2021 - Issue 3 - May/June

I loved him like a brother

Oregon double take

PreSeason Scouting in Appalachia

Bear Fat lye soap

The bear hunting authority for 21 years

Grizzly with a .22 caliber How Bella Twin killed a world record

Clay Newcomb’s

New Podcast

May/June 2021 US $5.95 CA $7.95

Ma y/J une

202 1

two hound bear pack

Hunt the Giants of Hunt the Giants of

Cell: 204-679-0735 Email: Cell:atbh@mymts.net 204-679-0735

Member of Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Assoc.

Email: atbh@mymts.net

Member of Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Assoc.

Manitoba with an Manitoba with an outfitter you can trust - Cory Grant outfitter40% youColor can Phase trust Bears - Cory Grant Multiple References Available on website

40% Color Phase Bears

Multiple References Available on website

www.atbh.ca

LONG-RANGE SHOOTING, SIMPLIFIED.

Eliminate the guess with patented windage-enabled turret and reticle technology to precisely match your rifle’s load and bullet drop for achievable long-range shots at the moment of truth.

STAY CONNECTED: www.bear-hunting.com

HUSKEMAW.COM

1-866-754-7618

Bear Hunting

3

May/June 2021 Volume 22 - Issue 3

Magazine

Cover photo by Shutterstock

by Tim Fowler

A Clear-Headed Woman with a Rabbit Gun

by Matt Taylor

10

I Loved Him Like a Brother

16

By John Baugus

Off Season Scouting in the Appalachians

24

Use of Leashed Tracking Dogs

By Danny Boppe

Two Hound Bear Pack

By Sami Jo Endicott

28

by Christie Holmes

About a Bear Hunt

Double Take

32

by Steve Fielder

42

By Kolby Morehead

4-Ingredient Bear Fat Lye Soap

By Timothy Fowler

Bear River Tazz

44

A Peek in my Pack

38

54

Columns

Cuddeback Trail Camera Contest Winner Win a Cuddeback Camera!

56

Sportsman’s Alliance

by Brian Lynn - Huntervationist

58 Bowhunting Bears

by Bernie Barringer - Bear Guru

60 Western Bear Hunting

“Countryside Stroll” John St Evola New Jersey

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

by Brian Strickland - Western Hunter

62

Bruin Desinations -

64

Fleshing it Out -

by Al Raychard - Bear Hunting Veteran

by Timothy Fowler - Renaissance Man

66 In Hot Pursuit - Guest

• Black Bear spot and stalk or over bait • Option to shoot 2 Moose and 2 Black Bear • Full Service Lodge • Full kitchen, running water, hot showers • Lodge sits on a 7.5 mile long lake • Fishing includes Trout and landlocked Salmon • All inclusive hunts

March & Millco Outfitters March&Millco Outfitters

March&Millco Canada Outfitters Newfoundland,

• Trophy Caribou • PY and BC Bears taken every year in Newfoundland • 100% success rate on Caribou March&Millco • 100% shot opportunity on March&Millco Outfitters Moose Outfitters • Potential603-860-8804 at 50+ inch603-860-8804 Moose • Black Bear spot andbmarchand@marchandmillc stalk or bmarchand@marchandmillc over bait ooutfitters.com ooutfitters.com • Option to shoot 2 Moose and 2 www.Marchandmillcoo Black Bear utfitters.com www.Marchandmillcoo • Full Service Lodge utfitters.com • Full kitchen, running water, hot showers

603-860-8804 bmarchand@marchandmillcooutfitters.com 2017 Bear 429 pounds *Spring bear

Biggest Spring Bears in

Maine 603-860-8804

penobscothunter@hotmail.com March&Millco Outfitters Gavinsapp12@yahoo.com Trophy Caribou

• • 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

Penobscot

• 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

Bear Grease The Editor’s Note Clay Newcomb

@clay_newcomb

Bear Grease Podcast W

e’ve officially launched my new podcast called Bear Grease. It’s a storytelling, history related podcast

about life lived close to the land. I’m hoping it’ll make all of my Bear Hunting Magazine family proud. It’s an eclectic, documentary-style listen exploring things for forgotten but relevant, searching for insight in unlikely places, and telling the stories of some incredible people. What’s in the name Bear Grease? Bear Grease is the rendered fat of a bear, which at one time was a highly valued commodity – we’re using it as a metaphor for the things that modern society has buried but are worth resurrecting.

I’ll explore conservation, hunting, biology, anthropology, human nature and folklore in an entertaining search for insight with guests from all walks of life – some you’ve heard of, but most you haven’t. It’s not a deep dive, but on each episode you’ll learn from the experts and be inspired by the guests. The narrative storytelling will engage and entertain while the wide diversity of topics will keep you coming back.

What topics does the podcast specifically cover? I’ll give you a couple of examples. On the first episode we’ll explore the myth of mountain lions in the South and how they’ve carved out a place in our culture, despite not being here in 100 years. Or have they been here all along? I interviewed two people that have seen mountain lions in the South, a phycologist who tries to explain why many think they’ve seen lions when they haven’t, and I’ll speak with a biologist that will give us the facts. I love this format because we’ll learn from the experts, but it’s fast-paced, entertaining and full of stories. All the episodes are going to be under one hour, so it will be an efficient listen. I guarantee them to be edgy, but always family friendly. I want people to be able to listen with their kids without worrying about exposing to something above their maturity level.

On another episode we’ll explore the history of the relationship between dogs and humans with an anthropologist.

I’m usually trying to answer a fundamental question that I have about myself. On this one, I’m trying to understand my irrational love of canines. We get into some deep history of dog domestication, selective breeding and how dogs have influenced human life.

I hope you’ll check out the Bear Grease podcast. You can listen to it wherever you listen to podcasts. And, do me a favor by leaving the podcast a review.

Here’s how MeatEater describes it “The Bear Grease Podcast with host Clay Newcomb delivers compelling storytelling through documentary-style episodes exploring the culture, traditions, and history of rural America. He’ll dive in deep with hunters, biologists, anthropologists, and hillbillies to learn about human nature and our ancient connection to the land.

Bear Grease explores unique people, topics, and stories that reveal the incredible value of life lived close to the land.

Part of the MeatEater Podcast Network.”

UPDATE: The Bear Grease Podcast ranked inside the top 20 of “All Podcasts” in the United States the first few days after its release. Our goal is to promote our way of life and culture to the world, hoping to win some approval from the non-hunting public and to engage hunters in a meaningful way.

new sticker at www.bearhuntingmagazine.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS: 1-Year (6 issues) subscription rate is $25.00 for U.S. address, $35.00* for Canadian address (in U.S. funds). 2-Year (12 issues) subscription rate is $45.00 for U.S. address, Bear Hunting (ISSN 1553-2488 and USPS 019-451) is published bi-monthly by Bear Hunting Media, $70.00* 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. LLC, 258 Bullard Rd., West Fork, AR 72774. Periodicals Postage Paid at West Fork, AR and additional Box 168, West Fork, Arkansas or E-mail us at: CustomerService@bear-hunting.com

mailing offices.

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, POSTMASTER: Send address changes (form 3579) LLC is not responsible for injury/loss during the implementation of content. Bear hunting is a to Bear Hunting, P.O. Box 168, West Fork, AR 72774. potentially hazardous activity and people should take extreme caution when hunting.

Maine Maine Spring & Fall Fall Spring & BEAR HUNTS BEAR HUNTS Bait or Hounds Hounds Bait or

All inclusive, inclusive,fully fullyguided, guided,six-day six-daybear bearhunt hunt Spring Nation Territory in Maine Spring hunts huntsover overbait baiton on33,000+ 33,000+acres acresononPenobscot Penobscot Nation Territory in Maine Two of 1616 years combined experience of the the most mostexperienced experiencedtribal tribalbear bearguides guideswith with years combined experience Bear skinning & quartering Bear hunts hunts include includemeals, meals,lodging, lodging,bear beartag/license, tag/license, skinning & quartering For onon 110,000+ acres of of privately leased land For fall fall hunt, hunt,we wehave haveexclusive exclusivebear bearhunting huntingrights rights 110,000+ acres privately leased land Family guiding experience Family owned ownedbusiness businesswith withover over30+ 30+years yearsofofbear bear guiding experience Located Located 30 30 minutes minutesnorth northofofBangor Bangor

455 pounds 455 pounds

All All three threebears bearsharvested harvestedSpring Spring2020 2020 365 pounds 365 pounds

437 pounds 437 pounds

Bear | Moose | Deer | Fishing

r | MRoad o o s |eLagrange, | D e e r Maine | F i s h04453 i n g | (207) 943-2511 Mid Maine OutfittersB| e13aWhite Mid Maine Outfitters | 13 White Road | Lagrange, Maine 04453 | (207) 943-2511

www.themidmaineoutfitters.com www.themidmaineoutfitters.com

Bear Hunting 7

DOUBLE U PODCAST NEW episodes every wednesday!

PLAYING FROM PODCAST

Hound PodCast: Double U Hunting Su...

EP 17: In the Woods with Bear Hunting M...

Hound PodCast: Double U Hunting Su...

“I have really enjoyed the mix of guests and content you guys have put together.

Love the mix of Brett’s old timers and the new interviews. Keep up the great work.

Thanks.”

- Bmombert “Great Podcast, probably the best hound podcast out there and I listen to them all” - B. Sheets

FIND us on apple podcast, spotify, simplecast and at podcast.dusupply.com Amanda Clark Photography

BRAVE AND OTHER STORIES

ALPHA/ASTRO BUNDLE

By Steve Matthes

Alpha 100, Alpha 200i and Astro 430

DU APPAREL

Shirts, sweatshirts, hats and more

1-INCH SUNGLO COLLARS Available in solid, reflective and camo

TREE LEADS

Available in sunglo, beta, leather and cable

FIND us at dusupply.com and on social media @dusupply

In 1953, Bella Twin killed a world record grizzly with her Cooey Act #1 .22.

The best weapon you possess is your wits and clear-headed thinking.

10 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

A Clear-Headed

Woman with a

Rabbit Gun

By Timothy Fowler

@timothydfowler

B

ella Twin was a calm, quiet, clear-headed Cree woman with a trap line. May 10, 1957, she killed a massive grizzly bear with her Cooey Ace #1 .22.

That was near Slave Lake, Alberta, and the bear Twin killed turned out to be a world record that stood for a good long time.

That was seven years before my dad held me for the first time, a five-foot-nothing woman who lived on the land squeezed the trigger on her single-shot rabbit gun and put a .22 rimfire round through the eye of a grizzly bear at close distance. The bear dropped dead, but because Twin knew what she was up against–– put seven more rounds into the bear skull––seven insurance shots.

Smart lady.

There has been a lot of speculation over the intervening

www.bear-hunting.com

Roland Eben-Ebenau and Larry Loyie (Grandson of Bella Twin) pose with a photo of Bella Twin (Auger) some years ago. She killed a world record grizzly with a .22. Photo Courtesy of Constance Brissenden.

Bear Hunting 11

years about what exactly happened that day there on the trapline. I’ll add one more speculation. In 1953, the likelihood of a trapper using Long Rifle .22 rimfire ammunition while trapping, was, well, let’s say, unlikely. I’ll bet a crisp fifty-dollar bill that they were .22-shorts.

A trapper neither needed nor wanted the extra velocity of the Long Rife rimfire rounds for two reasons: undamaged pelts bring a premium dollar, and .22 Long Rife rounds were more expensive––just speculating here. She would have wanted neither the additional velocity nor the additional cost.

For me, this story started at the Royal Museum of Alberta in downtown Edmonton where I was doing a piece on the value of firearms for the Canadian Firearms Journal. A white-gloved curator, Anthony Worman, drew a rusty, beat-up Cooey Ace #1 single-shot from a special case. The wooden gun stock was well-worn and broken, attached to the barrelled

action with hockey tape. The bolt was so rusted the action wouldn’t work.

“What do you think this gun is worth? Worman asked. I knew it was a trap question, but I answered anyway.

“Well, the gun is worth nothing,” I said.

“Wrong,” he said. “This one is priceless, because of its provenance. It was Bella Twin’s.”

Provenance means the history of an object and is tied up with the story that can be told about the object. At that very moment, I began to understand Bella Twin’s amazing story.

Did I mention to you the grizzly bear held the Boone and Crocket world record at 26 5/16 inches? That record was in place for some time. This story has been one of the most enjoyable research projects I have engaged in my whole life. I talked to Constance Brissenden, wife of Larry Loyie who was “grandson” of Bella Twin. (Note: in Cree Culture your mother’s sister or your great aunt is referred to as your Kokum (grandmother) too. This is the case here. Bella was technically Larry’s great aunt, Kokum to Larry. Too, I interviewed Roland Eben-Ebenau, the son of professional bear guide and world record holder on his own right.

(If only for a very short time thanks to Twin’s Cooey Ace, calm demeanor, and marksmanship.) Reinhold Eben Ebenau––Roland’s father––acquired the skull and this remains a part of the Eben-Ebenau family museum on the Northshore Homestead Ranch (www.northshorehomestead. com) in Northern Alberta where Roland still raises bison. The closer you get to the story the more interesting it gets. Can you imagine devoting your entire professional life to pursuing big bears? Your street cred is tied to yours and your client trophies and your recent world record gets bested by a quiet lady with a .22?

The story has developed some inconsistencies. Some folks say it was Dave Auger, Twin’s companion that killed the bear. Some folks say she tracked it, went after it. Seriously? Think about this. Twin wasn’t some trigger-happy loon with no forest experience. She was a trapper

Anthony Worman, with the Royal Alberta Museum found Bella Twin’s Cooey single shot and let me take a photo. This .22 single-shot is both priceless and worth nothing.

12 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

and would have been aware of what ursus arctos horribils could do if provoked. If Twin would have seen the bear, she would have turned and carefully exited––had she had the chance. My speculation was that she was surprised.

Larry Loyie was a well-published writer. The wife he left behind when he died is Constance Brissenden. She too is a writer and here is an excerpt from what she wrote for the Lakeside Leader of Slave Lake: “Bella Twin, who lived on Rabbit Hill overlooking Slave Lake, shot the biggest grizzly bear in North America on May 10, 1953. But her bear wasn’t Illustration by Heather the first giant grizzly to D. Holmlund in As put the town of Slave Long as the Rivers Lake on the map. Shortly Flow by Larry Loyie before, homesteader Rewith Constance Brisinhold Eben-Ebenau also senden. Courtesy of shot a giant grizzly.

Constance BrissenAuthor Larry den.

Loyie, Bella’s grandson, was proud of his grandmother. It made him angry when he heard that some people said her companion, Dave Auger, had shot the bear. “They didn’t believe that a tiny Cree lady could kill a giant grizzly with a single bullet from a .22, held together with chicken wire,” Larry recalled.

“So they said it had to be Dave. They said the couple saw the bear coming along the cutline and waited until it was close enough to shoot it.”

Larry wrote his version of the grizzly adventure in As Long as the Rivers Flow. He added himself to the story as a seven-year-old boy in the episode, to bring the story to life for students. In the book, Bella is surprised by the bear that suddenly rises above them in the bush, arms raised high.

Larry wrote: “Without warning, a giant grizzly reared up before them on the trail. Lawrence had never seen anything that big. The bear was as tall as their house. The grizzly towered over them, grunting and snorting. His huge front paws were raised high. Lawrence knew from the elders that this was a bad sign. Bears were most dangerous when they stood up, especially grizzly bears. The elders also said that to run from a grizzly was certain death.”

When students asked him about the bear, Larry told them this was probably what took place. He observed, “Bella was a good hunter,” he said. “If she saw a grizzly coming toward her, she would run like the wind in the opposite direction. She wouldn’t wait around to challenge a huge bear.”

The hide was displayed for many years in the www.bear-hunting.com

Slave Lake beer hall, nailed to the wall. It moved on to the Reynolds Museum in Wetaskiwin, opened in 1955 by Stanley Reynolds. Today it’s stored at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, too threadbare to be displayed.

The bear’s skull was purchased from Bella Twin by Reinhold Eben-Ebenau. He asked Dave Auger to go into the bush and bring back the skull, says son Roland. His dad paid $15 for it.

Reinhold Eben-Ebenau had a reason. A short time before, he’d shot a giant grizzly, and sent his bear’s skull measurements to The Boone and Crockett Club, to be scored against other North American big game.

Reinhold, a wellknown hunting guide, learned that he had shot the biggest grizzly in North America.

That was until Bella shot her bear.

The skull, used as a measurement, is housed in a small museum on the EbenEbenau homestead.

“The skull can’t be stretched like the hide,” reports Roland, second-generation owner of the North Shore Homestead.

“The measurements are precise and unchanging. Bella’s grizzly was the largest in North America at the time, being a few centimeters larger than my dad’s. Today, they are still among the biggest grizzlies to be recorded.”

The hole from the single-shot that dropped the grizzly is clearly seen in the skull, beside the right eye socket. It is recorded that Bella pumped several other shots into the grizzly after it fell. Who could blame her?”

When I interviewed Brissenden she said to me, “Look, she was a Cree and a top-notch hunter. Okay, fearless––totally. And, if she saw the grizzly coming down the forestry trail, they would have run as fast as they could in the opposite direction. They would not have gone and challenged the biggest grizzly in North America. So he (Larry Loyie) said it had to have surprised them. His account has her throwing down a knapsack for the bear to stop and sniff. Think of the bear standing––it’s huge. And, you know, it’s walking or standing because if it saw them might have stood and then she wants it to look down so she can shoot it. It’s very possible that she threw down a little pack or something that they were carrying.

“People said two things. One was that they tracked the bear. And that it was on the cut line, the forestry cut line outside of town. Yep. And, and they were walking along, probably huntBear Hunting 13

ing for rabbits or whatever. Another story was that they saw the bear coming towards them. And they tracked it down, you know, where they saw the bear and they went after it.

Larry said, honestly if you saw the giant Grizzly like that, you would never go tracking it if you were any kind of a hunter because it would kill you. If she saw the bear on the cutline coming towards them, they wouldn’t wait. You know, they wouldn’t wait over by the side to kill it. They would run like hell. And that’s what Larry’s words were like, hell, no question about it. So that was one thing that annoyed Larry.

And the second thing was that people said it wasn’t her that shot the bear. It was Dave Auger, her guy.

“History is so important to him (Larry). And family history and honoring people in his family like Bella Twin.

Family Friendly, all ages welcome

Black Bear, Mountain Goat, Sitka Blacktail, Wolf, Trapping

After the first shot, which killed the bear, Bella Twin put seven more rounds in the bear’s skull. Only one bullet passed all the way through the thick skull.

Does this make you reconsider your bear side arm?

You know, I’m just carrying the torch really, when he always wanted the true story to come out. Any opportunity to bring out the facts as Larry saw them is important because there were a lot of myths about how the incidents happened. You know how stories get told, and then somebody hears that story, and they tell it again, and it moves a little bit, told again and moves some more.”

Roland Eben-Ebenau was kind enough to photograph the grizzly skull from his family’s museum collection. Roland also agreed to host me in the coming months for a personal tour of his museum and to hear some other stories. His Dad killed a few big bears in the slave lake area and well may have had his eye on this bear for himself or one of his clients. Certainly, there is more to this story that Roland can fill in and I have the sense there are plenty of other interesting bear stories to contemplate.

It is worth noting that grizzly bear populations in Alberta are well on their way to being recovered and at some point in the future, if we can sort the facts from the politics and emotion, we may well have a chance to hunt bears as big as Bella Twin’s. The genetics are still on the landscape, and the bears have not been pursued by hunters since the close of the 2005 season. The bears have had plenty of time these 16 years to fill out to their maximum potential. There may well be great bears in Alberta’s hunting future if we can muster the courage to do the right thing.

Like Bella Twin.

wolf David Benitz AK Master Guide #215 davidbenitz@yahoo.com

Boat Based Alaskan Trophy Hunts 907-772-3258 www.stikineguideservice.com 14 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

Roland Eben-Ebenau maintains the bear’s skull in the family museum in northern Alberta.

Photo courtesy of Roland EbenEbenau

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 15

I Loved Him

Like a Brother A deep appreciation for the ellusive black bear in the mountains of Arkansas.

By Matthew Taylor

B ear hunting ain’t easy! In fact, the possibility of even seeing a black bear in the wild is absurdly rare.

I am an Arkansas resident, a passionate hunter, and an outdoor enthusiast. I spend most of my hunting time pursuing whitetail deer, turkey, or squirrel, and occasionally enjoy a raccoon hunt. Hunting is a big part of life for me and my family. My sons (Jaxon, 17 and Weston, 14) are pretty good, dedicated hunters. My oldest daughter (June, 6) has spent countless hours as my hunting sidekick in the woods and my wife (Melissa) and youngest daughter (Kate, 3) help process, cook, and consume our harvests.

Despite living in bear country and spending nearly three decades hunting the rolling, rough mountains of western Arkansas, bears have mostly eluded me. It wasn’t until the fall of 2020 that I experienced my first “real” bear hunt. Let me quickly define the use of the word “real” in that last sentence. Bears are always on my mind when I’m in the woods, but I wouldn’t define any hunt that I’ve ever had as a bear hunt. When I’m scouting 16 Bear Hunting

places to deer hunt in my beloved Ouachita Mountains, I look for deer sign and incorporate those observations in my final stand selections, but what I’m really looking for and am hoping to find are overturned rocks or bear scat. And while I’m on the deer stand, I often pass the time wishing for a bear to emerge from the brush, hoping to catch a glimpse of black fur approaching from over the ridge. Though the majestic bear never reveals himself, he knows exactly where I am. He smelled me the minute I got out of the truck. He is incredible at utilizing his senses to avoid danger and has earned my highest respect. In his wild setting, he is just so much better at evading me than I am at pursuing him.

I’ve only seen two bears in my 28 years of hunting the Ouachita Mountains. It is not due to a shortage of bears here. In fact, they are thriving. I see their sign. I catch them on trail cameras. They are just so much better than me.

My first experience with a bear occurred in the fall of 2005 when my long-time hunting partner and friend Russell and I were hunting the muzzleloader deer season opener in the Ouachita National Forest. We May/June 2021

A beautiful scene in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas provided a fantastic backdrop for a bear hunt over bait.

Below: hauling bait into a remote bait site was key to killing this bear.

were hunting independently at that time, fixated on a whitetail buck. Neither of us were thinking anything about bears, but that morning, as luck or fate would have it, we both chanced upon a bear and took advantage of the opportunity. What are the odds? Both of us seeing our first bear simultaneously and taking the majestic beasts. I don’t want to get too far off track here, but this is one of the most beautiful parts of the hunting experience, the shared adventures and stories with friends with a mutual passion.

Following that experience in 2005, I didn’t see another bear for another 15 years!

Here’s the story of that encounter. On a Friday morning during archery season in the fall of 2020, I was sitting in my office when I received a text from Clay Newcomb: “Wanna go bear hunting over bait with me?...leaving at 11 a.m.” I replied with something like “Man, I’m swamped at work.

I’ll be there!”

I have never made an attempt to bait any animal but was very familiar with this tactic for

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 17

bear hunting through discussions with friends and conservation research. I have no reservations with this method and based on my decades of hunting national forest in bear country and the extreme rarity of bear encounters, I recognize the critical need for baiting as a management tool to maintain healthy populations of bears.

This adventure began on the backs of mules, riding up the rugged, south facing slope of the Ouachita’s. The area can only be accessed on foot, and in our case, we used mules. Clay had access to a piece of private land in some good bear country (it is only legal to bait bears on private land in Arkansas). We tied the mules off and trekked the remaining half mile on foot with a fresh sack of bait and archery equipment in tow. When we arrived at the bait site, he was a little disappointed to see that there was still a pile of bait remaining from the previous weekend. Checking his trail camera didn’t boost his level of optimism either as there were few shots of bears and they were all taken at night. Me however, I was thrilled! There were actually bears feeding right here within the past few days! I told him then that if we saw just one bear, no matter the size, that would equal success for me.

We freshened up the bait pile and as we settled into our tree stands about 20 feet above the bait site, the hunt was on. As we scanned the woods for sounds and movement, I began to reflect on the day and the privilege that I was experiencing. A few hours ago, I’m staring at a computer and now here I am, in bear country, hunting with a good friend and a great equalizer on our side: food. Now I hadn’t spent the past few weeks driving down, hauling bait up the mountain, hanging tree stands, or checking trail cameras. My point here is to acknowledge that baiting bears doesn’t mean that you’ve made hunting easy.

While it certainly increases your chances of success, baiting can involve a ton of time and work to get to the point that I was now enjoying.

As time ticked by, the woods seemed to be dead. Not so much as a squirrel passed through.

We were in the final hour of daylight when Clay and I both picked up on a minor disturbance to our left. We looked at each other for validation and both 18 Bear Hunting

Left: In 2005, the author killed his first bear while deer hunting.

It was an “incidental harvest” while deer hunting, which takes nothing away from the hunt, but just adds to the joy of doing it on purpose.

Below: Fifteen years later the author would have his third encounter with a bear.

May/June 2021

The author was 18 feet in a tree and the hill sloped downward making for a steep shot. In retrospect it would have been better to place the stand further from the bait to lesson the shot angle.

Steep shots are more difficult, but a good shot was made!

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 19

The author, Clay, the mules and bear after a dark trip down the mountain.

signaled that we had in fact heard something. It sounded and “felt” close, but I couldn’t see a thing. A minute or so later, another pop. I looked at my buddy and could see in his change of demeanor -- he’d spotted a bear. There is it was, right there at a distance of maybe 35 yards. I couldn’t find him initially because he was absolutely creeping through the shadows and blended in exceptionally well. My adrenaline was pumping, my heart racing, and my breathing was accelerating. I tried to settle down and focus, but I was blown away as I watched the bear inch closer to the bait -- and I mean inch! He’d take one step, sniff, and look all around, lick his nose, wait 30 seconds, and finally take another step. No wonder I never get to see these unbelievably wary creatures. The analysis transacting through his senses made the work that I was doing on my computer this morning seem rudimentary. Finally, after a magical few minutes of observing the bear approaching the bait, he was in a position where I felt I could take my shot. I released the arrow and watched him expire within sight.

I was flooded with emotion. I have so much respect for these animals and as I watched him take his last breath, the words of Jim Doggett from Thomas Bangs Thorpe’s 18th century story “Big Bear of Arkansas” rang so true in my heart “I loved him like a brother.” It’s perhaps impossible for most to understand -- how that feeling could be true. I don’t believe that a non-hunter could ever love these animals like those of us that pursue them. Through our conservation model, we hunters take only what we need and in doing so, the species can flourish. It’s a relationship that God initiated and I couldn’t imagine a life without these experiences.

With our mission accomplished, we packed the hide, fat, and meat and rode the mules off the mountain. In the following days, I rendered the fat into bear grease, processed the meat, and delivered the head and hide to my taxidermist to make a rug that I plan to drape over a loft railing overlooking my living room.

20 Bear Hunting

O

n this hunt, getting remote was a key for success. The second key was using quality bait. Let’s discuss both.

Getting as far away from human intrusion as possible is best practice when baiting bears.

They’re reclusive and intelligent animals preferring to be away from people. We’ve found that backcountry bear baits are more likely to draw in older age bears and more of them. The further back you are, often, the more tolerant bears are of human pressure. I want to make clear that “being remote” can be scaled into any setting. Getting remote might mean choosing the most secluded corner of a 40-acre property. It might also mean getting two miles from the road when baiting public land in the West.

Anywhere you’re hunting there is a “most remote” location. A bear that feels comfortable and safe is more likely to use the bait during the daytime.

That being said, there are diminishing returns at some point. For example, you may only need

May/June 2021

The author with his second bear, with was a large, dry sow.

Right: The sow was fat and the author rendered down some bear fat into oil!

to get a mile from the road to draw in older bears in the daytime. Going five miles might not be worth it. In Arkansas we can only bait on private land, so we’re limited on where we can bait. I want to make it clear – you can successfully bait bears close to roads and human civilization. The principle is, however, that remote baits are usually better.

Remote baiting brings with it logistical challenges. On this hunt we used mules to haul bait because the property wasn’t accessible by vehicle. How much bait? We started with 300 pounds of bait. The bears found it within two days and ate it all within five days. The bait site lay empty for five more days, which isn’t good. We returned on the tenth day and replenished it with only 150 pounds of bait. When a bait is left empty many of the bears will move on, and some did. The sequence wasn’t best practice, but the logistics didn’t allow for us to get back sooner.

Three days after the second baiting it was hunted and Matt killed his bear. As an overview, we started baiting about two weeks before we hunted and only baited two times. This is would be considered minimal baiting strategy.

You’ll notice that we didn’t have a bait barrel or any type of bait container. In Arkansas we can use any type of container we want, but due to the remote location we didn’t haul in a barrel. If it rains, the www.bear-hunting.com

Remote & Minimal for Bear

Baiting Success bait gets messy and ruined. However, it’s usually dry in the fall so we gambled and won. Think outside the box to make your hunting doable for your means.

What kind of bait did we use? We used bread, dogfood, corn and Vic’s Mix from Big Bear Baits in Wisconsin. Vic’s Mix is a dry mix of cookies, candy and nuts. We’ve found it to be great bait that all bears like. Additionally, we used fryer grease mixed with Northwoods Gold Rush. The oil component is an essential part of all our baits. We put it directly on the corn, dogfood and bread. I typically used about a gallon of treated oil on each bait session.

I would use more if it wasn’t hard to haul!

Overall baiting keys: keep the bait full, use diverse types of bait, get as remote as possible and use a commercial scent attractant liberally. However, if you can’t apply “best practice” think outside the box and it just might work, too.

Bear Hunting 21

22 Bear Hunting

Jan/Feb 2021

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 23

Early April found me slipping quietly along

the top of a hardwood ridge looking and listening for any sign of wild turkeys. At an elevation of

3000 feet, some of the trees had small green buds preparing to burst with color, but many of the larger oaks still looked as dormant as they did in the dead of winter. As I paused to lean against a large white oak tree I noticed multiple oak limbs covered with shriveled brown leaves strewn about the ground around me. Gazing skyward I found the middle and upper canopy of the tree to be a tattered collection of twisted, brown, leaf covered limbs dangling from their perch 60 feet above me. Although it had been eight months since a bear had climbed and fed in this oak, the sign was still as evident as if it had been made yesterday.

While there is no substitute for in-season scouting, paying attention to the sign that is visible year-round can provide lots of useful information which an attentive hunter can

take advantage of in the fall. With my attention now focused skyward, I noticed another White Oak just 20 yards away in the same condition. And just like that I had forgotten completely about turkeys. For as I continued to ease my way down the lead (ridgeline) I would count over 15 white oaks with upper canopy’s demolished by bears last fall. Based on the destruction, it was clear that one or more bears had spent a considerable amount of time in this small area.

For a couple of weeks in late August and early September the bears of the Southern Appalachian mountains will climb 60 to 70 feet into the upper canopy to attain the coveted white oak acorns that have ripened to the point of being palatable, yet not matured to the point of releasing to the ground. After climbing, they will chew and twist the acorn heavy limbs snapping many of them as they devour the carbohydrate-rich acorns. Many of the limbs will fall

Off-Season Scouting in the Appalachians

24 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

to the ground below, while an equal number will dangle from the treetops for many months afterwards, long after the season is over and the woods have grown silent. There are many variables that impact acorn production, and while you can’t count on the same tree bearing mast every year, you can usually count on the fact that bears are creatures of habit. While it’s impossible at this point in the year to know for certain if these trees will produce acorns in the coming fall, it is a safe bet to assume that the bears will return to this location the next time there are acorns to be had.

Winter seems to last forever at the high elevations, with many of the new green buds not even leafing out until May. Once the green-up gets going strong, it’s fun to spend an evening watching over a green clover plot on one of the local wildlife management areas to get an inventory of the bears in the area. Bears seem to be very aware of the hunting season calendar, and during late spring and summer they can be observed feeding four hours in some of the wildlife openings

Expert tips and a timeline for what to look for in the Eastern Deciduous Forest.

Get started now to find where bears want to be this fall.

By John Baugus

Hunting bears in the East without bait or hounds is a great challenge. The author gives some great information on how he scouts for bears in the off season.

Above: The author stands next to a snapped sappling in the spring. Boars do this during the rut to display dominance, mark territory and disperse scent.

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

Bear Hunting 25

December through April, look for broken limbs in oaks where bears fed in the trees before the acorns fell. planted and maintained by the department of natural resources. As breeding season approaches in late May and early June the large boars will begin chewing, and snapping over trees (usually pines) leaving a visible sign and scent post of their presence for other bears. Finding this sign in early summer while helpful, doesn’t necessarily mean the large boars will still be around come September, since they can travel great distances in search of a receptive sow before returning to their sanctuaries once the breeding is over.

In June and July, look for immature acorns. In the fall, bears will be where the acorns are!

26 Bear Hunting

Limbs that were broken during the previous fall will retain their dead leaves through the winter and spring. When you see clusters of broken limbs in multiple trees accompanied by claw marks you can be certain a bear did the damage.

By late June to early July it is possible to begin determining which oak trees at least had successful pollination, and spending some time scouting just a few days after a thunderstorm in mid-summer can be very productive. The high winds produced during a storm will often snap the delicate Limb tips from the upper canopy of the white oaks which will then fall to the forest floor. Keep your eyes peeled for these little green harbingers as they will often have small BB sized acorns which are all but invisible while still in the treetops. Finding the trees that have acorns in June and July is a good first step, but it is still not a sure thing. This time of year, there are still a

Fully mature white oak acorns: White oak acorns are bears’ preferred food in the fall in the East. It’s hard to predict where they’re going to be because not all trees produce acorns every year, but you can find immature acorns after a thunderstorm, heavy windstorm or by using binoculars. By late June and July you can start to see small acorns.

May/June 2021

Before leaf out in the spring, climbing and feeding sign from previous fall in oaks can be obvious. It can also be used as good intel of bear areas for the coming fall. Look for large amounts of broken limbs and claw marks on trees.

lot of variables that can impact the oaks and determine whether or not the acorns make it to maturity. Drought is common in late summer and in some years many trees will abort their acorns prematurely. Late summer is really where the rubber meets the road. By late August we know which trees will have a viable crop of acorns this year and I will often carry my binoculars with me to visually confirm which trees will be dropping they’re hard mast in the months ahead. The Georgia bow season opens in mid-September, and by that time I will hope to have multiple white oak stands predetermined that should have some bear feeding activity.

As much as I love to hunt, I have come to enjoy scouting in the off-season just as much as the hunt itself. Trying to figure out the acorn puzzle that seems to change from year to year is one of my favorite aspects of my hunt preparation. Off-season scouting is not only enjoyable, but it is a great way to get a head start on the upcoming season. So, whether you are looking for turkeys on a high mountain lead in April, or fishing for specs in a remote blue line stream in July, be aware of the ever-present sign that can help you in the fall. *Look for a part-two article from John Baugus about keys to hunting bears in the Eastern Deciduous forest in the July/Aug issue.

www.bear-hunting.com

See page 68 for Best of The West’s new long range muzzleloader.

In May and June, look for bear breeding sign like this tree. Boars bite and snap sapplings during the rut.

Bear Hunting 27

Two Hound

Bear Pack Busting barriers to entry into the bear hound world by starting from scratch with some coonhounds.

By Danny Boppe

O

n December 29, 2020 I loaded up my hounds, dropped the baby off at daycare and headed to the mountains. I went to a hollow with an

old National Forest road that runs along a creek where I had been successful before. I left the truck on foot and started up the hollow, free casting my two finished hounds and a pup up the road. About half a mile from the truck they opened on a cold track that led up the creek beside the old road. As we went up the hollow, they all barked with much enthusiasm, but the going was slow. I was fortunate to see the cold trailing work that is usually missed while pursuing bear in the Southern Appalachians due to the terrain and thick cover. After a quarter mile of cold trailing, the track left the main hollow and went up a small side hollow to the south. About 150 yards from me, my eight-year-old male Walker started barking treed.

This wasn’t too exciting because occasionally while cold trailing he will stop and tree for a minute before he moves on. He had already done this a couple times while he was within sight earlier that morning. One thing I had not considered was that his tree bark sounds exactly like when he is baying a bear on the ground if it isn’t moving. When my five-year-old Walker/ Bluetick female arrived only moments later, I knew the game was on. When she burst onto the scene her war bellow made it perfectly clear what was going on: they trailed the bear to its bed and it didn’t run. My 18-month-old pup was nearby and soon joined in the fracas, albeit cautiously due to an encounter with a sow bear earlier in the season.

While they bayed, I attempted to get closer but to no avail. Twice I got within 100 yards and twice they moved. On the third attempt I closed the distance in the laurels but could not see the hounds until I was within 30 feet. I saw the pup to The author didn’t have the resources or connections to get “good bear dog” bloodlines, so he started with coonhounds. It’s hard to argue with his success. He believes by focusing on fewer dogs you can make better dogs.

28 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

my left and located my old male straight ahead. My bluetick was to his right and after careful examination I found the bear’s head protruding from around a tree. Knowing the location of all three hounds and not wanting the bear to spook I quickly drew bead on the bear’s head and took the shot, filling my bear tag for that year.

After taking a few pictures, I cut up the bear and headed to the truck with a backpack full of meat and three happy hounds on my heels. The time between leaving the daycare and leaving the meat processor was less than five hours. This bear was caught by two finished hounds and a pup. There was no rigging, baiting or leading hounds involved.

This wasn’t a fluke or an accident and this wasn’t the first time I’ve gotten a bear alone with just these hounds. All it required was unwavering dedication, years of hard work, and a couple of random coonhounds to work with.

To fully understand the significance of this story, you need to know there are two main barriers to entry to hound hunting for black bears.

They are finding a mentor/ hunting party and finding good bear hounds to work with. Finding a mentor can be difficult in my part of the country. If I’m being honest, Appalachian Americans can be distrusting of strangers. If you do not live in an area where your family has been for at least three generations and the local bear hunting community can verify it, you will just about have to marry into a hunting group. I am not condemning this system, but it makes it extremely difficult to get into bear hunting if you happen to be from out of town. So, assuming you would rather marry for reasons other than joining a hunt club, you can create your own hound pack and get started by yourself. With this you are still left with the even more difficult task of finding good bear hounds to hunt with.

This second barrier can be overcome more simply than one may realize. First you must know that outside of exceptional circumstances, good bear hounds cannot be bought, they must be raised. Fortunately, unstarted www.bear-hunting.com

The author’s two hounds treed on a bear in the Appalachians. He’s had success using two and three hounds in catching bears in this tough region. This goes against the typical narrative of needing a six to eight dogs to be able to bear hunt.

From the Author: These two dogs I have hunted since 2016. They do a good job too. Both have treed multiple bears alone and together they can really work a bear. I have killed three bears these two dog have caught on the ground.

Bear Hunting 29

pups are relatively easy to come by. If you are going to hunt bears with dogs you need to make sure that they have the instinct and the necessary drive to run predator game to ground. You can get this type of dog from a bear hunter but a problem occurs if you are trying to hunt with a small pack of two to three dogs. You will be hard pressed to find a bear houndsman who is breeding dogs and understands their potential on the individual level. This is because most bear hunters are using large packs of hounds and often don’t give an individual hound the attention necessary to fully develop its potential. With a large pack the short comings of the individual are overcome by the strengths of the whole. This is fine if you have ample space and resources to keep a large pack. If you don’t have the space or resources to support a large pack, and you don’t know other bear hunters to run your hounds with, you cannot afford to have hounds that will not develop into a complete bear hound at maturity. By complete bear hound, I mean one that can be trusted free casting, is easily handled off leash, can cold trail an old track, will rig from a truck, can be roaded, will catch and tree its own bear and stay with a fighting bear for at least a few hours without help. With two hounds of this caliber that work well together and you can catch plenty of bears.

I suggest using the coonhound as the foundation of starting a small bear hound pack. Coon hunters almost always hunt a smaller number of dogs and typically put in the effort to finish their hound whether it’s for competition or just pleasure. Due to the nature of the sport, it is much easier when searching for puppies to get proof that the sire and dam can find and tree their own game. Coonhounds are also more readily available than big game bred hounds. If you get two

pups from a litter of coonhounds, regardless of the breed, starting them on raccoons and then making the switch to bear is not difficult. With only the slightest of encouragement you can turn a coonhound into a bear hound. This may be contrary to what big game breeder will say but, in my experience, the surest way to have knowledge of the individual performance of the pup’s lineage is to look at coonhounds. In the small bear hound pack the performance of the individual hound is everything.

A key to this endeavor I am laying out is to manage your expectations and to have a realistic idea of what success looks like. An abridged version of the process is that you win the pups over by making them your buddies while simultaneously teaching them simple discipline. Once it is established you are the master and they work for you, it is time to start training for raccoon hunting while continuously expanding the range of exposure for the pups. Once they have matured and are successfully treeing raccoons you can move on to trying to catch bears. A realistic time frame to go from pups to bear catching machines is three to four years. This may seem like a long timeline, but it takes experience for two dogs to learn how to work a bear, especially in the thick mountain laurel of the Appalachians.

The more you hunt them the faster they gain this knowledge and the sooner you are bear hunting.

You will find through perseverance that there is a tipping point where these coonhounds you raised start stopping bears enough that you no longer doubt they can and you will start to think of them as bear hounds. Once you reach this point, your confidence will grow and the dogs will feed off it. At the point you are catching bears consistently, you must also realize that you cannot stop every bear you run.

However, you will be able to catch enough that you can harvest a bear every year.

When bear hunting solo with only a handful of dogs, the contribution of the individual hunter is much more important just as it is with the hounds. You cannot be successful with this style of hunting if all you want to do is ride around listening to the radio eating Cheetos. There will be no one else to go to the dogs. You must know the terrain and be in good enough shape to traverse it.

You must be driven and have the will to go to your hounds as hard as you can no matter how far they may be. Most importantly you need to be a proficient marksman because there isn’t anyone to back you up and a wounded bear on the ground with your

A bear in the air! Using a smaller pack takes more hunter involvement. You’ve got to be in good physical shape, be good with a gun, and know the lay of the land very well. This isn’t for the faint of heart.

From the author: These two Walkers were my early bear pack in 2010-2013. I started them on raccoons and didn’t stop a bear until the male was 5 years old. He died at 8 but from 6-8 years old these two would catch just about any good track they started. Even if it took 8-10 hours.

These two were the ones that taught me I didn’t need but two dogs.

30 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

hounds is a recipe for disaster. If you want to carry a pistol, I suggest you carry it to a bridge and throw it in the river. A lever action rifle with a short barrel is best for rapid shooting in thick cover. Caliber is not as important as how well you shoot it. When you first get your coonhound puppies you should buy this rifle at the same time and spend the next few years practicing with it.

If you are seeking adventure, like dogs, and don’t have an in with the bear hunting world, I would encourage you to try raising a pair of coonhounds to be your own bear hound pack. Raising puppies to finished big game hounds is very challenging and can be extremely frustrating at times. Stopping and harvesting your first bear with a pair of pups that you raise will give you a satisfaction greater than most any other endeavor. The struggle to overcome all the obstacles that are in your path can be overwhelming at times and you will doubt the sanity of continuing. If you decide to take this on and reach the point where the allure of quitting is great, remember your commitment to the hounds and take them out one more time.

Barriers to entry are real for many people. The author worked hard to overcome the obstacles he faced and has had many great bear hunts with his “coonhounds.”

Nictau Lodge

www.nictaulodge.com 860-463-6699 nictaulodge@hotmail.com

Nictau, New Brunswick Canada - 300,000 acre private lease - 1st-class lodging & gourmet home-cooked meals - $2950 (All inclusive)

Both in 2017:

20 3/16” and a

416 pounder *Second bear tag available

www.bear-hunting.com

Trail cameras at every site

Bear Hunting 31

Double Take A do-it-yourself family double in Oregon My name is Sami Jo Endicott,

and I am a proud to be an American and blessed to have hunting privileges for bear in the Pacific Northwest so I can share hunting experiences with my family.

My first hunt was with my husband (Nathan) clear back in 2014. I was able to accompany him on a successful archery elk hunt in one of Oregon’s wilderness areas and then I was hooked. Years later, I was fortunate enough to draw a coveted northeast Oregon spring bear tag! That year, Nathan called a bear to 60-yards using a fawn bleat. That first bear hunt became the most

Sami Jo and Nathan Endicott aren’t strangers to bear hunting success in Oregon, but having their newborn along made for a once-in-a-lifetime hunt.

32 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

By Sami Jo Endicott

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 33

There are lots of reasons to not get outside when you have young children. This couple hasn’t let it stop them. Now, how they manage to keep them looking clean and cute is beyond the Bear Hunting Magazine editorial team.

Good job, Endicotts!

exciting and memorable hunting experience of my life. I witnessed a bear run towards me in response to our call and I was able to hold my composure and make a difficult shot over a cliff with Nathan by my side. To top things off, I was pregnant!

In 2020, Nathan and I both drew northeast Oregon spring bear tags by complete surprise. I wondered if my first bear hunt could be topped by a more memorable experience, and sure enough, it was.

The first hunting trip was on April 10th, which is a little early in terms of bear activity but we enjoyed beautiful weather and our time camping with the kids. Nathan saw a couple of good bears but was unable to connect with one.

Over the next few weeks, Nathan returned and hunted extremely hard. On the last full day of his hunt, while hiking back to the truck along a noisy creek bottom, he managed to cross paths with a beautiful cinnamon bear! Nathan instantly found himself at 25-yards from the bear and made a great shot. Nathan has been fortunate to take a few bear over the years and really didn’t want to pass on a perfect opportunity because he absolutely wanted to give me a chance to hunt.

Not to mention, he knew how challenging the hunt would be with our 2-year-old daughter (Ember) and 5-month-old son (Aya). To be successful on this bear hunt would likely take a minor miracle… a chance Nathan was willing to take!

The first morning of my hunt started slow. We had to get Ember and Aya settled in at camp with Grandma.

Nathan’s mom (grandma) was such an MVP on this hunt she chased my little cubs around while I was out chasing the boars! That morning, Nathan had left super early to scout.

He returned mid-morning with the report and said with excitement, “I just found a big blonde bear!” This is just what I was hoping for.

34 Bear Hunting

I was now faced with the most challenging decision of my hunt, leaving my two babies behind at bear camp. However, Nathan has a way of getting me excited and I reluctantly packed up my gear and went out to chase after that blonde bear! The entire hike into the hunting spot, I was reflecting on how this was the first time leaving my son for more than an hour. I was trying to preoccupy my mind with looking for bear, but the extreme effort seemed to fully capture my attention. Nathan and I quickly descended 2,000 feet into a steep canyon, crossed a stream during spring flow, and climbed up the other side just to be eluded by that blonde bear. Usually, I dread the hike out, but this time I was powered by my maternal excitement to get back to my babies and as soon as possible!

The next day, Nathan and I dove into the same deep canyon, only to be outwitted by another blonde bear.

For the evening hunt we decided to just relax and soak in the beauty of our panoramic views, when I randomly noticed a black colored bear jump up on a tree about 80-yards below us on the hillside. Even though I knew I should make the most of any opportunity, given the difficulty of the hunt, but I still didn’t want to shoot just any bear with this tag. For example, the Oregon Coast is loaded with big black colored bear and I could draw that tag every year. This northeast Oregon tag is special and difficult to draw because of the color phase opportunity. I told Nathan that it was a beautiful experience to be close to a bear, but I really was hoping for a blonde bear or something special. Nathan was happy that I knew what I wanted and encouraged me to do exactly that. We watched that black bear shuffle away and eventually out of sight.

The sunset hike out of the canyon was picture perfect and it gave me a sense of confidence that my decision was a good one. Also, there is something truly special about a May/June 2021

Got him! Nathan is a veteran Oregon hunter and struck first when he killed a beautiful color-phased bear. Northwest Oregon is known for tremendous color phase!

strenuous hike, among a vast landscape of spring flowers, that reminds me to value every minute of that time because it is such a gift. The last day of the hunt was rapidly approaching with each step I took out of that canyon and fatigue was catching up with me.

The next morning, Nathan and I slept in and played with kids at bear camp. We were swinging in a hammock, snacking on all the snacks, and enjoying the perfect weather when Nathan asked what I wanted to do for the day. I wanted to hunt but I just could not see myself leaving my five-month-old behind at camp another day, so I said, “I am up for one more hunt but we have to bring Aya”. Nathan was up for anything and said that was a good idea for the last day. It was almost noon, but we packed up our gear and set out to give it one last shot.

During the hike out, Nathan had Aya in a baby carrier on his chest, and I carried the gear. When we reached a good flat spot on a ridge, I stayed with Aya under a tree in the shade and Nathan decided to hike down the ridge to glass the creek bottom. I was not seeing a single thing from my vantage point but after a few short minutes, Nathan came running back up to where I was sitting. He was freaking out and said, “Grab your stuff, I just found a good cinnamon bear!”

Nathan quickly led us down the ridge to where he had last saw the bear. When we arrived at the spot, the bear had completely disappeared. After waiting for over an hour, we became desperate and decided to make some noise. We rolled large rocks over a cliff in hopes the bear was below us and might show himself. Still, there was nothing. After another hour had passed, the weather changed and started to lightly rain. Nathan asked if I was willing to continue to wait and so we unpacked the umbrella to keep Aya dry. At that point, we had waited for www.bear-hunting.com

Riverside Lodge Manitoba, Canada

Over 50 years of Proven Success * Canada’s Finest Spring and Fall Hunts Over Bait * Exclusive 3000 sq.

Miles of the Best Bear Habitat on the Planet * Ask About booking our Exclusive Trips * Fully Guided all services included * WORLD-CLASS Walleye Fishing

Excellent Color Phase and Trophy Bear Area

Included *WO

* Wolf Tag with Fall Bear and Deer Hunts For More Information

lodge@huntriverside.com Toll Free 866-214-8402

www.huntriverside.com

Bear Hunting 35

Nathan covers a lot of ground and works hard for spring bear every year. He killed this beautiful bear early on in the hunt at close range in the timber.

a couple hours on a hillside with our son and I had just changed a diaper when Nathan said, “Sami Jo, I see the bear”!

The bear must have meandered right past us in a brushy draw below us so that he could get above us on the hillside. I needed to make this shot happen and I had to do it alone! Nathan gave me a game plan, his words were, “do not shoot over 200-yards and find a good rock to rest your gun on.” I take off telling myself, I need to be the predator not the prey. After convincing myself, I can do this on my own, I was still unable to find a single rock to rest my gun on. It was literally impossible! I was on a steep hillside across canyon from the bear but with nothing to set my gun on. There was no way I would give up at this point, so I ranged the distance and it was 180-yards; a completely reasonable shot distance based on my target practice. I recited Nathan’s instruction and kept looking for a rest. After about ten minutes of not finding a rest, I decided to just plop down on the hillside, prop my elbows up my knees, pull the gun tight to my shoulder, and calmly aim. I waited a few minutes, aiming and breathing steady, while telling myself I am really going to do this! The bear was flipping rocks and then stopped to smell the wind when I slowly squeezed 36 Bear Hunting

and took the shot. That big boar instantly crumbled and started to roll!

Seconds later, I was full sprint and shouting praise while running back to Nathan and Aya as fast as I could. I was in complete disbelief of how amazing that moment was. I had just executed a perfect shot despite being alone and struggling to find a rest for my gun. Not to mention, that I just fulfilled a minor miracle by harvesting my first big boar with my 5-month-old son along for the hunt!

After I got back to Nathan, we were exchanging our stories of what had taken place after we split up. We both kept saying, “I can’t believe this just happened!”

We packed up our gear and headed over to recover my beautiful bear. After photos, Nathan decided to pack us out and then return to field dress and pack out the bear on his own. Back at camp, we were so thankful for the amazing adventure and excited to return home with more bear meat to stock the freezer!

Spring bear hunting is truly my favorite hunt.

Rewarded with endless beauty, tired lungs and legs, and if one is lucky; some tasty bear meat to take home. On the drive home, I thanked God for our priceless adventures as a family and my opportunity to hunt Oregon’s most rugged yet beautiful terrain.

May/June 2021

This isn’t just a cute photo op. Nathan and Sami Jo had their five-month old, Aya, with them when Sami Jo killed this bear. Nathan and Aya stayed back at the original glassing spot while Sami Jo made the stalk and the 180-yard shot solo.

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 37

Understanding animal fat soaps by kolby Morehead

My grandmother always said, “cleanliness is next to Godliness.” It’s a fun saying that simply communicated the importance of being clean. Throughout the Bible you will find many instances of people bathing and how valuable fragrances and perfumes were back then so maybe she was on to something. Being clean and smelling good has been valued throughout time.

Tallow (animal fat) based soaps have been around as long history has been recorded. Originally used for cleaning clothes, it eventually became something that we found fitting to use on ourselves. The image of rubbing animal fat on our bodies doesn’t seem that inviting and would be greasy which is why we combine lye with bear fat to take it through saponification. Saponification is the reaction that turns fat into a fatty acid salt known as sodium tallowate that is odorless (or has a very faint fatty smell to it.)

Sodium tallowate cleans your skin and hair by helping water mix with dirt and oils so you can easily wash them away. Lard soap is more compatible with the cells on our skin. Our skin is largely composed of saturated fats just like that found in the fat we render down. This can help our skin dry out less than using plant-based soaps which are monounsaturated fats. The resulting bar of soap will typically have a good hardness, making it longer lasting.

They are also known for creating a good lather when mixed with water.

38 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

4-ingredient

bear fat lye soap Photos & Article by Kolby Morehead @kolby_morehead

Supplies: 1. Bear Grease (rendered bear fat) 2. 100% Lye (sodium hydroxide) 3. Water 4. Essential oil scent

Directions

1) Figure weight of the bear grease and input the weight into this calculator http://soapcalc.net/.

2) Put the suggested amount of cool water from your recipe calculation in a non-aluminum container and add the suggested amount of lye and stir.

It will become very hot and may even steam. It will appear cloudy initially, stir until it becomes clear and let sit 10

www.bear-hunting.com

minutes once clear. (do this outside) 3) Make sure the bear grease is at 100 degrees Fahrenheit and add the water lye mixture.

4) Use a mixer of some sort (even a paint mixer on a drill) and mix the components together until it gets very thick and achieves trace (You can see where your mixer has been).

5) Add whatever scents you would like to the mixture 6) Pour into molds (can be anything lined with wax paper or actual silicone molds).

7) Cover the top of the mold with wax paper and wrap in a towel (you want it to cool slowly) for 24 hrs.

8) Remove from mold and cut into desired bar sizes.

9) Keep at room temperature for roughly four weeks to cure.

Bear Hunting 39

1.

Weigh the bear grease

3.

Weigh the appropriate amount of water per calculation.

2.

2.

4.

Weigh the appropriate amount of lye (sodium hydroxide) per calculation.

Combine water and lye (do this outside). Starts cloudy, mix until clear and produces heat

5.

Heat bear grease to 100 degrees (it will liquify & become more clear)

6.

Combine bear grease and lye/water mixture

7.

Mix thoroughly until it thickens

8.

Add essential oil for fragrance. Mix again

40 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

9.

11.

Pour into container.

Make it 1.5” to 2” thick, like a bar of soap

Wrap in a towel to aid in the slow cool while listening to the Bear Grease Podcast

10.

12.

Cover and allow to slowly cool down

Remove after 24 hours.

Let cure for four weeks until fully hardened

Bear fat lye soap is a great way to utilize more of your 2021 bear kill. It’s great for your skin and smells incredible. It also makes a thoughtful gift for hunters and non-hunters alike.

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 41

About a Hound Hunt

by Christie Holmes @christieholmes

Hunting an experience, the author finds what she’s looking for in her first hound hunt in Maine.

“T

ell them how much we love our dogs,” Matt said in his slight Downeast accent, one hand on the steering wheel, truck kicking up dirt on the Wyman’s blueberry land roads.

I was bear hunting with Matt Tenan and his hounds, and I told him I planned to write about the experience. I was unsure about the practice. I have taken a bear over bait, but hunting bears with hounds sounds barbaric, unsporting, and dangerous. But I am an experienced hunter. I like the meat, and I like the antlers, but I like the experience of the hunt the most. I love going places I wouldn’t, waking earlier than I wanted, seeing new things, and trying things I would never do if I didn’t hunt.

I met Matt in high school and he and his friend Jason Strout balance lobstering with running Wildest Dreams Outfitters in Cherryfield, Maine.

We pulled up to his first bait site and saw Jason and his father. “Checked the camera, just a sow with cubs last night,” Jason reported. No one hunts a sow with cubs.

On the back of Jason’s truck, six hounds stuck their heads out separate holes in a metal dog box. They yipped with anticipation. They knew what we were up to.

Matt’s father’s voice came over the radio, “No bears at this site last night.” It was a slow year for bear baiting due to all the natural food in the woods.

We drove to another bait site and suddenly, like a light switch, the hounds started howling. Matt slammed

on the brakes and quickly shifted into reverse. “Do they smell a bear?” I asked Matt. “Yeah one must have crossed this road,” his voice trailed off as he jumped out of the truck.

“I can’t find any tracks. We could let the dogs out,” Matt explained, bent low, still searching, “but we have no idea what type of bear we would be running. It could be a sow with cubs or a small bear.” We returned to the truck and drove on.

The camera at the next site showed a nice bear at about 11pm, around 200lbs Matt estimated. It was now 8am, so the track was nine hours old, pretty old, but we did not have much choice.

Matt let two dogs out of the box and put bulky GPS collars on them. The dogs remaining in the box voiced their anguish. They cried with jealousy, with fear of missing out on the race. The two dogs, Mandy and Timber, were tall and athletic brindle Plott hounds. They got to work quickly, running and sweeping through the thick forest near the bait site. They were doing what they love, what centuries of breeding had instilled deep in their DNA, what they were literally born to do. It resembled a dance, the dogs trotting and turning, heads bent, noses to the ground, processing scent - discard or follow? They choose the scent of padded paws and black hair and followed it like a magnet.

Within minutes, the two dogs were out of sight, yipping and howling. This was an indication that they

The author hunted with Jason Strout in Maine.

42 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

were on the track. Matt let out another four dogs, “younger and less experienced but very fast with great noses,” Matt smirked proudly.

Matt showed me his GPS screen which showed each dog’s location. The collars not only monitor their locations, but their bark per minute and what direction they are facing. We watched their symbols approach the Narraguagus River and stop, hesitant to swim across the cool water. Eventually they crossed and then we received a notification that Sherman, who had not barked all morning, was barking at 40 barks per minute.

“I think they jumped the bear, see how tight they are?” Matt pointed out how close together their symbols were.

Matt started his truck and we drove toward the area the dogs were heading. Then Norman’s collar registered “treed.” The collar can tell that he was looking up. His barks per minute were also above 40. Then Timber’s collar registered treed, then Sherman’s, and the other three dogs. The bear was treed.

We parked the truck as close as we could, loaded our firearms and discussed the plan. “Christi, you stay with me and don’t shoot until I tell you to. Even though the dogs started on the bear track we saw on the camera, they often cross a fresher track and end up treeing a different bear and we want to make sure it’s a shooter,” Jason explained. “Sometimes bears don’t like people and they’ll come down out of the tree. I’ll leash the dogs,” Matt chimed in. “Dad, you get right under that tree and you poke that bear in the butt if he starts to come down,” Jason ordered. Then we started bushwhacking toward the icons on the GPS. We hiked until we could hear a faint howling in the distance. As it grew louder, my heart raced. “There!” Jason whispered excitedly. The black shape was not very high up a tree, and she saw us and came down, running right past Jason’s dad. The dogs were on her heels and quickly treed her again, but this time she was much, much higher.

Anxious energy filled the air. This was not the quiet, peaceful tree stand hunting I was used to. Six hounds were barking and howling, and a dangerous, agitated animal looked down on us. Jason helped me steady my .308 against a tree, I exhaled a deep breath and pulled the trigger, but the bear did not fall. It was slumped over and stuck in the crotch of the tree.

“I heard about this happening and wondered when it would happen to us,” Jason chuckled. He and Matt discussed whether to hike back out and get a chainsaw.

“It’s too far; it will take too long. I’ll climb up there,” Jason www.bear-hunting.com

The author with her first bear taken over hounds. She is the founder of Maine Women Hunters.

volunteered. And he did.

After some time to digest and reflect upon the experience, I concluded that I was not the hunter. Though I pulled the trigger and tagged the bear, the hounds were the hunters. The hunt was small dogs vs. large bear, and life was on the line for all of them. The hounds love it, live for it and die for it. Today, all that is left for dogs are lap dogs. Is a German shepherd that goes on two twenty-minute walks per day a happier dog? Imagine refusing to play fetch with a lab, that is what it would be like for hounds to not run bears.

It speaks to the senses and skills of a black bear that it requires multiple dogs and hunters to kill one. Hunters use all sorts of tools while hunting- bait, scents, decoys, camo, calls, guns and bows. Hounds use nothing but their legs and nose.

They smell a half-day-old bear track and follow that old track until they find the bear, then wait. Two equally matched competitors. There is no braver, intelligent, and driven hunter than a hound dog and I have the utmost admiration for them and the handlers that make them part of their family.

Bear Hunting 43

Legendary Bear Hounds: part 37 Bear River Tazz Article by Steve Fielder

K irk Rogers is a master guide operating Bear and Hounds Outfitters out of what he calls “a nice camp on the river” in the western mountains of Maine.

At age 52, Rogers began following hounds when he was eight years old. A local raccoon hunter, George Randall was the first of several mentors Rogers accredits as being responsible for kindling what has become a lifelong passion for him. “George lived up the road from us and I went to school with his boys, He let us ride in the strike cages on the front of his truck,” he fondly remembers. “That didn’t ruin me, I suppose, but I sure was hooked on hunting with hounds.”

Rogers’ parents owned a restaurant in Freeport. A local sign maker named Carroll Myhrsall had a shop down the street and although he walked with crutches or a walking stick due to the effects of Spinal Meningitis, Myhrsall was a dedicated hound hunter. “I would get out of school and wash dishes and do inventory at the restaurant. Then Carroll and I would have a couple of hot dogs before going hunting.

I always knew to have my homework done before I went,” Rogers recalled.

Rogers’ first hound was a rescue he liberated from the local pound. She was a blue-colored English Coonhound female.

“I would live-trap raccoons to release for her to get her started,” Rogers remembers. “I would have ended up with a whole kennel

Kirk Rogers got a pup from Jim Osgood that was 75-percent Joe-House bred (a famous Treeing Walker line). The pup would end up being one of the best Kirk would ever hunt.

44 Bear Hunting

Bear River Tazz lived to be 14 years old.

He was a natural from the very beginning. It’s estimated he was on over 1,000 treed bears.

full of English hounds but the female didn’t have a good mouth and with the hide prices being up, I sold her. I took the money and began to look for another dog,” he said. At the time, Treeing Walker breeder Joe House of Clinton, Kentucky was advertising a stud dog named House’s Clint in the coon hunting magazines. Rogers would look at the photo of, in his words, “that Walker dog stretched high on that big old tree and I drooled over that dog,” he said. “I called Joe House two or three times and told him I wanted two or three puppies,” said Rogers. “How old are you? I want to talk to your mother,” Rogers recalled House saying. “He talked to my mother and she said, ‘He’s going to take care of them,’ in reference to the pups Rogers would buy. As it turns out, he ended up with two pups purchased from the iconic Walker breeder. Both were females and were sired by House’s Clint, the hound Rogers drooled over in the magazine photo. The mother of the pups was sired by another highly-advertised stud named Hurt’s Bawling Banjo. “I’m in the Walker business now,” Rogers remembers youthfully thinking.

“Back then I was reading Full Cry magazine all the time,” he said, referring to what was then the quintessential magazine for hound hunters.

Bear hunting with hounds got into Rogers’ blood the first time he saw a bear up a tree over hounds. He was hunting with Sonny Wade from Bingham, Maine who operated Pine Grove Lodge at the time. Ironically, Roger’s first bear dog wasn’t a Treeing Walker. “Sonny’s go-to dog was a Black and Tan,” Rogers said. “He was in guiding business.

I was seventeen and I decided I wanted a Plott,” he said. “I got a hold of Herm Hageman, a well-known cat and bear hunter in Massachusetts and got a pup off his Joe dog,” Rogers said. “This was a big, rugged pup. I began coon hunting him at eight weeks old. I would take him with me to check cornfields for bear. If I found a bear track and would put my finger in it, he would take it,” Rogers said. “I went May/June 20210

Bear River Tazz Kirk Rogers is a master guide in Maine, but beyond that he’s lived a life as a disciplined and dedicated houndman. He has raised and hunted some fine hounds over the years, and one of the best was Bear River Tazz.

down and spent a week bear hunting and I did that for three or four years in the spring of the year. When I was eighteen, I had my own baits and had killed a bear over my own dogs. By then I had three House-bred Walkers, one Walker off of House’s Lipper and one Nance-bred Walker dog that I got from Earl Haywood,” Rogers said. “I also had a littermate to Bob Marosok’s Topper dog named Duke.”

Before we get to the tribute to our legendary bear hound, I thought it would be interesting to examine a wantlist in terms of the type of hound the now veteran houndsman Kurt Rogers prefers. Each of us have our ideals on the subject and Rogers is no exception.

“I like a smaller dog in the mountains, females weighing forty to fifty pounds, and males about ten pounds heavier at fifty to sixty pounds.

I like to have plenty of nose in my dogs.

I’ve found if you hunt a pup with a cold-nosed dog you will bring the best www.bear-hunting.com

Hunt big Hunt color Hunt here

1-431-205-2503 www.baldymountainoutfitters.ca todd@baldymountainoutfitters.ca Bear Hunting 45

out of them. I will pay for a pup out of something if I hope it will be an asset to my pack. I’ll get it,” he said.

On the subject of his dogs’ ability to work old or what are commonly referred to as cold tracks, he said, “I hardly ever put a game camera on a bait. If I check a bait and it’s hit, whether the bear is eighty pounds or five hundred, I want the dog to grab that track and move it. I don’t want a dog to work the track back and forth. I want them to make one loop and be gone. Let’s say we catch a bear in the morning and find another track at two in the afternoon, I want my dogs to drift that track,” he said.

I asked Rogers if his hounds treed most of the bears he catches or do they bay many bears on the ground? “I don’t catch many bears on the ground,” he said “but if they do I want them to bark and work the bear hard. These dogs have grit but it’s smart grit.” In a statement that may seem contradictory, he said, “One summer I went through a dozen staple guns,” meaning he had to administer aid to hounds that were injured in tooth and claw confrontations with black bears that refused or were reluctant to climb. “I also want to be able to tone them off when necessary” Roger said referring to the now common practice of using the audible tone of an electronic trainer to recall hounds from the chase when necessary.

I wanted to know what type of hunting Rogers prefers in regard to bear hunting with hounds. He said, “I love walk hunting,” meaning he likes to set out on foot with his hounds in search of tracks to run. “When there is an ample supply of beech and mountain ash, the baits slow up to nothing,” he confided. “When this happens, we have way more bears. There’s no nutritional value to the nuts but the bears love them,” he said with confidence. Rogers describes a phenomenon this writer has experienced when hunting West Virginia bears with hounds concerning a bear’s penchant for destroying his banquet table. “When the bears are feeding at the 1800 to 2200foot elevation level, they seem to be rough on mountain ash.

They also break the limbs off the beech trees when climbing to feed.” Bears feeding on hunter-planted autumn olive bushes along abandoned strip mine spoils in West Virginia leave the dwarf trees in shambles, in effect, destroying the food source for future seasons. Rogers further described the ground 46 Bear Hunting

Above: the fruit of many bear hunts with Bear River Tazz and his offspring. His favorite way of bear hunting is freecasting hounds in the fall on beech and mountain ash. *Kirk Rogers likes a smaller framed dog: females 40 to 50 pounds and males around 60 pounds.

Turn this year’s bear into something special with a company you can trust.

*Starting at $175/ft *Six month turn around on most rugs *Industries first free embroidery *Proffesionally tanned and machine sewn.

NO GLUING! Free personalized embroidery on the back of your rug!

616-835-7227 rugsbynancy@yahoo.com

2113 E. Sessions Rd Sheridan, MI 48884

Since 1995

*Ship your hide from out of state, no problem!

www.rugsbynancy.com

May/June 2021

Bear River Tazz A beautiful fall scene in the northwoods of Maine.

around beech and mountain ash as looking like it has been rototilled and with bear claw marks on the trees.

Explaining his hunting style further, Rogers said, “Hound hunters want to put on a two-hour old track. The GPS is an unbelievable tool but I treed as many with telemetry. I get up at two in the morning, strike and tree a bear, go to my roofing job for eight hours and go back and look for another bear track before dark.” We may have uncovered Rogers’ secret to treeing one-hundred and twenty-seven bears with his hound Tazz by the time the hound was four years old. A hound-hunting friend of mine in Louisiana was asked by a prospective buyer which pup in a litter would make the best hound and he said, “The one that gets hunted the most.” Rogers begins the story of his legendary bear dog, Bear River Tazz this way: “Jim Osgood owned the sire of Tazz. He told me, ‘I’m going to give you a pup.’ He had an old female that was seventy-five percent Joe House-bred that was the dam of the pups. He had two of them and said, ‘I’ll keep one and you can have the other male and I’ll raise both of them.’ Jimmy kept one he named Junior and I kept Tazz,” Rogers said. “By the time they were four months old they were running anything that laid a track down. One day Jimmy’s brother-in-law was coming up Jimmy’s long driveway on a 4-wheeler. As he got to Jimmy’s field he saw a sow bear and two cubs. He went to the house and said, ‘Get your dogs.’ They walked the two pups down there. They were four months and three weeks old at the time. They hit the track and ran it over the bank and ran for fifteen minutes and treed. The sow would come down the tree and chase the puppies and then they would chase her back up the tree,” Rogers said.

“By the time training season rolled around in August,” Rogers continued, “they were six months old. They were very competitive, becoming absolutely too competitive by the time they were fifteen to sixteen months old.”

When the pups were about seven months old, Rogers took a trip to northern Maine. “Tazz was bad to drool in the box but when I stopped to let them out of the box, I noticed there was no drool.” The pup was coming of age. www.bear-hunting.com

Kirk and Bear River Tazz with a nice bobcat. Tazz was a multipurpose hound.

Bear Hunting 47

Bear River Tazz Rogers related story after story of the two pup’s exploits when they were, by bear hunting standards, very young. “They were phenomenal track dogs,” he said. Digressing a bit he spoke of a grand pup of Tazz’ that is doing the same thing, a ‘natural’ in Rogers’ words. “Some pups struggle when young. They come to water and struggle with crossing it. Not these pups,” he said. “When Tazz got over being car sick, I would run them in the morning and evening.

On the trip to northern Maine, when we got up there it was raining. We checked a bait and the ground was semi-dry in front of the barrel. There was a bear track there and I turned Tazz lose and he went out of there opening. We packed some two and three-year-old dogs to him and they treed the bear.”

Rogers continued, “The following year I rigged him and ran him off of baits. If we went to a bait and he opened, you better be packing dogs to him.,” he said. “On a cold track, he gave long bawls, then whoop, whoop, whoop! He could really line a track out and could start a track for me. He was the measuring stick,” he said. “If you don’t have a measuring stick to go by, you are just another hound hunter.”

Rogers related a story of a hunt with Tazz that illustrates the hound’s ability as a one-dog bear pack, a hound that fits the description of a truck-to-tree bear dog perfectly.

“I had a woman client that wanted to shoot a bear,” Rogers began. “Her husband had shot a 500-pounder the year before and she wanted to shoot a big one. We had the game cameras out and we had an eighty-pounder, a sow with cubs and another sow with cubs coming to the bait,” he said. “We had baited it two days earlier. Dick Willey and Mike Curtin were along with me, men that were both in their mid-sixties and they had some dogs,” Rogers said. “We went up by the bait.

I said, ‘We’ll rig up through and then come back. As we went through there, Tazz gave a little burp of a bark. When we came back through, there was in impression in the dirt.

Dick said, ‘There’s a bear track. I don’t know if it’s two or twenty hours old.’ I said ‘I’m going to stick Tazz on it.’ I pointed to the track and said, ‘Tazz, come here.’ He stuck his nose on the top of the clay bank, relieved himself on a bush, and then gave a ‘woo,’ ‘woo,’ ‘woo! Seven miles later, all of which was cold trailing down into a swamp, up into some hardwoods and then into some ledges, he made a big circle.

That’s when the Astro 220 came out. He went from cold trailing to being bayed. We packed in some dogs and they took the bear out through the ledges, up the mountain and treed on the north side,” Rogers said.

“I could never break him from jumping on the tree,” Rogers confessed. Hound hunters prefer a dog that will either sit at the base of the tree or stand with its feet on the tree.

Dogs that jump may fall on other adrenalin-stoked hounds and a fight may ensue. “On coon, he would stand on the tree and lay them off. By himself, he jumped and screamed when treed,” Rogers confessed. “He treed a lot of bear by himself,” Rogers added as if to say, the treeing style didn’t matter so much as the end result.

Kirk Rogers treed, by his account, twelve-hundred bears with Tazz by the time the hound was ten years old.

Of those twelve-hundred, two-hundred and fifty bears were harvested. Add to that, in Rogers’ words, “close to one hundred bobcats” and we get the picture of our legendary bear hound’s ability to account for game. “At one time, I had a blood streak in me. I’ve come to the point now that I take one, leave one.” Coming off what Rogers describes as “the best year I’ve ever had,” hunting in Maine and a couple of days in New Hampshire, he treed one-hundred and fifty-four bears and harvested forty-one.

48 Bear Hunting

Kirk even makes it down south to catch some wild hogs.

In reflection, Rogers said, “Tazz was a hound that made everything look easy, to sit here and think that I have pups and grand pups that are almost a spitting image to him in ability, makes a man happy. I always want to make a better dog.” And on the subject of his obvious success as a hunter, guide and breeder of bear hounds he said, “There’s a lot of hunters that I came in contact with and reached out to that helped me along the way. Everyone has to cut the string. You can’t compare a dog today to a dog that died ten years ago.”

Describing the end of what was a bear hunting love affair with a legendary hound, Rogers said of Tazz, “At the end of it, a bear pulled him into a cave and broke his skull. He lost an eye as a result and they said there was nothing they could do, that it would naturally heal.

He lived in the house for three months. He looked like he had gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson. I took him back outside and took him hunting and he caught a 32-pound bobcat.”

By Roger’s estimation it was four years ago, when Tazz was coming fourteen, blind and deaf, that he made the tough decision to put the old warrior down. “I had so many good hunts with him,” the proud hunter said, “He always made things look easy.”

The Nite Life Nation Podcast is hosted by Brent Reaves, Nick Gilliland, and Steve Fielder. From pleasure and competition hunting to training hounds, listeners are welcomed into a relaxed discussion geared toward helping hunters from novices to the most seasoned veteran.

Episodes focus on the time honored traditions and current trends of coon hunting with first hand accounts, humorous anecdotes, and intriguing interviews. The Nite Life Nation Podcast is always fun, always family, and always free.

New Hound

Podcast: The Nite Life Nation

May/June 20210

Professional tanning through our modern commercial process

1495 Carlisle Rd

Aspers, Pennslyvania

Bear Hide tanning Services

Ship the hide to us from anywhere in the country (or Canada) frozen or salted. We use two types of tans, including our “wet tan” which can be used for taxidermy at a later time. We’ll even ship directly to your taxidermist.

Call for shipping instructions!

717-677-4553 www.keystonefurdressing.com

Hunt Wyoming for Spring Bear

Wyoming High Country Trophy Hunts Bob Barlow, Outfitter

307-413-0726

On our baited horseback hunts we get into remote country to find big bears. Up to four active baits per hunter. Color bears are the rule, not the exeception in Wyoming.

www.barlowoutfitting.com WY-BG#279 www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 49

NEW Guard the gate stickers

from Bear Hunting Magazine

“Guard the Gate is our rally cry to protect bear hunting. Bear hunting is an entry point for anti-hunting sentiment to enter into North American hunting. It’s more important than ever to protect all methods of bear hunting.”

- Clay Newcomb

Only atonly www.bearhuntingmagazine.com #guardthegate at www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Guns 6.5 PRC

By Kolby Morehead

@kolby_morehead

In the last several years there has been a surge of enthusiasm for the 6.5 Creedmoor.

It has quickly been adopted by hunters and match shooters as a very consistent round. There is hardly a rifle model today that doesn’t come available in that caliber option.

The 6.5 PRC (Precision Rifle Cartridge) is basically the magnum version of the 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 PRC will outperform the Creedmoor in all areas with a little added recoil using the same projectile. The factory ammo found will be between 140gr – 150gr and will scream across the range around 3,000 feet per second depending on the rifle and load.

The 6.5 PRC will consistently be 200-250 fps faster than the Creedmoor at the same range which equals a flatter shooting, harder hitting platform. It also handles the wind better than the Creedmoor even though they both use the exact same bullet.

The 6.5 PRC development began in 2013. George Gardner of GA Precision wanted to create a cartridge for both shooters and hunters specifically targeting the Precision Rifle Series competition crowd. He also wanted it to fit in a short action receiver. He took a .300 Ruger Compact Magnum case and necked it down to fit the .264 or 6.5mm bullet. Several years later, Hornady announced their new cartridge, the 6.5 PRC, at Shot Show in 2018 and the rest is history.

In a nutshell, the 6.5 PRC is a great option for longer 50 Bear Hunting

Weatherby Vanguard® High Country

Price: $999.00 Weight: 7.15 Overall Length: 46” Barrel Length: 24” Twist Rate: 1-8” Mag Capacity: 3+1 Hinged Floorplate Monte Carlo stock Flat Dark Earth Cerakote® finish on all metalwork stock with satin urethane finish Adjustable, Two-stage Trigger (down to 2.5 lbs)

Caliber Summary:

Good for all North American big game up to elk.

Bullets (Factory): 140gr – 150gr Sectional Density 140gr: .248 Velocity 143 gr: 2,960 fps Energy 143 gr: 2,782 ft-lbs at muzzle Ammo: Limited Range: 400+ Yards

range shots and takes the guess work out of shots in normal hunting conditions. With a 143gr. Hornady ELD-X load and a zero at 200 yards it is: +1.5” at 100 yards, 0 at 200 yards, -6.4” at 300 yards, -18.2” at 400 yards, and -36.2” at 500 yards. If you have a Creedmoor and are going to take game within 400 yards, then there isn’t much use in switching over unless you want something with a little more punch.

The difference is observed more in 400+ yard shots.

May/June 20210

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

www.bear-hunting.com

We ship all over North America.

Call Us for a custom quote.

Bear Hunting 51

Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association Inc. May/June 2021

President’s Letter

T

his year’s convention is an example of what happens when BIG FRIG Coolers WBHA SPONSOR you mix pent up desire to get out, and then meet with a large gathering of dedicated hound hunters and their families. We made a statement that we are still here and there is nothing going to stand in our way of doing whatever it takes to support hound hunting in the state of Wisconsin. Leading up to the convention I Save the date received a lot of comments from our membership and others on how important it was to have our annual event after canceling last - The Northwest Town Hall Meeting will be held on year’s event and town halls. When the decision was made to have May 8, 2021 at the Browtine, 1361 100th St, Amery, this year’s event there was no apprehension that it was the right WI 54001 decision, after all we bear hunters are all about managing risk.

- Northeast Town Hall meeting. The date is October We had many guests from other organizations that were totally 23, 2021 at Chet n Emils (388 Main Street, Birnamimpressed that we pulled this off and that the timing was importwood, WI 54414 ant to show that we are the leading hunting organization in this The Southeast Town Hall Meeting will be held on state and are not afraid to be the first to do so. I would also like to Jan. 08, 2022 at the Berlin Conservation Club, W898 thank the Convention Center and their staff, they were critical in Whiteridge Rd, Berlin, WI making this event a success this year. But more than anybody this does not happen without you, our members and the members that These Town Hall Meetings are “member’s only” make and donate items for the auction plus the dedicated WBHA events, with memberships available at the door. These Board of Directors and all the people that help make this unique events will include guest speakers, legal updates, event happen. door prizes, raffles, silent auctions, and a good place to get to know your WBHA Board of Directors and I would also like to thank Hunter Nation for driving home a Officers. Doors open at 1:00 PM long overdue wolf season, it would not of happened without them. I know it made a lot of members happy to be able to have a chance to knock down the population a little but there is a long way to go. You need to contact your legislators and let them know to keep their foot on the gas and make sure they remind the DNR that the wolf season is the Law! No excuses!

WBHA DEADLINES With the political climate that we are currently in we need to pay attention more than ever to the threats to our way of life, it is real and coming like it never has before. If we do not fight this every chance we get we will lose what we cherish the most! Make sure you vote for candidates that support the 2nd Amendment and Hound Hunting in our great state.

Carl Schoettel, WBHA President

BIG BEAR RECOGNITION- December 1st Entries must be a WBHA member prior to September 1st WBHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS NOMINATIONS- November 1st LANDOWNER APPRECIATION- November 1st YEARBOOK- January 1st ADVERTISING- January 1st SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS- March 1st To insure the quality of our publications, all entries to the WBHA, whether it be photos or text must be sent as electronic files. Hard copy text or photos will not be accepted. Photos must be a .JPEG file and articles, stories and applications must be in a WORD document. Documents and photos should be emailed not texted. The quality of a photo that has been texted at any time has been reduced to a view quality photo and cannot be reproduced and published.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK!

Mail to: WBHA, 594 Rural St, Berlin, WI 54923 Call John Trochinski 920-229-0365 or email at bigjohntro@gmail.com 52 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

Michigan Bear Hunters Association Defenders of our wildlife heritage www.mibearhunters.org

Report from MBHA

By Victor Skinner

The Michigan Bear Hunters Association canceled its annu-

al convention this spring, an unprecedented move forced by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The MBHA’s 2020 convention concluded just days before those restrictions on gatherings went into effect last year. At Shanty Creek Resorts, the organization’s biggest fundraiser drew hundreds of hunters together with conservation leaders, members of the state’s Natural Resources Commission, and numerous state lawmakers in a large convention hall to celebrate Michigan’s hunting heritage.

The MBHA raised thousands through raffles, drawings, memberships, merchandise, and auctions, while offering members an opportunity to hear directly from the Department of Natural Resources staff responsible for managing the state’s bears.

Every year, there’s a buffet dinner, Big Bear Awards, MBHA-Bill Walker Scholarships for college bound students, children’s educational programs, legislative updates and countless prizes given away. One lucky winner takes home a new ATV, but everyone who attends contributes to conservation.

Over the last 75 years, the MBHA has been a driving force behind initiatives to protect bear and wolf hunting in Michigan, educational programs to engage students in bear research and the state’s vast natural resources, and efforts to mitigate bear nuisance issues. MBHA directors and representatives regularly weigh in on legislation and proposed regulations that impact bear hunters and houndsmen, and work diligently to build relationships with the folks who make the big decisions.

The decision to cancel the MBHA’s 2021 convention – on the organization’s 75 anniversary – was unavoidable due to restrictions on capacity and other issues, and it will undoubtedly have a significant impact in the short term.

But MBHA directors are already forging ahead with plans for 2022, and will focus on amplifying the annual MBHA Warchest Raffle and 52-Gun Raffles in the meantime.

“We are planning for a convention next year, and we’re rolling forward with that,” said MBHA Director Keith Shafer, who is expected to replace MBHA President Tim Dusterwinkle in April.

This year’s Warchest Raffle features over $24,000 in prizes, including a Polaris Sportsman 4x4 ATV, a $3,000 travel voucher, $1,000 in cash, a $1,000 Jays Sporting Goods gift card, several fine firearms, and numerous other high-dollar prizes. Tickets are $20, and the winner will be drawn at the MBHA’s board meeting on April 25.

The 52-Gun Raffle features over $25,000 in guns, and is billed as “the raffle to stop anti-hunters.” Winning numbers come from the Michigan Lottery’s Friday evening Michigan Daily 3. Tickets are $50 each, limited to 1,000, with drawings every Friday at 7:30 p.m. from July 9, 2021 to July 1, 2022.

Shafer said the government restrictions tied to the coronavirus obviously derails the convention, but the pandemic has had an impact on the MBHA’s ability to gather the goods for the raffles, as well. www.bear-hunting.com

“Getting good quality guns now is tough,” he said.

“Everything is being purchased. All the manufacturers are 90 to 180 days out … one is taking orders for 2022.”

Shafer offered special acknowledgement to Jay’s Sporting Goods, The Village Market in Elk Rapids, and Kimber for stepping up to help make this year’s raffles a reality.

“Kimber was a great help to us,” Shafer said.

MBHA directors will press ahead with this year’s Big Bear Awards and MBHA-Bill Walker Scholarships, with presentations to the winners at the next board of director’s meeting on April 25.

Directors extended the deadline to purchase Warchest Raffle tickets until that meeting, as well.

“We normally draw it at the convention in March.

This year we decided to push the drawing day back to April 25,” Shafer said. “It’s been tough with COVID for people to get out and see other people, so we wanted to give them the maximum time.”

The pandemic has also thrown a wrench in other MBHA projects, including efforts to build bear live traps for the Michigan DNR. The MBHA commissions the construction through college welding programs that have shut down over the last year. Work on one trap underway at Ferris State University is expected to resume when students return.

Despite the setbacks, MBHA directors and members remain active with the Michigan Bear Forum, testifying about regulation changes at the Natural Resources Commission, and hosting lawmakers on training runs to share the passion for bear hunting.

Last summer, MBHA directors took advantage of the downtime during the pandemic to take several state legislators on tours of bear country, where they got an up close and personal perspective of the hard work, coordination and perseverance it takes to put a bear in a tree.

The outings – often the first time lawmakers and their families encounter black bears in the wild – leave an impression that’s not easily forgotten. It’s a major reason why well over a dozen top lawmakers typically attend the MBHA’s annual convention, many with spouses and children.

And while the 2021 convention is a bust, plans in the works for more outings this summer will help ensure the MBHA remains a leading voice for conservation in Michigan well into the future.

“Canceling the convention was a tough call, and one the directors didn’t make lightly. It may well be the first time the MBHA has ever canceled the event,” Shafer said.

“Fortunately, the relationships we’ve built with lawmakers, DNR officials and other important decision makers will make certain our voice is as strong as ever, regardless of the pandemic.”

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.

Bear Hunting 53

Matt Smith Fall 2019 Vermont with hounds

Matt Connell Fall 2020 New Mexico

Kinzley Mullens West Virginia Bear Fourth bear with Hounds! CONGRATS!

Jaden Waterhouse & the Crew 335 pounds Vermont

Lily Froese First Bear!

Michigan GOOD JOB, LILY!

54 Bear Hunting

May/June 2021

Arthur McCall North Carolina Public Land Nov 2020 First Bear!

Dan Talbot & Chris Patnode_ New Brunswick 2020

Dana Lytle North Carolina 590lbs Nov2020

Michael Brandon DIY in Maine First Bear!

Find us on

Holly Fleming 680lbs North Carolina December 2020 Congrats HOLLY!

Magazine Photo Gallery

Check out the Bear Hunting Magazine YOUTUBE Channel & our PODCAST

Email your high resolution bear photos to info@bear-hunting.com or mail a copy to PO Box 168, West Fork, Arkansas 72774. We reserve the right to not publish photos based on image and photographic quality. www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 55

Fighting Dirty: Changing the Rules, Becoming the Rule Makers Vermont and nevada under attack.

by Brian Lynn of Sportsman’s Alliance

A

nti-bear-hunting bills in Vermont and Nevada have surfaced recently, and they continue to point to a trend bear hunters, houndsmen in particular, will continue to face. Even defeating the bills this session

doesn’t promise long-term survival as anti-hunting activists are working to change the rules of the game and game management.

In Vermont, two bills would impact bear hunters directly.

House Bill 172 would completely ban all recreational trapping and the hunting of black bears with hounds.

House Bill 316 would require a bear hunter to keep their hounds in both visual and vocal command distance at all times or face heavy fines and the loss of hunting privileges.

Obviously, HB 172 is a direct attack on hound hunting, and anyone who knows even the slightest about running dogs understands that HB 316 is no better – it’s just written to seem “reasonable” to non-hunting voters and politicians. Hound hunting would still technically be legal, but good luck pulling it off.

In Nevada, the Board of Wildlife Commissioners voted 5-2 against a citizen petition that would have prohibited bear hunting with hounds. The commission had to hear the petition as matter of democracy, and thankfully the board is made up of people who understand hunting (although even two votes for the petition is concerning).

However, victories in Nevada and, hopefully, Vermont today don’t guarantee victory tomorrow. Vermont House Bill 167 would create the Environmental Stewardship Board, which would include members from a wide range of organizations, including perhaps even anti-hunting and animal-rights activists. The new board would have the power to block and override the Secretary of the Fish and Wildlife Commission from implementing any rules and regulations impacting hunting, fishing and trapping.

When you stop to think about the potential for abuse of power, the word concerning is an understatement. For instance, the stewardship board could hold the wildlife commission hostage by refusing to approve season dates, methods and bag limits, or they could make backroom deals to approve those things if “egregious” methods, such as hounding and bait, are removed from consideration.

Nevada already has legislation pre-filed for next year that would change the requirements for game commissioners there, opening the door to animal-rights activists and anti-hunters to serve on the commission and undermine wildlife management from within.

The Sportsmen’s Alliance already defeated similar legislation this year in New Hampshire!

All of these bills and potential for abuse of power exist, and there’s a myriad of ways it can play out. Sportsmen need to become active. We need voices raised in the mainstream media, with politicians in state capitols and at game commission meetings. If we don’t make our voices heard now, before these bills and plans get off the ground, it could be too late afterwards.

New Mexico just passed a trapping ban on all public lands. It moved through the legislature with blinding speed and what can only be described as a farce of democracy. Timelines were constrained, notice of public comment periods almost nil and unbalanced testimony and advocacy allowed – the sponsoring politician didn’t even speak on his own bill, instead he yielded the floor to an animal-rights organization to speak to the bill and answer any

56 Bear Hunting

“One of the best ways we can fight to preserve our way of life is stay unified with all sportsman and be proactive by joining conservation organizations like Sportsmen’s Alliance.” Clay Newcomb questions from committees.

The Sportsmen’s Alliance and our coalition of trappers and sportsmen fought tooth and nail, even appearing on the local news to decry the lack of transparency and abuse of process, but to no avail. We were playing against a stacked deck, and now a major tool in wildlife management has been lost.

The animal-rights, anti-hunting movement is attacking in every state. They will try to take every method and means of hunting – starting with trapping, baiting and hounding. And if they fail, they’ll try to change the rules of how regulations, seasons and methods are made.

Sportsmen must attend meetings, answer surveys, voice their opinion and make allies of politicians and game commissioners so that we have a strong voice and know what’s coming and how the political landscape sits when votes come up. We can’t afford to let the animal-rights and anti-hunters drive the conversation, dictating when, where and how hunting will be allowed. We can’t afford another New Mexico.

May/June 2021

Join Sportsman’s Alliance at www.sportsmansalliance.org

Rule Makers at Every Level

Legislation or commission meetings or surveys can influence your hunting life, recent examples discussing changes to the rules include:

to September 20, 2021, to hunters who do not qualify as federal subsistence hunters. These two GMUs represent more than 40 million acres of public land – about the size of the entire state of Georgia.

“Protect hunting, Guard the Gate!”

Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Conservation Congress will take public comment on a wide range of sportsmen’s issues, including ending hound hunting, baiting, night hunting for coyotes and more. This is a starting point for anti-hunters to get heard, which can actually result in “conversation” around these topics, media coverage or even regulation changes.

Maine: Maine House Bill 753 would prohibit hunting with lead ammunition. Not only is the science on this questionable, given today’s historic shortage of ammunition, it could literally keep hunters out of the woods this year … and even next year!

Alaska: The federal government has proposed closing vast swaths of land to caribou and moose hunters to non-locals in two game management units in Alaska. The Federal Subsistence Board will review a proposal to close GMU 23 and 26A from August 1

www.bear-hunting.com

New Hat

only at

www.bearhuntingmagazine.com

Bear Hunting 57

The Strategic Bear Hunter

Pros & Cons of Late Season Bear Baiting

by Bernie Barringer

In most states with fall bear hunts, the vast

majority of bears are shot in the first couple weeks of the season. Most seasons start around the

first of September and by the end of the month, hunters have either filled their tags or given up. Here in Minnesota, about 80% of the bears are killed during the first 10 days of the season which begins on September 1, and many other states have similar statistics. In some states, bear seasons begin in October and run into November, so what might be considered the late season in Arkansas for example, takes place when the bears in the north are already sleeping away the winter.

I know of a few hunters who like to lay low for the first weeks of the season, then crank up their bear hunting activities once the pressure of other hunters winds down. I have done a couple late fall (October) hunts, and of course at times I have been trying to fill my tag or help a friend get their bear as the season winds down. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of late-season baiting and hunting.

Late fall bear hunting advantages The biggest advantage to hunting bears after the crowds have gone home is the most obvious: the competition is much lighter. Outfitters pack their hunters into the first couple weeks of the season so they’re moved out.

Most other baiters have filled tags or given up. Your baits might well be the only ones left available to the bears.

That’s a clear advantage.

Another plus is that the bears tend to let their guard down a little as the amount of activity and scent in the woods diminishes. They have become accustomed to feeding at the baits and their level of safety and comfort can go up, which improves your chances of seeing them at the bait during legal shooting hours.

Start thinking now about what you’ll do if plan A fails.

By the time October rolls around across the northern US and southern Canada, the weather has turned cold and most nights are dropping below freezing. This can create some delightful fall days with a minimum of pesky bugs. Gone are the mosquitoes, deer flies and gnats that torment us during early September.

Big plus.

One of the toughest parts of bear baiting in the early season is the difficulty in competing with natural foods. Mast crops such as beech nuts, acorns, hazel nuts, hickory nuts and other high-carb foods the bears crave can hurt your chances in the early season.

Same goes with berries such as blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. In September, crops may still be in the fields. Corn, soybeans, wheat and oats can keep the bears away from your baits. By the later part of bear season, these are either gone or mostly cleaned up.

Now a good choice in bear baits will hold the bears more consistently than at any other time of the year.

With the good comes the bad Late season is not without its challenges. One of them is the fact that there are others in the woods.

While most bear hunters are gone, the woods is now being used by grouse hunters, archery deer hunters and other small game hunters. They can stumble across your bait sites and cause you problems. I consider this a trade-off, and most of the time the affect of these hunters is not as damaging to your success as having other bear hunters and other baits competing for the attention of the bears.

With late fall comes short days. The farther north you go, the days are getting shorter as the season wears on. You’ll have up to two hours less daylight after the first month of the season and that can make it even more challenging to get the bears at your bait during legal shooting light.

The author on a successful October hunt with his son Cody and son-in-law Seth produced this nice bear.

Cold weather dropping into the 20s at night slowed down the bear activity, but one bear cooperated.

58 Bear Hunting

May/June 20210

The woods open up when the leaves drop, so bait sites need to be in areas where bears will still move through in the daylight.

This bait site has been successful because it’s only 100 yards from a thick bedding area.

Once the leaves fall off the trees and brush, the woods can seem very open. Bears do not like to travel through open areas during the daylight, and with little cover around them, they are more prone to wait until dark, or at least the last few moments of light to commit to the bait. Bait sites that are not in fairly thick cover may have bears on them during daylight early on, but they can get more and more difficult to keep bears there in daylight hours as the season wears on.

This must be taken into account when choosing your specific bait locations.

Bears like nice weather. They’re softies when it comes to harsh weather, be it rain, snow, cold, wind, etc. They tend to enjoy a trip to the bear bait buffet a lot more when the going is easy and the weather is pleasant. When you’re sitting on stand thinking about what a nice afternoon it is to be in the woods, those are the days you will see the most bear activity. They like the same weather we do. The cold winds of late fall and really put a damper on their movements.

Bear’s don’t just shut off their feeding all at once, go into the den, fall asleep and wake up in March. They tend to wind it down over a couple weeks. www.bear-hunting.com

In fact they may hole up for a few days during a cold spell, then come back out and feed on a nice day. Once this begins to happen, your chances of being in the right place at the right time are dropping. Regular, daily visits to the bait become quite uncommon.

And of course late season hunting brings added pressure. You’re up against a deadline. The season’s going to close soon and then you’re out of time for good. This has a lot different feel to it than the early weeks of the season when you’ve got plenty of time and plenty of options. The added pressure of knowing time is running out on you can take away the pleasure of hunting if you let it; just something to keep in mind as you mentally work your way through these options.

These advantages and disadvantages of late season hunting can all be balanced out and some folks will fall in love with late hunting and others will prefer the early season. Personally, I like a little of each. The only time I don’t really care to be hunting in the late season is when I have been hunting all season long with a tag burning a hole in my pocket. But as long as I am bear hunting you won’t hear me complaining!

Bear Hunting 59

@backcountrybrian

Western Bear Hunting with Brian Strickland

With the night stars dazzling deeply over-

head, I pulled off a Forest Service road to start setting up camp. With a bait site needing to be estab-

lished the next couple of days, as well as a heavy dose of scouting to learn this new area, I had a lot of work to do to get this Idaho bear hunt rolling. I had nearly two weeks to put my plan in motion, and with the good numbers of bears the area was known to hold, this solo adventure looked promising.

A do-it-yourself hunt is never easy, regardless of what game you’re chasing, and that was the first thought that came to mind when I stumbled out of bed the following morning. My timing was spot on. It was the first week of June and the last two weeks of the season in this particular unit. The bear rut would be revving up, and the boars would be expanding their home ranges in search of sows…I hoped.

Unable to scout prior to the season, On-X Maps and a local biologist quickly proved to be my best source of information. By all accounts, the region held good bear numbers, like a lot of Idaho does. In fact, if you’re looking for a DIY baited bear hunt, you really can’t beat the Gem State. Virtually any area north of Boise to the panhandle offers great bear numbers, and that’s exactly where I was planning to hunt.

Although I’m no expert, in my experience the best locations for a bait site tend to be at the heads of draws that lead to larger canyons, or near saddles that lead to the same type of terrain. I have found that the natural wind thermals leading down the draw in the morning and evening hours do a great job of funneling the scent from the bait to the whole area. Lastly, having a water source close by like a natural spring, seep or stream is a must as well. A good water source is conducive for producing good bear habitat.

After scouting several spots the following morning, I found an ideal location below a saddle that led to a long drainage. It had everything that I needed to create a good bait site. By the end of the day I was able to make three trips to the secluded location with nearly 200 pounds of jelly-filled treats, flavored popcorn, dog food and best of all, meat scraps I had collected from a local butcher the past year.

Since I needed a few days for my bait to attract bears, my plan was to hunt some closed logging roads, old burns and clear cuts in hopes of finding an old bruin feeding. The first two days proved fruitless as I glassed numerous locations, but on the afternoon of day three I nearly hit coal-black pay dirt.

With less than 45 minutes left of shooting light, I caught movement on the edge of an old burn. At first glance I thought it was one of the many black timber scars the fire had left, but when it inched forward that quickly changed.

With the wind perfect and still plenty of light to cut the 150-yard distance, I inched forward. With my quick pace at first, the 150-yard gulf melted into 50; and although I knew the 30-30 cartridge my Winchester Model 94 was carrying would do the trick at that distance, my bowhunting DNA 60 Bear Hunting

Idaho pay dirt The Gem State is a great spot for a last-minute hunt.

The author carries bait in a backpack to the site. He made three trips and got out about 200 pounds of bread, donuts and dogfood. It worked.

wanted me to get closer. No sooner had I finished that thought when he suddenly turned and came in my direction at a steady pace.

When I first noticed the bear he looked pretty good, but with each step he took in my direction he seemed to grow.

Not wanting to take a frontal shot I held steady waiting for a broadside opportunity. When he broke the eight-yard barrier my thought of being the hunter quickly altered to the hunted.

Spitting distance is close, regardless of the bear’s size; and when I shouldered my Model 94 in defense, he skidded to a stop. Looking into his coal-black eyes we both knew the gig was up! In an instant he spun and decisively went downhill, giving me no quality shot. With a heart-thumping sigh of relief, I couldn’t help but appreciate my first Idaho bear encounter of the season as I made my way back to camp.

Checking the bait the following day it was obvious something had paid it a visit; a quick check of the trail cameras only confirmed it. A small cinnamon and average sized boar had found the stash of treats just hours after setting it up, but it was one bear in particular that paid it a visit on day three that really got my attention. He was easily pushing 300-pounds, which is a tank by Idaho standards, and the brown-coated sow he was guarding also looked impressive.

With longbow in hand I settled in for the afternoon sit the following day, and it wasn’t long before a couple of bears paid it a visit. Like most bears do, they were cautious at first, but with the taste of their last visit still fresh on their minds, they dove in when they presumed the coast was clear.

For nearly 20 minutes they each sampled their corner of the bait, but when both of them looked downhill in unison, I knew something else was coming it. Their once calm demeanor quickly faded as each paced around the bait, but when the next blocky visitor came into view, they quickly parted.

I grabbed my bow as he cautiously eased in. Trying to calm May/June 2021

down, I watched him mill around the bait for a couple of minutes, and when he turned broadside with his head in the bait pile, I pressed my 50# bow into service. As I drew, his head quickly turned my direction. Looking into his eyes instead of the sweet spot I released. As the arrow flew I knew it was high, and when the broadhead stuck about four inches below the top of his back and only two inches deep, my worst fear happened. Reacting with an angry growl, he spun out of sight, leaving my bloodstained broadhead laying on the ground. As I recovered the arrow and wondered back to camp, I was sickened to say the least.

The following morning I checked for any hint that the suspected flesh wound was something more, but it wasn’t.

Following what sign I could, I conducted a grid search in the direction he went, which ended much how it had begun.

Not one to give up on my Idaho bear endeavors, the next day I was back at it. With the early morning dew still covering the green shoots along the logging road, I padded softly up the steep grade. Wanting a fresh start, I chose a new area to check. Before I was a quarter mile from my truck, a patch of black hide in the brush stopped me in my tracks.

As I inched closer to the brushy ditch, I paid careful attention to both the wind and unwanted noise. As I slipped closer to my unsuspecting prize, his head emerged from the tangle of brush I initially saw him in, and at less than 40 yards his chunky body looked impressive. With the hammer cocked, he stepped out and paused briefly. Sensing the coast was clear, he eventually stepped into view and offered me a clear shot.

Although my bowhunting DNA wished I was carrying my longbow when he stepped out, it’s hard to beat the effectiveness of a Model 94 at close range. At the drop of the hammer he rolled to the ground, stumbled to his feet before expiring within eyesight. Needless to say, I could not have been more pleased.

The author likes to set his bait at the heads of large draws where the thermals are advantageous. He put his bait right on the ground and made a “brush crib” to help position a bear for the shot.

See page 68 for Best of The West’s new longrange muzzleloader.

The author did a DIY public land hunt using bait in Idaho. Idaho remains one of the best states in the country for bear hunting by offering a spring season, hunting with hounds, and two tags. Long live the great state of Idaho!

www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 61

y

Great Hunts

Bruin

Destinations

Manitoba’s mid-canada black bears With 250,000 square miles and an estimated 30,000 bruins this place is black bear paradise.

by Al Raychard

IManitoba ’ve had the good fortune to hunt bears in a few times, and each trip was more

highly anticipated than the last. From east to west, Manitoba sits about in the middle of Canada. Saskatchewan sits to the west, Ontario to the east and to the south, across the border are Minnesota and North Dakota. From there Manitoba stretches all the way to Hudson’s Bay and Nunavut. In all the province covers some 250,000 square miles, the eighth-largest province in Canada. Including all freshwater, Quebec is more than two times larger, Nunavut more than three times larger.

Despite its smallish small size when it comes to prime bear habitat, black bears, big bears and hunting bears, Manitoba has plenty to offer. About 48 percent of the province is boreal forest and parkland offering vast remote territories and heavy forest canopy with dense understory.

Portions of the Interlake Region and the northern portion are so remote, access is limited and requires additional flights from Winnipeg, fly-ins to camp or extra hours of long driving. The southern and central regions of the province are more developed and offer easier access but still provide excellent habitat and good bear numbers.

Except for the major agricultural region in the southwest corner where bears are only occasional visitors, Manitoba offers excellent hunting opportunities throughout its territory. The greatest densities are found in the Duck Mountain area and Porcupine Hills near the central border of eastern Saskatchewan, around Riding Mountain National further south, in the vast Interlake Region and southeastern corner. The northern regions offer fewer bears per square mile but it is safe to say due to it vastness and remoteness there are bears that rarely see a human. It is typically reported Manitoba is home to 25,000- to 30,000 black bears but the province doesn’t officially conduct population surveys. Many outfitters I’ve spoken to and have hunted with who live, breathe and make their living hunting bears, and have been doing so for decades wouldn’t be surprised the estimate is much higher, perhaps as high as 40, 000 or even 50,000. Whatever the case, Manitoba has plenty of bears and shot opportunities and success rates at hunting camps are respectably high.

Two of my most successful bear hunts took place in Manitoba, both in terms of numbers of bears seen, shot opportunity and size. My largest bear was actually killed there on a Saskatchewan River hunt out of The Pas south of Clearwater Lake Provincial Park. But this shouldn’t surprise anyone. Manitoba bear outfitters have exclusive outfitting rights to large territories, many several thousand square miles in size. As a result hunting pressure can be controlled by limiting the number of hunters in camp per week and per season, which many do. But it is also thanks to Manitoba’s vast remote areas, prime habitat, a strong genetic pool, a mixture of protein-rich agricultural and natural foods in the south and central regions and a smorgasbord of foods in the central and northern region.

62 Bear Hunting

When you put all this together, bears have an opportunity live long lives to a ripe old age, which they do in Manitoba. As a result, the province produces its share of monster bears in terms of both body weight and skull size.

Each spring when body weights run lighter, bears in the 300 and 400-pound class are taken and during the fall after a summer of heavy dining, larger specimens are possible with 19, 20 and 21-inch heads. Based on personal experience, seeing plenty of shooters during a typical week’s hunt is nothing unusual. True, you may have to bide your time and let a number of bears pass, and perhaps ideally plan spring hunts during the promiscuous rut period in late-May into mid-June or so when big boars are on the move to bag a record-book contender, but Manitoba certainly has them.

The province has color-phase bears, too. While chocolate, brown, cinnamon and blondes are apt to be seen throughout Manitoba, generally speaking most bears in the eastern regions are black. The further west you hunt the higher the odds of seeing an animal of color. The Interlake and Parkland Regions and western stretches along the western border with Saskatchewan are noted for colored bears with some outfitters reporting 40-percent of the bears taken are colored.

Manitoba is a wonderful place to hunt bears but keep a few things in mind. During the spring, the days are long and the further north you hunt the longer they get. In central and northern regions sunset is around 10:30 or so in June, so expect long sits on stand and long days of spot-andstalk hunts. You probably won’t get to camp until well after dark. The weather during the spring can consist of wind, periods of rain especially early in the spring season and snow is even possible in central and northern regions into May. Fall weather conditions are more pleasant with warm days and cool nights but mosquitos can be a problem and rain is always possible so plan accordingly.

One other thing. When talking to an outfitter ask if the camp is on or anywhere near a lake or river. If so, plan on packing some fishing gear. Manitoba has some world class angling for northern pike, walleye, lake and brook trout among others depending upon location, and wetting a line is an enjoyable way to spend your non-hunting hours. The nice thing is most outfitters don’t charge large extra fees for it and fishing licenses are affordable.

May/June 20210

Manitoba OVERVIEW

Manitoba Overview

Hunting Methods: Most hunts are over bait although some outfitters also offer exclusive or optional spot-and-stalk hunts.

Bag Limit: One bear per calendar year. Females with cubs may not be taken.

Areas Open to Hunting: Bear hunting is generally open province-wide except provincial and national parks and refuges.

Spring Season: Yes. Varies by hunting zone April 27-June 14, 21 or 30.

Fall Season: Yes. August 31-November 1.

Legal Weapons: Centerfire rifles .23 caliber and larger, muzzleloaders .50 caliber minimum for bear, vertical bows 40-pound minimum draw and crossbows 150 pound minimum draw. Check with outfitter for more details.

Hunting License Fees/Availability: Non-residents of Canada-$123.25, Foreign (US) residents-$237.25, prices include federal GST and a $4.40 administrative fee. Non-resident Canadian and Foreign resident (US) bear license are only available through approved outfitters. Check with outfitter for fishing license fees and availability.

Color Phase Bear Potential: Considered high depending up location.

Other Requirements: All hunters must show proof of hunter safety from a province, state or country before purchasing a hunting license.

Contacts: Manitoba Conservation and Climate, 1-(800) 214-6497/ www.manitoba.ca/fish_and_wildlife/wildlife Manitoba Lodge and Outfitters Association/ 1-(800)305-0013/ www.mola.com/ e-mail-mloa@mloa.com.

Located in Wisconsin but can ship anywhere in the country!

Trail Mix, cookies, ice cream cones, candy, pie filling, poptarts and granola.

We sell by barrels, totes, pails, bags and semi-loads.

715-289-3320 Locations in Cadott, Abbotsford WI 501 West Front St. Cadott, WI 54727

www.bigbeardown.com www.bear-hunting.com

Great Bear products at great prices!

Bear Hunting 63

@timothydfowler

Fleshing it Out with Timothy Fowler I plan to get lost. Or, as my grammar coach

A peek in my pack Planning for the eventuality of being lost or having an emergency.

might say, I plan for the eventuality of being lost. To be clear, I’ve never been truly lost in the woods while

hunting. There was once, at age six, when I was to walk from my new elementary school, to my grandmother’s house for lunch and I took an alternate road through the black spruce forest and became well and truly lost––or at least so I thought. This means I do know the blind-white panic of being lost––even if only for 30 minutes of my young life. Maybe that recollection informs what goes in my hunting backpack.

Every year as spring bear hunting season rolls around, I take out my pack, completely empty it and review each piece of gear and revisit the “do I really need this?” question. Here’s what made the cut this year and what will ride in my pack again for 2021. Everything here made the cut and a few things that weren’t handy at photo time.

First, the Pack. My choice of the pack is a Master Guide II from Crooked Horn Outfitters. Sadly, this pack is no longer listed on their website. It is a soft exterior pack that is waterproof but very quiet when slipping through close quarters woods.

Hydration is important and I start the day with a one-liter stainless steel jug of ice-cold water.

Clothing • I have a strong preference for wool and my preferred hunting jacket is a https://www.swanndri.co.nz all wool bush shirt. I find this comfortable during an active hunt to –20C or -5F or so then I want something a bit warmer. But nothing is as quiet as this jacket in the woods.

• I admit too, that I love my Patagonia R4 fleece.

• And my Mountain Equipment Co-op (The Canadian version of R.E.I.) GoreTex jacket. As I heat throughout the day these layers are wrapped and strapped to the pack exterior.

• I carry a close-fitting balaclava, to cover my face in the bitter cold. (Remember Alberta’s Novembers can be - 40F and we have camped at -38F), or the balaclava can be deployed as a cap, under my wool hunting hat with earflaps.

• I usually carry a second pair of wool socks. I normally change socks at noon on a full day in the woods.

• I carry a spare pair of mid weight fleece gloves and a full face balaclava too.

Firestarter • I love my old retro Zippo lighter that’s refillable. Mine is engraved and a gift from one of my boys. I fill it fresh every time I fill my pack, and I keep lighter fluid in my truck.

• My custom fire starter is cotton makeup removers drenched in liquid petroleum jelly, a pill bottle of this stuff makes getting a fire going with numb fingers, pouring rain or driving snow are much more successful enterprise.

• There is always two other ways to make fire in my pack too: flint and waterproof matches. I usually have butane disposable in my pocket too.

64 Bear Hunting

1.

Navigation • My main navigational device is the iHunter app, on my iPhone. (Most of where I hunt is oilfield country, so the cell coverage is generally acceptable.) iHunter runs Google maps or satellite view in the background. The app allows the purchase of detailed landowner maps to be added into the background too which increases its functionality. It allows waypoints and tracking and is my go-to for recording wildlife spotted, animals harvested. Each hunting season I add more data that provides better information when deciding where and when to hunt. (80% of my harvested bears have been taken May 12 for instance.)

• I use a Garmin GPS mostly for back up.

• I carry the SPOT satellite text version in case the phone goes down or we’re in serious back country trouble.

• My simple compass like you used in Boy Scouts is always in my pack.

• My favourite headland is not in my pack. I use both a Fenix HM65R and an HM61R and keep one of them strapped to my hat.

It is always a pleasure to touch each of these things in my pack and to consider the question: “Can I leave it behind?” and the answer to all of this is contemplation is “NO.” I was a bit surprised how much stuff is in my pack. Layout your gear and photograph it and you might be surprised too. But after 20 seasons of deciding what goes into my pack at least twice a year, I am pretty set on what stays. But I would love to hear from you what you think I missed, or what you think is a waste to carry. Go ahead and DM me your thoughts on Instagram, my handle is in my signature line, I would love to hear from you.

May/June 2021

2.

4.

3.

1. My pack is a Master Guide II

else steel. This head lamp is pretty much permanently from Crooked Horn Outfitters and (sadly) is no longer on offer. mounted on my hat.

I carry a three-and-a-half-foot 2. Starting at the one-litre roll of ¾-inch thick closed cell foam for sitting on soggy ground water bottle. Next is surveyors flag tape to use when trackor packed snow to keep my butt warm and dry. (Note: I kept ing, electrical tape for coverKnives of Alaska sample out this ing rifle muzzles and whatever past season for easy access for else you might need. I love the testing. The survey and electri- Real Avid Bore Boss and bring cian’s tape are two things I want along one for each calibre on to access without digging. The my current hunt. I no longer carry a three-part cleaning S.P.O.T. Device needs a direct satellite view so it is on the out- rod. The Bore Boss’s stainless cable is stiff enough to push side of the pack too.

My hat is waxed cotton crud out of your muzzle if you and waterproof. While this is the happen to get some crud in your muzzle inadvertently. I hat I wear most often, I switch carry multiple ropes and a roll up to a wide-brimmed wool of nylon strapping, old-school hat when hunting close black spruce because this hat is noisy compass, new school GPS, when it contacts twigs. (This hat SPOT with satellite texting opwas my dad’s and he died more tion, range finder, headlamp, and flashlight. than five years ago. It is still going strong.) The Fenix HM61R rechargeable headlamp is slick. 3. Top right unfilled hunting The light detaches and the base tags, a reflective emergency blanket, various sized bags is magnetic so you can stick it to your bumper on your truck, or from. Two-quart zip-loc for wheel of your quad or anything rabbits, grouse, and venison hearts to 25-pound bags I buy www.bear-hunting.com

5. from my butcher supply store, a lens cleaning “pen,” waterproof matches, pill bottles with cotton gun cleaning patches and my homemade Vaseline-soaked cotton balls for fire starter. Middle left is an aluminum reflective rescue flash-signal, replacement batteries, a couple of knife sharpeners, a whistle and a tiny can opener and a flint/sparker fire starter and a selection of replacement batteries for flashlights and headlamp.

and the Yukon is easy to hold, is very maneuverable and the unique blade / handle angle is perfect for disassembling a deer. There are two options for sharpeners here, a folding bone saw. The Buck Vanguard is my favourite knife to wear on my hip. The broad blade of the buck is perfect for splitting deer cartilage on either side of the sternum when opening an animal.

5. I changed up my first aid kit after doing a wilderness fist aid course. I would highly recommend a course.

It seems a lot of tools, but each has 4. I like knives. And I like what their specific purpose. Note the each of these knives do in the pointy tweezers: occasionally we field. The long flexible boning hunt pronghorn in Alberta and the knife is perfect to filet a king cactus is brutal. These are perfect salmon or remove the loins remove cactus and other annoying from a moose, the curved knife slivers. My kit is kept in a stainless is a small steak knife, perfect camp pot-just in case you need to for sinew at hip sockets and boil water or simmer a squirrel. The shoulders but equally good pot holds band-aides, aspirin, steriat cutting a whole loin into strips, tensor bandages and a couple steaks, the axe is the smallof cotton triangle slings, big and est Wetterling makes, the Ulu medium absorbent pads. and the Yukon knife are test samples from Knives of Alaska (they were fantastic, the Ulu is a wonderful skinning tool, Bear Hunting 65

@j.lesperance

{Hounds and Bears} Column

IN Hot PUrsuit

By Travis Reggear

(originally published in 2012)

A

t different times of the year having a split race is quite normal. A split race is when dogs are run-

ning more than one bear. Another way to describe it is when a hunter gets dogs running more than one track off of one strike.

This can sometimes lead to head scratching, mind bending confusion. It reminds me of a hunt that took place a few years ago that produced an awesome outcome.

One time in the fall, two other guys and I were guiding a pair of bear hunters. As always, we had gotten an early start that morning and our plans were to rig down and off into a canyon that for the time of year, had plenty of food for bear to eat.

(Every hunter should know that when bear hunting, you’re not really hunting the bear, you’re hunting the food source that they are attracted to.) The canyon that we were rigging down into was loaded with old homesteads. To a bear hunter in the fall of the year, homesteads translate into fruit and usually a lot of it. After about 20 minutes of rigging the dogs with our ATVs, we started across a flat bench that was growing the mother lode of plum and apple trees. The branches had been bent over not only by the weight of the fruit that the trees were bearing, but by extensive and repetitious harassment of the bears.

When the scent of bear reached our dogs, they exploded, and we began turning our start dogs loose. When each strike dog hit the ground, they automatically went in different directions. Figuring that each dog could potentially be right, we each started turning our entire packs loose. Trying to get

The author recounts an incredible multi-split race that ended up with six bears treed in the same day.

66 Bear Hunting

A split race What to do when your pack splits up and runs multiple bears at the same time. all the dogs in the race and started the right way was almost impossible. As we turned dogs loose into the primary first three tracks that we had started, dogs would split off and go in separate directions.

Soon the three individual tracks that we had started had turned into six individual bear races going six different ways. It was like watching a Ford F150 drive through a covey of quail, scattering them in several different directions. Doing what all good hound hunters would do at that particular moment, we stood there scratching our heads trying to figure out which dogs had which track, and what had made the tracks that each pack was running.

When hunting several young dogs at one time, these questions are usually left unanswered for a while. Sometimes you think you are split, and you are only backwards. The backward dogs usually run out of track fast and turn it around to try to get packed up with the front dogs. In this case, that was not happening. All the small packs of dogs were lining out the tracks and each individual race was building and sounding good.

We decided to split up and each went a different direction, following one or two different races as best as we could. In no time at all, the dogs started catching and treeing bears. Before the day was up, we had caught a total of six different bears off of one individual strike. As it had turned out, several bears had fed around that group of fruit trees during the night, leaving many different tracks for our dogs to run.

The hunters were blown away with the results (not to mention I was too). They were able to look at and choose from six different bears and pick the two that they wanted. It was all over by noon and the day was a total success.

In the spring, usually around the end of May through June, boars and sows are traveling together during breeding season. Dogs have the option of two different tracks to take and a split will often happen. In the fall when the fruit is on, bears will travel large distances to feed on a plentiful food source, wild or domestic, and this also creates opportunity for a split race.

When a hunter gets a split race, they need to do a quick evaluation and assessment of the situation. I try to look at a couple different things. The first is, what kind of dogs are on each track? If I have a couple of old warhorse veterans that grabbed their own track away from my other dogs, it’s no big deal, they’ll be fine until I can get to them. If I have a young dog or two that splits out, then my priorities are with them. Most of the time I will try to gather up some older dogs and get them turned into the race that the younger dogs are involved in.

One thing a hunter never wants to do is allow young dogs to experience defeat. Always keep young dogs on the team that has the best chance to win. Age structure and experience is always a key ingredient. Do whatever it takes, even if it means catching your young dogs off the track that they are on, so they don’t’ end up all by themselves. There will be plenty of time for them to experience bears by themselves when they get older and more confident.

Another thing I look at when evaluating the situation May/June 20210

Evaluating the caliber of dogs involved in the split race helps the author to determine what to do.

is the lay of the land or the geography. If you have a split race and one of the races is going towards a remote roadless area or a freeway you might want to take care of that race first. It never fails, one race will go in a perfect direction and the other will head directly the way you don’t want it to go. My plan of attack is to take the worst first. The race that is heading the worst way with the youngest dogs is always high priority, it could mean the difference between saving your dogs’ lives or not. Sometimes just getting in front of the race and stopping it is the best thing to do, especially if you are hunting by yourself. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. If you are hunting with a buddy and you can track each other’s dogs, then each can take a different race. A lot of times my buddies and I have had to take one for the team and sacrifice being involved in an awesome bear race just to guard a road.

Having a split race with one heading toward a busy road could spell disaster.

A split race is something that is going to happen from time to time. How a hunter deals with it is up to them. I go with age and experience of the dogs and geography of the land. Add them all together and divide by two, then make a decision that best suits the situation. Always try to make something good out of any hand you are dealt. www.bear-hunting.com

Grandview Outfitters Over 1,600 acres of private land 130”-180” Whitetail Six-day Hunt

$3,000 USD

Includes tags, lodging, meals

Manitoba, Canada September - November

2018 bucks

Canadian Whitetail Hunting www.grandviewoutfitters.ca Email: gvoutfitters@xplornet.com

Tom & Debbie Ainsworth 204-546-2751

Bear Hunting 67

BEST OF THE WEST EXPANDS LINEUP WITH SIGNATURE SERIES LONG RANGE MUZZLELOADER CODY, Wyo., March 2021 — The authority in ethical long-range hunting — The Best of the West (BOTW) — has now changed the muzzleloader market forever with its new Signature Series Long Range Muzzleloaders.

Available in .45 and .50 caliber, the new Best of the West muzzleloaders are tested and proven to shoot between .5 and 1 MOA at an amazing 550 yards to ensure a true long-range advantage at well beyond this range.

The Best of the West long-range muzzleloader features a side-discharge brake that directs the bulk of smoke away from the line of sight while significantly reducing recoil. The dual side port brake and specifically designed crown, along with the included funnel, make pouring loose powder cleaner and more efficient.

●- BOTW muzzleloader in either .45 or .50 CAL ●- Huskemaw Optics long-range riflescope ●- Breech plug tool and breech plug anti-seize ●- Short starter ●- Possibles/field bag ●- 12 powder tubes (powder not included) ●- 20 bullets ●- 100 patches ●- 10 primer carriers ●- Unloading tool ●- TSA-approved hard case MSRP begins at $6,099 depending on options and Huskemaw scope selected. For additional information, please visit www.longrangestore.com

The muzzleloaders use The Best of the West’s Express Priming System, which is a patent-pending design that can store and feed three primed inserts from a magazine, much like a centerfire rifle. The non-saboted bullets have an advertised ballistic coefficient of .453 and maintain over 1,000 foot-pounds of energy at 800 yards. The result is dramatically better accuracy at longer distances over traditional muzzleloaders.

The Best of the West Long Range Muzzleloader can be outfitted with the purchaser’s choice of Huskemaw long-range optics. Peep sights and a Huskemaw quick-detach system allowing hunters to remove the scope in states that only allow peep sights are also available. The shooting system package also includes:

Bear Questions/Answers With Al Raychard

Q- I understand some western states and provinces require bear hunters pass a mandatory test to differentiate between black bears and grizzly bears before getting a bear hunting license. Is that true?

A- I don’t believe it’s required in Canada’s western provinces and territories as of yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes in the future. Bear identification tests, some mandatory or others educational, are required or strongly recommended in some western states where black bears and grizzly bears coexist. Washington, Montana and Idaho are some examples.

Q- Is a C.I.T.E.S. permit still required to ship black bears home to the U.S. from Canada?

A- Yes, it’s officially called a “Conservation on the International Trade of Endangered Species Export Permit” and is required to ship any black bear part including pelts, skulls and meat out of Canada. Outfitters throughout Canada typically have these permits readily available and prepared in advance to departure. It’s interesting the permits are still required or were required in the first place since nowhere in Canada are black bears considered endangered. The permits are also required for cougars, lynx, bobcat, wolf and some other species.

Q- This may be a silly question but are there telltale physical differences a hunter can use in the field to tell the difference between a black bear and grizzly? I’m planning an Idaho hunt this June.

A- First of all there are no silly questions. But yes, there are some noticeable differences. Grizzlies have a noticeable dished face profile; a black bear’s is straight. Grizzlies also have an obvious hump between the front shoulders, black bears do not have a hump. A grizzly also has short, rounded rather small-looking ears that also look rather fuzzy-looking because of 68 Bear Hunting

the longer hair. The black bear’s ears are taller or longer, more erect and more pointed. On large and older black bears, the ears can actually look like a grizzly’s and the size and color can be similar so it is always best to look for combination of characteristics. I’ve seen several grizzlies while black bear hunting in Alaska and I can say from experience you’ll know a grizzly when you see one, especially up close when sitting in a stand or while glassing and stalking at a distance.

Q- Is it required to register muzzleloaders while entering Canada?

A- Unless things have changed, which they often do when it comes to firearms north of the border, no.

Muzzleloaders, even modern in-lines are considered replica firearms and are exempt. Personally, I like to stop at U.S. Customs and fill out a claim form before entering. That way there is no question you had the gun when you entered Canada. Taking propellant across the border is another matter. Based on my experience, when booking a hunt and driving north it is always best to ask your outfitter to obtain propellant locally and have it waiting for you when you get there.

Of course, muzzleloading propellants are prohibited on commercial airlines so planning to have it waiting for you is the only option.

Submit your questions to alraychard@sacoriver.net May/June 20210

New Subscription or

Renewal Combo

Big Bear Combo (new Subscription) = $48.99 (Your choice of Hat/DVD/One Year subscription) Grizzly Combo (Renewal) = $45.99 (Your choice of Hat/Dvd/Renewal) Combos come in One, two and three year subcription options. Call office at 479-839-4335 M-F 1-5 pm or www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting Magazine PO Box 168 West Fork, AR 72774

(1-year renewal $22, 2-year renewal $42, 3-year renewal $52) Six issues per year. You can subscribe online at www.bear-hunting.com or call 1-866-861-2327 Promote Bear Hunting! Share with a hunting friend!

Name:

Bear Oil

Address: City:

Not a subscriber or need to renew?

Cut this out and send it in!

Apt # State:

Crust

Thunder Utah

Scouting Tips For fall

550 Pounds

Oklahoma 20 19

Please mail card to:

One-Year Subscription $25 ($35 USD Canadian) Two-Year Subscription $45 ($70 USD Canadian) Three-Year Subscription $60 If this is a renewal please check here

Zip:

The bear hunting authority for 20 years

Se pt/O ct

The Bear Hunting Authority Magazine

California

Email:

dreaming

with ed Vance

Phone: Please enclose card and payment in envelope and mail to address above: My check is enclosed My Money Order is enclosed

Card#: Expiration Date: Signature (for credit card): www.bear-hunting.com

have you heard it?

V-Code:

(3 digits on back of card) Sept/Oct 2019 US $5.95

Bear Hunting 69

Support those that support bear hunting

NORTHERN ALBERTA SPRING BLACK BEAR HUNTS Chris & Sharron McKinnon

2 bear area 780-331-2440 color-phase bears chris@huntmco.com

www.huntmco.com

Airport pickup in Minnesota Available

Satisfaction Guaranteed New Modern Outfit All INCLUSIVE NO HIDDEN COSTS

Fort Frances, Ontario

Exclusive Black Bear, Whitetail & Wolf Hunting

www.rainylakeoutfitters.com 1-807-275-7096

www.huntmco.com Russell Pond & Bar C Outfitters Idaho and Maine’s Premiere Outfitter “Joe & Inga Cabral, one of the USA’s Best Outfitters”

Spring and Fall TWO bear Options Elk & Deer backcountry combo hunts, guaranteed limited Elk tags, Mountain Lion Specialist, Family pack trips, fishing, Moose and Grouse Hunting, Guide School East or West - Stay in the USA & Choose the Best

866-552-2038 or 208-245-2458

www.russellpond.com

British Columbia Black Bear Hunts

(403) 993-8171 www.ambushoutdooradventures.ca 70 Bear Hunting

May/June 20210

Support our Outfitters

Come and Experience the

HUNT OF A LIFETIME!

357-pounds Dressed!

- Record Book Bears Taken Every Year - Spring & Fall Hunts - Moose/Bear/Wolf Combo Hunts -

Maine Bear Hunts - Spring and Fall All inclusive, fully guided, six day bear hunt Includes meals, lodging, bear tag/license, skinning & quartering Spring hunts over bait on Penobscot Nation Territory Fall hunts over bait or with hounds on 110,000 acres of private leased land Over 30+ years of bear guiding experience 450 pound and 437 pound bears harvested in spring 2020

Mid-Maine Outfitters

207-943-2511 - Troy@themidmaineoutfitters.com www.themidmaineoutfitters.com

Canadian Wilderness

Outfitters Manitoba

BLACK BEAR ADVENTURE 1st Class Bear Hunts in Ontario Canada - Color Phase

- 1.6 Million Acres Exclusive Bear Hunting Area - Over 100 Active Bait Sites

-5 Star Log Cabin Accommodations

-Book Bears Taken Every Year

- All Inclusive Rates

-Owner Guide

www.blackbearadventure.com 1-800-466-0918

North Road Outfitters

“We consistently harvest large bears.”

HUNT MAINE WITH US - Specializing in 5-day bear hunts over bait.

- Small number of hunters each week.

- Fully guided hunt (lodging, meals and guiding).

- nordoutfitters@gmail.com

Tim & Libby Nilsen- Reg Maine Guides

- Hunt the big bears of the Duck Mountain Region - 5-day hunt & accommodations - Spring/Fall - Waterfowl hunts,too!

Outfitter, Richard Geres 306-743-5299

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

207-729-6337 or 207-777-0152

Fall Whitetail Hunts

Saskatchewan

Brunswick, Maine

www.silvercreekoutfitting.ca - 204-638-0307 bobbalak@mts.net - 50% Color Phase in 2018 Bear Hunting 71

Support our Outfitters Wilderness-boat based hunts in Saskatchewan for world class bears

403-793-1780 Specialty Bear Hunts - Over Bait or with Hounds Bill Finney, Registered Maine GUide Po Box 234, Patten, ME 04765

www.bearprosafaris.com

Maine

www.pattenhuntinglodge.com | phl234@yahoo.com Cell 207-504-2886 | Lodge 207-528-2886

Northwestern Ontario

ALERT!

Spring Black Bear Now open after 17 years!

Package #1 All inclusive hunt with Limited Tags highly experienced guide (25 years)

AlaskaN Outfitter

Grizzly, brown and black bear, dall sheep, mtn. goat, caribou, Matt Moskiewicz moose, trapping, High Country Guide Service predator calling, 907-250-0768 wingshooting Wasilla, Alaska

www.highcountryguideservicellc.com | moskieakfish@gmail.com

Package #2 Primitive World-Class

hunt in a remote location

BOOK NOW!

90 % Success

Call of the North P.O. Box 697 Geraldton, Ontario, Canada P0T 1M0

Photos and info @ www.callofthenorth.com

Toll Free: 1-800-801-4080

Elk, whitetail, mule deer, Spring 2020 Hound Hunt bear , lion, wolf & moose

Idaho plottpower@gmail.com

Combo Hunts Available 208-266-0795

www.clarkforkoutfitters.com

72 Bear Hunting

May/June 20210

{ Adventure } Established 1990 - Trusted for over 25 years

True Alaskan

Alaska Coastal Guiding

*High Success Rates *High Concentration of Bears *Comfortable 48’ Vessel

-

Mike Sofoulis - Registered Guide 907-209-0068 email: mike.sofoulis@gmail.com

Boat-based Brown Bear Hunting

on ABC Islands of Southeast Alaska

www.akcoastalguiding.com www.bear-hunting.com

DOA Outfitters Email: darrylkantimer@gmail.com

Call 204-746-5652 “Come as a client, leave as a friend”

www.doaoutfitters.ca Giant Manitoba Bears

Saskatchewan Waterfowl

* 100% opportunity * Over 25 years experience & some clients/friends coming for 20-plus years * Some of Canada’s finest bear hunting * Exclusive 2000 sq. mile bear outfitting area * Saskatchewan’s Finest Waterfowling * Follow us on Intagram & Facebookok

DOA Outfitters are proud sponsors of:

Donate today to the Outdoor Adventure Foundation and help make dreams come true.

The Outdoor Adventure Foundation is a 501C3 nonprofit that helps to make outdoor dreams come true for children and young adults with life-threatening illness, as well as for combat-disabled veterans. In addition to hunting and fishing adventures, OAF also takes groups to sporting events and sends recipients to Disney World and more.

www.outdooradventurefoundation.org

Killer Bear

Products Ready for 2021

One Quart Spray Bottle 16 Flavors Retail $18.95

Cherry, Blueberry & Gold Dust Powder 8oz Powder Retail $13.95

Gold Rush Fryer Grease additive 8oz Concentrate Retail $26.95

www.northwoodsbearproducts.net

608-341-8987

Affordable & Innovative

Whether you want one cell trail camera, or a dozen or more, Cuddeback leads the way...

Saves you hundreds vs other brands

Patented CuddeLink technology allows you to connect up to 24 cameras, yet requires only one cell plan. Delivering the lowest cost-percamera cellular service.

CuddeLink works where other brands don’t CuddeLink Cell is the only camera in the network that requires cellular connectivity.

Allowing users to put remote cameras in LTE dead zones and still get the advantage of cell.

Plus the performance and durability Cuddeback is known for. For affordable cell service, the choice is obvious.

1 CuddeLink Cell emails images from all your CuddeLink cameras

Up to 23 CuddeLink cameras send

images to 1 CuddeLink Cell

Learn more at Cuddeback.com CuddeLink Cell plans start at $10 per month for 750 images.

Additional images are only $5 per 1000. Other plans available.