often.

But at the same time, other black bears made their nightly appearances. Some were small, some very big, all were beautiful. I had a video camera mounted on a tripod next to me and each night after getting back to camp, we’d all review the footage and one huge bear in particular, though black, caught everyone’s eye including my outfitter. Every night my outfitter would look at that video and just shake his head, smile and say, “I cannot believe you haven’t shot that bear.”

As the week went on, I knew my chances of tagging that blonde bear were diminishing. He was simply outsized and outnumbered by the other black visitors. After making the long trip there, I knew that as much as I wanted to go home with a color phase, I didn’t want to go home empty handed either and the voice of my outfitter kept ringing in my ears – “I can’t believe you haven’t shot that bear.”

On the second to the last night, the big bear had been there for close to 20 minutes offering shot after shot. With his black coat glistening in setting sun, I finally decided that I could not pass on this bear. It was a bear that almost any bear hunter would give anything for the opportunity to take and in less than 5 seconds from the time the arrow left my bow, it was over. He never made it more than 15 yards from the bait. I walked up on him and instead of the characteristic “ground shrinkage” that is such a common occurrence in bear hunting, he seemed even larger. I could barely lift his head. At that point I was happy and satisfied with what I’d accomplished and so was my outfitter. He was a beautiful bear that weighed nearly 500 pounds – a very fine Manitoba spring bear.

One highlight of the trip was the morning our outfitter took us to fish along the banks of the Saskatchewan River a little bit north of his hunting area near his home in The Pas. We caught walleye after walleye and with a deep fryer fired up right there on the shore, we enjoyed the best shore lunch you could ever imagine. It was a real treat.

The Manitoba trip was something I’ll always remember and the rug of that beautiful bear is a reminder of how much fun it was to be up close and personal with the bears.

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[azhunter]

Nice story and pic Ibow. Thanks for sharing.

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by Fattony77:
Hey, gang!

I'm a little less than 3 weeks away from my bear huntin' vacation in SE Oklahoma and I'm getting excited!

 

Tuff hunting, but very rewarding just sighting the critters.

He's what little I know.....

Hunt white oaks....big ones. Try and find some on a Mt. top, knowl, ridge or long slopping lead. Personally, I haven't had as much luck hunting IN the bottoms. I think they must work their way down, and get in the bottoms after dark. I have had luck with major leads that end up in the bottoms.

The bears will most likely be climbing the white oaks the 1st two weeks of the season, then gathering underneath the rest of the season.

Try your best to find white oaks with claw marks and white oak groves with lots of scat and other bear sign. If more than one bear is using the area, then your odds of a sighting are increased dramaticaly.

Travel funnels between two oak groves is also a great place to set up if you can't decide which tree they are bound to hit. Look for trails twice as wide as deer trails, and a bear trail will have a 'packed down' texture vs the crunched up of a deer trail.

Pre scouting a week or days before the season opens is much more productive than 2 weeks before.

The best tip I can give you is to hunt a single tree with lots of scat near it....BUT!!!, you must find at least one fresh pile....how fresh? With flies on it!!!...if a pile aint got flies on it, I keep a walking.

Sparse acorn crop?...gotta wear out some boot leather to find the few trees that are producing. Can be tuff to find, but once you do, the bears will be there.

Normal acorn crop?....sign will be easier to find since the bears are moving a lot from tree to tree, and scattered about a bit more.

If we have a drought?...and all the acorns fall just before the season?....then I don't commit to any trees or groves, I walk and walk and walk, cause the bears will not have to move for food, you will have to find them. Walk travel routes like mentioned before, but try to walk those with known running water near by, since water will be scarce during a drought as well.

Afternoons are better than mornings, but that don't keep me from hunting mornings. I've seen them as late as 10 am.

While walking in, pay attention to 'loud squirrels' in the trees...they may be a bear. If so, stalk the tree from down wind, and wait for the bear to climb down. Now, pay attention to the tree, you may need to get cross wind. If the tree is straight with no obstructions, there's no telling where he'll climb down. But, if the tree is leaning, or on the side of a steep ridge, or has some obstruction to one side, the bear will take the easy route down at the base.....clear from obstruction, up hill side, or least steep side if the tree is leaning. So, set up accordingly the best you can with the wind still in your favor.

The early season seems to congregate bears in higher eleveations, and they work there way down in elevation, since the acorns will mature earlier up hi. Now bear in mind, that some times there is a late freeze in the spring, so those higher elevations will be void of sign due to the buds getting nipped. If that is the case, then move down the mountian a 1/3 of the way, and scout your way down. However, I have seen bears low the 1st part of the season, so the higher elevation is a guideline, not written in stone.

Two weeks before the season will be the tailing end of the last 'pattern' before the acorn feed, and might be tempting, but don't fall for it. If you scout early, you will possibly find sign in berry patches, around wild cherry trees, and in dead pine groves the pine beetles devoured because of the grubs in the rotting pines. Unless you are in the highest elevations in GA, this should be what you will find. If you are in the highest elevations, then you should find them already on the acorns unless of course there was a late freeze in that area.

Be ready to not only see bears, but deer and hogs as well. When bear hunting, I've seen more bears and hogs than deer in the GA mountains. And don't let anyone kid you, there are 200 pound plus boar hogs roaming the mountains.

Another thing to look for is saddle ridges between two tops....or connecting leads.  The right ones will have a trail suddenly appear as the knoll narrows thought the saddle, and then it will dissapear just as quick as it nears the next knoll or lead.

Seems the bears pilfer around these ridge tops, and use the 'spines' to travel to the next 'pilfering' area.

These trails can be 100 yards long, or 1000, but the trails will be packed down, not 'crunched' up like deer trails....and, most likely, it will meander by every mature white oak along the way.

Once again I'll reinstated the most important thing you can do is hunt over fresh sign....meaning fresh scat...so fresh it has flies on it...or like my bear this year, so fresh it doesn't even have flies on it yet.

If you aren't on fresh sign....KEEP WALKING!!! You will have better luck bumping into a bear by walking and looking for fresh sign than just hunting an area that 'looks good' with a bit of old sign.

Also learned this year....when you have a lot of rain all summer, the acorns will hold onto the trees longer....we never heard it 'raining acorns' this year. I usually run bears out of trees the 1st two weeks of the season...but I killed my bear this year the last day of the season in a tree. So, pay attention to whether they are dropping or holding while scouting/hunting.

One more thing.....

If you do decide to hunt in the Morning....and you have a REALY hot spot....don't go 'into' it while its still dark.

Lay back a little distance till dawn, and ease in there.....that way you wont' blow em out...and you will have the added thrill of an early morning stalk.

[VictoryHunter]

Happy hunting!

[Fattony77]

Thanks for the Well wishes, guys.

Ibow, great story and AWESOME bear! Thank you for sharing!

Terry, that's A LOT of great info! Thank you so much for sharing it, and I hope to put it to Good use!

This is fantastic, guys! Keep em coming!  

[Fattony77]

Thanks for the Well wishes, guys.

Ibow, great story and AWESOME bear! Thank you for sharing!

Terry, that's A LOT of great info! Thank you so much for sharing it, and I hope to put it to Good use!

This is fantastic, guys! Keep em coming!  

[ChuckC]

Well said Terry !  Great guidance

ChuckC

[Sean B]

I think Terry hit the nail on the head. Although NY has a good bear population, I've never specifically hunted them here.  I've hunted Maine a bunch of times over the past 20 yrs and Quebec once in the spring, all my experience is over bait.  Patients.  A bear will come upon you with out even snapping a twig. They just appear.

Last season in Maine, I was sitting a stand I've sat before. about 530, a quick shower hit, and cleared up about 6ish.  About 630, I had a medium size bear come in, and hung around for about 20 mins or so.  It was very cautious, coming in and out of the bait. I had several shot opportunities, but I held off being that it was only Monday afternoon.  finally, he walked off.

Light was starting to fade, but I really needed to stretch my legs.  I was into that golden hour with pins and needles in my feet!!  I slowly stood to get alittle blood back into the toes.  I happened to catch movement directly under me.  There was a VW with hair on it!!! He walked to the barrel, sniffed around and walked off the same way as where the smaller bear went. About a minute later, he came back and plopped down with his head in the barrel.  He was so fat, it was tough to pick a spot.  I wanted to stay away from the barrel, so I focused on him about mid-ship...drew and released. He growled, barked and took off.  The shakes hit me hard at that point. I wasn't even sure what had just happened.  I thought I heard the "death Moan", but I wasn't sure.  I had a Moose come in behind me and start hoofing and blowing.  

Found the arrow covered in good blood. We followed the trail for about 60 yrds and stopped till morning cause the blood was getting sparse.  We grouped up the next morning, and found him piled up about 15 feet from where we stopped!!  He weighed in at 365 lbs, taken with my BW PCH.

 

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Sean B]

Great bear Ibow!!!!

[Fattony77]

TTT for any other tips, tricks, stories or tips!

And thank you for all that have posted so far! Great stuff!!! Gettin' REALLY excited!  

[Fattony77]

TTT for any other tips, tricks, stories or tips!