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Bear Season!

C

Carbonspyder

New Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2021
Messages
6
Anyone else on here doing some bear hunting? I saw one post on here with a nice bear but anyone else?
Wisconsin opened up here Wednesday the 8th and I'm hoping to get out this weekend and try for some nice ones on my camera. It'll be a good first hunt out of my saddle.
 
Just little ones in Barron County Wisconsin.
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I've shot four here in Pa.
They lengthened the archery season for them this year. I can't wait...
 
There's no baiting here. I'm glad.
I would go on a baited hunt though if I ever had the opportunity.
I can see how it'd be pretty tough to get a bear up in Canada and states where there are miles and miles of nuthin' but woods.
A little snack would help bring 'em in...
 
I was scouting last week and walked up on a GPS collar bear in a tree munchin on hickory nuts - he whuffed at me and scurried down. hoping to connect with my first this year, I've had 5 bear encounters in season and have yet to seal the deal
 
For the first time I’ll be hunting in a black bear area with a tag in my pocket this year. No baiting here…. Any tips fellas?
 
I was scouting deep in a property in PA a week ago and heard what sounded like rocks being overturned. I thought who the hell is all the way back here so I stopped and listened. A few minutes later I spotted a black bear on the other side of a wide stream hauling azz away from me. Five minutes after that I came across two intersecting heavily used game trails and a pile of scat larger than my boot! A quick search along the trails revealed a few more smaller deposits. The only sad part about all this is when I hung my camera and found that there's no cell service out there so I can't get a timeline of when they pass through. I made up my mind at that moment that I'll hunt that area primarily for bear and if a deer should get in the way...
 
Still hunting is the way to go for bears. (as long as you're sneaky)

Unless you're baiting or know of an old apple orchard or sumthin' they're hitting heavily you gotta cover ground. You have to go find one
You don't have to be extremely quiet, just go nice and easy.
Remember, you will never beat their nose.
 
phatkaw said:
Still hunting is the way to go for bears. (as long as you're sneaky)

Unless you're baiting or know of an old apple orchard or sumthin' they're hitting heavily you gotta cover ground. You have to go find one
You don't have to be extremely quiet, just go nice and easy.
Remember, you will never beat their nose.
Click to expand...

This is super helpful advice thank you!
 
phatkaw said:
Still hunting is the way to go for bears. (as long as you're sneaky)

Unless you're baiting or know of an old apple orchard or sumthin' they're hitting heavily you gotta cover ground. You have to go find one
You don't have to be extremely quiet, just go nice and easy.
Remember, you will never beat their nose.
Click to expand...
Are you stalking very slowly through thick/feeding areas, or moving more rapidly and glassing ahead on hillsides etc? Does this method ever tick off the local deer hunters?
 
Slow!
All of my bears and most of my deer I've shot by still hunting.

My definition of slow is variable...
It depends totally on how thick it is and how far you can see! I don't take another step until I've seen everything that the last step revealed. I hope that makes sense. Sometimes it'll take me an hour to go 75 yards or so if I feel I'm in a spot where a bear OR a buck might be laying.
The little things that let you know you're doing OK is when you find yourself 25 or 30 yards from a flock of turkeys and they don't see you. BUT keep in mind turkeys can't smell. If you're creeping along with the wind at your back you're wasting your time for deer and bears... Also, if you catch a flicker of a tweety bird at 90 yards you're seeing things before they see you and that's how you get them. ;)

Where I go bear huntin' every year it's National Forest, it's pretty big woods and you gotta cover ground there's no doubt. Seeing the signs of bears and being stubborn and searching for them were they live is how I've been able to get four and came real close to another and definitely should'a had another...

I have lots of bears around where I live and half-heartedly hunt them during the overlap of archery deer/archery bear season but if I get one during that I wouldn't be able to go to the mountains for my favorite week of the year...
 
Last edited:
phatkaw said:
Slow!
All of my bears and most of my deer I've shot by still hunting.

My definition of slow is variable...
It depends totally on how thick it is and how far you can see! I don't take another step until I've seen everything that the last step revealed. I hope that makes sense. Sometimes it'll take me an hour to go 75 yards or so if I feel I'm in a spot where a bear OR a buck might be laying.
The little things that let you know you're doing OK is when you find yourself 25 or 30 yards from a flock of turkeys and they don't see you. BUT keep in mind turkeys can't smell. If you're creeping along with the wind at your back you're wasting your time for deer and bears... Also, if you catch a flicker of a tweety bird at 90 yards you're seeing things before they see you and that's how you get them. ;)

Where I go bear huntin' every year it's National Forest, it's pretty big woods and you gotta cover ground there's no doubt. Seeing the signs of bears and being stubborn and searching for them were they live is how I've been able to get four and came real close to another and definitely should'a had another...

I have lots of bears around where I live and half-heartedly hunt them during the overlap of archery deer/archery bear season but if I get one during that I wouldn't be able to go to the mountains for my favorite week of the year...
Click to expand...

This is good info, I am in the northern Tennessee Appalachians with lots of National Forest to cover, probably in a similar situation as you. I shot both of my bucks last year with my bow still hunting on the ground, so I understand what you mean. I already killed a buck from my saddle in our early velvet season this year, so all of my attention is on getting a bear this fall. Lots of dog hunters around here, but hard to find any bear still hunters to take me under their wing .
 
BackSpasm said:
This is good info, I am in the northern Tennessee Appalachians with lots of National Forest to cover, probably in a similar situation as you. I shot both of my bucks last year with my bow still hunting on the ground, so I understand what you mean. I already killed a buck from my saddle in our early velvet season this year, so all of my attention is on getting a bear this fall. Lots of dog hunters around here, but hard to find any bear still hunters to take me under their wing .
Click to expand...
BackSpasm said:
This is good info, I am in the northern Tennessee Appalachians with lots of National Forest to cover, probably in a similar situation as you. I shot both of my bucks last year with my bow still hunting on the ground, so I understand what you mean. I already killed a buck from my saddle in our early velvet season this year, so all of my attention is on getting a bear this fall. Lots of dog hunters around here, but hard to find any bear still hunters to take me under their wing .
Click to expand...
 
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