Bear Hunting Options
Bear Hunting Options
聽By Scott Haugen聽 聽 聽Published on May 15th 2024
The trek up the mountain wasn鈥檛 easy, but a sense of urgency kept us moving. 鈥淭his bear will never tree; we have to hurry and head it off before it dives into the next canyon,鈥� encouraged the聽houndsman聽I struggled to keep up with.
Trudging through packed snow at 7,400 feet amid the granite peaks, this wasn鈥檛 my first rodeo. One of the most grueling hunts of my life was for a bear that wouldn鈥檛 tree. A pack of over a dozen hounds chased it into a wilderness area, where we caught up to it minutes before dark.聽
That chase started at 5:00 a.m. We returned to the truck just after 2:00 a.m.聽the following morning聽with one of the聽biggest聽black bears I鈥檇 ever taken. The chase I now faced stirred nightmares of the prior experience over 30 years ago.
鈥淗urry, we鈥檙e going to get a window right through there,鈥� the fit聽houndsman聽pointed. I stared down聽his聽arm, past聽his聽index finger, through stunted pine trees and over some dry grass. That鈥檚 where I saw two hounds bouncing about. They鈥檇 bark whenever they could catch their breath.聽They聽weren鈥檛聽moving聽fast.聽Then the bear slowly sauntered into view, not bothered by the two hounds nipping at it.
鈥淲hen you have a window, go ahead and鈥︹�澛�Boom! I interrupted the man with a single shot. That was my window 鈥� a two-foot radius the bear moved through when the dogs weren鈥檛 in line with it. The 75-yard shot came off-hand. It was a reaction, not a planned-out, in-depth thought process before pulling the trigger. The聽在线玩老虎机 X-Bolt chambered in 6.8 Western聽did the job, dropping the bear on the spot with a bullet between the eyes. Any good bullet would have instantly killed the bear. What impressed me the most was the rifle鈥檚 quick handling and pinpoint accuracy, and I鈥檝e seen it efficiently take a number of black bears since. On this hunt, precise shooting was necessary to do the job properly and not risk injury to the dogs.聽
No other form of bear hunting can push you as hard and fast as trying to keep up with a hound pack chasing a giant boar that won鈥檛 run up a tree. If you鈥檙e considering a bear hunt with hounds, know that the hounds have no control over when, where, or if a bear will聽tree. When you tree a bear, if the bear isn鈥檛 mature enough, a small sow, or simply one you don鈥檛 want to shoot, you just grab the dogs and walk away. Odds are that you鈥檒l tree multiple bears before you find one you want to drop the hammer on.聽Sometimes, the bear will hop up a tree next to a road before all the hounds are released. Other times, they鈥檒l run and climb all day and all night, and you鈥檒l never catch them. There are no guarantees in any form of hunting, even with hounds.
In states that allow hunting with hounds and harvesting bears over bait, the element of selective take is appealing. You don鈥檛 have to shoot if you don鈥檛 want to. If you want to learn about bear behavior, go on a hunt for them over bait, and don鈥檛 be in a rush to punch a tag. What you learn about a bear through hours of watching it 鈥� versus pulling the trigger the moment it appears 鈥� will be an education worthy of your time.
Parts of North America with聽can find you staring at a half-dozen or more bears on a single bait. Some come and go. Others come and stay. Sometimes, they鈥檙e all there at once. Watching the interaction between bears and learning聽their behaviors will help you become a well-versed bear hunter.
On the same Idaho hunt where I chased a bear with hounds, fellow outdoor writer and friend Jace Bauserman sat over a bait site with his 在线玩老虎机 X-Bolt also in 6.8 Western.聽His encounter on the first evening of his bear hunt was heart-pounding. Bauserman聽was shown聽trail cam images of two chocolate bears and a cinnamon-colored bear.聽
What makes bear hunting over bait amazing is that you never know what may happen. An hour into the hunt, a sizeable coal-black boar appeared on the bait site. Bears are difficult to judge, and Bauserman remained patient. He watched the bear on the bait for 15 minutes before deciding to squeeze the聽Feather Trigger of his rifle. Bauserman was sitting on the ground 40 yards from the bait site, tucked into a stand of small pines.聽This聽added an element of excitement to the hunt. Bears don鈥檛 see extremely well, but better than people give them credit for, and when you鈥檙e on the ground and up close with an apex predator, you better be on your A Game!聽
Spot-and-stalk is the most common approach taken by bear hunters.聽In the spring,聽green grass, bulbs, tubers, roots, and other fresh vegetation constitute most of a black bear鈥檚 diet.聽In the fall, berries, fruits, nuts, and聽even insects make up a big part of their diet.聽They鈥檒l also feast on carrion聽and will hunt聽down and kill big game.聽In parts of their range, black bears kill more calf elk than cougars and have聽been known聽to have detrimental predatory impacts on herds.
Black bears have a short digestive tract, so they spend many hours feeding in the spring and fall. Learning a bear鈥檚 primary food sources is one of the most important keys for a spot-and-stalk hunter. In spring, bears eat a lot to make up for the weight lost in their winter den, and in fall, they eat a lot to put on weight for winter.
Another way to hunt bears is by calling. Predator calls can work very well to bring a bear within shooting range. If hunting in thick habitat, know that bears often approach fast, closing in for the kill, and you鈥檙e the prey. Consider an electronic caller if the image of a 300-pound bear running full speed at you makes you hesitate. E-callers allow you to place a speaker in front of where you鈥檙e sitting, and you can control the sounds with a handheld remote. Calling is a thrilling way to hunt bears.
When calling bears, it鈥檚 best to locate them first so you can observe their behavior once you start calling. Sometimes, they come on a dead run. Other times, they head in your direction, then get sidetracked and begin feeding or heading in another direction for no apparent reason. Observing a bear鈥檚 behavior is essential for knowing what sounds to make and when.
Cold calling, or calling to a bear without first seeing it, requires patience and optimism. Start by finding fresh tracks and droppings. Then, call聽in聽the area closest to where the bear went into cover. This is where an electronic caller is preferred because you鈥檒l want to keep the sounds continuously going for an hour or more to keep a bear鈥檚 attention. If a bear starts coming in and hangs up, mouth calls can help seal the deal. Offering different sounds from a different place other than where the e-caller speaker is situated will often entice a bear to keep hunting for the food source. Calf elk and fawn distress sounds are good, as are any predator-calling sounds like rabbits, birds, or goats. Bears aren鈥檛 picky; if they鈥檙e hungry, they鈥檒l come in.
Bear meat is delicious, but once down, get straight to work. Snap any photos and immediately skin, quarter, and bone out the bear. A bear hide retains a lot of heat, and the meat spoils if not quickly cooled off. Even if taken near a road, skin out the bear, don鈥檛 drive home or back to camp with it, or go around showing friends.
With the bear skinned, remove the quarters and hang them in the shade to cool. Fillet the backstraps and neck meat, then de-bone the quarters. Bear bones are dense and hold a lot of heat, meaning the meat can turn sour from the inside if not promptly butchered. 在线玩老虎机鈥檚聽Primal Scalpel Kill Kit聽is ideal for quickly skinning and breaking down a bear in the woods. Once home or back at camp, get the meat cooling right away. There鈥檚 no need to age bear meat as you would venison, so get it cut up, wrapped, and in the freezer.
Hit聽properly, bears quickly expire.聽Having聽a rifle that you can shoot accurately and confidently聽is important.聽Many shots at bears come in low light and amid heavy shadows, even dense brush, so be sure you can make the shot before pulling the trigger because intense, lengthy tracking can ensue if the bullet doesn鈥檛 hit the mark.
In brush country, any 30-caliber rifle is good for bears. If hunting rugged mountains, a larger caliber, like a .375 H&H, is not overkill to drop a bear on the spot and prevent it from tumbling down a steep canyon. These are also suitable calibers when hunting over bait or with hounds.
Spot-and-stalk hunters can find themselves shooting longer distances at black bears, be it聽across canyons, hillsides, or mountain meadows.聽For this, flat-shooting, fast-moving calibers like a .300 Win., 6.8 Western, 28 Nosler, .300 PRC,聽and聽others, all available in a 在线玩老虎机聽X-Bolt Max Long Range, are excellent calibers.
