Who Has Hunted Black Bears With Bait From A Ground Blind?

[GrayRhino]

I know there is another great thread going right now about black bear baiting with lots of great information.

I didn't want to hijack over there, but would like to hear personal experiences from those who have baited bears but hunted from a ground blind vs. from a tree stand.

I would like to have a bait in the near future when stateside (Alaska), but have no desire to climb a tree.

[centaur]

Did it last year. Used natural cover, not a commercial ground blind. It was a major adrenaline rush. I missed a monster at 10 yards, and had several other bears at close range. I passed on some all black critters, holding out for a color phase. I had a badly rubbed small bear that I literally chased off the bait three times; he was inside 10 yards.
I am going back to do it again this spring. It was some of the most fun I have had hunting.

[BAK]

My first beer attempt  I sat on a bucket in a patch of weeds.  What a rush.

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

I set my double bull up and sat it a couple times. Every time I came to hunt I had to pop the blind back up. The bears ended up breaking 4 rods. I decided a tree stand was better.

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

Yeah, hunted them plenty from the ground. I too just use natural cover....it works great. Pop up blinds get eaten if left at the site and are quite obvious to the bears if just erected.

On my attached site, if you scroll down under pics, there are videos. The first one is a ground hunt.

Good luck on the ground...Ryan

[GrayRhino]

I too am planning to use a natural ground blind.  Is scent much more of an issue being on the ground vs. in a tree?

I'll likely have a .45-70 with me at hand in case a grizzly visits the bait and needs gentle persuasion.  I'd love to arrow a black bear up close and personal on the ground.

I'll take a look at the videos Stickflinger.  Thank you.

[Jerry Russell]

I love to hunt them from the ground. It is just an exciting way to do it. I have several folks coming up this to hunt with me this year that have requested ground blind hunts only.

[Rick Wiltshire]

Yep - multiple times in Idaho.

[Ken Taylor]

I started hunting black bears from natural ground blinds when I was 15, with my then best friend, and all round hunting and trapping partner, who was 16.
 
Those were the days of 2 long seasons per year, no limits, and virtually no competition.
We shared some crazy bear adventures together and killed a pile of them (but never wasted a single one).

I hunted them a bit from stands too through the years but I haven't used a stand in quite a few years.

I guess that I'm the only one that remembers those escapades now since my buddy was accidently electrocuted last August at the age of 61.

[jrchambers]

I second the natural blind.  if you are going to be around the brown kind I recommend taking a chain saw and building a structure out of some heavy material.  it may not keep one out but you will feel a whole lot better about it than just some brush around you.

[Mike Vines]

Now that's what I'm looking forward to Ryan.  That was a beautiful bear in the video.

[BigJim]

I have done it a couple of times and harvest a nice blackie in New Brunswick that way. Huge rush! I was much more concerned that I would get caught moving or screw up some how than I was of the bear itself.

BigJIm

[Bel007]

Bears + ground blind = good times.     :D

[Ron LaClair]

Ground blinds made from natural materials was hpw we did it in the 60's. Usually you made a hole in the blind facing the bait to shoot through.

If you leave a portable blind at a bait site it WILL be destroyed. I use a Hidden Hunter blind because it sets up and takes down so quickly...when you leave just take the blind with you.

check out the video
 http://www.shrewbows.com/hiddenhunterblinds/index.html

Did it in Wisconsin. A bear was destroying a commercial black berry patch every year. When I made a pocket in the black berries, with a hole to shoot out of. The bear decided to feed on the row I was in. I did not get a chance to shoot at him until he was looking into the hole that I was planning on shooting out of. Black bears are real fast when they want to be. Then I went after that bear by stalking. He lead me deep into the woods. It got cloudy, the wind quit, dark and I got lost with my flash light and compass back at the blind.