2023 - Issue 2 - March/April

French Canadian Black B Legendary bear hounds

Legendary Bear Hounds Part 45

Sous Vide Skull Cleaning End of an era

williams’ thunder

The bear hunting authority for 23 years

Baiting Bears A Labor of Love

Ma r/A pr

202 3

Bear Grand Slam with .50 cal

Black Bear Carnitas

Five Reasons Hunters Struggle to Find Western Black Bears

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Bear Hunting

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Mar/Apr 2023 Volume 24 - Issue 2 Cover photo by Heath Helgert

By Josh Kirchner

By Bernie Barringer

10

End of an Era

Grand Slam of a Different Kind

18

By Travis L. Adair

Dark Timber

22

Use of Leashed Tracking Dogs

By Sean Etter

By Jake Horton

28

Heritage

By Doug Boze

Five Reasons Hunters Struggle to Find Western Bears

32

Cleaning a Bear Skull with a Sous Vide

40

Black Bear Carnitas

By Stephen F. Fielder

Becoming a Bear Hunter: Shot Placement

38

Legendary Bear Hounds Part 48: Williams’ Thunder

Cuddeback Trail Camera Contest Winner

By Kolby Morehead

Timothy D. Fowler

44

Columns

Win a Cuddeback Camera!

“Not today Ringo, you bandit!”

52 Bowhunting Bears

by Bernie Barringer - Bear Guru

54

Western Bear Hunting

56

Bruin Desinations

by Jana Waller - Western Hunter

by Al Raychard - Bear Hunting Veteran

Submitted by: Michael Peterson North Carolina

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To enter, submit a unique Cuddeback photo to info@bear-hunting.com or post to our Facebook page Bear Hunting Magazine

58

Sacred Pursuit

by TL Jones - Hound Pro

60 In Hot Pursuit

by Barry ‘Bear’ Siragusa - Hound Dude

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Bear Hunting

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Bear Grease The Editor’s Note

Kolby Morehead

@kolby_morehead

At the end of each hunting season it’s time to take assessment of the last season and for some of us going through the stages of grief. I’m only kidding (kind of). I do find myself in a bit of shock of this last season and the lack of game that made it into my freezer. I along with many of you I’m sure are trying to use last years lack of success to help fuel this year’s protein collection.

One decision that I made was to let go of a lease that showed initial promise but didn’t hold the bears as hoped and was three hours away. This year the plan of attack is to get a few permission properties closer to home casting a wider net rather than putting all my eggs in one basket. The rough part of letting go of the lease was it had some great deer but I’m a bear hunter, deer are secondary.

This year is for regrouping and refocusing. Looking forward into the upcoming spring and fall seasons, I have plans to pursue bears by four different methods of pursuit. This is an effort to experience all the different types of methods and gaining a deeper appreciation for them through the eyes of those who utilize them. This is one way I’m going to guard the gate in my own mind to experience bear hunting in every method I can pursue them. It’s ambition but will be worth it for me. I look forward to taking you along on that journey.

Is there anything that you’re holding onto that it is time to let go of? What are you doing to expand your view of hunting and not getting closed in on your past viewpoints? This is the perfect time of year to ask yourself these questions before the toms start gobbling and the bears emerge from their dens for the spring green up.

The last encouragement I’ll give you bear hunters is to hold on to the hope of the upcoming season.

This is your year! That is another way we can guard the gate is to be positive. Bear hunters shouldn’t walk around sad, WE’RE BEAR HUNTERS! So gather your barrels, excercise your hounds, stay in the saddle, and get your legs ready for a great year!

Kolby decided to let go of a lease that had bear potential.

Letting go of a property that has promise to regroup was a tough one for Kolby.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: 1-Year (6 issues) subscription rate is $37.00 for U.S. address, $54.00* for Canadian address (in U.S. funds). 2-Year (12 issues) subscription rate is $57.00 for U.S. address, $89.00* for Canadian address (in U.S. funds). (*rate is higher to cover extra postage) For more information, call us at: 479-839-4335, write to us at: Bear Hunting Magazine, P.O. Box 168, West Fork, Arkansas or E-mail us at: info@bear-hunting.com Copyright © 2015 Bear Hunting. All rights reserved. Articles, news items, advertisements or other print media do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Bear Hunting Media, LLC is not responsible for injury/loss during the implementation of content. Bear hunting is a potentially hazardous activity and people should take extreme caution when hunting.

Get ready for a great year bear hunters!

Spring is upon us!

-Kolby-

Bear Hunting (ISSN 1553-2488 and USPS 019-451) is published bi-monthly by Bear Tracks Media, LLC, 4052 N Abington Ct., FAyetteville,AR 72703. Periodicals Postage Paid at West Fork, AR and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes (form 3579) to Bear Hunting, P.O. Box 168, West Fork, AR 72774.

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end of an era

by Josh Kirchner

@dialedinhunter

Archery Spring Bear Hunting in Arizona

Back when I first got into bear hunting, pursuing them with a bow was never something that was on the table for me. I always looked at them as a “rifle critter” for the sheer fact that they were, and still are, a predator that could eat me if they wanted. I know that sounds funny, but give me a break, I was just starting out. As my love for bear hunting grew more and more, so did my love of bowhunting. It took hold of my soul and nudged me in a direction I didn’t think I’d go. Soon I started applying for archery spring bear tags in my home state of Arizona. As luck would have it, I drew my first year back in 2015 and would officially be bear hunting with a bow the spring that followed. That very hunt planted a seed of addiction in me that has never stopped growing.

Since my first archery spring bear hunt in Arizona, I have applied every year since and drew every so often.

It’s always been a fun hunt that I’ve looked forward to. So when I got the news in the fall of 2021 that I drew a 2022 spring bear tag, my excitement went through the roof. It was for a unit I had always wanted to hunt, but never had the chance. Sadly, it would be my last chance ever to pursue black bears on this tag, given the fact that Arizona recently cut this hunt from the regulations. It left me heartbroken, but I was ecstatic for one last opportunity.

Scouting This particular tag in Arizona runs from the beginning of May clear to the end of July, pending sow quota limits of course. Once a sow quota is met in a unit, that 10

Bear Hunting

unit will shut down bear hunting the following Wednesday at sundown. Given the fact that this hunt has a 1% success rate, I wasn’t too worried about the sow limit being met.

There are two notable things happening during the span of this hunt. One is the bear rut. I’ve seen the best rutting during the last week of May and the first week of June. Another thing is the heat. Man, it’s hot and dry in Arizona that time of year, which exposes an achilles heel of the bear—water. Bears will be glued to it and so would my focus for scouting.

Right from the get go when I found out I drew the tag in November, I jumped into my onXmaps and started cataloging potential water sources in areas that said “bear” to me—areas that were steep and dense in vegetation. I’ve always found that bears seem to prefer steeper country. It offers them more security, and usually provides ample food along with water, of course, in the bottom. That, paired with a dense canopy for shade and even more security, is a recipe for bears.

My digital maps looked like a Christmas tree with how many waypoints I was dropping on potential areas. However, there was one spring in particular that really stood out to me. A pool of water surrounded by steep walls that made for a drainage choked in oak.

It checked all of the boxes. With a packed schedule already, I wouldn’t get to step foot in the area until the hunt came. So, until then, I’d be fueled by my incessant Mar/Apr 2023

The author escouted a pool of water surrounded by steep walls that made for a drainage choked in oak.

www.bear-hunting.com

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e-scouting and vivid daydreaming.

Maiden Voyage After an incredibly rugged spring hunt in Idaho that came with no shortage of inclement weather, I was beyond ready to return home to the desert for my Arizona spring tag. I blocked five days off of the calendar. My excitement was at an all time high, of course, but expectations were rather low. Along with it being a tough hunt, I just didn’t know the area well. I planned on exploring more than anything to learn as much as I could.

Tracks Everywhere The immediate plan, once I got my camp set, was to go and check out as many water sources as I could. Thanks to all of the e-scouting I did, my list was a long one that would strip its fair share of rubber from my boots. My strategy in doing this was to play a process of elimination. I wanted to find the hot water sources for bears in the area—where they were and where they weren’t. It had been all of about ten minutes hiking down a decrepit two track when I looked down and saw a pad print. There it was. All of the scanning of maps I had done led me right to this area and I was now standing above a fresh bear track. I hadn’t even reached the first water source yet and it seemed like I was on the right track already. Literally.

The further I went down the trail, the more and more bear tracks I saw. And the water? Yeah, all of them had bear tracks adorning their muddy edges. Thanks to an unexpected encounter with a buddy and his OHV, I was able to check out way more water sources than I had originally planned on as well. This helped immensely and really narrowed my focus to a few different areas.

The author looking at areas he escouted, checking them for bear sign.

Two Ships in the Dark For the next few days I’d sit at a stock tank that had multiple sets of an impressive track. I assumed

The author found several bear tracks around this pond.

After several days and no bears he moved on.

12

Bear Hunting

Mar/Apr 2023

Back At It Coming home from a hunt is always something I look forward to. I love seeing my wife and daughter and being away eats away at me. Even so, I had a burning drive to get back out into the mountains to test out my new wind theory. I concluded that my wind was blowing up into where I believed the bears to be bedding. So in order to get around that, I’d scale up the other side of drainage to set up. Here the directional might still blow towards the bedding, but because I was elevated the “The Spot” thermal would push my scent over the bears. And when Remember that all too perfect water source it would drop, the directional changed in my favor as I mentioned at the beginning of this article? Once my well. It was the perfect setup. excitement for the stock tank fizzled, I decided to go Hour after hour went by. I had probably ranged check out the spring that I had been staring at for what the spring from my post 100 times and every tree around seemed like ages. As I worked down the game trail that it. The wind was great too, just as I had hoped. When it led to the water, I noticed some imperfections in the did blow towards the bedding, it was pulling my scent pine needles. Drag marks about six inches or so wide over the top of it. Hidden in a rock crevice, sheltered with no hoof prints beneath. I knew this was a bear, and from the beating sun, my hopes were soaring. Things a good sized one at that. just felt right. But as good as the whole day felt, the Once I arrived at the spring, it was everything I sun was now descending behind the mountain and hoped it would be: shaded, lush, and plenty of water for still no bears. Thoughts of a hot dinner back at camp a bear to get a drink and even take a dip if they wantstarted invading my thoughts. With about 15 minutes ed. Not to mention finding those bear tracks on the way of light left, I began to slowly get my stuff together in in made for good vibes all around. This is where I need- preparation to leave. While doing so, I actually tripped ed to be. It just made the most sense out of any other and a rock went tumbling down the hill. “What a clutz,” place I had been. For days I sat in this perfect spring.

I thought. At that moment though, I heard something I saw turkeys and a fox, but no bears. At this point in down beneath me. It wasn’t the rock that went tumbling my trip, it was time for me to pack up and head home either. for a little bit. While this leg was indeed over, my mind Through the dense vegetation I saw a large was racing and trying to answer the question of why. black figure floating through the bottom of the drainWhy did I not see a bear in this oasis? It was perfect. age towards the spring. Once it stepped out into the The sign was there. After staring at my maps more and only opening I had for a shooting lane, I confirmed that more, I started to wonder if it was the wind direction in this was not only a good sized bear, but a boar. With no relation to where I now believed the bears were moving hesitation I grabbed my bow off of the tree. The ghost to and from. It put a solid idea in my head about how I had been chasing the whole hunt stood at 30 yards. to play the wind in this spot. I’d have to wait until my I came to full draw, settled, and buried my pin on the follow up trip to find out if it held any weight, though. bear. Time slowed down here. All of the practice I had it was from a solid boar in the area. Despite the track imprinted in my mind, I came up empty those few days. Even with that said, I was still seeing fresh tracks popping up on the two track I was hiking along every morning and evening. The bears were there and I knew it. We were just two ships, or even ten, passing in the dark. With time we were bound to meet up eventually.

How much time was a question I didn’t have an answer for.

This water at the base of the drainage looked promising.

The author planned on coming back to hunt this spot.

www.bear-hunting.com

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13

put in throughout the year was washing over me. The good habits I made took over and the shot broke. My arrow hit right behind my pin. Perfect.

End of an Era After gathering myself and my gear, I made my way down the water and found my arrow drenched in red. It fully passed through the bear just as I’d hoped.

With it still getting cool at night, I opted to leave the bear until morning. Even though the shot looked perfect, I didn’t want to risk bumping a wounded bear in the dark in the dense forest I was hunting. I’d return at first light instead.

My excitement paired with the adrenaline fought off any good sleep I hoped to get. So when my alarm went off dark and early, I was more than ready to get going. Right at daybreak is when I made it to where I was hunting and just 20 yards away from the spring, my bear laid motionless. That was it. I had become the 1% to successfully harvest a bear on this hunt. Overjoyed, proud, and grateful are the three best words to describe how I felt then.

After a beautiful morning taking care of my bear, it really started to hit me. The heavy weight in my backpack was the last I’d feel this time of year in Arizona. There wouldn’t be any more long spring days sitting above a pool of water. No more anticipation racing through me among the May flowers. The nostalgia from past Arizona spring bear hunts hit me like a runaway semi-truck. Every step I took was one step closer to this all being over. My last memory was officially in the making. I didn’t, and still don’t, want it to be true. Despite the aching in my heart, it was the end of an era. I’ll embrace this nostalgia until the end of time.

The author inspected his arrow and found it drenched in red after a clean pass through.

The author taking a moment to reflect on the hunt and pay respects to this beautiful bear.

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Mar/Apr 2023

The author found his bear 20 yards away from the shot the next morning.

The author poses with his beautiful spring bear.

Note: There are still OTC opportunities to hunt spring black bears in Arizona. The spring draw is shut down removing opportunities the author loves and holds dear for the forceeable future.

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by Bernie Barringer

Scott Kiefner set out to kill all four bear species with a .50 caliber rifle and pulled it off in style.

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Bear Hunting

Mar/Apr 2023

One of the best parts of going to a hunting camp is the people you meet. This is illustrated by my hunt with Canadian Wilderness Outfitters a few years ago when I found myself sitting around a campfire with an ordinary guy who I would really love getting to know.

If you were to meet Scott Kiefner, you’d like him immediately. He’s a soft-spoken guy who drives an older S-10 pickup to his second-shift job as a welder. Friendly as all get out, and just the kind of guy you’d want to sit around a campfire with and talk about hunting. I know because I have. But behind that Carhart jacket and three-day beard stubble is a guy who’s passionate about hunting, especially bear hunting. And he has the means to do a lot of it. He has dreams. Big dreams. Most of these dreams involve hunting bears with his favorite gun, an Armalite AR-50 .50 Caliber.

That’s just where the surprises start, and they’ll keep coming. Scott is just a few animals short of the North American Super Slam, the feat of taking all 29 North American big game animals. He needs a musk ox, three of the four species of sheep, and one of the five caribou species. And of course, he totes the 36-pound .50 cal on every hunt. “I never turn down anyone who wants to help carry it,” he laughs. “I created a challenge for myself. As a youngster I used to read about hunters who traveled to amazing places for amazing hunts and the desire was planted.

“I’ll probably never complete the slam with the .50 because Canada has recently banned many guns and made it basically impossible to use that rifle now. Plus, the cost of the sheep hunts has gotten out of reach.” At $30,000 to $50,000 per hunt, sheep are out of reach for almost anyone these days. “I have been spending more time in Africa where hunting is amazing, more affordable, and I can use my .50 on anything.”

So how does this humble, professional welder from Toulon, Illinois who is single and working an hourly job travel North America—and the world—hunting? “I invested early in life in some lower end rental properties,” he says. He’s been frugal and responsible with his finances and has a moral objection to debt, so he has the freedom to do those hunts.

But this story is about bears, so let’s not get too far off course. Scott set out to harvest all four species of bears: polar bear, black bear, grizzly bear, and brown bear. He wanted to do it with a pistol, so he put together a rig with all the bells and whistles—a .44 pistol with tripod, laser, and the whole shebang. “It didn’t take me long to realize that if I was going to do this, I needed more range. So I guess I went to the opposite extreme and got the .50 cal. And I was on my way.”

Black bears intrigued him early on because they were affordable, and he was young with a limited income and only two weeks of vacation per year. He had bagged around a dozen black bears when the .50 caliber bug hit him. He killed a couple black bears with the gun, then he found himself in Alaska one day hunting caribou when a guide offered him a spontaneous grizzly bear hunt. “It was a last-minute deal where I was handing him a bunch of cash and signing a contract on the top of a mountain in the cold wind. I think he knew about this particular bear when he offered me the deal.” They went out and found the bear and Scott made a great shot, so the grizzly bear was checked off his list.

Until it wasn’t. When the GPS coordinates were verified, it turns out that the bear was closer to the coast than they realized, which means the scientists consider it a brown bear and so do the record-keeping organizations such as Boone & Crockett. “It gets real iffy,” he says. But technically, he had added a brown bear to his list. He has no interest in entering his animals into record books, but for his own peace of mind he now needed to shoot a grizzly.

But first came the polar bear. The thing he remembers most about the hunt was the harsh conditions. “It was brutal, brutal, brutal. The conditions are horrible.” The unbelievable hardship stays in his mind. He was being pulled behind a snowmobile in a Kamotik, an enclosed sled made for hauling equipment and sometimes people. “There was camping gear, tarps, and all kinds of gear in there bouncing around with me. I chose to hold my gun

www.bear-hunting.com

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because I didn’t trust it any other place. I covered up with everything in that sled and held on for dear life. I still can’t believe I didn’t freeze to death.”

Miles and miles out on the ice, polar bears are hunted by snowmobile and sled dogs. Bears are always on the move and these long-legged beasts can cover a shocking amount of ground at a fast walk. When a bear is spotted, the dogs are turned loose to corner the bear so the hunter can get in position for the shot. “This bear was a male and they got me within 100 yards of it. The white giant had some large bloody scars on its side and face from fighting with other bears, including a 10-inch tear on his side.

They asked me if I wanted this bear and I decided this was the one.” Over half a ton of bear is a lot to bring down, but Scott says none of his bears have required a second shot and hardly ever a blood trail. This bear was no exception.

After all this, he was once again back to square one on the grizzly bear. A grizzly would complete his grand slam of all four North American bear species. He was off to Alaska, where some areas now allow baiting of grizzlies. Being around a bear bait being used by black bears is adrenaline-charged, but think about baiting and getting in and out of the treestand when there are grizzlies around (especially considering the way grizzlies tend to become possessive and aggressively defend their food).

Scott and his guide walked through three miles of mostly swampy stuff with Scott carrying his 36-pound rifle to get to the bait. Day after day it was not being touched. “The guide said it was too warm, and all we needed was a break in the weather.” The weather during this spring hunt was great for their tent camp, but bad for bear movement. “It was afternoon on the last day of my hunt when a thunderstorm started rolling in. He said, ‘Let’s go; the bears will be there!’ The guide was right. It was late in the afternoon, and I had to leave that evening to catch a plane the next morning. We were sitting under a tarp in the downpour when the big male rolled in. When the guide confirmed that it was a male, I shot it.”

And it was a giant—the largest grizzly the long-time, experienced guide had ever seen after being in on over 450 kills. “We had to cross a river to get to the bear, but I was soaked to the skin already so I didn’t even care that I was wading in the water.

We couldn’t move the bear at all, so we shot a few photos and started skinning.” Scott regrets that they didn’t get more pictures or better ones, but the conditions just wouldn’t allow it. The guide once again remarked that it was the heaviest skin he had ever carried.

With that bear, Scott had accomplished his goal of shooting the Grand Slam of all four species of bears in North America with a .50 cal. He’s certainly the only person to have ever done it, or likely ever will be. At the very least he’s the first, and you can’t take that away from a person.

Scott is back to welding in Illinois. Few people he meets in his daily life at work, or collecting rent, or fixing the plumbing in one of his rental properties, will probably ever have a clue about the things he has accomplished, but I doubt if he minds. It’s not in his nature.

So where does he go from here? “Maybe I’ll go for the big five in Africa. I have a lion and a cape buffalo, so I will need a leopard, a rhino, and an elephant.” I have no doubt that Scott and his .50 cal are capable of fulfilling that dream as well.

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Scott got this impressive black bear with Canadian Wilderness Outfitters in Manitoba

Scott got this brown bear in Alaska when offered the opportunity on a caribou hunt.

This was a hunt in harsh conditions. The .50 cal took this half ton bear with one shot!

Mar/Apr 2023

Note: It is not longer legal to have a .50 cal in Canada.

AR-50a1.50BMGBOLT -ACTIONRIFLE AR-50A1 .50BMG AR-50a1.50BMBolt-Action GBOLT-ACTIONRIFRifle LE 525 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd . St e. 10 0 Phoenix, A Z. 850 24 623-780 -10 50 | salesord ers@sacfirearm s.com

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The A R-50 A 1 is a sing le shot b olt act ion rifle cham b ered for t he p ow erful .50 BMG cart rid g e. The rifle feat ures a uniq ue oct ag onal receiver and ut ilizes A rm aLit e's p rop riet ary V-Channel chassis.

Desig ned for t he challeng es of long -rang e shoot ing , t he A R-50 A 1 is excep t ionally accurat e w it h a hig hly effect ive m uzzle b rake.

SPECS/AVAILABLE OPTIONS CALIBER

.50 BMG

MUZZLE DEVICE

A RMA LITE A R-50

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SINGLE-STA GE

The A R-50 A 1 is a sing le shot b olt act ion rifle cham b ered for t he CHROME MOLY, BLA NITRIDE BARREL p ow erful .50 BMG cart rid g e.

The rifle feat ures a uniq ueCKoct ag onal receiver and ut ilizes A rm aLit e's p rop riet ary30V-Channel chassis. " BARREL LENGTH Desig ned for t he challeng es of long -rang e shoot ing , t he A R-50 A 1 is 1:15 RH excep t ionally accurat e w it hTWIST a hig hly effect ive m uzzle b rake.

SPECS/AVAILABLE OPTIONS CALIBER

Scott with a huge grizz he got in alaska that completed his North America bear slam with a .50 cal!

HANDGUARD

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A RMA LITE A R-50 CHA SSIS

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BARREL LENGTH

30 "

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A RMA LITE A R-50

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SINGLE-STA GE ©2021 Armalite. All Rights Reserved.

HANDGUARD

FREE FLOA T DESIGN, W ITH GG&G BIPOD

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A RMA LITE A R-50 CHA SSIS

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Armalite® ©2021 Armalite. All Rights Reserved.

- Large and color phased bears.

- Exclusive tents for each hunter with wood stove.

- Spring & fall hunts available.

- 24 hr hot/cold water and indoor shower.

- Five day fully guided hunt.

Minitonas, Manitoba canadabestbows@gmail.com (204) 525-2121 | (204) 281-2746 www.canadianwildernessoutfitters.com

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21

Dark Timber BAITING BEARS DIY IN THE UNFORGIVING MOUNTAINS OF IDAHO

by Travis L. Adair

22

Bear Hunting

@wilderness_lawyer

Mar/Apr 2023

Baiting black bears in the alluring high country is a rewarding process and thrilling way to hunt. The exhilaration of an up-close and personal encounter with a deadly carnivore is something bear hunters crave and that must be experienced firsthand to fully appreciate. There are many false perceptions surrounding this style of hunting and it’s surprising to me that even some hunters take issue with the idea, as if baiting bears is somehow cheating. Critics seem to assume that if you throw a donut on the ground, some big dumb bruin will soon come sniffing for it with reckless abandon. Anyone familiar with bear hunting knows nothing could be further from the truth. Bear baiting is a challenging sport and ethical means to selectively harvest mature boars. It is also a useful management tool in densely forested areas where spot and stalk are less effective. For those reasons alone it really should be legalized in more states.

Viewing black bears through an ignorant lens does not give them the respect they are due. Mature bears are downright difficult to kill over bait.

These are clever creatures and inherently nocturnal scavengers. Bears have knowledge and dominion of their habitat that is unique to the genus aided by, arguably, the most powerful sense in the animal kingdom and a long lifespan in the wild. There is no fooling a bear’s nose. The same ability of Ursidae to smell food sources from miles away also provides formidable defense and with age, these mammals become very wise. Black bears may seem nonchalant when rummaging through protected areas like certain campgrounds or parks where they cannot be hunted and face little threat. However, the realities of bear hunting and their behavior in the backcountry tell a vastly different story. They know how to make themselves scarce in the woods and can be very elusive.

I have been on several bait hunts in recent years in different regions of Idaho and learned a lot from my observations and discussions with outfitters and other hunters. This year, I set out with my good friend, Matt Drake (Instagram handle: @mattdrakebaits208), on a do-it-yourself hunt. Matt is a hardcore bear hunter who has been baiting for fifteen years in the backcountry of Idaho. His expertise and passion are second to none and he has killed tremendous bruins over the years. He has earned every one of them.

The amount of work Matt puts into baiting is extraordinary, which is why he is successful. It is not for the faint of heart, especially when hunting the remote and unforgiving canyons that the biggest black bears call home. He and other bear maniacs like him enjoy torturing themselves: packing 55-gallon drums, tree stands, and hundreds of pounds of bait miles across steep terrain, even through deep snow at the beginning of spring. Matt enjoys the extreme fitness aspect of it as much as anything. I was in for a huge challenge just trying to keep up with him.

When June came, I ordered bait supplies from Boar Masters, purchased my bear tag and baiting permit, and left for scenic Idaho to join my friend. Matt had been hunting the same remote site for many years. It sits on the side of a steep, densely forested canyon and is a mile from the nearest two-track. The green, rugged landscape was stunning. It predictably kicked

The author took advantage of being able to bait on public land in Idaho.

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting

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A truck can only get you so far. The author had a lot of sweat equity on this hunt!

my butt. The first evening, we rebaited and climbed into the tree stands for an evening sit. There were many bears on camera, including two gorgeous blonde boars that would periodically visit the bait during shooting hours. The weather was perfect, but we did not see any bears that night. This was not surprising with me intruding the bait site with my foreign scent for the first time. Experienced baiters know the difficulty of getting big bears to commit and present themselves at the bait during legal shooting light, especially with someone new present.

The next evening, we were visited by a gorgeous cinnamon colored sow and three cubs. The big sow was very cautious and anxiously paced around while her cubs gorged themselves on trail mix. She was on high alert for any intrusive boar and the danger that could present for the cubs, especially during the rut. At one point she was directly under my tree.

We locked eyes, but she didn’t care much. I’m sure she knew we were there prior to approaching the bait with her young. Matt had years’ worth of camera footage of this spectacular bear. Under different circumstances, she could be mistaken for a boar due to her stature.

Field judging can be tricky even for seasoned hunters.

Yet, due to this style of hunting there was zero chance of mistakenly killing this bear by misjudging it or not realizing she had cubs. Bait hunting greatly enhances the hunter’s ability to scrutinize the animal and selectively target.

The bait site had been on fire prior to my arrival, but the next couple of days brought high winds and the bear activity ceased. The area was increasing dramatically in popularity and foot traffic despite its remote location. Matt had wrestled with the decision 24

Bear Hunting

to relocate to another unit. After extensive scouting, he felt it was time to finally pull the plug. Fortunately, I would be returning in the fall for round two and was excited to hunt another spectacular part of Idaho.

The fall bait season began slowly at the new bait site. The forest fires in northern and central Idaho wreaked some havoc as Matt worked to get the bait established. He persisted and before long, the bait started to catch fire. By the end of the month some exceptional bears were hitting the bait, including several color phases. Most of the bears on camera were shooters and I was anxious to get back up there. One of the boars is a world class giant, the largest Matt has ever seen on camera in fifteen years of baiting.

I left my Utah home at 5:00 a.m. so I would make it to camp in time for the evening hunt. When I arrived, it was a thirteen-mile ride in the RZR to the trailhead. It’s difficult to overstate the magnitude of this remote country. The steep, dark timbered canyon was tremendously deep. I could tell this is what made the bait site so special, accounting for the incredible caliber of bears on camera. I instantly fell in love with this unforgiving environment and the allure it produced.

The bait barrel was chained to a tree on a well-traveled bear trail carved out of the dark inclined mountainside. We packed in a ground blind and selected a spot 50 yards from the bait that would put the predominant wind and evening thermals in our favor. The blind would be concealed well under a large pine surrounded by deadfall. I went to work with a shovel digging a level platform to sit in the blind while Matt rebaited with trail mix, flavored paste, and anise spray, along with some popcorn. We exclusively used Boar Masters products during this hunt and in preparation. When it comes to baiting bears effectively, the rewards must outweigh the risk. Matt had been rewarding Mar/Apr 2023

The landscape of Idaho is diverse with both dense timber and open expanses of sagebrush.

The author utilized a ground blind to help give him cover and protect him from any elements.

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting

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This beautiful sow and cub began hitting this bait.

Beautiful color phase bears!

these bears heavily in the lead up to this hunt and there was lots of competition on the bait. It was the perfect setup, and I was confident that if we sat long enough it would come together.

The weather was calm and perfect. Less than two hours into our sit that evening, we heard branches break and Matt spotted movement below the bait. He could tell it was one of several big color phase bears frequenting the bait. A few minutes later we spotted the bear moving uphill behind the bait. To our disappointment, the bear never committed. As darkness approached, another black colored bear did the same thing. They possibly were dissuaded during daylight by my foreign scent in that area for the first time that evening. However, this created plenty of optimism for day two.

We planned an extra-long sit on day two and made it to the bait around 10:30 a.m. This would give us roughly nine hours of legal hunting light. The weather shifted and it was cold and windy. A few hours into our sit, we heard branches snap again and the clear sound

That’s a big public bruin!

Hopefully he comes out in the daylight!

The big bruin came out during the day. The author just needs to wait for the right shot!

This is a bigger than average Idaho bruin.

Congrats Travis!

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Mar/Apr 2023

of a bear grunting below the bait. The bear never showed itself. The bears’ lack of cooperation was frustrating, but I’ve hunted them enough to know things can change in the blink of an eye. Around 6:00 p.m., the evening thermals shifted and that’s exactly what happened. A beautiful chocolate boar appeared silently on the trail just above the bait.

We briefly examined the bear as he approached and concluded that I should take it. The bear stood facing towards the blind and then turned his head, looking around with his nose to the air. With the chest exposed, I took the frontal shot and the bruin instantly dropped in its tracks. The Barnes LRX from my 300 RUM hammered through the bear’s entire cavity and clobbered the bait barrel behind it. It was a quick ending to a long and rewarding process that Matt graciously let me be part of. The culmination of work, sweat, patience, and sacrifice. This was an awesome hunt in every way.

I was fortunate to harvest my first color phase in the dark timber of remote Idaho. I would like to thank my good friend, Matt Drake, for inviting me to join him. We’ve shared lots of laughs during our time together in the woods and I’ve learned a lot from him about baiting. The guy is as hardcore as it gets and runs circles around me. I admire his drive and persistence as a bear hunter and baiter. If you haven’t tried hunting bears over bait, you should.

The effort required for success is not for the faint of heart, but the rewards are worth it. It is incumbent upon us as bear hunters to help change false perceptions and any stigma wrongfully attached to this sport that we are passionate about. I am awestruck by these majestic carnivores whom I long to share the woods with.

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Bear Hunting

27

Heritage

BY Sean Etter

Just over a mile up the hiking trail, I leave the comfort of the graded switchbacks and begin bushwhacking up the ridge. I’ve been eyeing this spot on my topo map for a while now and it is, I believe, at an elevation where the mast crop will be heaviest this fall. Immediately I am waist high in poison ivy. That’s okay, though, because the overstory is predominately of white oaks—big ones with spreading crowns—so the decision to continue is no decision at all.

Alternately wiping sweat from and peering through the binos, I make my way up to the highest point on the ridge where an exposed patch of ivy free bedrock grants me a rare vista to the North. It occurs to me that I might be the first person to stand in this spot and witness this view in years. Ahead, the Blue Ridge Mountains roll into the Carolinas like waves on a turbulent sea. As I sit admiring this perspective, an overwhelming sense of gratitude and obligation is all I feel as I reflect on where this all started.

In 2012, not so long

but it feels like an eternity now. We were both a few years out of college when my friend, Joe Burnam, brought up the idea of trying out a bowhunt for bears in the mountains of North Georgia. We had heard stories from friends who had been successful, and to us it sounded absolutely incredible.

Chasing bears on foot, in the backcountry, with stickbows.

This was the stuff of western mountain hunting. I have to say it sounded too good to be true. But we started poring over maps and the very first time I made the two hour drive north to put boots on the ground, I found the padded marks of a young bear only a half mile up a gated logging road.

I think I made a half dozen scouting trips that summer to different areas and when hunting season finally rolled around, we had settled on a series of converging ridges deep in the mountains that were heavy with white oaks.

We set up tents in a primitive campground on a small trout stream and spent the entirety of the Friday before the opener scouting. As luck would have it, the area we chose was at an elevation and a slope orientation that did have an abundance of white oak acorns that year. I would later learn that this type of thing was such an anomaly that I would have to, at least, ponder on the possibility of some sort of divine intervention in my life. Joe and I chose different routes that day and covered nearly twelve miles of steep country, but it did pay off eventually. Near the very end of the morning I found several trees that had been freshly climbed, including one where the scat under the tree was so fresh that I slipped on it like a banana peel in a cartoon.

The author and his friends. A real trad bow mafia.

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Mar/Apr 2023

Joe and I had been in tent camps many times before. We had met in the forestry program at the University of Georgia and it wasn’t long before we were showing each other our favorite haunts. Throughout college we were in the woods constantly. Mostly, he taught me. We did everything. We shot wood ducks in WMA beaver ponds, deer on National Forest hunts, fileted piles of white bass and crappie during spawning runs, ran catfish jugs, and, most of all, traded our turkey hunting hollows.

It had been a while since we had shared a camp though, and I can remember the sense of excitement the night before that first push into the mountains. I had bear hunted in Canada at least a dozen times but this was totally different. I remember lying in my sleeping bag that night with a sense of trepidation, but the sound of the freestone creek must’ve overridden that and the alarm at 3:30 a.m. was soon an annoyance.

We made it five miles to our spot before daylight. Very wet, but otherwise no worse for wear. I left Joe at his tree with whispered hand signals just as the very first hint of gray light pushed down from above. Proceeding on another quarter mile, I found myself moving slower and slower as I approached the bear battered white oak.

Upon rounding the bend in the trail, I could hear a large animal feeding under the tree amongst the waist high vaccinium.

I honestly don’t recall recognizing it was a feral

A lot of the country they hunt is full of unforgiving thickets.

www.bear-hunting.com

hog or nocking an arrow, but I know I never removed my pack and certainly remember the whispered sound of the recurve limbs and the blurred spiral as the fletching disappeared behind the sow’s shoulder.

The blood trail was brief, but the following adrenaline surge was not. By 11:00 that morning, we would be packing out the shared load of pork as Joe relayed with me the story of his bear encounter. He had had at least two bears feeding behind him in a gulley and had decided on a much better ambush spot for the following morning.

Our blisters were worse by the next dawn, but the temperature had improved dramatically. We were shivering in sweat drenched camo by the time we separated. When I passed by the carcass of the pig from the previous day, all I could find to know that it even existed was a greasy drag mark leading down to a briar thicket.

Some lucky bear must’ve found the offal in the preceding few hours.

By 9:00 a.m., I had been staring at the broken limbs of that white oak for 2.5 hours and the mileage of the hunt was beginning to take its toll. I wasn’t asleep, but in the limbo between wakefulness and slumber a twig snapped behind me. Every hunter knows that sound.

It’s not the drop of an acorn or the rustle of a gray squirrel. It’s the sound of an errant footstep by a large animal.

My heart went into overdrive and in one motion I turned to face the bear who was 15 yards away staring straight at me. He obviously didn’t recognize me immediately as a human in this remote place, but he wasn’t going to stick around to ask questions either. It was now or never, so I canted the bow to 90 degrees and snapped the shot. He wheeled just at the release, but the hit looked perfect to me.

Every hunter knows the feeling when things go from complete elation to heartbreak. Your arrow deflects off a twig at the last second, you find gut matter on the blood trail, or your friend tells you that the bear you think you just killed ran by him a quarter mile away with the arrow buried harmlessly in his shoulder. The third was my experience and the blood trail confirmed it. It makes me absolutely nauseous to wound an animal, but I felt very confident this bear would be just fine in a few days. As it turned out, Joe had gotten the joy of watching a very small bear feed on acorns within bow range for quite a while as well.

Hiking out that first trip, the only souls on thousands of acres, I recall the feeling that something had changed for me. Something down deep in my very being. The mountains of the Southern Appalachians were going to play an integral role in my life. And, as it turned out, in the lives of my two unborn children. I’ve thought often about how strange it is that the catalyst for this overwhelming passion began with something as benign as a five-minute phone call from a friend. But, if I’m being honest, it happened long before I was even born. It was only possible because of the forward-thinking leadership of our conservationist forefathers.

“If there is any one duty which more than another we owe it to our children and our children’s children to perform at once, it is to save the forests of this country, for they constitute the first and most important element in the conservation of the natural resources of this country” - Theodore Roosevelt.

As Americans, we have been blessed with something very rare in the modern world—a heritage of wild lands bestowed upon us by the generations before.

My little piece of heaven, that I couldn’t learn in two lifetimes, is the Chattahoochee National Forest. It covers about 750,000 acres and encompasses most of the Bear Hunting

29

land in the northern counties of the state. But outside of that within an hour’s drive, I could be in the Nantahalas which hold 528,000 acres or the Pisgah with another 500,000, or the Cherokee with 640,000.

All told, the United States citizens own 640,000,000 acres of public lands. Wild places where you and I both have the right to pick up at any time, throw the pack over your shoulders and take off. Hunting, fishing, hiking, paddling, camping, mountain biking, horse riding, mushroom picking: the opportunities are as limitless as the scale of the lands, and they belong to every one of us. These grounds are constantly under attack and, as hunters, I think we need to be on the front lines of this fight at every turn. Remember, once these lands are gone, they’re gone forever.

Being that this readership is comprised mostly of bear hunters, I think I can safely assume that it’s comprised mostly of public land hunters as well.

Please ask yourself, what are you doing to protect these precious gifts? It can be as simple as joining a conservation organization like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers or the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, or simply writing an occasional letter to your elected officials. They do read them and they do respond to pressure. It’s not hard to stay up to date on the current issues anymore either. There is an ever-growing number of podcasts, email streams, newsletters, etc. that can keep us all in the loop.

Please, for the sake of our children, let’s keep these politicians and industrial interests in line with the natural values that shape our lives.

My friends and I have had an annual bear camp on the opening weekend of archery season every year since. I look forward to it more than any event on the calendar. In that time, we haven’t packed out many bears but there have been a few.

We’ve flung more arrows than we have punched tags.

It’s more a time to renew friendships in the lives of people who live too distant and too busy.

About four years ago now, I convinced my wife of the value of those mountains and we bought a small cabin on the edge of the National Forest. My daughter, Willow, and son, Wyatt, I hope, will want to inherit it, along with the knowledge I can give them.

It’s taken more than a few pairs of boots, but I hope to be able to teach them the things that I appreciate.

Where the best white oak ridges are, which streams have native brook trout, how to tell a chanterelle from a jack o lantern mushroom, etc. Nothing would make me happier in this life than for my children and grandchildren to hunt, fish, and forage the same mountains that I have. It’s both my legacy and their heritage, just as these public lands are for all of us.

Clay Newcomb always says, “Keep the wild places wild, because that’s where the bears are”, and I totally agree. Let’s keep them public, too.

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Bear Hunting

The area the author hunts has been good to him over the years!

Mar/Apr 2023

The author purchased this cabin to make lasting memories.

This picture says it all! #Heritage

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Bear Hunting

31

Five Reasons Hunters Struggle to Find Western Black Bears

by Jake Horton

@wildernesspeak

Hunting the North American black bear can be a great challenge and reward year after year. For most hunters, the most challenging part of hunting black bears is finding an area with good numbers on public land. Besides Alaska, I have never encountered more bears on public land than in the western mountains of the United States. From Colorado to Oregon and New Mexico to Montana, there is no shortage of bruins roaming the mountains. If there are so many bears, why do some hunters still not harvest a bear on their spring or fall western hunts? Why do some hunters not even see a bear in their pursuits? From years of experience and countless conversations, we have compiled the five main reasons that hunters struggle to find bears to hunt in a place where they are prevalent.

Reason One: Hunting the Wrong Areas

Choosing a bear hunting spot in the West is more complex than selecting a location on the map. The key is to find bears in a place where you can actually hunt them. There are countless ways to find an area in the western mountains that contain a good number of bears; however, the best resource is to get on the phone. When hunting a new state or unit, I first call the local Forest Service, Fish and Game, or biologist to hone in on areas with higher density. These officials perform studies, get reports, and are out and about in these areas daily, so they are the best source of information. Once you have obtained this information, you need to dissect the units using satel32

Bear Hunting

lite imagery to determine if the terrain and habitat are huntable. An area with the highest density of bears but no open terrain will be a challenge for the best hunters.

Concentrate your searches on areas with open slope faces, but make sure you locate a place from which you can glass or shoot into that open face. If you are not doing your homework, you may choose the wrong area and come home unsuccessful this season.

Reason Two: Not Finding Suitable Food Sources Bears are omnivorous creatures who consume around 5,000 calories or more and between 10 to 18 lbs of food per day. If they could eat at a restaurant, consuming 5,000 calories daily wouldn’t be that hard; however, these bears are in the mountains where food is low calorie. That means they are constantly looking for berries, forbs, grasses, meat, and more, depending on the time of year. As a hunter, this means that in order to be successful in the spring or fall you must search for the food source bears consume during that time of year. In many situations, the spring bears seek out plant buds, grasses, berries, young elk, and more. Bears eat leftover berries, bugs, nuts, and harvested game animals from other hunting seasons in the fall. If you wish to be successful during the season you are hunting, hone in on food sources that will be available during that time of year, and you will increase your success.

Reason Three: Not Paying Attention to Details

You have managed to find a good unit, a good spot with an actively hit food source with good bear sign and visibility. Yet day after day, you still go back to camp skunked without seeing a bear. What is happenMar/Apr 2023

ing, and why can’t you seem to put your eyes on a bear? The issue may be that you are so focused on hunting that you forget to pay attention to the more minor details that can derail the best of your hunts—for example, wind direction and thermals.

Wind directions and thermals may carry your scent to a bear’s nose, which is 21,000 times better than a human’s ability to smell. This is up to seven times better than the best bloodhounds’ sense of smell.

Of course, you do not see any bears if you are not paying attention to your scent path. Another small detail that could sabotage your hunt is your entrance and exit to a hunting spot. Are you taking the time to plan entrance and exit strategies that do not expose you to your prey? I often try to come in a different basin and crest over the top before daylight, not to be spotted, smelled, or heard by animals in the basin I intend to hunt.

were last week may be different due to an elk season that started last week. This could mean that your secluded basin could be crawling with mule deer hunters chasing a big buck and moving bears out of their preferred habitat.

Reason Five: Unwilling to Adapt

A successful bear hunter is an adaptable bear hunter willing to move or change their hunting spots and tactics if they are not working. An unsuccessful bear hunter is a hunter who comes to sit on the same basin day after day without a sighting. Be willing to adapt, change elevation, move basins, and even change counties if you are still looking for what you want instead of hiking the same trails day after day. You will truly increase your success.

There are tens of thousands of bear hunters taking the woods every year in search of black bears in the lower 48 states. These hunters make mistakes that could be avoided year after year and increase their success rates. Success starts before you hit the mountains; it Reason Four: Not Factoring in Other Seasons starts with home planning. It is imperative to understand Bear season, especially in the fall, often where the bears might be, where you can hunt them, and coincides with more popular hunting seasons for what they will eat during that particular season and year. deer, elk, moose, and other big game species. These Paying attention to the details, specifically the wind and seasons could affect your hunt, which is why planthe thermals, can make or break a hunter’s experience; ning is crucial to your preseason homework. Looking however, the most critical factor in hunting bears in the at potential hunting spots but understanding what West is the ability to adapt. If you arrive at a spot with season may take place during your intended hunting no sign, too many hunters, or any other situation that can week or the weeks prior is essential. The majority of lower your success, finding a new spot and a new place bears avoid humans and avoid areas that humans may increase your chances and help you bring home frequent. This can mean that a spot where the bears some meat in the freezer and fur on the wall.

It’s important to factor in other game seasons and the hunters persuing them. Hunter’s pursuing other game like elk, will affect how bears move in an area.

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting

33

Sous Vide Cleaned Bear Skull

by Kolby Morehead

@kolby_morehead

Equipment • Knife • Sous vide • Vacuum sealer with bags.

• Dawn Dish Soap • Container for bag and sous vide • Pressure washer Equipment for Whitening • Large pot • 40 Volume Developer • Glue

Cleaned bear skulls adorn the shelves of most bear hunters homes as a way to preserve the memories of our adventures in the woods. Having explored macerating in the past, I decided to try cleaning the bear from this past spring season’s skull using a sous vide (very french).

Sous vide, which means “under vacuum” in French, refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a bag, then cooking it to a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces results that are impossible to achieve through any other cooking method.

Cleaning a bear skull with a sous vide took a little more prep on the front end with getting the skull in a sealed bag of soapy water but the clean up was a breeze since the skull and everything cooked off of it was contained within the bag.

I found that this method worked even better than anticipated with the meat and tissue coming off of the bone. It prepared the skull for the preassure wash so well that I’m not sure that the pressure washer was necessary and will test out that theory later.

• Pro tip: Before trying out this method, make sure that your bear skull will fit in your vacuum sealer bags before proceeding.

• Pro tip: An extra set of hands is ‘handy’ when trying to seal the bag full of soapy water.

2) Add water, dish soap, & skull to bag.

3) Seal multiple times. Lock it in!

5) Let it run over night (8+ hours).

1) Remove excess meat/tissue from the skull.

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Bear Hunting

4) Set sous vide to 180 degrees.

Mar/Apr 2023

6) Cut the bag open outside.

7) Spray off remaining tissue.

8) Skull should look like this when done.

9) Fill a pot with developer and water. Bring to a boil then cut the heat.

10) Use glue to join the jaw back together and glue any lose teeth back in.

The author with his spring bear from Baldy Mountain Outfitters.

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 35

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Bear Hunting

37

Becoming a Bear Hunter Shot Placement

by Douglas Boze

@bozeandbears It’s January of 2023 as I write this. The holiday season is behind us, a new year awaits, and along with that a new bear season edges ever closer. A very important piece of bear hunting is shot placement, so I want to begin by stating that this is my opinion that I have formed over the last two decades of hunting bears. Through successes and failures, I have made these observations.

I am sure there are others out there who have different opinions, but these are mine and I hope they will help you.

Let’s dive into a little background. First, when hunting, I want you to pay attention to the hide of deer and elk. I want you to notice how, for the most part, their hides are very close to the contours of their body outline and muscle definition. It is very similar to a tight shirt on a person. Now, take a moment and look at a bear, especially a bear in the late fall or early spring. Their hide is long and thick, and rather deceiving. It’s like a sweater on a person, which hides the true outline of the body. The length of hair on the bear makes the bear look bigger than it is. If a hide has four inches or longer hair, imagine where the bottom of the belly ends, which is well before where the hair ends. This can throw off your shot placement if you don’t factor it in. Keep this in mind when deciding where to shoot. Failing to do so could lead to an unclean kill, and that is something we must always try to avoid.

Second, get it in your head that bears are tough, rugged animals. I have shot a bear in the heart with a .300 WSM and it still ran more than 20 yards through a solid entangled wall of blackberries before falling to the ground in a crash. Literally half of its heart was gone. It has been my observation that bears do not go into shock as easily as deer. Their hides are thicker, their bone structure is dense, and their muscles are thick.

All of this can affect the projectile you are using. You need a quality bullet or broadhead, depending on your weapon of choice. My personal set up for my rifle is a 165 grain Federal Premium .300 WSM (generally). I will also use a Montec 125 grain solid broadhead with a 70 lb draw on my compound bow. This, again, is just what I like—I know we all have our favorite methods and calibers.

For me, I like to stick with broadside shots on bears. I have taken a head shot on a bear, but that was a bear I had called in and was under 20 yards and closing (it was on the cover of my book, Ultimate Guide To Black Bear Hunting). I have taken chest shots, but I do not like them. There just seems to be a very narrow margin for error with chest shots.

Now, when I am focusing on a broadside shot, I like to wait until the leg closest to me moves forward.

Why? Let’s say the bear is broadside and facing right; wait until its front, right leg moves forward. This opens up the vitals a little bit by moving the shoulder and associated muscles out of the way slightly. When I see this, I like to aim in what I call “the armpit”, which is a little bit 38

Bear Hunting

lower off the top of the shoulder, which is where the heart resides. However, remember the hide length! Do not shoot too low. Try to wait until the bear is standing still with that leg moved forward.

Now once you shoot, pay attention to the bear’s reaction. Did it bite and snarl? Did it take off running? Did it stumble before or after it was running, or did it not run at all but only look around? Body language is very important in deciphering where you hit or IF you hit the bear. Most of my bear shots are 50 yards or less, usually around 20 yards, so I generally have a very good view of what has happened after the shot. For the most part, they pile right up for me. But there are those times when you have to track, and that’s a whole other story.

Now I have heard people say, “Break the shoulder of the bear so it can’t run.” But for me, that seems to waste a bit of meat, which is why I like to stick to the heart/armpit shot I spoke of. However, if it is feasible to do so, I will fire another shot to finish the job if the bear is moving. Most of my bears have all piled up after a single shot, but there have been two that I can think of that I shot at more than once, one of which I sadly did not recover (which coincidentally was a chest shot).

Just as important as knowing where to place the shot is knowing when NOT to take a shot. Is the shot too far for your effective range? That’s ok, get closer (or try to call the bear to you). Is there brush in the way? Then wait until it clears the brush or maneuver to where it is no longer an issue. Can you only see a part of the bear, maybe a less than lethal area? Then be patient, always have a clear view of your target. Is the bear quartering to or away from you at a sharp angle? Again, fall back on patience. Really, I can’t stress this enough. I know we get taught this in hunters’ education and so on, but if the shot isn’t right, just don’t take it. You will feel better not taking a shot and waiting for the perfect moment then taking a shot and wishing you had not. The bear deserves a clean, ethical shot.

Also keep in mind your shot angle. I rarely ever hunt from a tree stand, so 100% of my experience hunting bears is ground level or while I am sitting on a rock or stump pile.

But the angle that your bullet or arrow enters/exits will make a big difference. Too steep of an angle and you could miss the vitals altogether. So if you are shooting from an elevated position like a tree stand, be sure to practice from an elevated position. I always advise new hunters to practice like you would in real life. If you are a modern firearm hunter, you will most likely not have a bench and gun rest in your hunting area. So, once you are dialed in, practice steadying the weapon on what is available in your hunting area, like the crook of a tree, coiling the sling around your forearm, Mar/Apr 2023

shooting prone, and so on. This will only help you in your quest to punch that tag.

Now depending on where you have hit the bear will dictate on how long you should stay put and give the bear time. Archery hunters know just what I mean, and they of course know that finding your arrow can tell you so much about the hit. If you are lucky enough, your bear will pile up right where it was hit or very close by, like the bear I killed in 2021 after predator calling him in from a brush-choked creek bed. But if it takes off running, you may have to track. This is not uncommon, even on a good hit.

Remember all that hair on the hide I was harping about in the beginning of the article? Well, that same hide (and fat under said hide) clogs up the entry and exit wounds quickly. It is not uncommon at all to find little blood on a good hit due to this fact. So, if you hit the bear and go and start to track, possibly only finding a little blood here or there, do not give up. It may only leave a small amount on a lethal hit. There is much more to explain about tracking, so look for that topic in the next issue.

If you find yourself new to hunting bears, take the time to watch footage of bear hunts and shot placement particularly. Video footage can be a great learning tool for newcomers (www.themeateater.com has plenty if you want to catch up on some hunts). Bears have an absolute will to live, an untamed toughness, and a ruggedness that matches the country they live in that seems unparalleled to most big game animals of North America. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying deer and elk are not tough as nails, but bears are on a whole other level. They are built to survive, and they let you know it.

So, make sure that your aim is true, your placement is perfect, and your resolve to recover the animal is without question. Otherwise, it could be you on the business end of the fury of claws, the lashing of teeth, and the fight of your life. Happy hunting, my friends!

Things to Consider with Shot Placement on Black Bears @kolby_morehead

By Kolby Morehead

Method of Pursuit One thing to consider when thinking about shot placement is your method of pursuit. On a baited hunt or when treeing bruins you have plenty of time (typically) to wait for the perfect broadside shot. If you’re a new hunter we suggest choosing the hunt that gives you more time to think about your shot placement.

For a new hunter, it is probably not the best idea to try and call a bear with a predator call. It can be wise to walk before you run.

Consider Your Tool of Harvest You need to pick your shot based upon your weapon as a whole system. With a rifle, you need to consider how much penetration you will get out of your bullet. Your bullet can be more of a deciding factor of your shooting systems effectiveness as the caliber you’re shooting.

What Shot are You Comfortable Taking?

Everyone has their own methodology they subscribe to when picking a shot. Don’t hug the shoulder like on deer and come back from that some. A bear’s anatomy is a little further back than the game you’re use to. The rule of thumb we’ve driven out is to find the middle of the middle on the bears body and come towards the shoulder several inches. That trains you to stay away from the shoulder.

Prioritize Two Holes Bow hunters should prioritize the shot to get a clean pass through. Between the hide and the fat bears do not bleed much so two holes gives you the best possible chance to have some blood to follow if needed.

Body Angles Bears are bendy! It’s no coincidence that one of the most famous cartoon bears is called ‘Yogi’ because they are yoga experts. They bend and contort in all sort of ways. When you’re looking at a bear, try and imagine what is happening inside the body cavity with its vitals before taking the shot.

There are a lot of considerations when picking a shot on a black bear.

Make sure to only take a shot you understand and are comfortable with.

www.bear-hunting.com

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Legendary Bear Hounds: Part 48 Williams’ Thunder Owner, Steve Fielder

by Steve Fielder

@stephen.f.fielder

West Virginia offers some of the best black bear harvests in the eastern United States, despite the 2022 harvest figures. The harvest of 1,727 bears comes in at 37% fewer than in the previous year.

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources cites shorter seasons and significant decreases in the mast crop as primary reasons for the decrease. Despite the downturn last year, bear hunting and especially hunting with hounds is a very popular pastime for mountaineers and those that travel to the state each year to hunt.

One such native bear hunter is forty-sixyear-old Kevin Williams, a security specialist from the Randolph County town of Ellamore, near Elkins, in the northeastern quarter of the state. Williams is married, and he and Elizabeth have one son who is nineteen and is also deeply involved in bear hunting with his dad and his granddad. While Kevin is the storyteller in this tale of their exceptional bear hound, it is his son, Tommy, that picked the dog from the litter on day one and claimed ownership of the dog until his untimely death. Kevin’s father, Tom, is also an active hound hunter, and so the story we have to share is a three-generational affair.

Williams says he grew up in the country 40

Bear Hunting

Owner, Kevin Williams

where a houndsman could turn his dogs loose without worrying about them. His start into hound hunting began with he and his dad hunting raccoons and rabbits with their hounds, mostly Redbones and Blueticks in those days. “Dad loved the Hammer-bred Bluetick dogs,” Kevin said. “He had a female out of Hammer XV and our first bear dogs were pups off of her.” They also hunted Plott dogs from the Star Mountain line for a time. Kevin recalls being a teenager of about sixteen or seventeen when he and a friend, Perry Long, began treeing a few bears with their coon dogs. “We didn’t know what we were doing,” he admits. “We had some okay coon dogs that were stumbling onto bears.”

Williams’ fortunes began to change when he bought a UKC-registered English Coonhound female named Ginger.

“I bought Ginger and raised a litter of pups off of her,” he said. “She was sired by a Michigan Swamp Rooster and a female from Allen Cochran’s stuff here in West Virginia.”

Williams bred Ginger to a good English Redtick dog owned by local hunter, Ricky Taylor. He was named Rocky and he wasn’t a registered dog. Out of the subsequent litter, Williams kept a Redtick female he named Spider.

Spider turned out to be a natural bear dog. Exceptionally cold-nosed, Spider became Williams’ benchmark for bear dogs. He hunted her for eleven years. “She made things happen when nothing else could,” he said. “She was Mar/Apr 2023

a tried and true bear dog. She had a high-pitched chop mouth on track and tree and was a hard tree dog. I pulled her out of bad spots lots of times,” he added. “I carried her out of the mountains and had stitches put in her. She was tough.” Williams retired Spider when she developed what he described as “a spot of breast cancer.” She survived the cancer and when she was eight years old and healthy again, he raised a litter of pups from her. “She still had the heart and desire but didn’t have the physical strength as before. She couldn’t keep up and I retired her. I built a ten-by-ten chain length pen for her and when it was cold, she lived inside in an area where she could be herself. It was like she was living in the house. She definitely earned her right to be part of the family,” he said proudly.

Williams tells a story of a hunt with Spider: “My son killed his first bear off of her. They both were seven-years-old at the time. They grew up together.

We were hunting in Tucker County; I had walked her down around a farmer’s cornfield where the bears were doing damage. She cold-trailed out of it and none of the other dogs could go with her. She caught the bear and was walking and fighting it. We had the old Garmin Astro handhelds with the DC-30 collars then. She was about 500 yards off the road. I was walking in there to www.bear-hunting.com

try to give her some help or to get the bear killed when she treed it. I radioed my buddies that I was at the tree. The bear had bitten Spider through the back and ribs, but she stayed and treed the bear. The bear was up a small maple tree that really wasn’t suited for a bear to climb. We got Tommy into the tree with a gun. He shot the bear twice in the ribs with a TC Pro Hunter 7mm magnum. We held a little of the recoil off him, but he did the shooting. Spider, her whole life, never did anything halfway. Even when she was young, she was all in, whether alone or in company.”

The next year, Williams raised a litter of pups off Spider and Caleb Markwood’s English dog, Thunder. He had a lot of the Woodstock breeding of Ed and Steve Allen’s in Kentucky. “I had a Walker dog at the time that was a pretty good hound,” Williams said. “I was just days away from putting Spider in the pen with him when I found Caleb online. We had a long conversation and he told me some stories about Thunder. He said he was a cold-nosed hound that didn’t need any help. I told my wife that I was going to breed the man’s dog. It worked out great. There wasn’t a bad pup in the litter.”

The litter from the breeding of Thunder and Spider consisted of eight pups. They were all either red and white or were Redticks. The sire, Thunder, was killed before Williams was able to hunt with him. He kept four of the pups Bear Hunting

41

until they were six months old and wound up keeping two of them for their lifetimes; one was a white dog with a red spot on his head and a spot at the base of his tail that Williams appropriately named Spot. Williams still has the twelve-year-old hound in his kennel.

The day the pups were born, Williams’ son, Tommy, picked the other male pup and named him Thunder. The pup contracted the Parvo virus when he was three months old. When the pup’s first bear season came around, Williams still had four of the pups. “They were the size of beagles and they were trying to take bear tracks in the snow,” he said. “The season ended and then Thunder got Parvo.

He had been fully vaccinated and that’s probably what saved his life. I began to work the pups on coons and they began to run and tree,” he continued. “We drug a frozen bear hide for them to play with. We would take it out of the freezer and thaw it out and work them with it. We did that all winter.” William’s son also played tug of war with the pups with an old coon hide.

When spring came around and bears were on the move, Williams was out there hunting and he and his buddies started treeing bears. “When spring came and bears started moving, they were eight or nine months old and started treeing bears and looking like old dogs. Spider had just healed up to hunt when Thunder ran and treed his first bear alone at ten months old. Spider was behind Thunder on the track and I got to the tree before she did,” Williams said. “After that, Thunder never looked back. I told my son, ‘You don’t understand how blessed you are to have them.

You started off hunting with Spider, a one-dog bear pack 42

Bear Hunting

that needed no help, and then went right into hunting with Thunder being a natural behind her.’ He made bear hunting look easy.”

I asked Williams what it was like to hunt with Thunder? “From the start of the hunt until we rigged a bear, when the tracking collar went on him he wanted to be up on the rig. He would stand on the driver’s side and wait to be snapped up. When he rigged a bear, he was 90-percent silent on the track until he jumped the bear,” he said. “If you heard him come barking, you knew he was with the bear. More times than not, if the bark detector started hitting, it wouldn’t be long until he treed. He was extremely cold-nosed. He took tracks that most of the dogs that hunted with him couldn’t take and he would tree them.”

Bear dogs, especially good ones, have a lot of heart, drive, and determination; apparently Thunder was no exception. “Downpours of rain, deep rivers, no matter where he had to go, it didn’t stop him,” Williams said. “He was a year old when he swam the Middlefork River at flood stage. Just my son and I were running that bear. I told Tommy, ‘The bear chase is over. There’s no way he’ll swim that river.’ I thought for sure the bear chase was done. It was a bad time to be hunting. A rain came in on us and there was water everywhere. He had rigged the bear and he didn’t want to quit. He treed the bear about fifty yards off a four lane highway. There was a deer fence and I held it up for Tommy to slide under and I climbed it. Without the GPS, we may have lost him. It has saved my dogs’ lives more times than Mar/Apr 2023

anything.”

Williams and his dad, Tom, went hunting one morning. Thunder was three or four years old at the time. “Dad said, ‘We are going to get rained out.’ I told him, ‘It’s my day off and we’re going to go.’ We put Thunder and Spot up on the rig. It was raining hard and Spot came back and loaded himself up.

Dad said, ‘You’re going to have to put Spot up and Thunder will be coming.’ He asked, referring to Thunder, ‘Where is he?’ I said, ‘He’s on a bear.’ He took the bear in there across a two-lane highway and treed,” Williams said. “I looked over at Dad and said, ‘Let’s go.’ He said, ‘You’ve got one dog in there and you’re one man. You go get him.’ Right before I got to the tree, it was like God turned the spigot off—it stopped raining. Thunder had a 100 pound bear up a tree, so I backed him off the tree and tied him while I shot some video. I let the bear down and it ran across the road and treed again, this time in a laurel bed with tree tops and greenbriers. It was a real mess.” Continuing to describe his dog, Williams said, “It didn’t matter the weather, hot or cold, he gave me 120-percent every time I took him to the woods.

He produced bears on days I probably shouldn’t have had a bear.”

As is the case with many of the really good ones, Thunder was killed by a bear. “I turned him loose in Tucker County on a bear track in the snow.

Thunder was the only dog that could take the track and he jumped it. The other dogs got in on it and the www.bear-hunting.com

bear went under a rock. It pulled Thunder in and killed him. He was not quite seven years old. “Looking back,” Williams lamented, “I had a dog snap on him and he was tied to the truck. He was barking to get loose. If I had it to do over, I would never have turned him loose. I had caught him off the track because I didn’t know if the track was going into a place where I could get my dog. The other hunters checked it out and said, ‘Yeah, we can hunt there.’ We turned the dogs loose and they ran for about forty-five minutes and put it under the rock.” The hunters carried Thunder out of the woods and when they got home, they waited until Tommy got home from school to bury him.

Williams reconciled the great dog’s demise by saying, “There was no other way Thunder would have wanted to die.”

Williams capped off Thunder’s story with what he says was one of his happiest days bear hunting. “I jumped a bear with Thunder, Sadie, and Spot. They treed the bear five times.

Tommy got to it and shot, but missed. The dogs were squalling and fighting the bear. On the fifth tree, we had to walk uphill about 75 to 80 yards. It was treed on a steep spot. I said, ‘It’s now or never.’ I had a pistol and Tommy had a 270. I said, ‘Give me the rifle.’ I shot and it fell and slid about 15 to 20 feet right to us.” Williams’ pride stemmed from the fact that the hunting party consisted of himself, his son, Tommy, his dad, Tom, and his nephew, Caleb. “Caleb has been hunting with us since those dogs were small,” he said. “This was the first time Tommy had actually gotten into a tree by himself. Caleb and Tommy drug the bear out. It wasn’t large and it probably would have lived to run another day if it had stayed up. It was a good day. Dad was driving and Tommy was tracking. It was one of my proudest days in the woods.”

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Black Bear Carnitas

by Timothy Fowler

@timothydfowler

Equipment

Ingredients

• • • • •

• • • • • • • •

Frying pan Stove French knife Cutting board Grater

That first bite of my birthday celebration carnitas was glorious. We went out to a local Mexican restaurant that serves my favorites. I asked the owner what he did to make the meat the perfect combination of tender, juicy, and caramelized— every chew was full of umami and deeply satisfying. He said there were two secrets: pork cheeks from a local pig farm and confit. Of course. The combination of that cut and traditional treatment would definitely render such a delicious combination of flavor and texture.

While I was savoring each morsel and tucking into my next carnitas, I thought, ‘You know, I bet this would work with bear meat, a nice fat, fall bear.

Confit would work great.’ The more I hunt, the more I try to add value to the game we butcher.

Part of enhancing value is to consider what we can add to the pantry in the way of cured meats and special treatments that let us expand the celebration of game harvested while giving us some wild substitutes for either hard-to-get or expensive cuts.

Confit is one of those treatments that is perfect for bears. The simplified summary of how to make bear confit (or any confit for that matter)

• •

1 pound or 450 grams of bear confit 1 onion, peeled and sliced 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced 1 green pepper, deseeded and julienned 1 tbsp orange zest 1 garlic clove, sliced finely 1 shallot, peeled and sliced finely Salt and pepper to taste (I didn’t add any salt because the confit meat was well-salted) Garnishes: guacamole, fresh salsa, and lime wedges Tortillas (my preference is homemade corn tortillas, but I wrote this on vacation and all I could find were flour tortillas)

is to season the meat with 3% salt by weight and whatever seasonings suit the direction you want to take the meat in.

Let that sit in the fridge for 24 hours, rinse with cold water, drain, and simmer covered in fat for about eight hours. I cheated and used the sous-vide––180 degrees F for seven hours. For more specific details, check out this article published last year in Bear Hunting Magazine: http://www. bear-hunting.com/2022/3/whole-bear-charcuterie The hard work for this recipe was done last fall when we butchered, cured, and cooked about half of the fall bear my son took. The easy part was thawing a package of bear confit and preparing the vegetables for the meal. The resulting confit was as good as the carnitas I had for my birthday.

It is worth noting that I took these photos and wrote this story while escaping -37 degrees F to the Pacific Islands––Vancouver Island to be exact. While not exactly a tropical paradise, it beats shoveling snow daily and is a great place to prepare and enjoy carnitas. Yes, I did take frozen bear confit with me in the cooler just for this purpose.

Method 1.

2.

3.

4.

Remove the confit from the freezer and thaw.

Prep the vegetables, slice and deseed peppers, slice onions, and finely chop garlic.

Zest the orange.

Heat the confit gently until all the fat is melted, then turn up the heat to medium-high to caramelize the meat until it is crispy on the outside.

This is another example of val5. Set up the garnishes and serving plates. ue-added treatments to game meat.

6. When the bear is well-browned and crispy, add the onions Every time I take a bear, I make conand saute until they start to color. Then, add the peppers fit with 15 pounds of its shoulder. It and garlic.

7. Once the peppers wilt, add the orange zest and give the is a perfect way to make tough cuts mixture a quick toss. tender and tasty. Carnitas is just one 8. Take the mixture off the heat while preparing the tortillas for of the many ways to use bear confit. service.

It was perfect for an Island Holiday 9. Heat a frying pan to warm the tortillas and assemble carnilunch by the raging sea. tas with your choice of garnishes.

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Bear Hunting

Mar/Apr 2023

Confit sounds complicated but it is simply an old way of cooking meat to protect it from spoiling. The author swears by it and suggests giving it a try. www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 45

46

Bear Hunting

Mar/Apr 2023

NCBHA Members and Fellow Bear Hunters, The 2022 bear hunting season results and harvest data is 95% complete pending any edits for late reporting. Based on the reported data, North Carolina set a record harvest of 4,048 bears and an incredible year-over-year increase of 9.6%. The only data set that might concern hunters was the percentage of females taken, which was reported at 40.9%. Additionally, while we don’t have weight data, we received bear hunter supplied information, that indicated an increased take of legal, but undersized bears were taken. That’s disappointing and we would encourage hunters to refrain from taking these junior bears.

Several factors attributed to this record season.

First, hard mast in the MOUTAIN and PIEDMONT BMU’s was not uniform this year, resulting in bears concentrating in those highly localized areas where abundant hard mast was found. What’s more, the weather during the first part of MOUTAIN and PIEDMONT season was largely was moderate and this resulted in more effective and accessible hunting days. Hunters who were using corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and apples managed to keep some bears near them and away from the mast concentration early in the season, especially on adjacent federal lands.

On the COAST, all 5 zones, observed lots of bears the first two weeks. We saw strong hard mast volumes of pecans and white oaks (white, bur, chinkapin, swamp white, and post oaks) all along the coastal step. Bears were using feed plots and baited areas regularly and were steadily using and continued to remained in the areas midway through the seasons. Shelled corn had some of the best results early in the season, peanuts were working good until the rain struck before season opened and molded the peanuts badly. Those hunters who had grown food plots of standing corn and sunflower had bears throughout opening week until mid-December. The Inkberry Holly, Little Gallberry, Swamp Bay Bush, Black Aronia, and Chokeberry mast crops began to sweeten after thanksgiving and did draw a lot of bears away from hunter provided feedstuffs. However, the berry crop wasn’t as heavy this season as is has been the last 3 years. Reports from the field and photos showed a lot of big bears, so our statewide population is looking strong.

NCBHA News: We filled several vacant Board of Directors Chairs, and we anticipate this new Board will be an excellent group of dedicated bear hunters who will several our association well.

These freshmen Board members were confirmed by unanimous vote of the Board.

• COASTAL District 6 (Duplin, Pender, New Hanover) • The Board appointed Tim Bachelor on February 18, 2022.

• MOUNTAIN District 1 (Haywood, Jackson, Transylvania) • The Board appointed Cody Parker Nations on January 31, 2023 www.bear-hunting.com

• MOUNTAIN District 6 (Yancy, Madison, McDowell) • The Board appointed Justin Gurley on January 31, 2023 Bear Hunters should be cognizant of what is happening both in our North Carolina General Assembly and the United States Congress. Last year there were several Bills in our state legislature that potentially would have adverse effects for bear hunters and hunters who keep and use dogs.

Fortunately, the 2023-2024 NC House Wildlife Resources Committee appointees are the strongest and knowledge we have had in years, we hope they will be a firewall to prevent anti-hunting and animal activists from making legislative nightmares for hunters.

There was 2 Bills introduced in the US Senate and US House called to Bear Protection Act. Both of these Bills focused on prohibiting the import, export, and interstate trade of bear viscera and items, products, or substances containing bear viscera, and for “other” purposes. These Bill are connected to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and were about as clear as mud. In North Carolina hunters we need only to look as far as Operation Smokey and Operation Something Bruin, to know how this type legislation is used by federal enforcement to manufacture hunter violations and entrap hunters who otherwise wouldn’t violate known and understood laws.

Wildlife regulations and laws should only be established by state law and our state wildlife agencies should not be involved in federal schemes to entrap hunters of unintentional acts.

EVENT REMINDER:

The NCBHA will be attending the APA event this spring, we will have merchandise and our membership table available. American Plott Association (Breed Days), March 16, 17, and 18, to be held at 265 Camp Joshua Lane, Greeneville, Tennessee, We invite you to join the only statewide association dedicated to bear hunting and hunting with dogs. Membership applications and renewals should be sent to: NCBHA Member Services, 130 Holly Mt Church Road, Mt. Gilead, NC 27306.

Be safe and take a kid hunting and fishing!

Bear Hunting 47

Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association Inc. Mar/Apr 2023 WISCONSIN BEAR HUNTERS ASSOCIATION 59th Annual Convention March 24 – March 25, 2023 10101 Market Street, Rothschild, WI 54474

WBHA Annual Raffle: You NEED NOT BE a WBHA member in order to purchase Annual Raffle tickets and you need not be present to win. Grand Prize- 2023 Yamaha Viking UTV or $15,000.00 cash. 50 additional prizes to win. Ticket inquires: Jim Hamilton, Ph: 715-460-3033, Email: jimhamilton@zimdarshardware.com WBHA Member Raffle Info: You MUST BE a WBHA member in order to purchase Member Raffle tickets. Pre-purchased raffle ticket packages will be available for pick-up during regular convention hours. Pre-purchased ticket packages come pre-labeled with member’s ID# on each ticket. Ticket package increments include 200 for $200, 75 for $100, 25 for $50, & 10 for $25 (Single tickets will be available at the Annual Convention) All pre-purchased packages must be picked up no later than 10am on Saturday, March 25th, 2022. WBHA Member Raffle will close at 1:30pm. WBHA Member Raffle drawings will be held and announced intermittently during the SOS Auction beginning at 1:45pm. Winners will have 10 minutes from drawing to claim prize. If you are not able to claim prize within 10 minutes, you will forfeit your prize and an alternate will be awarded the prize. Order tickets either on the website or mail in the order form below.

Governor’s Bear Tag Raffle: Tickets for a chance to win a 2023 Bear harvest tag. Only 500 tickets will be sold. Drawing will be held at the Convention on Saturday, March 25, 2022 at 4:00 PM. The winner must choose Zone of Harvest at the time of issue. Tickets can be purchased at the convention or purchased ahead of time using the form below.

Save Our Sport (SOS) Auction: A huge number of items as well as many puppies will be auctioned off on Saturday.

All proceeds from this auction will be used to aid in the advancement and protection of our sport. We are in need of your donations please help save our sport! Contact: Send cash donations to: Carl Schoettel 414-531-2296, for item donations contact: Eric Tuckner 651-775-7296, for puppy donations contact: Mark Scheunemann 715-897-1417.

Vendor Information: Any business or organization wishing to attend as a vendor can contact me by e-mail or phone and I will get you on the contract list. Contact: Jacob Trochinski, Ph: 920-203-3725, Email: jacob.trochinski@gmail.com Our Convention is a closed to the public! Become a member at the door and join the WBHA for 2 days of fun, entertainment, education, and a chance to win many great prizes. For a complete Convention schedule and more information, including WBHA clothing, visit our website or find us on Facebook.

Convention Member Check-In: To expedite the member check-in at the convention have your valid membership card ready at the door. A worker will check your card, if valid, you will be given your wristband(s) and you will be able to enter the convention. Those that need to renew their membership or are new members wishing to join, you will be directed to a membership table. Check your expiration date and renew ahead of time to speed up your check-in time.

Yearbooks will be mailed before the convention this year to your residence if you were an active member on 12-312022, one yearbook was mailed per address.

Save the Date : The Northwest Town Hall Meeting will be held on April 29th, 2023 at the Browtine, 1361 100th St, Amery, WI 54001 These Town Hall Meetings are “member’s only” events, with memberships available at the door. These events will include guest speakers, legal updates, door prizes, raffles, and a good place to get to know your WBHA Board of Directors and Officers. Doors open at 1:00 PM

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Mar/Apr 2023

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission is considering new bear hunting regulations and quotas for the next two seasons, a proposal with broad support from hunting groups including the Michigan Bear Hunters Association.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials submitted a proposal to the NRC in February designed to increase the harvest in three bear management units – one in the Upper Peninsula and two in the Lower – as well as a dozen changes to regulations and season structure.

“We’re trying to kill the same number or more bears in every unit, but because success rates have gone up, it’s resulted in less tags,” said DNR large carnivore specialist Cody Norton.

The recommendations would increase the harvest in the Carney BMU by 11 bears, in the Baldwin BMU by 17 bears, and the Gladwin BMU by two bears.

“All of the other units, we’re proposing to harvest the same number of bears,” Norton said.

In two Lower Peninsula units, increasing success rates resulted in fewer suggested licenses. The DNR wants to cut 85 licenses from the 2022 total for the Red Oak BMU, and 80 in the Gladwin BMU, which would reduce the number available to 685 and 100, respectively. In the Lower Peninsula’s third BMU, the popular Baldwin BMU, it’s the opposite dynamic.

About six years ago, hunter success was at nearly 70% in the Baldwin BMU, and it has since plateaued to around 50%, resulted in a recommended increase of 55 licenses to a total of 385 for the 2023-24 seasons, Norton said.

In the Upper Peninsula, the DNR wants to keep the current quota of 500 licenses in the Amasa BMU, and to reduce licenses by five in the Baraga BMU, for a quota of 1,540. The proposal would cut licenses in the Bergland BMU by 130 from 2022 numbers to 920, and by 65 to 885 in the Gwinn BMU. DNR officials plan to increase the harvest in the Carney BMU with no license quota change, keeping available licenses at 550.

In the Newberry BMU, licenses would decrease by 165 from the 2022 quota to 1,005, while the proposal would keep Drummond Island licenses at six.

Mike Thorman, member of the Michigan Bear Forum representing hound hunters, said he’s encouraged to see the DNR reduce licenses in northeast Michigan, where some have complained of smaller and fewer bears in recent years.

“We’re really happy with cutting tags in the Red Oak unit,” he said. “Tag numbers around the state seem to be good.”

In addition to the quotas, DNR officials are also proposing a dozen regulation changes.

They include prohibiting field points and rimfire ammunition, and a clarification that hollow logs, tree cookies, or cut sections of logs do not constitute “wood products” that are banned from bait sites.

The proposed conservation order would also ban “stupefying substances,” in response to some hunters who have attempted to use melatonin in baits in hopes of keeping bears closer.

“We have provisions right now that you can’t use drugs,” Norton said, “but the melatonin example didn’t quite fit the definition of what’s prohibited.”

Another suggestion would implement wanton waste provisions in Michigan, requiring hunters to salvage edible meat, with exceptions for emergency situations and meat unfit for human consumption.

The DNR suggests changing the definition of bear cub, as well, www.bear-hunting.com

from what’s currently less than one year old, to a measurement of 42 inches in length. Other proposed changes would allow for the use of hounds to fill bear damage permits, and nighttime shooting for those permits.

Regulations for private land bait barrels would change under the proposal, as well, to allow for holes of one inch or less, or 22 inches or larger. The intent is to allow shaker barrels with baits that could attract deer, though a two gallon limit would apply.

“The allowed hole diameters would be either too small, or too large for a bear or nontarget species to become stuck,” the proposal reads.

Thorman contends the hole regulations make sense, but the limit on corn, grains and other baits that attract deer does not.

Thorman said he advocated for lifting the limit.

“It’s just silly they won’t do that, because you can bait with granola right on the ground,” he said.

MBHA President Keith Shafer agrees the two-gallon limit is nonsensical.

“Whether it’s two gallons or 50 gallons, the amount of grains coming out is the same,” he said. “The only difference is the number of times the container will have to be filled.”

The DNR is also proposing to allow ground blind placement 31 days before the season, as well as a shift season dates in the Lower Peninsula that would give bait hunters a full weekend to start the season.

The season change is designed to reduce conflicts between hunters, and would add a dog-only hunting day at the end of the season. The opening weekend of the season coincides with the state’s youth and disabled deer hunt, known as the Liberty Hunt.

“The bait hunters asked to have that day and the hound groups didn’t oppose it,” Thorman said. “We didn’t even want an extra day at the end. We didn’t want to be involved with dogs on the Liberty Hunt weekend.”

The proposed changes were vetted by members of the Michigan Bear Forum in August with no significant opposition, said Justin Tomei, policy assistant who represented Michigan United Conservation Clubs at the forum.

“Nothing gave us heartburn,” he said, though MUCC “would like to see the bait barrels to be used on public land, as well.”

The recommendations were presented to the NRC for information on Feb. 9, and commissioners could take action at their March 9 meeting at Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire, which coincides with the MBHA’s annual convention at the same location.

“The MBHA supports the DNR’s recommendations, which were crafted through many formal and informal conversations with hunters and other stakeholders,” MBHA President Keith Shafer said. “It reflects Michigan’s the cooperative approach to managing bears, and our commitment to supporting management grounded in science.”

Join MBHA to make our voice stronger, and receive our association’s 16-page publication, The Bear Facts, four times a year, plus Bear Hunting Magazine, with its MBHA column, six times a year.

To get your membership (worth $20) and magazine (worth $25 more), send only a $20 check, made out to MBHA, to Phil Hewitt, and his address is 7796 Ainsworth Road, Lake Odessa, MI, 48849. Please include your name, address, email address and phone number.

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Jasper Lorentzen Virginia Fall 2022 First Black Bear!

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Steve Drasher Maine 230 Lbs Weylan Deaver Idaho Fall 2022 First Bear!!!

Zack Mulford Idaho Spring 22 First Bear!

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Andrew Johnson New York Fall 2022 460 lbs

Robert McDaniel Manitoba, Canada 2022 First Bear!

Gavin Hofer Idaho Spring 2022 19” Skull

Nik Zewers Utah Fall 2022 Spot & Stalk Muzzleloader

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The Strategic Bear Hunter

Traveling Bears

by Bernie Barringer

How far do black bears travel?

I have been warning bear hunters for many years to avoid getting caught up in trying to understand black bear home ranges. Biologists seem to prefer framing things; they want to put boundaries on things and quantify their data in specific ways. But the emergence of GPS collars that can be put on bears—and batteries that last for many months—have changed the way we look at black bears and the ground they cover.

Several states are doing these studies with GPS collars, but I am most familiar with the results of studies that have been done right here in Minnesota. I suspect the studies done in other states will be similar in their results, although mountainous regions will likely show some variation versus the boreal forest areas of, say, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. There will also likely be variations in the southern and eastern U.S. as the habitats are different than they are here in the northern midwestern forested areas.

Let’s go back a couple dozen years when biologists were using the old telemetry collars, which were archaic compared to the technology of today, but these collars were the root of knowledge of black bear movement. The collars transmitted a signal and biologists had to follow the signal with their antenna to record the direction of the signal and guess about the distance of the signal based on how strong it was. It was very inexact, but better than nothing.

Poor as they were, this effort led the biologists to learn some pretty critical info such as where bears spent most of their time when the acorns were ripe, what bears preferred for denning areas, and daytime cover versus nighttime movements. Much of this has been confirmed by the more reliable GPS data.

In some cases, the tracking of the bears with telemetry allowed the scientists to stumble onto some surprising information. An example is that a sow black bear up in the Grand Rapids area of Minnesota disappeared after having been tracked closely for quite some time. She just vanished. The biologists happened to be south of the study area for an entirely different reason when they pulled out their antenna just out of curiosity. Imagine their surprise when the signal of that lost bear came in loud and clear! They were more than 60 miles away from where they last contacted her.

The following year the bear disappeared again and, sure enough, they headed down south and there she was. Upon further investigation, they learned that the area she had gone to had an abundance of oak trees and the acorns were thick and easy to pick up.

These days, GPS collars on bears have revealed a large migration of bears making that 60-90 mile trek each year. Some of them stay a month or so, some a little longer. Surprising numbers of bears make that round trip every single year.

Here are a few more examples. A nuisance 52

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bear was caught in a trap and relocated 50 miles away from the capture site, but returned to the capture site in only 48 hours by a straight direct line. A sow bear left the study area in the Chippewa National Forest of northern Minnesota and headed northeast in the fall of 2021. She traveled across northern Minnesota and into Ontario, Canada, finally settling down near Atikokan about 125 miles as the crow flies from where she started. She then went into a den for the winter. When spring arrived, she emerged from the den with cubs and headed back to Minnesota: swimming rivers, lakes, and streams, climbing granite hills and slogging through swamps with those little bitty cubs, and arrived back at her original starting point in late spring.

I bumped a sow with three small cubs off one of my baits in early September last year only to have her turn up just a few hours later on another bait two miles away. She and the cubs made the trip in a surprisingly short time frame, so she knew exactly where it was. In fact, when I checked the trail camera I found that she and the cubs had been at that bait earlier in the same day!

I wrote just a few months ago of a tagged bear—an 8-year-old male— who I had on two bear baits that were 14 miles apart. I know of an outfitter who followed the track in the snow of a large male bear who checked several of his baits, also 14 miles apart, in one night after a fresh snowfall. Also, a large male bear tagged in the UP of Michigan was killed in southwestern Wisconsin the following year, a straight-line distance of nearly 200 miles.

We also now know that many bears have summer areas and fall areas, and will travel significant distances from these areas to den.

Clearly, 30-50 miles between summer distances and denning areas are not uncommon. Several other bears with GPS collars have gone on some lengthy walkabouts. Often 30-100 miles of cruising around takes place in a relatively short time frame, but they usually end up back roughly where they started.

So what does this mean to bear hunters? Here are some things to think about. If you have a bear that’s regularly visiting one of your baits and you run out of bait, think about how hard it might be to get that bear back again. He may travel quite a distance, and what are the odds that he is going to find another bait site and settle in there? Pretty good, I would say.

Anyone who has been baiting for quite a while knows that bears can just turn up out of the blue. This is Mar/Apr 2023

especially true of adult males. I have heard bear hunters explain that they are baffled by the thought that the bear could have been in that area and took so long to find their bait. Well, that bear may have been 30 miles away just a few days ago.

Another thing we can learn from this new iånfo is that bears really do congregate around quality food more than we ever realized. Large numbers of bears are migrating each year towards food abundance. If you have ever found an oak ridge where the piles of bear scat are so abundant you can see a dozen from where you are standing, you better take note of that spot. Same goes with berries, plums, hazelnuts, beechnuts, chokecherries, apple orchards, etc. You get the idea.

The new knowledge we are learning about bears makes the animals all the more fascinating to me. And the more I know about bears, the more I can be effective in hunting them. But also, the more I know about bears, the more I realize how much more there is to know.

That big bear at your bait today could be miles away tomorrow. New research with GPS collars on black bears is providing data that black bears travel much farther than we ever thought possible. www.bear-hunting.com

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Western Bear Hunting

Baiting Bears

with Jana Waller @skullboundtv

As the snow lines begin to recede and the days grow longer by the minute, springtime brings a sense of rebirth to the woods and mountains.

Creeks and rivers explode from the snow runoff and the brown canyons seem to suddenly appear bright green after a few days of nourishing sunshine. Many of us anxiously await the turning of winter into spring for one big reason…bear hunting season! I currently live in Montana where the season opens mid-April and runs through mid-June, but Montana is a spot-and-stalk only state. Luckily I live close to the Idaho border where baiting is allowed and have been running bear baits with my business partner, Heath, for over a decade. I thought this March/April issue would be good timing to talk about the nitty gritty of bear baiting.

There are currently 12 states that allow bear baiting and the details may vary state to state. It’s important to familiarize yourself with your state’s regulations and check them every year since they can change annually. Details can vary such as the dates when baits can be placed and removed, distance from public areas, trails, permanent water, and roads, what exactly can be used in the bait, what attractants can be utilized, and how the bait must be placed. Some states require barrels while others allow bait to be placed directly on the ground.

Following your state’s laws isn’t negotiable, but how and what you bait with is. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, metaphorically speaking of course. Heath and I have found success for a multitude of reasons, first being the location of the baits.

While it’s been my experience that bears typically don’t care about humans in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and in the remote Yukon Flats of Alaska, bears in Idaho are not as forgiving. There is a lot of hunting pressure where we bait and the bears tend to be more sensitive to human scent and interaction. They typically need thick, dark, secluded areas to feel safe to hit the baits, and I’ve never had luck sitting on the ground like I’ve routinely done in Canada.

We chose sites where the evening wind direction is typically flowing away from the bait and into our faces and sit up high in tree stands typically 25 yards from the barrel for a bow or pistol shot.

Heath and I always bait with sweets versus stink baits. We typically order three or four large 55 gallon barrels from Boarmasters every spring, which usually lasts us and our other bear baiting friends throughout the spring season. We fill the barrel with whatever stale, expired trail mix, candy, and pretzel concoction is on hand. Sweet-based bait has always worked well for us and when you’re sitting in your tree stand and the evening breeze blows in your face, it’s nicer to experience whiffs of chocolate than rotting beaver. We also use a ton of sweet attractants (sprays, oils, and powders) that 54

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Baiting bears is a labor of love! we add to cooking grease so the bears walk off into the woods, leaving delicious smelling trails that lead other bears right back to our bait.

I asked a few other bear baiting enthusiasts I know to share some of their tricks and tactics. Joe Letarte, Owner of Alaska Wilderness Enterprises, mentioned, “The way I bait here in Alaska is really very simple. I put out attractor baits of rotten fish guts and carcasses to draw bears to the area. I also put out dog food soaked in molasses to hold the bear to the site.” I had the pleasure of taking a great bear in the Yukon Flats of Alaska with Joe in 2021. It was such a great adventure camping out on a peninsula and traveling to the various bait sites via a small raft boat. Joe also had a little different way of utilizing the smaller barrels to hold bait. “I cut the slits in my barrels about 3 inches wide by 9 inches long which allows the bears to only get a little dog food at a time. That way they don’t overeat and go lay up because they’re full. I also put in some bacon grease and spray anise scent to help draw the bears in. I’ve had very good luck with this system over the past 30 years.”

My friend, Mark Livesay, has another great baiting technique that helps when the bears are cleaning out bait sites too quickly.

“I start with a steel barrel and I drill four inch evenly spaced holes right near the bottom. The holes aren’t much bigger than a half dollar, which is the key! Then I cut two holes near the top to run a length of chain through,” Mark described. He then hangs the barrel between two trees allowing it to swing freely versus chaining it to the bottom of one large tree. “I found that the benefits of using a trickle barrel were magnified. I pack in a lightweight pull system to get the barrels off the ground about 15-18 inches. The small holes dramatically slow down the bears, but they don’t deter them.

It also increases their time at the bait. They seem to hang around longer during daylight hours,” added Mark. Livesay also mentioned his preferred bait mix is 50/50 dog food and popcorn mixed generously with Boarmasters Triple Threat Powder. “The small particle dry mix works great with the small holes of the barrel and is easy to maintain.” To hear more stories and baiting tactics from Mark, listen to the “Treeline Academy Podcast” on all major platforms.

Last but not least, I reached out to my buddy, Nick Hopkins, who’s been a professional in the bear baiting business for years.

“A few things we see from a bear attractant business perspective, and the large number of customers we speak with daily, is the people having the highest success are those really putting in the time and staying consistent. We offer some amazing products to really jump start your bait or bring bears into an area, from food additives that really hold bears to our extremely powerful lures that trigger those bears to travel to areas out of their normal patterns. Be consistent. Keep those baits full, keep the scent fresh, and remember that those bears are patterning you just as much as you’re patterning them. The location of the bait site, quality of the bait, along with a lot of scent and consistency are the keys to success,” Hopkins commented. Boarmasters has been in business for over a decade and is located in Chubbuck, Idaho.

There are a lot of factors that add to the success or failure of a bait site. There’s no arguing that bear baiting is a ton of work but to all of us who live for watching and hunting bears, it’s a labor of love. Best of luck to all of you who are out there enjoying the process and the journey to notching your bear tags.

Mar/Apr 2023

The author’s fiance with a nice bear he took over bait.

The author likes hunting over bait with her pistol when she can.

The author puts in a lot of work into baiting bears. Often hauling the baits on a frame pack.

www.bear-hunting.com

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55

ry

Great Hunts

Bruin

Destinations

Newfoundland - Island Bears

by Al Raychard

Just as a refresher, Newfoundland is one of Canada’s Maritime Provinces. Located at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, it is Canada’s newest province, having joined the Confederation in 1949. In area, Newfoundland covers just over 43,000 square miles including offshore islands. It is the sixteenth largest island in the world and fourth largest in Canada. According to the latest census, over half of the human population lives on the Avalon Peninsula which includes St. John’s, the provincial capital and largest city. Elsewhere on the island, other major cities include Gander and Deer Lake, home to major airports named Grand Falls and Corner Brook. Except for villages and small settlements along the coast and scattered locations, much of the interior is sparsely populated, consisting of expansive spruce forests, bogs, some of the oldest exposed rock on the continent, lakes, ponds, and several major river systems. As a hunter who loves wild places, Newfoundland’s sparse population and remote locations is one of its major attractions. This is especially true when there is lots of big game and Newfoundland has its share, including moose, woodland caribou, and, of course, black bears.

Newfoundland’s bear population is nowhere near as large as many provinces on the mainland, or most top bear hunting states for that matter. Most reputable estimates put it at 10,000. But what Newfoundland may lack in bear numbers, it makes up for in potential size. Let’s be honest: it is possible to travel just about anywhere across Canada and in any number of states and have a moderate to high chance of killing a bear.

And while huge bears in terms of weight are taken in a good many places, only a handful established their reputation as a hunting destination for big bears.

It has been commonly believed for some time Newfoundland bears obtain large body weight and skull size due to several factors, including a reliable and varied food supply (an estimated 50-percent of the caribou calves born each year are killed by bears), traditionally low hunting pressure, good habitat conditions, a mild climate, and an isolated environment.

Over many generations, these factors have resulted in a genetic disposition to large size. As a result, Newfoundland bears are officially designated a distinct subspecies, Ursus americanus hamilton, which takes into account these unique attributes. Comparatively, skull dimensions are typically longer and wider and the 56

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measurements of a 300 pound Newfoundland boar will outscore that of its mainland counterparts.

This does not mean every bear seen and every bear taken will be one for the record books, or even a specimen in the 300, 400, 500, or better weight class. As in all hunting, good fortune, being in the right spot at the right time, and other factors play a role. The biggest bears, for example, are typically taken in the fall after a summer of heavy feeding and weight gain, but the potential is certainly there at any time. So, if a chance at killing a big bruin is desired, Newfoundland should be given some serious consideration.

But there are other reasons to hunt this province. Success rates typically run high at most camps, many reporting 100-percent shot opportunity and high 90-percent kill rates. The legal limit is two bears, either two in the spring season, two in the fall season, or one in the spring and one in the fall, although outfitters typically charge a trophy fee for the second bear, so be sure to ask when making arrangements. Hunting licenses are easily obtained through outfitters and are generally included in the package price. Different types of hunting experiences are also available, from first-class lodges with all the amenities to more rustic, fly-in bush camps. Whatever the case, the food is always good, the lodging is more than comfortable, and the guiding services are second to none. Hunters on spring hunts can take advantage of fishing opportunities for brook trout, landlocked salmon, and other species depending upon location, and fall bear hunts can be included in combination attempts for moose—introduced to the island from New Brunswick is 1904—and/or woodland caribou, the only place on the continent where the species is recognized by the trophy books.

Despite its remote location, getting to Newfoundland is relatively easy these days. Commercial airlines from major hubs in the United States and Canada fly daily into Deer Lake, Gander, and St. John’s where pick up arrangements can be made with outfitters. For those with the time, hunters can also drive to the island by utilizing the Marine Atlantic ferry, which departs North Sydney, Nova Scotia with service to Port-aux-Basque on the island’s south coast. Be sure to telephone ahead for reservations. For those making the night crossing, booking a cabin and making use of the cafeteria services in the morning before departing is well advised.

Mar/Apr 20230

Newfoundland

Hunting Methods: Nearly all spring bear hunts are over bait; fall hunts are over bait and spot-and-stalk.

Bag Limit: Two in spring, or one in spring and one in fall, or two in fall.

License Availability/Cost: Hunting licenses are available through licensed outfitters but may also be purchased online.

Resident: $39.00 Non-Resident: $150.00 (generally included in package price) Estimated Bear Population: 10,000 Range/Legal Hunting Area: Bears are found province-wide except on the Avalon Peninsula and other rockbound peninsulas, but are legal game throughout the island.

Spring Hunts: Yes, May 1-July 5*. Fall Gun Hunts: Yes, September 10-November 13* Fall Archery Only: August 31-September 13* Legal Weapons: All conventional centerfire big-game calibers using at least 100-grain bullets or that have at least 1,500 foot pounds of muzzle energy; shotguns 20 gauge and larger; muzzleloaders .50 caliber and larger; bows with 40-pound minimum draw. Crossbows also allowed, effective as of 20202021. No handguns or rifles in .22 caliber.

Special Notes: Sows with cubs may not be harvested. All non-resident bear and big game hunts must be conducted through licensed outfitters.

Contacts: Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism: 1 (800) 563-6353 - www.newfoundlandlabrador.com Newfoundland/Labrador Outfitters Association: 1 (709) 634-9962 - www.nloa.ca Marine Atlantic: 1 (800) 897-2797 - www.marine-atlantic.ca *2022-season dates: Actual opening/closing dates for 2023 unavailable at press time. Check with outfitters for details.

Overview

www.bear-hunting.com

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Sacred Pursuit with TL Jones

Fair Chase @TLJonesHVP

Getting to the Point

I’m going to make this column as brief as possible so that the maximum number of people will read it.

On December 17, 2022 I made a brief post about the subject of fair chase on my Facebook page. It touched a nerve with houndsmen all over the globe who shared it over 1,100 times. I want to share it with you exactly as it was written: “If it is the philosophy of “fair chase” that we are discussing, I would make the argument that hound hunting is the greatest of all fair chase methods.

It’s the only method where the game being pursued is fully aware from beginning to end that he’s being hunted.

He’s not a buck mindlessly chasing a doe to breed, half out of his head with lust. He’s not an elk being dropped from 500 yards by a bullet he has no sense of coming. He’s not boar being ambushed from above, entirely unaware of his enemy.

Once a game animal hears the hounds, he’s fully aware. All his senses are in play. The terrain is his home and he holds all the cards. And often he uses these things to escape.

I’m not against other methodologies. I support other types of hunters.

Just don’t tell me that hound hunting isn’t ethical or fair chase.”

This topic is essential to our way of life and I plan to write on it extensively in the future.

The author with a bear he took over his hounds.

The author uses plott hounds to pursue bears in E. Tennessee

Have a hound topic you want covered?

Email requests to: sacredpursuit@protonmail.com 58

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Mar/Apr 2023

Saskatchewan, Canada

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“Come as a client and leave as a friend!” Contact Us:

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59

{Hounds and Bears} Column

IN Hot PUrsuit

By Barry ‘Bear’ Siragusa @thehuntinghound

Late Winter Into Early Spring It’s a wonderful time of year.... or is it?

It’s that time of year again. The snows of winter are slowly melting as the river ice buckles under the rays of the spring sun. Geese fly overhead, northbound for nesting grounds above the arctic circle, honking to mark both the passage of winter and miles traveled. It’s the time of year when nature replenishes itself, and the very animals we have hunted produce offspring that will grow, to be admired and hunted anew. It’s stupendous, isn’t it?

Or, is it?

Spring signals the end of hunting seasons here in Scandinavia. The season ends to allow the pregnant females time to give birth and raise their cubs, unmolested by hounds and bait hunters. I understand it. I even approve in an “I-see-the-sense-of-it” kind of way.

However, the truth is, I don’t like it. I go morosely through my spring routine, dutifully cleaning and oiling my guns, polishing away the grime and scuffs from a season of abuse in the forest. I leave the oil slick in the barrels as I pack them away for the next five months. I empty my hunting jacket of empty shell casings and the occasional miscellaneous surprise. “It’s either jerky or something that fell in my pocket while gutting that last deer,” I tell my wife.

My hounds pace restlessly in their kennels.

Dog houses take a beating in the spring. Finely trained hounds need an outlet for their energy and even 3-4 mile bike rides every other day is a poor substitute for 6-7 hours of hunting four days a week. Their boredom is channeled into destructive pursuits, such as destroying dog houses. I usually start building a new dog house in the spring that will replace the pile of wood chips that’s left at the end of the summer.

So yes, while spring is a time of rebirth and replenishment, it is also a time of stress, depression (according to me), and destruction (according to the dogs).

Usually, during the hunting season, I can have my Russian Hound, Buzz, together with me loose and he will stay by my side as long as he doesn’t have the GPS collar on. He is a perfect canine good citizen without a GPS collar. With a GPS collar on, he switches into work mode and disappears—his bawl the last thing I hear disappearing over the lip of the valley. About two weeks after the season ends every year, I watch him spending more and more time testing the breeze with his nose as he looks longingly into the forest. Since bear hunting in Sweden is a shorter season, and we don’t have lions here, I run the dogs on foxes as well to keep them sharp and in shape.

A few evenings ago, I opened the kitchen door to let him out one last time before bed. I was horrified (he was delighted) to see a red fox staring back at us in the pale glow of the porch light. Buzz reacted first, and 60

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mere inches separated them as they left the yard for the forest. I heard him catch up to the fox once. After a brief brawl, they disappeared, out of sight and out of hearing.

I know this particular fox well. He has a slightly crooked right front foot; it is ever so slightly pigeon-toed.

We have run him several times and have never gotten him to go to ground. Once, he hurled himself off a cliff to get away from Buzz. I went to the bottom of the cliff the next day to find him, assuming he was dead and wanting to give him the warrior’s burial he deserved, only to find a Wile E Coyote-esque hole in the snow and his tracks leading away. Buzz and I had run this fox enough that I was fairly certain where they would eventually end up.

There was nothing else for it but to strap on some snowshoes and start walking. My bed and warm wife would have to wait.

First, I snowshoed up and over the valley rim and stopped to listen. The wind was blowing through the spruce, but I thought I could hear Buzz way off to the left. I started walking as the temperatures dropped and it started to snow. I was well-clothed and had fresh batteries in my head lamp but it was still quickly becoming unpleasant to be out. I walked for several miles following their tracks. I reached a hunting cabin that I knew the foxes frequented as it was not uncommon to find gut piles, garbage, and hot dog packages in the immediate vicinity. I could see that Buzz and the fox had passed the cabin and continued down the logging road that leads from the cabin farther into the mountains.

The wind picked up as I snowshoed. An hour later, the tracks indicated that Buzz and the crooked footed fox were still running hard, still headed higher into the alpine terrain. I knew of a den about 10 miles from where I stood, and the thought that they were headed there started to creep into my mind.

Mar/Apr 2023

The author finds his hound sleeping at home after spending hours searching for him.

To my immense relief, rather than turning right and continuing towards the middle of the plateau, the fox followed a small feature in the terrain and swung left into the trees again. Their trail headed towards the hunting cabin again, and about the time I got there, my wife called to tell me that Buzz had just walked in the front door.

“Is he ok?” I asked.

“He’s fine, already asleep on the couch.” she replied.

Late winter/early spring can be difficult on hunting dogs with no hunting season.

www.bear-hunting.com

I still had a several mile snowshoe back to the house. Punctuated by muttered curses, I started walking again. I was relieved that he was safe and that he hadn’t gone farther into the mountains, disappointment that he had lost the fox, and green envy that he was warm on the couch while I was still freezing my trigger finger off. I followed their tracks all the way down. The fox had gone to the steepest part of the valley wall and climbed down. Buzz had clearly paced back and forth at the edge, as the snow was worn down and scattered, before giving up and heading for couch country.

I got home half frozen and hungry as the clock on the coffee maker blinked 1:34 a.m. Buzz had the decency to get up and greet me, but not before stretching and yawning luxuriously. I fed the ungrateful wretch and crawled into bed, still half frozen and bone tired.

As I drifted off to sleep, a depressing thought struck me: “I can’t believe it’s five months until I can do this again.” Happy late winter/spring! It’s only 219,002 minutes until the next season starts.

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Allagash, Maine

• Six day hunt.

• Combo hunts available.

• Very high success rate on large boars.

• 300,000 acre exclusive bear hunting area.

• Guided and self-guided packages available.

• All method hunts available: baited, hound, spot-n-stalk, and foot snare traps.

Master Guide Dan Wagner www.greatnorthernoutfitters.com 207-398-3330 | dwoutdoors@live.com

Mar/Apr 20230

Support our Outfitters

• Large mast fattened bears.

• High concentration of color phased bears.

• Spot and stalk hunt.

• Fall archery & rifle dates available.

• Guaranteed opportunity or half your money back!

Northern California

(530) 945-3638 www.trinityforkoutfitters.com shane@trinityforkoutfitters.com Trinity Fork Outfitters is an equal opportunity provider.

• Hunt the big bears of the Duck Mountain Region of SK, Canada.

• 5-day hunt with lodging.

• Family run outfit.

• Waterfowl hunts available each fall.

• Follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

Outfitter, Richard Geres 306-743-7010

www.easternskyguiding.com www.bear-hunting.com

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Support those that support bear hunting Ochre River, Manitoba

Maine Maine • Spring & fall bear hunts on tribal land.

• Five day hunt over bait.

• A great hunt that won’t break the bank!

- Trophy Class Black Bears - Color Phased Bears - Comfortable Accommodations

- Join Us for an Unforgettable Adventure!

Contact us!

207-944-5707 george.sabattusjr@icloud.com sabattushuntingadventures5.com

Family Owned Outfitter (204) 572-4706 | (204) 447-7727 Craig & Melanie MacCarthy www.northmtnadventures.com

Pale Horse Guide Service Greeneville, Tennessee

Outfitter: Ben Jones Phone: (423) 552-1784 “Come hunt the rugged Appalachian Mountains with Houston Valley Plotts!”

-The Jones-

New! ‘Ole Slew Foot’ Hat! For sale only at www.bearhuntingmagazine.com

Bear Questions/Answers With Al Raychard

Q-I’ve heard and read conflicting articles on a black bears’ sense of smell. How keen is it?

A-Multiple studies have been conducted over the years and all concur a bear’s sense of smell is highly developed.

It is one of their most important survival mechanisms and one of the keenest among all animals. The inside of a bear’s nose, called a nasal mucosa, is 100 times larger than a human’s nose, making a bear’s sense of smell at least seven times better than a bloodhound. Given the right wind direction, a bear can smell ripe berries or a steak grilling on a back deck a mile away.

Q-I know bears are ravenous and opportunistic feeders, but how much food do bears need to consume?

A-Bears eat a varied diet from plants and fruits to meat, making them omnivores. Once they emerge in spring, bears consume primarily plants then switch to berries in summer and early fall, and finally various fruits and nuts in later fall. Throughout the growing season carrion, small animals, reptiles, and amphibians are also consumed.

During the spring, bears typically consume about 5,000 calories a day but with the approaching winter (and to put on as much fat as possible) it is not unusual for bears to spend up to 20 hours a day concentrating on high protein foods to put on 20,000 calories per day to carry them

through the winter.

Q-How long do bear cubs stay with their mothers?

A-At birth, bear cubs weigh less than one pound and are completely dependent on their mother, staying with her for a year and a half.

During that time she feeds them, protects them from predators, and teaches them how to survive on their own. When the mother is ready to breed again, male offspring go off to establish their own home range while female young continue to live close to but not with her.

Q-Is it really known how many black bears there actually are in Canada and the U.S.?

A-Although wildlife population methodologies have come a long way in recent years, wildlife population estimates are still just that, estimates. To be fair, most estimates are relatively accurate—they have to be since they are used to set hunting seasons and bag limits. Most recent estimates say approximately 900,000 black bears inhabit North America, and in all jurisdictions where bears are found or hunted their numbers are increasing.

Submit your questions to alraychard@sacoriver.net

Not a subscriber or need to renew?

Cut this out and send it in or scan the qr code below to complete it online!

www.bear-hunting.com

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Custom, excellent-quality wildlife taxidermy We are a custom taxidermy studio operating in northwest Montana creating one-of-a-kind wildlife mounts that are hand-crafted works of art. We are not a production shop. Taxidermist John Hayes has more than 20 years experience in the profession and prides himself on fine craftsmanship. We do North American big game, African exotics, small mammals, birds and water fowl, fish, and even some reptile taxidermy. We specialize in bears, too. For hunters, we can do everything from standard head to full-body mounts to preserve your prize. All work is guaranteed. References are available upon request.

John Hayes 406-293-6776 www.hayestaxidermy.com

We ship all over North America.

Call Us for a custom quote.

Killer Bear

Products Ready for 2022

One Quart Spray Bottle 16 Flavors Retail $19.95

Cherry, Blueberry & Gold Dust Powder 8oz Powder Retail $14.95

Gold Rush Fryer Grease additive 8oz Concentrate Retail $26.95

www.northwoodsbearproducts.net

608-341-8987

“THE NEXT GENERATION OF LTE PERFORMANCE”

INTRODUCING

THE NEW TRACKS

Tracks is the new brand of cellular trail cameras by Cuddeback.

Cuddeback is the innovator of the revolutionary CuddeLink networked trail cameras. However, many hunters do not require CuddeLink’s advanced technology and a conventional cellular camera is preferred.

Best of all, Tracks is not another foreign designed import, it was designed in the USA by Cuddebacks’ staff which have over 30 years of trail camera design experience.

FEATURES • Dual paddle antennas for the best reception in fringe areas.

• Built-in user interface to allow field programming • 4 different ways to receive images (Email - Text - Website - Mobile App) • Up to 10 people can receive images.

• 7 animal sensor sensitivity settings • DUAL SIM cards - Camera can be Verizon or AT&T • DESIGNED IN THE USA

DUAL ANTENNAS for enhanced signal and connectivity

4D BATTERIES for extended battery life

Advanced BACK-LITE USER INTERFACE with enhanced features CUDDEBACK.COM