Cooking bear with fire
bear Grease
Clad & the Marathon bear
LIght the torch
The bear hunting authority for 21 years
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Roast Bear Leg
Mar/Apr 2021 Volume 22 - Issue 2
Magazine
Cover photo by Johnny Mack
by Johnny Mack
by Tommy Dale Lane
Into Washington Backcountry 10
Clad and the Marathon Bear
18
By Darron McDougal
Light the Torch
26
Use of Leashed Tracking Dogs
By Timothy Fowler
Empty Nest
By Clay Newcomb
32
by Timothy Fowler
Roast Bear Leg for Easter
Six Categories of Outfitters
34
by Clay Newcomb
38
Bearpath Gunner
By Kolby Morehead
Making Bear Grease
By Brian Lynn
47
California SB 252 Redacted
36
54
Columns 56 Sportsman’s Alliance
Cuddeback Trail Camera Contest Winner Win a Cuddeback Camera!
58
“Dude in a Treestand” Elliot Heath Wisconsind
by Brian Lynn - Huntervationist
Beginner’s Guide to Bear Hunting
by Clay Newcomb - Bear Huntin’ Fool
60 Bowhunting Bears
To enter, submit a unique Cuddeback photo to editor@bear-hunting.com or post to our Facebook page Bear Hunting Magazine
by Bernie Barringer - Bear Guru
62
Western Bear Hunting
64
Bruin Desinations -
by Brian Strickland - Western Hunter
by Al Raychard - Bear Hunting Veteran
66 In Hot Pursuit -
Check out the Bear Hunting Magazine YOUTUBE Channel
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• • PY and BC Bears taken every year in Newfoundland Outfitters rate on Caribou • 100% success March&Millco • 100% shot opportunity on Moose Caribou • Trophy • Potential at 50+ inch Moose and BC year in Newfo • PY Bear spotBears and stalktaken or overevery bait • Black to shootGuide 2 Moose and 2 Service Black Bear • Optionsuccess rate on Caribou • 100% Service Lodge • FullSpring *Offeringon black bear, shotrunning opportunity Moose • 100% 2019 water, hot showers • Full kitchen, moose and whitetail 7.5 mile longMoose lake • Lodge sits on ata50+ inch • Potential hunting in Maine • Fishing includes Trout and landlocked Salmon Bear spot and stalk or over bait • Black • All inclusive hunts
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• Option to shoot 2 Moose and 2 Black Bear • Full Service Lodge Silent auction for moose water, hot showers • Full kitchen, running tags on tribal land Lodge sits on a 7.5 mile long lake 2018 Bear • 20 8/16” • Fishing includes Trout and landlocked Salmo 410 pounds *Spring bear• All inclusive hunts
www.penobscotguideservice.com www.bear-hunting.com
Bear Hunting
5
Into the Washington
Backcountry Spring bear hunting and first timers. by Johnny Mack
@washington_backcountry
After five years of applying for a Washington spring bear tag, the author’s plans are almost spoiled by Covid restrictions, but in the end it works out.
10 Bear Hunting
Mar/Apr 2021
L eading into 2020, I knew it was going to be a special year.
As we all know, it was memorable in more ways than one. As a hunter, a primary component in fulfilling one’s soul, is the adventure that goes along with the pursuit and thrill of the hunt. A major part of that adventure is the anticipation and preparation that leads into planning a hunt, especially one that you have never experienced before. For me, this was my first attempt at hunting black bears in the spring, which is something that I have had my eye on since I bought my first hunting license six years ago. Even though I am no stranger to hunting bruins, pursuing an animal whose food sources change with the seasons enhances and sharpens your hunting skills and overall knowledge of the woods that much more. In my home state of Washington, you can purchase two OTC black bear tags every year. Unfortunately, to be able to hunt the marvelous beasts in the springtime requires you to be selected through special permit applications with only a minimal percentage of the state’s game management units open for the hunt. After five long years of applying, it was time to manifest the coveted tag. Sure enough, 2020 was the year the universe delivered, not only for me but also for my hunting partner Two Shot. As I envisioned what the hunt was going to look like as we entered the planning stages, I knew we could use some guidance and mentorship. One of the benefits of hosting a podcast allows for the opportunity to talk with knowledgeable and well versed guests to offer insight and guidance. Being that I host The Soulful Hunter Podcast, I figured who better to call upon than the bear whisperer himself, Clay Newcomb of Bear Hunting Magazine (Listen to Ep. 29 for the full scoop). After recording a great episode with Clay and grounding myself on the basics of hunting bears in the springtime, the foundation of our plan became clearer. To top it off, we were selected for our first choice which added a huge confidence boost due to the fact that I hunted the exact same unit the November prior for whitetail bucks and turkeys. As the season drew near and opening day was just around the bend, the state of Washington decided to close all public lands to any and all recreation which included hunting. I was shocked and in disbelief. Was this really happening? Could this actually happen? I waited five long years to finally have the opportunity, only to be stripped away in the last moments. Hanging on to hope that all was going to work out, while standing firm in my belief that life happens for us and not to us, I impatiently awaited any information provided by the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife. With what was supposed to be an opening day of April 1st turned into a delay until May 5th. As much as the delay was difficult to deal with along with everything else that was going on in the world, I stayed strong in my convictions and was cemented more by the advice that I received regarding bears being on the move more towards the end of May and into June. As it turned out, the first opportunity we could make work between our schedules was Memorial weekend. With
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Bear Hunting 11
Clad and the Marathon Bear by Tommy Dale Lane
My family and I all share a kindred passion for a lot of things in this life, but one thing we all can wrap our united noggins around is anything hunting or fishing. It’s a burnin’ that’s in us that’s gonna
come out no matter what is going on in this crazy, messed up world around us. Be it timely or not, the hunt is gonna show up and rearrange our calendars whether we want it to or we don’t! This is a common passion we share with many folks all over this floating rock we all call home. One common denominator we have with the folks in our close proximity is that we track wounded game animals that have befuddled their pursuant and gotten away undetected. You see, we have a fortyfive-pound half bloodhound half red bone un-befuddler named Cladrastus (Clad) that would rather follow a leaky four-legged sack of groceries through the woods as put his snout down in a warm bowl of bacon grease gravy! My three boys and I take calls from folks that have been dealt the misfortune of a bad shot or a lost track. We simply bring Clad in, harness’em up, and just kinda hang onto’em and get pulled through briars and thorns and stuff until we’re looking at our quarry right in the eyeballs. And here’s where my story begins. We were about a week into the Arkansas black bear season and not one of us had the opportunity to toss any pointy sticks at a big black fuzzys. We were just getting home from our morning of sittin’ and staring at barrels when we got the call. One of our friends had been fortunate enough to not only see a bear on public land, but got the chance to send an arrow down range and through an Arkansas bruin as well!! No light feat in just seeing one in the wild in our neck of the woods. Although he got a pass through, he felt like he may have hit it a little bit too far back behind the good stuff and needed our assistance in finding said bear. Now, this ain’t our first trip to the principal’s office and we know the ins and outs of tracking a disgruntled, injured, meat grinder through adverse terrain and thick cover. So we were not ill prepared to handle whatever might be laid before us on our newly accepted mission. We was sittin’ on go and Clad was jacked up like a kindergartener chowing down on a stolen bag of jolly ranchers.
18 Bear Hunting
The author, his son Cory, and Clad the blood trailing dog took off to help a friend trail a bear. They ended up getting more than they bargained for....so did some runners in a marathon.
Us Trackers One of the first things we do as trackers is gather as much information about a track as we possibly can before we even bring the dog on site, you know, so everything goes smooth and exactly like we need and want it to. We got all the inquiries taken care of and headed to the shot site. We got there and the hunter was giving us the low down when Clad got his first whiff of his next assignment. Boy was he excited, just bouncing at the end of his lead rope! We keep Clad on lead and right in front of us while tracking, some folks track without a lead with their dog working the track sometimes at a dead run, any you keep up with their whereabouts with a tracking collar. Mar/Apr 2021
Tracking a wounded bear through a marathon and into a cave makes for quite an adventure.
We gathered ourselves and prepared and Cory gave the command that starts Clad to set into beast mode, “Hunt em up Clad!” Head down, nose to the ground, ears alert, and tail a pointin’ at the clouds, “We huntin’ now boys!!” We were all but a few feet into the track when ole Clad turned and looked over his left shoulder at Cory as to say, “Y’all do know this ain’t no deer we’re follerin right?” Cory just looked back down at’em and told’em again, “Get’em up Clad!” It was on, and the adventure had commenced! I don’t know if any of you have ever had the distinct pleasure of being attached to a forty-five-pound, red bulldozer who has no concept whatsoever on the identification of a green briar or blackberry bush at a festive pace www.bear-hunting.com
or not, but I do not recommend it. Oh, and did I mention the sweltering 85-degree day we were having? You know, just a typical Arkansas weather day, went hunting in an insulated jacket and by nine o’clock we were wearing short sleeves. By this time Clad was fired up and we had already covered about a hundred and twenty yards or so straight down the bench we started on. The track made a little juke and then turned a ninety straight up the mountain. Mind you, we are on the side of big mountain, just right under switchbacks on a country highway. So, as we got there and the whole time, we’re tracking we can hear vehicles in the distance above us. You can imagine my disdain and concern when Clad insisted that the bear had decided to make “up” his direction of choice. My disdain simply comes from, I don’t like to go up, and my concern came from a couple Bear Hunting 19
Makin’ Bear Grease Photos by Kolby Morehead Bear Rendering by Clay Newcomb
1. cut frozen bear fat into cubes 36 Bear Hunting
Mar/Apr 2021
A Few Things About Bear Grease - Bear grease can be stored at room temperature for over a year and can be used in all types of cooking in substitution for any type of oil. - It’s best to render bear fat soon after harvesting the animal. On this batch, the author rendered some fat that had been in the freezer for over a year and it had a strong, unpleasant flavor. Bear fat rendered within three months of harvest (frozen of course) will yield incredible oil. Lesson learned on this one!
3. Cook the fat to 210-225 degrees for 12 to 18 minutes. Pour into mason jars.
2. Grind the fat to get the most yield www.bear-hunting.com
Bear Hunting 37