2022 Issue 5 September/October

Part 45

Hyatt’s Cracker

BEAR GREASE CHAP STICK! 202 2

GIVE HER A HIGH (TWENTY) - FIVE

Legendary Tapping into Ace in Bearbruins Hounds the hole fall

The bear hunting authority for 22 years

6 4 YEA R S A

BEAR HUNTER A Lifetime of Following Hounds

t/O ct

French Canadian Black B

S ep

Arizona Bears in the Pears

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Sept/Oct 2022 Volume 23 - Issue 5 Cover photo by Ben Sheets

by Josh Kirchner

by Marlene Odahlen - Hinz

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Endearment

Give Her a High (Twenty) Five

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BY Ben Sheets

64 Years a Bear Hunter

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Use of Leashed Tracking Dogs

By SJ | Help by ‘Mom’

By Douglas Boze

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SJ’s First Bear

by Timothy D. Fowler

Recipe: Grandma’s Meatballs

Ace in the Hole

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46

Tapping into Western Fall Bruins

by Joleen Morehead

44

Six Ingredient Bear Grease Chap Stick

By Stephen F. Fielder

Legendary Bear Hound: Hyatt’s Cracker

By Brian Strickland

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60

Columns

Cuddeback Trail Camera Contest Winner Win a Cuddeback Camera!

58 Bowhunting Bears

“Help Me! Help Me!!

I’ve fallen & I can’t get up!”

by Bernie Barringer - Bear Guru

60 Western Bear Hunting

by Brian Strickland - Western Hunter

Submitted by: Michael Peterson North Carolina

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

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Bruin Desinations

64

Fleshing it Out

by Al Raychard - Bear Hunting Veteran

by Timothy Fowler - Renaissance Man

66 In Hot Pursuit

by Barry ‘Bear’ Siragusa - Hound Dude

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Bear Hunting

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Bear Grease The Editor’s Note

Kolby Morehead

@kolby_morehead

With Clay’s schedule filling up, he asked that I take over the editor’s note. He wishes you all well. We’re excited that things continue to move the needle and pushing us into new things.

The last year has gone by faster than the ignition of a flash pan on an old muzzleloader and has been just as exciting. We can’t control the things that happen like with that controlled explosion of energy but we can give life our effort and willingness to put our hands to the work that life throws our way.

Since last September, I’ve gotten married and took over all aspects of the magazine alongside my wife, Joleen. December found me in the cold mountains of British Columbia chasing lynx with hounds with my friend, Buddy Woodberry of Double U Hunting Supply. In the words of Jerry Clower we got a, “Great big one!”

I didn’t do much hunting outside of that once in a lifetime kind of hunt. Big life changes bring with them the need of intentional thinking and effort to find balance in life which is always on my mind, as I now have a family to think of.

May found me taking three first time bear hunters into the backcountry of Montana where one of them got a big mature chocolate boar. The mountain was harsh and humbled us like only the mountain can with unpredictable weather and the harshness of its terrain.

June found me in Manitoba on a hunt with Todd Wohlgemuth of Baldy Mountain Outfitters which you’ll see in a future issue of the magazine. Spoiler alert, I got a nice chocolate boar!

As I am writing this, I can hardly contain my excitement for the upcoming seasons here in Arkansas and Oklahoma for bears and deer. August 17th is the magic day that we can start filling the woods with the sweet inscense of Northwoods as we begin filling barrels with the hopes of drawing in some big Ozark and Ouachita bruins!

We wish you the best in your fall pursuits as you chase the critters that get your heart pumping every year.

May your trailcams be full of photos. And may your arrows and bullets fly true!

PS: Give me a follow on IG to keep up with what I’m up to!

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

Kolby Morehead aka the ‘bear tech’ got married last September.

The ‘bear tech’ took a once in a lifetime lynx in British Columbia last December.

June found the ‘bear tech’ in Manitoba where he got this chocolate boar.

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

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

Bear Hunting

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Endearment

by Josh Kirchner

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Bear Hunting

@dialedinhunter

Sept/Oct 2022

Seek

Find

Take the Shot

pack out heavy

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Arizona Fall Bears In the Pears As we sheltered ourselves from the sweltering A Look in the Rearview Mirror sun, my friend, Cody, and I sat and reflected on the past Fall bear hunting in Arizona is where I’d say I 24 hours. The previous evening we saw what we deemed became a bear hunter. Starting from the ground up, “the last grizzly in Arizona”: a giant color phase black I’d read every ounce of info I could on the topic. More bear gorging himself on prickly pear fruit. We got set up times than not, that was only designated to local hunting for a shot, but the bear ended up laying down behind forums because bear hunting was not that sought after vegetation until dark. After heading back the following in Arizona. In fact, there are still a fair amount of people morning, we witnessed someone trying to poach a sow to this day that don’t know bears even exist here even and cub—a highly illegal act that left both of us in a though there is some pretty good bear hunting to be funk. Luckily, the bears got away unscathed and the fella found down in the desert. missed multiple times.

Something that I’d always come across as I’d Then we sat waiting, hoping beyond hope that peruse through these local hunting forums was the the grizzly of a black bear we saw would reappear. It’s mention of “bears in the pears.” I’d soon find out that this moments like these that make you question your own was a driving factor in the little amount of attention that sanity. At 5:54 pm, though, that doubt melted away; Arizona does get when bear hunting is top of the converthere was the giant bear we’d been dreaming about, sation. Bears in the pears is a phenomenon that happens and we had only nine minutes of shooting light left. every four years or so, depending on rainfall amounts, that forces the bears down out of higher and denser elSeason Structure and Management evations and into the desert. Here they can be observed Arizona has several Fall bear seasons in place quite easily from a long distance feeding on prickly pear ranging from mid to late August clear into December, cactus fruit. It’s like candy to them, and they can’t resist pending sow quota limits. Through mandatory harvest it. check-ins, AZGFD keeps track of how many sows are killed per unit. Once a sow quota limit is reached, that Solo in the Backcountry particular unit will shut down bear hunting the following Eight days is what I had set aside for this Arizona Wednesday at sundown. It’s the hunter’s responsibility to Fall Bear hunt. The first few days I planned to spend in keep track of what units are open throughout the season a familiar place at an unfamiliar time of year; it was a via an online harvest report on azgfd.gov or backcountry camp that I had frequently hunted during by calling the Bear Hotline. the spring, but had never stepped foot in once fall arrived. So I was intrigued to see what was lurking about in

With the food being slim in his usual spot, the author went to a new area and glassed the pears of arizona and hit the jackpot!

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”There’s Gotta be Bears Here” We busted our way through the oak brush and out to the edge of a beautiful drainage. Shortly after sitting down and getting a closer look at everything through our binoculars, I knew we were in the right area. The prickly pear fruit was beet purple and abundant down the whole canyon and there was water flowing through the bottom.

But, this country was anything but forgiving. The cactus and oak-choked hills were protected from sheer walls in all directions. “There’s gotta be bears here,” I said. It only took a short while for my assumption to come to life.

Cody spotted him, a giant boar that looked like fear was not something he possessed. Who knows how long he’d been living within this crack in the earth undisturbed.

Changing Things Up We had eyes on him, though, and quickly tried to make a This new area I was headed to is actually where move.

I learned how to bear hunt. It’s where this whole passion The next 20 minutes felt like an hour. Soon, of mine developed and what really served as a second however, we were right across from the bear at 500 yards home to me in my early years. There were some months with Cody behind the gun. It felt like a done deal. Just like that I’d spend more nights in this country than in my bears do, though, this monarch had other plans. He deactual bed at home. Pair that familiarity with one of my cided to lay down behind a prickly pear patch until after best friends scheduled to meet up with me, and I knew dark. Our rifle did not report anything that evening, but our the next few days were gonna be special regardless if a enthusiasm for the next morning was at its peak. We knew bear went down or not. where this bear was living and it was only a matter of time After poking around some of my old haunts and before we saw him again. not turning up anything but waves and waves of nostalgia, it was apparent that I’d have to slightly switch gears Sick to Our Stomachs again. A feat in itself with so many memories flooding my Our headlamps bounced through the darkness like mind, but this area was proving to show the same acorn fireflies as we made our way to the edge of the canyon situation as the last. No food, no bears. Luckily, I knew a the following morning. Right away at gray light, I spotted hell hole of a canyon nearby that was loaded with prickly a color phase bear working its way up the hill across from pears. It was worth a look and exactly what Cody and I us. But after getting a closer look, I realized it was a sow planned to do on the evening of his arrival. and cub. I decided to grab some film of them. As I was October vs. April.

I only ended up spending a night back there, and it wasn’t because I was homesick. The acorns just weren’t right and, while I did turn up one small boar, I knew I’d have better luck if I switched things up in terms of what food source I was focusing on. This is one of the hardest parts about bear hunting—the only way to know how food crops are doing is to get out there and look at them.

After packing up my camp and hiking the long way back to the truck, I knew exactly where I was going to go. It was a place that sat deep in the core of my bear hunting history.

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The author’s friend, Cody, lines up on a bear right before it lays down behind some prickly pears.

This is the same bear the author would get the next day.

The author and his hunting partner witnessed poachers attempt to shoot a sow and cub six times. This ruined the hunt for them and they stopped the hunt temporarily to report what they saw but the poachers had fled. Luckily, the poachers were incompetent shooters.

Kudos to Josh & Chris from the BHM Crew! #GuardTheGate

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doing that, we started hearing gunshots down the way. I figured there was another bear someone was shooting at, but I was wrong. The ground started erupting around the sow accompanied with the sound of a rifle. We witnessed someone miss the sow, as well as the cub, eight times. The bears got away, but we were sick to our stomachs. So much so, we decided to end our morning hunt and try to grab the license plate number of the would-be poacher. We were unsuccessful and he snuck out of there unnoticed.

Regroup After seeing what we saw, I’d be lying if I said my enthusiasm wasn’t squashed a little. Cody felt the same way. We didn’t even feel like hunting. So, we went into town, grabbed a bite to eat, and relaxed in camp for the day. This is not the kind of thing I do on a regular basis— normally, I’m out hunting all day. However, it felt nice to just kick back and talk about life with a good friend.

That therapy session was exactly what we needed in order to get back in the right mindset.

We knew that big boar was still in there and that

This is the author’s kit. It has been on his back for countless miles prepping and hunting. He’s been dialing in his kit for years. www.bear-hunting.com

we’d get an opportunity with time. Which brings us right back to the beginning of this story.

It took 2.5 hours of snacking on gummy bears and staring into a lifeless mountainside before that country came alive. This time I spotted him. The bear we deemed “the last grizzly in Arizona” was there the whole time, bedded beneath us, and we never saw him until he decided to get up for dinner. With nine minutes of shooting light left, we both snuck down the steep face to cut as much distance as we could. 398 yards is what my rangefinder said. MOA was dialed.

Rifle was on a solid rest. All I had to do was make a good shot.

The bear feasted on prickly pear fruit and decided to lay down quartering away. I didn’t have time to wait for him to stand. Once those crosshairs were settled, that trigger felt heavier and heavier. Once the gun went off, I honestly thought I missed. Cody responded by saying, “He’s done.” I didn’t believe him, so I shot the bear two more times. But after reviewing the video footage, it was very apparent that the first shot turned him right off. We had a big bear down in a big canyon that didn’t give a damn about our well being.

Hiking back to the truck that night, I called another one of my best friends to come help with the pack out first thing in the morning. He enthusiastically accepted. We had no idea what we were in for…

Endearment The following morning we started our hike well before daylight. We had a merciless canyon to cross and only a foggy idea of how to do it. It took us 3.5 hours to get to where the bear was and he was just as magnificent as we thought. A color phased blocky headed boar that once owned the very country we were standing in.

The hill was littered in his fruit smoothie-looking prickly pear scat. To stand where he stood is about as wild as it gets—wanderers in a kingdom without a king.

1.5 hours later, packs were loaded down with meat and hide. It was time to start our slow and arduous journey back to the truck. I didn’t tell my friends this until later, but I was honestly worried. We were in some nasty stuff. The fact that they devoted their time to come help me recover what is an absolute dream bear for me means more than any words I can type out here. They know that. What we didn’t know was how exactly we were going to get back to the vehicle.

There were plenty of slips and falls with heavy weight.

We also ran out of water. Luckily, we had a water filter and had flowing water beneath us. Even with it, one of us still got heat stroke before getting out.

And then there were tears. Tears from me when we finally made it out of that canyon, but not because of sore muscles and exhaustion. I was just so happy that my friends didn’t get hurt and felt bad for putting them through the nine hour packout we just tackled. It was a selfless move on their part. The thing that we all have in common, though, is endearment. Endearment for the bears, the country we live in, and for moments like these, etched in our memories forever.

The thirst for more of these things never goes away.

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The author’s 27 Nosler shot true and the bear went down quick!

The author harvested a beautiful chocolate colored bear deep in the backcountry of Arizona.

Cody Swift glassing the pears for bears.

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One draw back of going into hard to access areas is the brutality of the packout.

Way to persever guys!

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This is the author with her twenty fifth bear!!! Congratulations Marlene!

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Sept/Oct 2022

Give Her A High (Twenty) Five

by Marlene Odahlen-Hinz Anyone who knows me soon realizes that my favorite North American animal to bow hunt is the black bear. I’ve pursued them in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario, and now I was going to try Manitoba. In the early years my husband and I did our own baiting, but now we prefer to use an outfitter because, as anyone who has done it knows, it takes time, effort, and lots of muscle to establish and then maintain a site before and during a season.

THE MEETING: I met Darryl and Dylan Kantimer, owners of DOA Outfitters, at the MN Deer Classic in 2019 just before the Covid pandemic hit. I told them I was after my 25th bear with a bow and would be over the moon if it could be larger than any I’d arrowed previously. Darryl answered me thoughtfully and honestly, “Marlene, I can get you that bear.”

Kantimer has access to and owns 2,000 square miles of hunting property and has been an outfitter for over 27 years. Their lodge is located less than 30 miles into Manitoba from the Minnesota border, which for me was an easy and direct route to drive. I was energized just chatting with them and eager to start my adventure once border restrictions were loosened.

THE ARRIVAL: Now let’s fast forward to May 2022 as my husband and I were motoring northwest to Manitoba, Canada. I’d followed Kantimer’s website and thought I had a good idea of what to expect when I drove into the camp. Was I wrong! The accommodations were nicer than many places that catered to tourists, let alone hunters used to “roughing it.” Meals were provided and prepared from scratch by the most talented chef I’ve met. The bread was homemade, the vegetables served were homegrown, and the Guinea hens were free-range on his farm. The celebratory wine we toasted at the end of hunt successes was made using his personal recipe. I would have loved shadowing Devon for just one day or, frankly, just adopting him. The minute we drove in, Darryl and his staff made me feel like I was as special as my quest for bear #25 was.

I was sharing the week with Marshall and his www.bear-hunting.com

grandchildren, Hallie and Landon—all from Kentucky.

This was Hallie’s first bear hunt and she was excited.

Even though Darryl puts two-man ladder stands at each bait site, all of us sat by ourselves. This suits me just fine because when people sit together, that means twice the movement, twice the human scent, and twice the noise when someone needs to stretch or chitchat.

THE OPERATIONS: There were cameras placed at each site (most of which transmitted images back to Darryl’s phone), giving us all an idea of what to expect regarding size, number of bears, and time of each bear’s visit. Seeing these pictures heightened our anticipation for an exciting “sit.” I develop a different mindset when I’m just bear hunting and when I’m hunting a specific bear.

Darryl had pictures of a bear visiting the site I’d been assigned to. One photo indicated this boar came in at 1:38 am and the second day he appeared at 5:47 am. I told Darryl that if after my first day on stand I didn’t see him, then I wanted to be settled down there by 4:00 am the following day. I’ve learned that with patience and a change in my hunting strategy, I might just be able to take this Black Angus bovine look alike.

From my bear hunting experience, I knew he was absolutely “broadhead worthy.”

Kantimer knows how to bring multiple bears into his bait stations. His approach is simple: give the bear what they want and where they want it.

• He makes sure the resident bears have food available every time they visit the station. That means putting out lots of bait ranging from sweets to savory items. He uses several 50-gallon drums filled with treats set at various yardages within the opening. This allows multiple bears to feel less threatened by a dominant one when they can feed a comfortable distance away from an alpha bear.

• Minimizing the number of visits to the site is also key to making the resident bears feel secure enough to stay close to their food and water source.

• He also makes certain that there is some source of water nearby. This year brought an incredible amount of moisture to the area, so there was waBear Hunting

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•

ter everywhere. Adequate amounts of food and water will help hold the bears within their home range and may discourage them from looking elsewhere for it.

And finally, he selects a site where there is suitable cover around the bait station so that the bears can remain concealed until they feel comfortable enough to enter the opening and feed.

This is Hallie from Kentucky with her first black bear! It only went 15 yds! well done Hallie!

THE HUNT: Since this was a special experience for both Hallie and me, we both made sure to take advantage of the practice range set up near the lodge.

We knew there was zero margin for error on this hunt and each of us was confident that when a trigger was pulled—or an arrow loosed—a bear would be harvested.

Darryl and his guides drive each hunter to their assigned stand. When each person has their safety harness attached, the hunt officially begins. Hallie mentioned that when she saw the ATV leave she was a bit anxious, but soon the woods produced a calming effect as she became aware of the orioles and squirrels entertaining her with their movements and sounds.

Neither Hallie nor I like ed a possible minor trail, I know whether I can reach it with an arrow. My comfort shooting range is 25 yards. Any animal positioned beyond that gets surprises while hunting, so I a “pass.” found out that we both slowly scan the area trying to identify trails the bears might be using. THE RECOVERY: One by one that afternoon, each hunter texted Darryl and the main Then I look for shooting lanes guide, Kenny, that a bear was down. Hallie’s bear was easy to find since she I can use should a bear come from a direction I might not an- saw it collapse 15 yards from the spot where she pulled the trigger. It had ticipate. For this reason, I do my a beautiful white “V” on the chest. What a trophy. Landon harvested a bear more than 250 lbs with the most unusually colored coat. It almost looked best to launder all my hunting bi-colored (black with significant brown tones). Again, what an unusual and clothes with Scent Killer® and pack enough of their shampoo, subtle color variation for his first bear. Marshall ‘s bolt flew true and brought down another bear over 250 lbs. Three for three—that percent definitely conditioner, and deodorant deserved a high five all around. to last the week. Bears like I was the last hunter to text in that my #25 was down. He came cauto circle the bait and I want tiously in from the trail behind my stand, but I had been carefully watching my scent at a minimum. I also always have a rangefinder with that direction preparing for the unexpected. When I suddenly became aware me so that when I’ve pinpoint- of his silent approach, he took my breath away. It took every bit of my pa20

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Landon from Kentucky got a nice boar with hues of brown mixed in with the black coat.

tience and focus not to move, knowing that sooner or needed to hunt bears by waiting until he was comlater I would catch sight of him out of the corner of pletely within the clearing. More importantly, she my eye as he walked out from behind me and toward displayed the focus and skill to aim where her bullet the bait. When he stood at the bait and then turned would be most effective to deliver lethal results. to give me a slight quartering away shot, my pin was Since the hunt ended quickly for all of us, on him. He weighed in at 410 lbs, my largest. I was Darryl said we were welcome to stay until the end of over the moon. the week. Winnipeg was only 90 minutes away with It was a late night for all of us that involved many attractions to see and would definitely be worth bringing each bear back to camp, taking more picthe drive. The morel mushrooms were out, but so were tures, and then skinning, quartering, and boning them the ticks (no problem—we’d packed our ElimiTick® out. Everyone slept in the next morning. Darryl had clothing). There were also lots of trails to walk around given each of us the opportunity to see bears and by camp. the end of the first day of hunting, our harvest rate My husband and I opted for heading back to was 100%. That says so much to the ability of DOA to MN so we could process the meat. Next year when deliver a quality experience.

I return, hunting for morels and visiting Winnipeg will Hallie had a couple of deer under her belt, be the #2 & #3 items on my to-do list. Arrowing bear but she wanted to experience a different type of #26 is the first thing on my list. hunting. She absolutely demonstrated the patience www.bear-hunting.com

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Marlene’s bear was on camera at 1:38am the first night.

Hallie and Landon’s grandfather, Marshall, took a nice bear with his crossbow.

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They started getting pics of Marlene’s bear during daylight and she was on the hunt for this big boar.

Marlene’s 25th bear weighed in at a whopping 410lbs! She’s looking forward to number 26.

www.bear-hunting.com

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64 YEARS A BEAR HUNTER

A Lifetime of Following Hounds with ’Uncle’ Wayne Hensley

by Ben Sheets

@treetalkinmedia

After a long day of hunting and driving, I turned in at the J&W Trophies sign. I drove past the house and went around the back, parking behind the maroon ‘97 Toyota Tacoma with the license plate “No Kill.” I am at the house of my good friend, “Uncle” Wayne Hensley.

I had met Wayne a few years prior at a Virginia Bear Hunters Association field trial. A few Facebook messages back and forth to confirm he would be there and a six-hour drive later, I met Wayne for the first time. I had heard how his Leopard Curs were phenomenal bear dogs from a few people and I wanted to know more about them and the man from Lizard Ridge.

My first impression of Wayne wasn’t quite what I had in mind. Standing 5’9’’ tall and around 185 lbs, he was smaller than I had imagined. Despite my first impression of his appearance, we hit it off right away.

Wayne is very charismatic and loves to have a good time. Without fail, he is always teasing people and telling jokes. Over the next several years I hunted with Wayne a few times. During this time, I planned to breed one of my females to his young male that had impressed me on one of those hunts. Right as my female came

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into heat, Covid-19 struck and travel restrictions were put into place by many governors across the country, including Virginia. I didn’t let this stop me; as I drove to Wayne’s, I was on the phone with a friend. He asked me if I was worried about getting stopped with the restrictions. I replied, “Nope, I’m just going down to visit my Uncle Wayne.” Ever since I have jokingly called him that, but it’s nothing new to Wayne as many lovingly refer to him as Uncle Wayne as well.

Wayne grew up on a 351-acre farm in Bedford County, VA where his father, Charlie, raised cattle.

The farm was high up on the mountain and bordered a national forest. At the age of ten, Wayne started bear hunting with Charlie. Wayne, the youngest of five children, hunted alongside his brothers Lewis, Carson, and Clyde. His brother-in-law, Pete Ware, also hunted with the Hensleys. These men laid a foundation that has lasted 64 years and continues to this day.

In his younger years, bears were scarce in the mountains around their home. Bear hunting with hounds

also looked very different than it does today. The modern technology that has become essential was nonexistent. A lot of people didn’t even have a 4-wheel drive truck and hunted out of cars or cattle trucks. Charlie had an old cattle truck to haul his hounds and sons around. The Hensleys would start a bear hunt in the morning with a good breakfast cooked by Wayne’s mother, Minerva. Anyone hunting with them that day was expected to be there for breakfast and Minerva took offense if they weren’t. Charlie would then decide where the group would hunt that day and most often it was the roughest areas in the mountains. Wayne recalls walking until striking a bear and then following them afoot, always trying to keep them in earshot. Pete taught Wayne to stay high on the mountain above the hounds in order to keep up with the chase.

I asked Wayne what kind of hounds his father had and he replied, “You name it, he had it—it was a mixture of everything.” Most of these hounds were not registered and were referred to as whatever breed they resembled. Wayne recalls Plotts, Walkers, Blueticks, Black and Tans, Redbones,

Front row left to right: Pete Ware, Allen Overstreet, Leslie Overstreet, Landon Overstreet, Dennis Mitchen, Sidney Mitchen, Corbin Nichols, Tom Hensley, Richard Mitchen. Back row left to right: Unknown, Wayne Hensley, Charles Hensley, Joe Hensley, Clyde Hensley, Lloyd Holdren, Johnny Holdren, Jesse Hensley, Henry Wilkes, Jim Goff. Wayne is next to his dad and he is next to his dad. The five youngest people in this photo are the only ones that are still living.

There are five bear hides in the photo but there are three more on the side of the barn. There were over 30 coon hides, some of those trapped by Wayne’s Uncle, Tom Hensley, but many were treed by the hounds as well. www.bear-hunting.com

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Technology has come a long way since Mr. Wayne started hunting with hounds 64 years ago.

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and in the later years Leopard Curs being among the pack.

These hounds didn’t have a fancy kennel or even a chain; they ran free on the farm. Charlie would go to the livestock market on Tuesdays and on his way home would pick up meat scraps from the local butcher to feed his hounds. Wayne recalls many mornings as he left for school, the hounds would be treed somewhere around the farm. While they bear hunted hard, they let the hounds run coon and bobcat as well. The hides were worth good money and Wayne remembers getting as much as $30 for a big coon hide when he was young.

With such a long hunting career, one would think Wayne would have killed many bears; but nothing could be further from the truth. Wayne has only killed six bears to date. Of those six, he only went to the woods intending to kill two of them. His first kill was an interesting story. After eight years of bear hunting and on the first day of the season when he was 18 years old, he carried a rifle for the first time. The rifle was a 303 British Enfield that he had won for a dollar. The bear was treed in a rough and rocky area in a lone tree. Wayne went in quietly easing along when suddenly the bear spotted him. He quickly pulled his rifle up and shot the bear behind the front shoulder and the bear dropped. Unlike today, it was not a common practice to tie dogs back before shooting the bear out of a tree. Wayne quickly realized the bear was still alive as it started fighting the dogs on the ground. Hurrying around on the high side to not be in the bear’s path if it tried to escape, Wayne got above the bear and saw it on top of his friend’s redtick hound. Despite never being in a situation like this, Wayne knew what he needed to do and put the end of his barrel in the bear’s ear and pulled the trigger.

While Wayne hasn’t personally killed many bears, he enjoys taking new hunters and youth hunters alike for their first bear. Over the last 15 years, he has taken 31 people who were able to kill their first bear. These people have ranged from 9-years-old to 60-years-old. He especially enjoys the youth as they are the future of hunting. One such trip was with an 11-year-old girl who was able to kill a 465 lb bear. This bear was treed on private property that they did not have permission to hunt on, and the only reason they were given access was Wayne explained to the land owner that the shooter was this young girl. I have spoken to a few people who credit Wayne for getting them their first bear and even getting them addicted to bear hunting with hounds. Wayne has also given many years of service to the Virginia Bear Hunters Association (VBHA) by being a member for over 20 years and has served on the board for the last 12 years. In addition, he was inducted into the VBHA Hall of Fame.

Over the last 30 years, Wayne has developed and maintained his own line of Leopard Curs. His brother, Lewis Carson Hensley, owned a female named Flicka that was one of the first four littermates that were registered as American Leopard Curs.

This dog and others owned by Pete and his father are what lead him to the breed. When Wayne went looking for Leopard Curs of his own, he went to Rex Bowers of Dutchman Creek Leopard Curs for his foundation stock. These dogs proved to have just the right combination of brains, speed, nose, and grit that Wayne was looking for. His dogs are well known in Virginia, but he has sold dogs all across the United States. He has line bred his dogs with only three outcrosses and these outcrosses were all to the Little Mountain/Glade Creek Line of Leopards.

As he nears 75 years of age, Wayne told me he has no plans of quitting. He continues to raise the next generation of dogs to make sure he is never caught without a good pack of bear dogs. His hope is when the Lord calls him home that he will be in the woods with his pack of Leopard Curs doing what he loves. If you would like to hear more from Wayne, check out episodes 1 and 9 of my podcast “Tree Talkin’ Time.”

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Mr. Wayne has owned the gambit of bear dog breeds.

Over the last 30 years, he has developed and maintained his own line of Leopard curs.

Mr. Wayne’s tacoma is easier to get up and down the roads than the cattle truck he use to haul his kids and dogs around in. www.bear-hunting.com

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SJ’S FIRST BEAR

BY SJ Monacelli With Help from Mom

In the dark, quiet morning of the calm forest, the first howl of the bear hounds wakes up the camp.

Since July, this is something that my family and I have gotten used to.

After my parents hunted with Camp Believe it or Not in 2017 for my dad’s bear, and again in 2020 for my mom’s bear, we bought our very own hounds and joined the camp. This summer, as a 7-year-old, I started training just like our hounds for the upcoming bear season. The guys at camp joke that I’ve “made every tree.” I’m not sure if that’s true, but I have come close!

This year, I was very blessed to receive a Wisconsin Black Bear Transfer License from Joyce Kratz (Montello, WI). The day of the season opener, I was nervous and excited.

In the early morning hours, the baits were checked, and it wasn’t very long before the race was on! I love all the hounds at camp, and it is my favorite part when they go to work and we get to watch them run on the GPS. There was one other hunter at camp on opening day and I knew that I had a second choice. As the morning went on, our hounds did their job and soon we had opportunities to see black bears! The first bear was treed and that was a pass for our camp and the other hunter. Before long, another bear was treed about 800 yards off the road. I wasn’t worried, because I was thinking the other

SJ is all smiles going on a bear hunt with hounds for his very own bear!

SJ and his mom leading their hound.

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on my camo muck boots! As the bear moved around in the tree, my dad and I worked to make sure we had everything lined up. I looked in the scope and would tell my dad what I could see and was careful not to put my finger on the trigger until I was ready to shoot.

Dad double-checked, clicked the safety off, and I shot. The bear twisted around the back of the tree and fell to the ground! I yelled, “He’s on the ground!” and gave a fist pump. I was so happy that my very first big game animal was a Wisconsin Black Bear! Everybody gave me high fives, hugs, and handshakes. I had some tears, and my mom and dad talked to me about how that means that I appreciate the animal and am thankful for the meat to feed our family.

This wasn’t the first hunt that I’ve been on in my seven years, but this was the first hunt that I had the tag. Being with my family, the bear camp guys, and having my hound, Vito, at the tree with us made this hunt special. My bear dressed out at 114 lbs, which made it a very nice first bear.

In my family, we believe in God, hunting, and being kind. This hunt will forever be one of my favorite memories. I cannot thank Joyce for my transfer tag enough and the bear camp guys for teaching me so much all summer.

hunter at camp was going in, but before I knew it, my mom, dad, and I were grabbing gear and on the move.

Uncle Jacob and Uncle Mike headed into the tree first to hold the bear and check in on the dogs with my dad close behind. My mom stuck close to me and cheered me on as I climbed over trees and hopped on bogs. Mom said later that I practically ran the whole way.

When we made it to the tree, the dogs were getting tied back and my dad was picking the perfect spot for me to line up a shot using a 6.8 Remington Special on a tripod. I wasn’t too worried about the shot because I had been practicing shooting all summer, and my parents drilled me on where the vitals are on a bear. The ground we were on was boggy and a little wet, which made the tripod tippy. I was glad that I had www.bear-hunting.com

SJ with his first bear over hounds. Congrats SJ!!

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Ace in the Hole @bozeandbears

by Doug Boze

The Art of Calling in Fall Bruins By the time you’re reading this, it is September.

In my neck of the woods, that means that the main food source for bears this time of year is dwindling rapidly (especially by October). The red and orange salmon berries are long gone, and many of the red huckleberries have fallen, already been eaten, or rotted off the vine. Some blackberries cling to what remains of their thorny tangles and blueberries up in the alpines are the last natural buffet before winter’s icy grip strangles the mountainside. The orange, red, and yellow canvas of the blueberry plant that paint the alpine meadows are truly a sight to behold and add almost a mythical quality to what can only be described as beauty beyond belief. Knowing how slow blueberries grow, I always marvel at the miles and miles of them that cover the meadows that adorn the mountains like some royal tapestry draped over an ancient king’s lap. These are some of my favorite hunting areas. The time it has taken to spread these plants and have them grow in such numbers and thickness makes me feel blessed to be here, even if it is just a moment in time.

Along with the dissipation of local food sources comes thicker, fuller, more luxurious hides on bears (and of course, more bear fat). For me, the hide is not the only reason I love bear hunting so much, but it doesn’t hurt. I adore bear hides, literally. I find it sacrilege to leave them in the field (I have yet to do so). In www.bear-hunting.com

fact, I often use some of my bear hides as “throws” around the house, tossing them over my body so I can catch a quick nap on a winter’s day. I even parade around our property during deer camp in the evenings and use them as a tunic to break the wind chill that otherwise bites at my shoulders and back. They’re rather enjoyable for other uses than that of a rug. But first, one must acquire such an item. And there is only one way to do it; it must be hunted and earned.

As the food leaves the landscape, bears become more and more dispersed throughout the various draws and canyons they inhabit. That makes pinpointing them or spotting them more difficult as time passes. The turning of the weather from bad to worse doesn’t help much either. You can easily be enjoying a warm day in late September and end up with a rain or snow squall right on its heels. So, one might ask, how do I tip the odds in my favor?

Well, there is always the time-tested strategy of knowing what food sources remain and focus on those areas. This is actually a very good strategy because you can bet the remaining bear in the area will be doing the same thing to satisfy the ever-growing need for calories so they can survive the long, dark, unforgiving winter that awaits. I find it fitting that the remaining food seems to surround Bear Hunting

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Larger than it looks, this mountainous basin provided a fall bear for the author and his family. Using sound to do the work for you, is the definition of working smarter, not harder

common bear denning areas, seemingly denying easy access to hunters, but welcoming the rugged endurance of bears. It’s a suiting environment for both the bear and the adventurous, and I love it.

But as stated, the land is rugged—often steep, rocky, treacherous, and unforgiving. So, when I find myself looking for a late season bear, what is my “ace in the hole” (as it is referred to)? That ace, for me at least, is predator calling. Ok, now I know what you’re thinking: another article about predator calling bears.

Always be careful when calling, as you never know what may come in like a sow with cubs.

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Well, yes, but for good reason. If you are a bear and it’s late in the year, snow skiffs are starting to blow at night, food is scarce but you’re still hungry like it’s 4:00 pm on Thanksgiving and you haven’t eaten all day, would you go for an easy snack if someone yelled out, “dinner is up”? I think you would. And that is what predator calling can do for you.

When you predator call, you are ringing the dinner bell for a hungry predator. And boy, once you get one coming in, you will be hooked for life. Now of course there are risks involved in calling, especially in grizzly country, so take proper precautions because things can happen very quickly. For example, have a tree or rock to your back, call with a buddy, if possible, be aware of your surroundings, and be ready for action (I call with one in the chamber for sure). Now, why predator calling? Why not glass and focus on those food sources?

Well, you can still do that for sure and that is a good tactic. But there may come a time when glassing isn’t producing what you’d like to see, but that doesn’t mean there might not be a bear locally.

Predator calling can break a bear loose from dense cover, a den, or creek bottom. It’s a great way to see what is out in the canyon below you without spreading your scent all over the place. Letting the sound of the predator call do the walking for you is like letting the glass do the walking for you while you glass.

When I set up, I like to find an elevated position or vantage point so I can see a good distance around me, which helps my sound carry. If possible, I like little to no wind, but a cross wind is ok or even

a wind at my back. Bears will sometimes circle you and try to wind you, so having your shooting lanes downwind can be beneficial. If you are hunting with a partner, throw them to either side about 50 yards or so out, but make sure you know where each other are and know your shooting lanes. I like to be able to keep my partners in sight for safety reasons. Having an additional person or two can also help your success rates. There is a reason deer and elk herd up— more eyes and noses. The same with a few people in your predator call set. The guys or gals to your left and right might spot a bear coming in at an angle you are unable to. This very scenario has happened to me numerous times. Take a moment (5 minutes or so) to look around and let the area quiet down from your arrival and try to memorize some of the features you are looking at. This helps identify a bear when they come in. For example, I have noticed “stumps” when there was not a stump there before and it turned out to be a bear.

Options of places to call can be an alpine meadow with various trees and sparse blueberries remaining, a rocky creek draw that leads to an avalanche chute drainage, or a rocky box canyon with steep sides and tree cover. When you are making the decision on an area, go with the one you’ve found success with.

If you have yet to find success, I say try something completely different sound-wise. Maybe try a calf elk distress, fawn distress, pig squeal, or the like. I am telling you this for a few reasons, the first and most important is, it works! Trying a different sound can be the secret to success for a predator that has heard

Placing a trail cam in your target area can show you what is living close by, and who you might be calling in.

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a rabbit squeal a couple times and has become educated to it. But maybe they have never heard a pig go nuts or a calf elk sound lonely, and that is just enough to bring them in for a shot. Your ultimate goal is to peak their interest long enough for you to evaluate the bear and get a shot off. You do not have to sound perfect in your calling.

Along that same line of thought, initially, feel free to break branches and kick rocks (making a ruckus), since something being attacked would be making that same noise. This might help bring a bit of realism to your calling set. And you will want to call for an hour, allowing the bear time enough to get to your position. The bear you are targeting blindly may be across a canyon, but still can hear the noise.

It will take time for him to figure out what direction

the noise is coming from, how to work their way over to you, and go around or over many of the obstacles that could be in the way. Try to make it easy for the bear to come to you. For example, you wouldn’t want a large cliff right below you. You want it easy for them to travel as quickly as possible to you; you want to be an easily accessible meal.

Start off your set quietly, as you do not want to “blow out” animals by being too aggressive.

Remember that predators can hear very well, far better than what many give them credit for. Think in your head about a predator/prey scenario, maybe at first a calf or fawn is just lost and lonely. Then as the set progresses, a coyote happens to find the animal causing it distress more frantically, maybe tossing in a coyote howl or pup distress during that time.

The author has taken many bears using predator calls. This is a bear he called in close in Alaska.

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Then as you near the end of the set, the prey sound is loud and frantic, slowly getting quieter as the set continues, then dying off completely or lasting as a whimper before stopping completely.

Now comes a difficult portion: waiting for another 15 minutes or so. Cougar will often come in during this time, or a reluctant bear, so give yourself enough time to see what happens. I have not followed this rule a time or two and have lost shot opportunities at bears (one was a particularly nice color phase bear, which I saw once I left my calling position and was busted). I will be constantly searching tree lines (predators like edges), any trails or logging roads, tops of stumps—any sort of change or abnormality. When I scan with my binoculars, I am looking for movement of the brush, bits of the bear, checking on top of and to the side of stumps, and I am doing all of this very slowly. Try not to have any sudden movement. Cats pick up on movement very quickly, and I feel like with bears you can get away with it a bit more, provided they feel comfortable.

The hope is you never have to get to this point in your session.

You could end up calling for five minutes and have a bear stand up at 40 yards like I have had a few times.

Or you could be 30 minutes in and a coyote comes bouncing through the tall grass and, naturally, you take a shot. Maybe a bobcat saunters along the tree line and sits on a rotted log, piercing you with their steel gaze while waiting for you to move so they can either stalk and attack or slink away like that of a shadow on a moonless night. Or, preferably, a glorious black bear will break cover from the brush below and gulp in air through their mouth and nose trying to figure out what all the fuss is about. They will slowly work their way through the brush for a few hundred yards and then the temptation of the kill and meal will be too great, and they will charge, full sprint.

Drool and aggression will be on full display as the amazing predator works its way to the awaiting meal, you, and the time will come for you to either make the shot, filling your tag, or spend your winter nights in regrets of a failed hunt. The choice is up to you. www.bear-hunting.com

This is the terrain the author calls into in his home state of Washington.

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New designs for men, women, & kids available only at the Bear Hunting Magazine (www.bear-hunting.com) online store! #GuardTheGate

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Legendary Bear Hounds: Part 45 Hyatt’s Cracker

Owner, Brad Hyatt

by Steve Fielder

@stephen.f.fielder

This is Hyatt’s Cracker with owner Brad Hyatt.

He was a once in a lifetime hound and excelled at rigging bears.

Brad Hyatt, age 49, is a North Carolina highway patrolman. Born in the cradle of Plott bear dogs in Haywood County (where the Plott family lived), Hyatt began his journey with hounds by coon hunting when he was young. He was the youngest of five children and hunted the hounds with his brother and some older friends. Then about twenty years ago, the bear hunting bug bit hard when he moved to Caldwell County where he lives now. “I wanted to get into it,” Hyatt said, “but I didn’t know anybody. Sometimes you don’t fit in with certain groups.”

The country that Hyatt now hunts with his mixed pack of Plott, Redbone and Cur bloodline hounds, is mountainous. “Not the roughest like the

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mountains around Cherokee, but rough enough,” he says, adding that in his view, the first dogs that he hunted with when he began to hunt bears were his personal best. I asked Hyatt to tell me about those dogs, which essentially comprises the pack he is hunting with to this day.

Hyatt had a girlfriend that had two boys, and three puppies were purchased for the boys from Tony Shook in North Carolina. They were basically Weemsbred Plotts. Two of the pups didn’t pan out, but one of them, a female with the unusual name of Clyde, was a keeper. She was eligible for registration, but Hyatt didn’t follow through with the paperwork. In addition to Clyde, Hyatt obtained a registered Plott from a guy in Morganton, North Carolina. The dog was named Bill and Sept/Oct 20220

cliffs and one of them would stumble, the other would had, in Hyatt’s words, a flag tail. Clyde, on the other pick up the slack. They were a true joy to hunt with,” he hand, had what he described as a whip tail. Hound continued, “and honestly, it took the challenge out of people will readily recognize these descriptive terms. it for me. When I was rigging and they struck, it was a Many of the old time Plott dogs had flag tails in the manner of the American Foxhound. My father detested done deal. Then, if I put Bill and Clyde down with them, it was really on.” the “buggy whip” tail or stern found on some Plotts in Hyatt does tree work on the side and that the early days of registration. He believed the heavy hair on a dog’s tail was an indicator of good breeding. includes taking fallen trees off the Blue Ridge Parkway, Plotts of today can be seen with both features and, like the 469-mile scenic highway that extends from the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, through the Blue my father, I prefer heavy hair on the tail.

Hyatt tells a fascinating story: “I went to a hog Ridge Mountains, and down to the Great Smoky Mounbay competition at the Spartanburg, South Carolina tain National Park in western North Carolina. Through Coon Club and saw a little red dog there. It was short that work, Hyatt met a bear hunter from Buena Vista, and compact with the kind of stature I like in a dog. I Virginia by the name of Ricky McDaniels. He received an talked to the guy that had her and gave him one huninvitation to hunt with him in Greenbrier and Pocahontas dred dollars for her. Her name was Sadie and she really Counties in West Virginia.

“I was driving a 1984 Toyota 4 x 4 with a homedidn’t pan out. A friend of mine that owns a service garage wanted to let a hound hang around the place, made wooden, slide-in box with chicken wire for screens so I gave her to him. Later he told me a fellow named on the side. I’ve never been a show boat. I guess I may Joe Thompson had a pet Redbone Coonhound that he have shown up in what appeared to be a two-dollar was thinking about breeding Sadie to. I told him, ‘she’s rig,” he admitted. “Anyway, I didn’t have a GPS when I your dog.’ He bred the dog and I looked at the pups went up there and I couldn’t find the place where they after she had them.” Despite telling himself he didn’t were hunting. I asked someone where the bear hunters need any more dogs, he liked the looks of the pups and stay in the area, then went to a house and met some picked out male that he named Cracker. folks named the Butlers. They were hunters and asked At that juncture in his bear hunting journey, Hy- me what kind of dogs I had. I managed to find the right att had found a group of hunters that would accommo- house finally. When I got settled in, they were ribbing date his sincere desire to become a bear hunter. “The me about my little truck. When I tied the dogs out to feed and water them, I had one tied to each of the four Redbone-colored pup was between 12 and 16 weeks corners of the truck. It was the beginning of the season old when I began to take him with me,” Hyatt said, “I and I learned that Ricky McDaniels had some good dogs, had the pup loose and he would walk with me. One day when he was about four-months-old, he began to too.

“The first day, I rigged the first bear and we haropen with a buddy’s dog on track. I told my friend, ‘he must be running your dog’s track.’ When the dogs got vested it. Later that day, I was rigging alone and struck to the top of the mountain, the pup was still opening on a track,” Hyatt continued. “It was about three o’clock in track. I didn’t have a tracking collar on him and when the afternoon and you know how it is. I decided to go he got to the top of the mountain, we caught him. That ahead and put on it and they went into the wild blue was the beginning for Cracker. I thought, ‘I may have yonder. I just had beep-beep (telemetry) collars in those something here,’ and in later years people told me I days. I stayed in that country all night tracking the dogs. had a lifetime dog.”

I didn’t want someone to steal my dogs. The next mornAs Cracker aged, he became, in Hyatt’s words, a ing, Ricky got there and he said, ‘they are back in there number one rig dog. “With Cracker, I didn’t need bait,” but they are getting a little bit louder.’ About that time, Hyatt said, “I didn’t have to tie him on the box. When we could hear the dogs and a bear—that we guessed he rigged a track, I didn’t have to worry which way to be about three-hundred pounds—crossed the road. It the track was going. He wouldn’t leave the box until I was about nine o’clock in the morning and he dumped stopped and opened the tailgate. If he went 100 yards his box, so we ended up treeing the bear and harvestand kept on going, he was right. If he went 100 yards ed it. I got a lot of respect for my dogs that day,” Hyatt and turned to come back, he was right. I didn’t have to said, “because we rigged another bear that day and check the direction of the track.” treed it before I had to leave. Cracker would lay on the By this time, Hyatt felt that other hunters had box like he was asleep and they kidded me about it. I begun to envy him and his dogs. I can understand the told them, ‘if he smells one, he’ll wake up.’ We took three dynamic when a hunter has exceptional dogs and has bears on that trip up there.” the extreme confidence in those dogs to unashamedly Hyatt resumed his tale of Cracker by relating a talk about them. “During that time, I tried a Redtick,” story that developed back in North Carolina. “I was huntHyatt said, “and I had another pup come around that ing in the Wilson Creek Gorge. The dogs crossed Wilson got into the mix, a Brindle dog named Chicken. He Creek and went into the Lower Creek Falls, headed was probably half Plott with my Bill dog being his sire. toward Highway 181. I was using beep-beep (telemeHe started early and he had a super nose. There was try) collars back then. I didn’t get a signal on them, so I less than a year in age between him and Cracker, drove around Highway 181 above Morganton. I couldn’t but Cracker actually had the better nose. When they get a signal there either and remember thinking, ‘someworked in tandem, it was over. When they got into rock one has picked them up.’ I called the Asheville, Avery, www.bear-hunting.com

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Treed and freed, houndsman Brad Hyatt and his pack watch as this bear wander off after a successful race.

Hunt Big Color

B&C Score: 20 - 8/16”

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Caldwell, and Burke County animal shelters telling them to look for two red dogs if anyone brought them in. I went back the next day to the top of the mountain on Highway 181 and got a beep on one dog back toward Newland to the west.

I drove around and got another beep, then another one louder. I ended up on Highway 19 near Spruce Pine and I got a good, loud beep.

I followed the signal all the way to a man’s house. I asked him if he had a new dog there and discovered he had an open collar that was the same frequency as mine, so that proved to be a dead end.”

Hyatt continued, “The next day I began to go around to all the bear hunters I knew and that took me over to Roan Mountain on the Tennessee side. I talked to a clerk in a grocery store there and he was very accommodating. He said, ‘let me get my tracking box and I’ll try to help you find them.’ I was just wanting to talk to all the bear hunters that I could so they would be on the lookout for my dogs and spread the word. We attempted to track them all over that country and that ended the day. I had pretty much given up on finding my dogs when I got a phone call.

The caller was from an animal shelter and they said they had a Brindle dog and a red dog. They said they had been found in the Linville Gorge Wilderness in Burke County. Some hikers had found them and they didn’t have collars on them. After I got the dogs, I drove the road that runs the ridge of Linville Gorge.

I would stop and walk over the edge until I got a signal on their collars. I found them buried under some rocks. They had been badly abused; someone had beaten on them attempting to break them and had tried to scrape the information off the nameplates.”

Hyatt then said, “When I got Cracker and Chicken back, they were thin. They had been out for a week. I let Larry Hughes in Roan Mountain, Tennessee know I had found the dogs. Larry is in his mid to late seventies. He invited me up to go hunting with him. He isn’t married and hunts with a buddy about his age named Leonard. I spent the night with Larry and we put down on a track and treed it that first day. He was impressed with the dogs, and his dogs were in there with them too.”

To go on with the story, Hyatt said, “It was cold as the dickens up there.

The next day, we woke up to about eight inches of snow on the ground. Larry said, Sept/Oct 2022

‘there’s no reason for us to get out there today.’ I told him that I had the three-day license and I would like to get my money’s worth out of it. He advised that I go down toward Ripshin Lake and rig. He and Leonard went out too and we were barely within radio distance of each other. He was on the mountain and had about two inches more snow there than we had at his house. I was rigging and my dogs blew up like crazy.

I called Larry and told him I had a strike, but couldn’t find a track in the snow. He said, ‘we’ll come your way, but shuck them on out of there if you want to.’ The dogs busted out of there and jumped a bear out of the laurels. They treed the bear on top of the mountain. Larry said, ‘you just won the lottery’ (that morning he had said we would have a better chance winning the lottery than treeing a bear on a day like that). But we did it with just me, some worn out dogs, and two elderly gentleman bear hunters.”

I asked Hyatt about Cracker as a reproducer of bear dogs of his ilk. He said, “I bred him to my Plott female, Clyde, that I started with. When the litter was born, there were two red pups. The others were Brindle. I kept a pup named Hoss, a Brindle. He showed

a lot of grit and interest toward coons at an early age.

When he was four-months-old, I took him bear hunting for the first time. I was leading him and he was standing on his hind legs winding a bear. I turned him loose and that was his first bear run. Hoss stayed with the bear all day with the rest of the dogs.”

Cracker was still alive at that point, somewhere between five and six years of age. “My buddy, Steven Smith, and I were hunting together over near Wilson Creek, near Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain,” Hyatt began. “We were walking a trail and got a strike off the trail. We cut loose Cracker, Bill, Clyde, and Cracker’s son, Hoss. We could hear them in the hollow barking. They had a bear up a tree, but when we got there Cracker was dead at the base of the tree. I had lost Chicken the year before. That was a really bad day for me. I shot the 200-pound bear at Cracker’s tree as it was lodged in the tree. I went back to the truck and got a shovel and buried Cracker right there at the tree’s base. It was a hard pill for me to swallow for sure.”

Hoss, Cracker’s son, has filled his sire’s shoes very well. “He is about 10-years-old now and he’s got nine lives,” Hyatt said. “He’s been sewn up several times

This is one of Hyatt’s Cracker’s offspring, Hoss.

He lost his leg in a vehicle accident but still gets in on the chase at times.

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Hyatt’s Cracker’s legacy will live on through Hyatt’s pack. He was a once in a lifetime hound.

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and had his femur broken twice. They had taken a bear into a laurel thicket in the rocks. I was in there as the bear and the dogs went on. I heard a noise and there was Hoss standing there.”

The next year, Hyatt and his buddies were running a bear that crossed Highway 421, an east/west four-lane highway that connects Winston Salem to the east with Boone to the west. They had one dog across 421 and had another dog in the median. Two more hounds were coming toward 421. Hyatt’s friend was trying to catch them before they got to the highway when Hoss showed up. There was a van coming down the highway and Hyatt remembers someone saying ‘oh no’ as he heard the vehicle hit the dog. “That time it broke his femur severely—a bad break,” he said. “We had to amputate his back leg. I still hunt him and he still makes trees. He stayed gone two days just last week,” the veteran bear hunter said. A bear had come near the house and the amazing threelegged son of Cracker, sans tracking collar, was heard topping the mountain and out of hearing.

I referred earlier to western North Carolina as the cradle of the Plott bear dog. The Plott family, and bear hunters of every stripe, have been tested by area bruins and the harsh terrain of the region for centuries. With leather tough hunters like Brad Hyatt and hounds like Cracker are carrying on the grand tradition of bear hunting with hounds there in a way that would surely make the Plott family and their contemporaries swell with pride.

Sept/Oct 2022

Book Review: ‘Terror at Deadwood Lake’

Lane Walker Books - Kid’s Series

By Joleen Morehead @joleen_morehead I have loved adventure books since the moment I discovered what they were. When I would go to the library growing up, I wouldn’t pick out one or two but usually a dozen at a time. That has crossed over into adulthood and I still love all types of adventure stories.

I now have a more well-rounded home library including the Hometown Hunters Collection, a kids series by Lane Walker. I was surprised to learn that some friends of ours had heard of these books and absolutely loved reading them to their children. With their high recommendation, I was very excited to dive in with book number three from the collection, Terror at Deadwood Lake.

Terror at Deadwood Lake starts off with Dre, a high school senior who lives with his tight knit family in Alaska.

He spent a lot of his youth with his dad learning how to hunt in Alaska and the Midwest. His big dream is to go on a bear hunt with his dad on Kodiak Island. When he graduates, his parents surprise him with his dream to hunt a Kodiak Brown Bear. It’s truly a rite of passage for Dre as he makes mistakes and faces challenges with courage, a positive attitude, and flexibility along the way. His family’s motto is “ There’s always hope” and it’s something he reminds himself of when things look tough. As much as I enjoy adventures, I also enjoy reading about www.bear-hunting.com

people who overcome hard things like Dre does.

I won’t share any big spoilers because you’ll want to check this book series out for your family, but I guarantee that your kids will be glued to these books and that’s a good thing. There’s a thread of healthy respect for hunting and nature that I think is valuable for kids to see in literature that is geared towards them. That’s how we can #Guard the gate for future hunters and nature lovers who might just turn into policy makers.

Bear Hunting 43

Grandmother wasted nothing. Grandfather said, “It was the Scotch in her.” My childhood home was six doors from my grandmother’s house. I never had a meal at her home that didn’t leave me licking my lips. I remember sitting in her kitchen watching her take the celery leaves from the top of the stalks and chopping the leaves to add to this recipe. The resulting meal is what became known in my own adult house as Granny Burgers. Grandma mixed beef and pork (ground pork was less expensive back then) and added celery leaves and milk-soaked bread crumbs she made from stale bread. She formed burgers in the shape of five or six ounce footballs, cooked them in a cast iron pan, and served them to this hungry boy with buttery mashed potatoes and pan gravy alongside whatever vegetable was immediately available from the garden or root cellar.

I think of my dear grandmother and her white wooden table, scalding black tea, and homemade rhubarb juice every time I make them. These meat-

balls were inspired by my grandmother’s burgers. Use ground bear if you have it, but any game meat works as would beef if you must.

These meatballs are roasted to at least 165 degrees F, on account of USDA’s terminal cooking temperature recommendations to eliminate the risk of trichinosis.

No need to fuss about this just follow the 165 degrees F rule and you and your guests will be fine.

Recently, as is our family’s occasional practice, two of my grandkids had a sleepover at our house. They both helped me with the meal preparation. I see this as part of the continuum of young hunters’ training––every hunter needs to know multiple game preparations.

The minced black bear recipe that follows leans heavily on fresh garden herbs: celery, chives, and parsley.

I hope my grandkids gather with their kids and make these meatballs long after I’m gone, remembering the fun and good food we shared. I truly hope you and your family enjoy them, too.

Equipment

Method

• • • • • •

• • • •

Cutting board French knife Gram scale Kitchen Aid mixer (or brand of your choice).

You can use your hands like Grandma, but the mixer makes it go much faster Food processor fitted with the cutter blade Cookie scoop (we maintain a selection of various sizes to make perfectly matched meatballs and cookies, but forming by hand will do the job too) Ninja Foodie or air fryer with racks suitable for meatballs (or your regular oven and a baking tray) Mixing bowls, assorted sized to hold measured ingredients Measuring cup Instant read electronic thermometer

Ingredients • • • • • • • • • • • 44

900 grams (2 pounds) of ground bear meat (feel free to substitute any game meat if needed) 400 grams (0.9 pounds) of ground pork shoulder 175 grams (¼ of a pound) of bacon ends (or use sliced side bacon) 20 grams (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon) of salt (1.5% of meat by weight) +/- 5 grams (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon) coarse black pepper 70 grams (2 ounces) chopped fresh celery leaves only 30 grams (1 ounce) chopped fresh parsley 30 grams (1 ounce) chopped fresh chives 150 grams (about 2 cups) of fine breadcrumbs 250 ml (1 cup) milk 2 large eggs Bear Hunting

1.

Everybody wash hands! Sometimes kids need a reminder.

2. Weigh out the ground bear and ground pork into the Kitchen Aid mixing bowl.

3. Measure breadcrumbs, milk, bacon, salt, and pepper. Calculate salt at 1.5% of the total weight of the meat; in this case, the math goes like this: (900+400) x 0.015 = 19.5 grams (but round up to 20). Note the bacon adds some salt to the mix, and the bread and milk offset some of this. You can adjust the amount of salt to suit your taste in the next batch.

4. Gather and coarsely chop chives, parsley, and celery leaves on a cutting board with a chef’s knife.

5. Mix the milk and breadcrumbs to soak.

6. Add bacon to the food processor and blitz to a medium fine mince. Add to the meat mixture.

7. Add the coarsely chopped herbs to the food processor along with two eggs, salt and pepper.

Blitz to finely chop herbs and mix in the salt and pepper. Add to the meat mixture.

8. Add the bread and milk to the meat mixture.

9. Attach the paddle to the mixer and start on the lowest setting to incorporate all the ingredients.

Once mixed, gradually increase the speed to a higher setting until the meat mixture binds together well. This might take two minutes or so.

When the meat starts to smear, you’re done.

10. Scoop the meatball mixture to form uniform balls the size of your choosing.

11. Bake in the air fryer until the internal temperature passes 165 degrees F. This took about 15 minutes at the 400 degree F setting.

12. Serve to suit your guests (ours wanted fettuccini with the option to control the amount of tomato sauce on everything).

Sept/Oct 2022

Grandma's Meatballs

by Timothy Fowler

@timothydfowler

Including the grandkids is important to the author. They did great!

All of the ingredients should be evenly mixed throughout the meatballs.

Make sure to use a meat thermometer until you hit 165 degrees F.

The author paired the meatballs with pasta. #Classic Of course this meal should be shared with Grandma!

Buon Appetito!

(Italian for Enjoy Your Meal!)

I’ll repeat myself—it is such a pleasure as a hunter to share a meal with preparation of game I caught with my kids and grandkids. They thoroughly enjoyed both the cooking and eating of their meal (and their parents were grateful for the break). Who’s joining you in your kitchen this week to extend the pleasure of a hunt?

www.bear-hunting.com

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SIX INGREDIENT BEAR GREASE CHAP STICK I went on a night hog hunt a few months back. It was lots of fun (no hogs though). I realized about halfway through the hunt that my face and lips were completely chapped. I didn’t have anything with me that could have prevented or improved my situation. Even if I had had my chap stick with me I don’t think that it would have helped my skin. The peppermint probably would have aggravated the situation.

If you’ve ever had the change to handle some bear fat, you know that everyone comments how smooth their skin is. So how about customizable chap stick? Chap stick that can soothe chapped skin, maintain the moisture on skin and lips, or could just be used for bug bite relief? Chap stick that a husband would proudly carry in his pocket because it has BEAR GREASE from his bear.

I won’t go into a deep dive with how over the counter chap sticks can be more harmful than helpful.

A quick internet search will give you plenty of content to peruse on the matter. I have found a solution to the problem and have made a chap stick that I can control what goes into it! It’s a win-win all around.

Natural, Healthy, and sustainable! I like that a lot!

Notes: I only had about a dozen tubes for this recipe, and I ended up with enough left over that they could easily fill a dozen more.

Ingredients: • 1/4 - cup of rendered bear grease • 3 - tablespoons of stearic acid • 1/4 - cup of beeswax • 1/4 - cup of shea butter • Essential oils (Optional) • Vitamin E oil (Optional) Tools Needed: • Wisk • Spoon • Measuring cups • Mason jars • 1-2 Rags • Pot (big enough to hold three mason jars) • Chapstick tins or containers - I found plastic chapstick tubes from Hobby Lobby and I also bought the chapstick tube holder and it helped hold those tubes so I could pour (see note below).

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Instructions: 1. Take a pot and place a rag on the bottom of the pot. Fill halfway with water and place your mason jars in the pot for a double boil.

2. In the mason jars, measure out one for bear grease, one for stearic acid, and one for the beeswax. The shea butter is soft, so I just placed it in the microwave for 60 seconds, checking every 30 seconds.

3. Turn on the stove and set it to medium heat. I put the three mason jars in my pot, and I added an extra rag to keep the mason jars from tipping over in the water.

4. Bring to a low and slow rolling boil. The bear grease and stearic acid were the first ones to melt and the beeswax took way longer. You can just keep it all in the pot until the beeswax melts completely.

5. While you are waiting for everything to melt, set up your containers for the chapstick.

6. Once everything is melted, get a whisk, and first mix the bear grease and stearic acid together.

Then slowly add the beeswax, shea butter, and essential oils. If the mixture turns out to be a little chunky, don’t worry! I used an immersion blender on low and it fixed the problem (be careful when using the immersion blender; the liquid is hot and you won’t want it splashing on you).

7. Take a spoon and check the consistency of the mixture. As it cools on your spoon, you can see if you need to add more ingredients. I thought my batch was the perfect consistency for what I want to use it for, but I did add a few more drops of essential oils.

8. When all ingredients are blended, pour into your chapstick containers or molds. Let them set until completely cooled down and hardened. You can put them into the freezer for a faster cooling down, but they cool down quickly on their own.

9. Store in a cool, dark place or in the refrigerator.

Sept/Oct 2022

You won’t want to pass on this chapstick recipe. Bug bites in the summer? Make this recipe, but drop in essential oils that help you find relief. Wind-chapped cheeks and lips? Add some essential oils that you love in this versatile chapstick.

@joleen_morehead www.bear-hunting.com

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47

Start warming your bear grease while measuring out other ingredients.

Beeswax

This chap stick filling tray was essential for holding up the chap stick tubes while pouring in the recipe.

If you don’t have a food scale, you might want to invest one. You can get a more accurate measurement by weighing certain items, like this shea butter.

Shea Butter

Stearic Acid

Measure out your ingredients.

Double boil your stearic acid, beeswax, & bear grease. Shea butter is easier to melt in the microwave.

Stearic Acid

Beeswax Bear Grease 48

Bear Hunting

Sept/Oct 2022

Measure out the bear grease and mix in the other ingredients. You can stop here or use an immersion blender for a smoother consistency.

Reheat if necessary & use an immersion blender to smooth out any chunkiness in this recipe.

It worked out great for the author!

Pour the mixture into tubes or tins (not pictured). This is a versatile recipe and will work great in different containers.

Customize your labels and store in the refrigerator or in a cool, dark place. This recipe made 12 full tubes. Tag the author on instragam (@joleen_morehead) with your photos!

www.bear-hunting.com

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Sheep Feet For the Win

By Kolby Morehead The older I get the more I realize that there are certain products that can help me stay longer in the backwoods. God blessed me with very high arches, though I haven’t found how that benefits me. I have a difficult time finding a shoe that feels good on my foot for a long period of time and when carrying a heavy pack on my back my arches take extra abuse.

I’m no slouch and I have discovered that I can push past limits and persevere with my mental toughness when things get difficult. I can endure being uncomfortable and exhausted and keep going, but that doesn’t mean that I should. Extreme backcountry hunters packing miles into the wilderness stress cutting mere ounces from their back packs.

In 2018 while prepping for an upcoming fall bear hunt in the backcountry of Washington and hiking up the mountain with a weighted pack, I became fed up with the arch pain and the fear of that tearing feeling of plantar fasciatis setting in. I left that ridge of the Ozark mountains and headed to my favorite local outdoor store, Pack Rat Outdoor Center, and picked up a pair of SOLE insoles.

There was noticable improvement between the stock sole and the new insoles. They made my training and hunt much better and that was one hurdle removed.

When I realized how much the insoles helped with the pain in my arches and combining that with the same thought process that back-

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Bear Hunting

@kolby_morehead

packers apply to the weight on their back... I determined that custom insoles would be worth the investment even if marginally better than the ones being utilized.

I had kept hearing about Sheep Feet from different western hunters I follow and the time had finally come to turn my talking into action! Sheep Feet is a custom orthotic company that sends foam molds to your home for you to take imprints of your feet and they send you a perfect insole to match your feet. The process was quick and easy. They even have a video to show you how to do take your impressions.

After getting my Sheep Feet in, I used the old insoles as a template to trim the new ones and they slipped in perfectly!

The Results Excited to try my Sheep Feet, I quickly went on a weighted hike and I instantly felt the difference. They were considerably more comfortable and I kept waiting for a familiar pain that never came! I was soon in the mountains of Montana walking miles a day including a four mile packout with a bear losing over two thousand feet in elevation. The Sheep Feet were champs and helped with my mental toughness because I could focus on other things and not the familar pain of yesterday in my arches.

I would suggest these for anyone, not just those suffering any type of foot pain. If it can help you stay out a little longer or go a little farther, it is worth it.

Sept/Oct 2022

Scan the QR Code on the box for a video showing how to take your impressions.

Unpack your new insoles and use your old soles as a template.

Insert your Sheep Feet into your boots and experience the difference!

www.bear-hunting.com

Take your Impressions and write your info on the right cardboard flap and send back with the prepaid label.

Draw a cut line and cut the excess material off your Sheep Feet.

Smile while helping helping pack out a bear with your comfortable Sheep Feet!

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Sept/Oct 2022

Greetings from the Old North State,

exempt dogs that are riding in a dog box, as it exempts dogs “humanely secured in a cage or other Things have been hot across the state of container” the NCBHA held the stance that this proNorth Carolina. The summer has been a rather dry posal starts a slippery slope of governmental control one for our constituents, especially on the coast. over dog ownership that could lead to unnecessary This has had an effect on the crop production in regulations that hinder responsible dog owners. In some areas, especially with the corn crop in some fact it did, as at the end of June, and with a strong areas. This may have an effect on bear feeding push from PETA, the “Fiona Mae Wagglebottom’s patterns in those effected areas. It may lead to Act” (officially, House Bill 1116) was filed. The aim of bear relying more on mast and natural feed in ar- this bill would be to prevent dogs from being tetheas where it has been productive. The bear popu- ered outside when temperatures rose above 85 lation seems to be thriving though, which is always degrees or below freezing, and also during a storm. a good sign. Continued signs of sows with several The NCBHA vehemently opposes this proposed cubs seems to be the norm almost everywhere. legislation on the grounds that it is a further examThe coming fall weather season brings ple of creeping on the precipice of a slippery slope. hopes and anticipation of not only cooler weather, The NCBHA posits that this bill would penalize those but also upcoming bear season. This is especially that didn’t have the means or resources to provide true of our mountain region, whose bear season the bills definition of adequate shelter or space opens in a short two months from now on October to keep a dog. As the bill would set to define such 17th. Speaking of mast, the feeding and moving “adequate shelter” we fear it would create such an habit of the bear in the mountain region of our unreasonable definition, that it would be an undue state is incredibly influenced by the amount (or burden on otherwise well maintained and humanely lack thereof) of mast. When the hardwood trees kept dogs by responsible owners. In addition, there produce abundance of nuts and fruit in this reare many localities in the state that have such laws gion, the bear are invariably congregated in those or ordinances in existence to adequately penalize areas, which are often remote. In times when the and prevent animal cruelty. Thankfully, the bill is mast crop is scarce, the bear are more apt to unlikely to reach a hearing. roam in search of other food sources – often in We as sportsmen here in North Carolina have lower terrain where there are farm crops. We will a lot to be thankful for with our abundant bear (and re-visit this topic and see how this year’s crop has other game) populations, our research and manaffected the upcoming season at its conclusion. agement minded Wildlife Resources Commission, The piedmont region (what we call the and abundance of sporting associations at both the middle of the state) has seen an increasingly local and statewide level. We here at the NCBHA robust bear population in recent years, as spillencourage all constituents who value our state’s over from bear on the east and west migrate. resources to remain or become active in the pursuit As a result, the Piedmont region has a range of of preserving our bear-hunting heritage. It is through counties with an applicable bear season. Some of individual support that our organization, as with oththem mirror the mountain region’s start date, with er like minded organizations throughout the state, the earliest counties opening on October 15th. are able to be legislatively impactful and effective in Other counties in this region fall more in line with defense of our rights. So as you enjoy the upcoming the eastern seasons, starting on November 12th. bear seasons in North Carolina, we hope you considAs always, the exact, county specific season dates er reaching out to us, or your local sporting assoand regulations can be found online on the North ciations, to see what you can do to be proactive.

Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission website, In order for our beloved sport to be preserved and www.ncwildlife.org. passed on to future generations, it will take effort.

On the legislative front, House Bill 986 was Until next time, we hope that all our readers presented back at the end of May. This bill atenjoy the coming cooler weather, experience a suctempted to eliminate the freedom of having dog cessful start of bear season, and enjoy all that our ride in the bed or even the back seat of a vehicle state’s natural resources have to offer in a responsiwithout being properly restrained. While this would ble, sustainable, and ethical manner. www.bear-hunting.com

Bear Hunting 53

Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association Inc. Sept/Oct 2022

WBHA DEADLINES BIG BEAR RECOGNITION- December 1st Entries must be a WBHA member prior to September 1st WBHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS NOMINATIONS- November 1st

Some families bundle up in matching LANDOWNER APPRECIATION- November 1st outfits to go cut down their own Christmas Tree YEARBOOK- January 1st every year and some may go to the cabin for 4th of July. Some families vacation yearly and some ADVERTISING- January 1st have Lutfisk for Christmas. Family traditions cre- of his hounds after SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS- March 1st ate lasting memories and foster a sense of unity a successful bear To insure the quality of our publications, all entries to the WBHA, and appreciation. Those traditions are passed tree as he wasn’t whether it be photos or text must be sent as electronic files. Hard copy down from one generation to the next. Each physically able to text or photos will not be accepted. Photos must be a .JPEG file and hoping that the next generation will continue the make that trek. His articles, stories and applications must be in a WORD document. passing, creating lasting memories of their own Documents and photos should be emailed not texted. The quality of a text included “Look photo that has been texted at any time has been reduced to a view to be shared over and over. familiar?” With a quality photo and cannot be reproduced and published.

Bear hunting with hounds is a family tra- tear in my eye and dition of mine I will not let see die. My dad beFIND US ON FACEBOOK! memories flashing gan hunting with his grandpa when he was still in back, I text back grade school. Learning the ropes from my great “She got to walk across the St. Croix!?” I cannot count the numgrandpa and a few of the neighborhood genber of times I crossed that river growing up. And now I couldn’t tlemen before sharing them with me. Although, wait to hear the story straight from her. She said it was awesome I’m sure our grade school age experiences were and that the water felt nice on a warm day. much different from each other, I can guarantee Lasting memories made from THIS family tradition is what the character building, appreciations learned, I and the WBHA strive to preserve. Not just July through October and the memories made were quite similar. but all year long. Things like our scholarship program, landowner In diapers, I was riding in the old Chevy appreciation drawings, highway and forest clean ups, trap and around the dirt roads of Bayfield County eating sporting clay sponsorships, and youth in the outdoors days we snacks and riding on (or in) the dog box. Chasing help sponsor. These all aid in our efforts in keeping this sport and my dad into the woods after a pack of howling tradition alive so the next generation has opportunities to create hounds looking up at a bear was the highlight their own memories as I did; like at the Echo Valley Field trials, to my summer days. As I grew older, I became where I remember being ecstatic to be able to help retrieve a 50 much more involved in sports and all the extras cent can of pop from the giant cow tank ice bath for the conceslike band and 4H which I let affect my summers sion stand or joining the race to the tree once the flag dropped of bear hunting very little. I remember marching to see what dog was first line and first tree. All these are things in a parade on a Saturday morning and heading I want for the next generation to experience and cherish. And straight up north to catch the afternoon cookout then, pass down again someday. and the Sunday morning hunt. Every school project that came along, I somehow included bear Happy Hunting! hunting into it. I specifically remember needing Stephanie Hanson to interview someone and I chose Bill Klugow, our crew and family’s “Chief” if you will. (Past WBHA President). Even my Senior Project, which was needed to graduate high school, ended up being on “The Ethics of Bear Hunting” and shined a light upon conservation and again, included knowledge from my “required mentor”, Bill. At that time, Bill had been elected the president of the WBHA and asked me to come along to the next board meeting. 18 years later of WBHA board meetings and 15 now as a board member myself, I can proudly say I have been in the fight to keep this sport alive to SAVE this family tradition.

My daughter Lehney has the passion for the sport of bear hunting as much as I did at her age and it’s so exciting to watch. Her love for the dogs is remarkable. She was at her first bear kill at the grand age of only 2 months as I harvested my second bear. Getting to see her go hunting with my dad now and help him with his dogs makes my heart full. Spending a couple weeks Reminder: Don’t forget to submit your Landowner Appreciation with grandparents in the summer includes running nominations! Deadline is November 1st. Please fill out the online Grandpa’s dogs and helping him in the woods. submission form found on our website, www.wbha.us.com, or fill My dad sent me a picture last summer of Lehney out form in the annual yearbook and send by mail to Stephanie (then only 11) walking back across a river with 2 Hanson, 78450 Church Corner Rd. Washburn, WI 54891 Mail to: WBHA, 594 Rural St, Berlin, WI 54923 Call John Trochinski 920-229-0365 or email at bigjohntro@gmail.com 54

Bear Hunting

Sept/Oct 2022

The Michigan Bear Hunters Association is ramping up efforts to help protect Michigan black bears and pass on the hunting traditions the organization works tirelessly to defend.

In early August, MBHA directors approved plans to spend $6,000 to help the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to construct three bear live traps and trailers to help replace the department’s aging fleet in the Upper Peninsula.

It’s the latest development in the MBHA’s ongoing program to help DNR officials trap and relocate nuisance bears, rather than rely on lethal means to address conflicts.

“By the end of the year, they will have four brand new operating live traps in the UP,” MBHA President Keith Shafer said.

The MBHA previously donated three other live traps to the DNR through a program coordinated with college welders at Ferris State University and Kirtland Community College in recent years. In those projects, the MBHA supplied the funding and template, while college welders donated their classroom time to put them together.

The Upper Peninsula traps will be coordinated through DNR large carnivore specialist Cody Norton, who is working with a local fabrication shop to assemble the devices using pieces from previous projects the department has been unable to complete due to funding. The DNR is also contributing $15,000 toward the three new traps.

“The last one we had made at Ferris in 2020 we took up to the UP and it’s now in use,” Shafer said, adding that other MBHA traps are at DNR offices throughout the Lower Peninsula.

MBHA directors are also implementing several changes for the organization’s 2023 convention designed to engage more youth in hunting and trapping.

Each year, the MBHA awards several hunters Big Bear Awards at the convention, and will expand that program to include a new category for successful youth bear hunters 16 years old and younger.

“Any youth who is successful harvesting their bear this year, all they have to do is email a picture of themselves with their bear, how it was taken and the weight, and we’ll send them a successful youth bear hunter certificate,” Shafer said.

Those who want to apply can email bigbears@ MIBearHunters.org, with “youth bear” in the subject line.

“We want to focus more on our youth this year at our convention,” Shafer said.

To that end, the MBHA is also working with DNR educator Ed Shaw to offer a youth trapping clinic during the convention’s kids program, “a class where the kids can get a trapper’s education card,” he said.

The class is expected to run during the convention’s main events on Saturday, likely from 8 a.m. to noon, for youth ages 8-17.

MBHA directors are working to follow up the Saturday youth trapping class with a hunter safety course for kids the next day, to offer youth ages 10-17 a certificate for bow hunting and rifle hunting.

“They’ll have to complete an online or book portion at www.bear-hunting.com

home before the convention,” Shafer said.

The hunters education course is expected to run for 5 to 6 hours, likely from 8 a.m. until around 1 p.m.

“It’s not just for members, it will be open to anyone,” Shafer said.

More information about the program will be available in the MBHA newsletter, The Bear Facts, or through inquiries emailed to kidsprogram@MIBearHunters. org.

The new programs for youth at the MBHA convention aligns with the organization’s long history of promoting Michigan hunting and trapping traditions to the next generation, building on an exceptional youth program at the annual convention that has featured everything from sledding dogs to zoo exhibits to hunting simulators and educational workshops highlighting Michigan’s native wildlife.

Other existing programs include thousands in MBHA-Bill Walker scholarships awarded every year at the convention to college bound students with a passion for the outdoors.

The MBHA also works with the DNR to coordinate the state’s Bear Management Cooperator Patch Program, which includes a contest for youth to design a patch purchased by hunters across the state.

The winner of the patch contest, which is open to all K-12 students in Michigan, receives $100 and recognition at the MBHA convention. Second and third place winners also receive $50 and $25, respectively.

Proceeds from patch sales have gone toward the bear live traps, educational programs on bear biology and habitat, as well as cameras, collars and other research equipment for the Michigan DNR. More information about the bear patch program and the MBHA scholarships is available on the MBHA website, MIBearHunters.org, as well as through The Bear Facts.

Other youth programs include an annual youth swim trial contest for hunting hounds hosted at the Clam River Houndsman Club in Falmouth, which included 30 entries at this year’s event, about triple the normal participation.

“The MBHA is committed to connecting with the next generation by all means, and the changes for the 2023 convention offer some exciting new ways our organization can help preserve the traditions we all love,” Shafer said. “We’re looking forward to building on our successes and opening up new ways to get more kids in the outdoors, whether it’s bear hunting or setting a trap line.

“With the trends in hunting participation and competing interests working against us, it’s imperative we all do our part to ensure our hunting heritage remains strong now and for generations to come,” he said.

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

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

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Liz 1st bear Silver Creek Outfitting Duck Mountains

Jay Romer Mathew’s bow Wilton, Maine

James Keene 1st DIY bear hunt in Idaho.

May 2021 using a fawn distress call.

Tammy Postma Hamilton, MI September 2021 TenPoint Crossbow Second bear taken

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Sept/Oct 2022

Chris Salger Northern Maine September 2021 Dressed 315lbs Winchester 30-06

Taylor Larabee 1st black bear Taken with a Longbow Saskatchewan

Brad Bathgate 334 lb boar New Brunswick, CA. Squared at 6ft - 4in. & skull was around 19”

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Britney Morin 1st bear Wawa, Ontario

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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

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The Strategic Bear Hunter

by Bernie Barringer

What is Minnesota Doing with Bear Hunting?

The changing landscape of bear hunting in Minnesota has a lot of hunters in the land of 10,000 lakes scratching their heads. Not too many years ago, hunters could draw a tag every year, and in some cases every other year, in all zones.

In fact just 20 years ago, you could get two bear tags. Minnesota uses a preference point system in which you get one point for each year you apply.

The applicants with the most points are drawn first. Over the past year, there has been a significant reduction in the numbers of tags available in all zones.

In 2022, most zones took four or five points to draw, and in zone 45, some unlucky hunters didn’t draw with six points. This has understandably led to a lot of frustration among hunters, especially when in some areas the bear population is high, but the availability of tags is low. Let’s take a look at the changes and examine the pros and cons of what’s happening in Minnesota. The core of the problem seems to be these three things: 1) the way the bear population models are analyzed, 2) the number of young bears and females that are shot, and 3) the past overharvest.

In the past, the Minnesota DNR bear biologists used tetracycline as a primary tool of monitoring population trends. Tetracycline was wrapped in bacon and distributed in bear habitats. The chemical (which is an antibiotic) stains

The changes in Minnesota have bear hunters scratching their heads.

the bones of the bears. Successful hunters submitted a section of rib which was analyzed for the tetracycline staining. Over time, DNR personnel could recognize population trends by the percentages of bear ribs that were stained. But after many years of this method, the US Food & Drug Administration banned the use of antibiotics in this way. The DNR had to look at other options for population modeling.

Today’s computer population modeling started to show significantly different results than were indicated in the past. It became clear to the DNR that black bear populations had sustained several years of overharvest from the 1990s through 2010 or so. The DNR began to drastically lower tag numbers and continued to do so for several years. Hunters suddenly began to get rejected over and over in their quest to get a bear tag.

With an uptick in the interest of bear hunting in the state, and more nonresidents traveling to other states to hunt bears, the number of years between drawing a tag began to creep up and up.

It has been a perfect storm of fewer tags and more applications.

In 2022, there were 26,813 applicants for 3,605 tags statewide. Do the math and you can see that it takes a long time to get a tag and it’s only going to get longer. States like Michigan and Wisconsin have seen Fig 3. Trends in number of applicants for quota zone permits by BMU over past 10 years, 2013–2022. For 2016–2022, BMUs similar numbers and their hunters 27 and 28 were grouped into old BMU 26 and BMUs 46 and 47 were grouped into old BMU 44. BMU 45 is highlighted because applications there surged over this period. The number of applications in all areas (except 13, 22, and 31) increased in 2022. have grown accustomed to waiting for many years between bear tags.

The issue that has Minnesota bear hunters rattled is that there has been such a drastic change over a short period of time.

There are some good and bad parts to this change. The main good part is that there are fewer hunters in the woods every year and competition on public land has significantly been reduced. The average age and size of bears being seen by hunters has also increased.

Outfitters have benefitted because they can offer a more quality experience to their hunters, but it takes their clients a long time to draw a tag, so the overall environment is 58

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different. Some hunters just opt to go to Canada or licenses states where they can get a tag over the counter, so cannot for the outfitters it’s a mixed blessing. be used There’s another negative aspect to consider except in in regards to the low number of tags. It’s common the no-quota knowledge that the best bears to take out of the area because the population, from a conservation standpoint, are the youth are too old to take advantage of it when older males and females past their breeding age. they finally draw.

These are the hardest to kill and it takes a high level Going forward, the Minnesota DNR has of skill to get these bears on the baits during lesome changes to make to address these issues gal shooting hours. Conversely, younger bears and in this new climate of fewer tags and long waits females are the easiest to kill. Therein lies the prob- between hunts. Certainly, the youth issue is a lem with waiting for several years between hunts. pressing one. Educating hunters on the imporBecause they waited so long to draw a tag and hunt tance of being more selective is also critical. And bears, most hunters shoot the first legal bear they we as hunters need to do our part in avoiding the see. The attitude I often hear is, “I waited a long time killing of sows and young bears. The majority of to get this tag and I am going to shoot a bear, any bears killed every season are yearlings—that’s a bear, rather than take a chance that I might not get statistic that needs to change if we are going to one at all.” Experienced bear hunters with mature reverse this trend. strategies have the best chance of harvesting the right bears for the conservation model. And the way to become experienced is to hunt more. The greater the number of years between hunts is counter-productive in that way; it’s a downward spiral.

There are bears outside of the prime bear habitats in Minnesota, and bears have been expanding their range. In addition to the bear hunting zones, Minnesota offers a “No-Quota” area where tags can be purchased over the counter. Certainly, the bear numbers are lower than in the quota zones, but there are some big mature bears in mixed farmland and some pockets of good bear habitat outside the zones. The numbers of bears being shot in the no-quota area has skyrocketed in recent years. For the past few years, there have been more bears harvested outside the quota zones than in them. While the expanding bear population and range is partially responsible for this, another factor has been that the serious bear hunters are not willing to wait several years between bear hunts so they are hunting the no-quota areas between drawing tags.

Besides the difficulty in getting a 4. Percent of quota BMU lottery applicants with preference levels 1 (1 -year applicants), 2, 3, 4, and 5 who were drawn bear tag and the long waits between Table for a bear permit during 2019–2022. Blank spaces indicate 100% of applicants were drawn. All preference level 2 applicants were drawn, except where 0 preference level 1 applicants were drawn. Likewise, all preference level 3 applicants were drawn, hunts, there have been some other except where 0 preference level 2 applicants were drawn . negative aspects to the new normal.

2019 2020 2021 2022 First of all, youth hunters can BMU start applying for points at age 10.

12 0 0 13 0 0 0 72 0 0 58 0 0 0 25 13 0 0 92 0 0 93 0 0 66 0 0 43 Depending on the zone they want to 22 76 65 56 60 hunt, they may not draw a tag un24 0 0 11 0 0 0 93 0 0 0 78 0 0 0 35 25 0 0 58 0 0 45 0 0 32 0 0 97 til they are 15-17 years old. From a 27 0 0 0 66 0 0 0 49 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 0 93 hunter-recruitment standpoint, this is 28 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 77 0 0 0 0 61 31 0 0 38 0 0 33 0 0 9 0 0 0 91 totally unacceptable. Youth of that 41 0 0 6 0 0 26 0 0 26 0 0 15 age have many distractions, sports, 46 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 83 0 0 0 0 58 0 0 0 0 41 etc. and we need to find a way to get 47 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 0 72 0 0 0 0 31 45 0 0 0 0 42 0 0 0 0 23 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 91 these kids involved sooner. Minnesota 0 0 20 51 0 0 0 22 0 0 24 0 0 18 offers a youth bear tag that’s only $6.00 (rather than the $45.00 normal tag), but at this point, the youth st

a

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a As an example, in 2019: BMU 12: 0% of preference level 1 and 2 applicants were drawn, 13% of preference level 3, and 100% of preference level 4 and above were drawn for a permit; BMU 22: 76%

preference level 1 applicants were selected, 100% all higher preference levels; BMU 45: no preference level 1–4 applicants were drawn, 42% of hunters with preference 5 were drawn, and 100% of hunters with preference level 6 and above were drawn.

b BMU 26 was split into 27/28 and BMU 44 was split into 46/47 in 2016.

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@backcountrybrian

Western Bear Hunting with Brian Strickland

Tapping into Western Fall Bruins There’s no shortage of opportunities out west for fall bears

I’ll be the first to admit, when it comes to chery and muzzleloader seasons in September can only be hunting out west in the fall either elk, mule deer, or antelope are at the top of my agenda; and if I’m lucky purchased if you have an elk or deer tag for that particular unit, while rifle hunters can simply purchase a tag for those enough, all three as long as all goes well. Although there have been seasons where fall bears were at the units without the add-on option.

Another way to grab a tag in Colorado is through top of my to-do list, for most western hunters they are generally an opportunistic species while carrying other their annual draw, which is a pure preference point system.

The preference point system allows hunters to build points tags. in unsuccessful draw attempts, but once enough points are When you think about it, that’s really one of accumulated for a specific unit, the applicant draws the the main reasons to make bears a priority come fall.

Not only are there more opportunities across the west tag. this time of year for bears, but with other hunters Gem State focusing on the horns, you can focus on the fur and Idaho is the next stop on this fall western bear tour really zero in on a bruin. and is arguably one of the best destinations for shear opWhen it comes to finding a plump fall bear, your focus should be on the groceries just like during portunity, with lots of bears and regions to hunt them. Best of all, tags are mostly over-the counter with a few draw the spring season. But unlike spring when you’re units scattered in, and with hunting methods like baiting, searching for fresh green shoots on south facing slopes, in the fall you’re looking for berries, nuts, bugs, using hounds, and old fashioned spot-and-stalk, you can and fish. If you happen to know where an elk or deer pick your poison. Over 2,000 bears are harvested annually, carcass is from someone else’s successful hunt, those most of which are during the spring, but the fall season is can be prime targets as well. This time of year bears no slouch for the bear hunter really wanting to focus on are often feeding up to 20 hours a day in an effort to them. Although it has a reputation for producing smaller increase their body weight by 30% or more before hi- bears compared to its neighbors, some real head-turners bernation. This hyperphagia stage means “abnormally live there. In fact, one of my biggest bears to date came increased appetite.” Once a bear finds a quality food, from Idaho a few years ago, and he weighed nearly 300 pounds, was over six feet tall, and had a 19 inch skull. they stick to that area until it runs dry.

The regions carrying the highest bear densities are Although virtually every western state has the Panhandle and Clearwater regions in the northern part bear hunting opportunities, it goes without saying that some are better than others. Here’s a bird’s-eye of the state. These areas hold the highest hunter success view of some of the top destinations that offer great rates annually with about three-quarters of Idaho’s annual opportunities with solid bear numbers and a chance to bear harvest coming from these remote regions. really connect with a big one.

Treasure State

For the spot-and-stalk hunter, it’s hard to beat the opportunities Montana offers for the hunter looking to grab Colorado is one of the top western record an over-the-counter tag. Although most hunters in the field book black bear producers, and that’s saying somethis time of year are after Montana’s legendary elk and thing since it only offers hunts in the fall. Because deer herds (making bears more of an opportunistic option), most hunters are more focused on Colorado’s burit’s still a great stop if you intend to chase bears specifigeoning elk and mule deer herds, most successful bear hunters are more opportunistic—harvesting bears cally. What’s nice about Montana is that you can use your unpunched spring tag in the fall as well, so if you zeroed when they happen to run across one. On average, just over 1,000 bears are killed annually. Baiting or the this past spring there’s still hope. About 1,200 bears are use of hounds is not allowed in the Centennial State, harvested annually, and those are solid numbers when you making it pretty much a pure spot-and-stalk hunt, but consider only spot-and-stalk hunting is allowed.

Without question, the best region to start calling them with a handheld call is an option as well. glassing is Region 1 in the northwest. On average over half Colorado offers a few ways to grab a bear tag this season with the easiest being unlimited over- of the bears harvested statewide come from there. This is where the best habitat is, and bear numbers tend to the-counter add-ons during the archery or muzzlebe well above average. Because this area offers a level loader seasons, as well as over-the-counter opporof remoteness, it tends to produce Montana’s best trophy tunities during all four rifle seasons. These tags are potential. offered on some 65 game management units across

During the fall season, hunters should some of Colorado’s best elk country, creating plenty concentrate their efforts around the ample supply of berry of options. The “add-on” tags offered during the ar-

Centennial State

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patches as bears can be found loading up throughout the day. Just get on a high ridge and glass; it won’t be long before you start spotting bears. Keep in mind that Montana also has its share of grizzlies. Although it hopefully won’t be long before hunters in the Lower 48 will have an opportunity to harvest this epic apex predator as numbers increase, don’t make that mistake anytime soon.

Beaver State

Similar to Montana, Oregon offers fall tags statewide on an over-the-counter basis, and with some 25,000 to 30,000 bruins calling Oregon home, there’s no shortage of opportunities. What’s even better is that they have an August 1st opener, so it’s one of the earliest across the west, making it perfect if you’re itching to start your season early. Although bears are found statewide, some of the best regions are the Blue Mountains, Cascade Range, and Coastal regions. There are also opportunities to hunt private timber company land for a fee, which is a good way to escape the crowds.

Oregon is thick country, so it takes patience and a lot of hours behind the glass to locate a good bear.

“Find a berry patch and you’ll find a good one,” locals say.

Huckleberries are a favorite out west, and since they ripen in August and bears are looking for calories in the fall, you can’t go wrong glassing a huckleberry patch. Other berries to look for are crowberries and blueberries in the fall, and good places to start are old burns and clear-cuts.

Later in the season, salmon streams can also be prime targets. In the fall, salmon swim upstream to spawn in very shallow water, making them easy targets for hungry bears. Once they finish their business they die, making them even easier targets. So doing some coastal research to find these hotspots can pay off as well.

The ability to glass is an essential skill for a Western hunter.

The author has found a lot of success during fall bear seasons in the west.

www.bear-hunting.com

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ry

Great Hunts

Bruin

Destinations

Colorado - Mile High Bruins

by Al Raychard

What can you say about Colorado? The mountain scenery is spectacular, miles of wild country, abundant wildlife, and in terms of variety some of the best big game hunting in the West. At present, the Mile High State has hunting seasons on ten different big game species, everything from mule and whitetail, deer and moose, to pronghorn, sheep, and mountain goat. Hunting seasons for most species are generously long, and while hunting licenses and permits for some species (and during some seasons are limited and obtained by draw), Colorado remains one of the most popular hunting destinations west of the Mississippi.

Not all hunts in Colorado are by draw or limited, of course. This is particularly true for black bears.

Currently on the books are Over-the-Counter and/or Limited Archery bear hunts, OTC and/or Muzzleloader hunts, OTC and/or Rifle Hunts, and new this season are OTC Private-Land Only Rifle Hunts in certain management units. There are also options to purchase Add-On OTC Archery or Muzzleloader Licenses for hunters who have an elk or deer license for the same method of take and at least one unit overlaps. The “Add-On” licenses are available in unlimited numbers.

Options are also available to take multiple bears.

Over-the-Counter Licenses generally go on sale in early August.

More detailed information on how to obtain various bear licenses and other license options are available in the 2022 Colorado Big Game Summary (viewable online), but suffice it to say that if a hunter wants to hunt bears in Colorado, obtaining licenses is far from impossible.

Also, finding bears shouldn’t be a major problem. In 1992, the citizen-approved Amendment 10 banned baiting practices and the use of dogs to hunt bears, as well as the spring hunting season. Bear numbers in Colorado have steadily increased just like the rest of the West. The statewide population is now estimated as high as 20,000, although no recent population study has been conducted so the count could be higher. The number of bear sightings and human conflicts reported to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) each year varies from region to region depending on weather, drought conditions, and food availability, and have decreased slightly but are still high. In 2019, the CPW launched a new system to track and quantify bear activity and conflicts around the state. Between 2019 and 2021 over 14,000 cases were reported.

That same year, 2019, the CPW has worked to reduce the number of bears in most areas of the state.

Each region of Colorado has a set or desired population goal, but numbers in most areas have surpassed that goal. This is particularly true along the Western Slope. In 2019, the number of available bear licenses 62

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had increased by about 10-percent and in some areas the hunters were allowed multiple bears. To get more hunters hunting bears, the cost of non-resident bear licenses was also reduced from $350 to $103.60 and resident licenses reduced to $40.45.

To say bear hunting in Colorado is a good deal is an understatement. Not only are hunting licenses among the cheapest in the West and readily available, there are also plenty of bears. There is also an abundance of public land to hunt. Colorado is home to 11 national forests covering approximately 13 million acres.

Nearly all are located in the western half of the state that offers the best bear habitat and subsequently the highest concentration of bears.

This doesn’t mean hunting bears in Colorado is easy. Getting into the best bear hunting areas can be physically challenging and a lot of scouting and patience are typically called for. In mid-August, Colorado bears go on a feeding frenzy looking for high fat and high-carbohydrate foods in preparation for winter.

Depending on the timing and location, primary trees and plants include the serviceberry, chokecherry, pineberry, squaw apple, mountain ash, buffaloberry, and currant.

The most important nuts include the gambel oak and pinon pine. Most of these foods will be found at midand-lower elevations. Once found, successful hunters typically look for high observation points that allow good glassing opportunities, set them up, and wait for their opportunity to make a stock or the bear to work within range.

Colorado is also one of the western states where the opportunity to take a color-phase bear is quite good because guides and outfitters routinely report 50-percent of the bears taken are colored. Some outfitters report higher percentages. The most common colors seem to be various shades of brown to cinnamon in most hunting areas, although blonde becomes more common in southern reaches of the state.

Although Colorado is a great destination for a do-it-yourself bear hunt for those who have the experience and time for proper planning and pre-season scouting, the state is blessed with experienced guides and outfitters for those who do not. These folks are not only local and know their hunting territories and where and how best to locate and hunt bears, they are well qualified to help plan all stages of a hunt. I have hunted Colorado a few times over the years, both guided and unguided, and although I have experienced success both ways, my success rates were always much higher when using the services of an outfitter. For the money, their experience, knowledge, and chances of success are worth their weight in gold. DIY hunts are always a challenge for non-residents who don’t know an area or game movements, who don’t have the time for proper planning, or who have limited experience hunting safely in remote areas. Bear hunting in Colorado is no different.

Sept/Oct 20220

Estimated Black Bear Populations - 17,000-20,000+/Spring Season - No

Colorado Overview

Fall Season/Dates - Yes OTC and/or Limited Archery-September 2-30, OTC and/or Unlimited Muzzleloader-September 10-18, September Rifle Limited-September 2-30, OTC and/or Limited Rifle-1st Season October 15-19, 2nd Season October 29-November 6, 3rd Season November 12-18, 4th Season November 23-27, and OTC Private Land Rifle Only-September 2-November 27.

Bag Limit - One in most units, multiple in some units.

Baiting Allowed - No Dogs Allowed - No Legal Hunting Weapons - Handguns, archery, and muzzleloaders, depending upon season.

Crossbows only legal during rifle seasons. Check CPW current regulations for specific caliber and draw weight requirements.

Color Phase Potential - Moderate to High Contacts-Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 1-(303) 297-1192, www.cpw.state.co.us Colorado Outfitters Association, 1-(970) 824-2468, www.coloradooutfitters.org.

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Fleshing it Out with Timothy Fowler

Take a Kid Along! @timothydfowler

The author stands on a stump while proudly carrying his grandaughter on his shoulders during a family outdoor excursion.

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Building the Next Generation of Hunters is up to you!

“Never, ever miss an opportunity to include a child or someone who might not ask to go—just ask them. If there’s someone you think, you know, I wonder if Bob would like to go. Well, don’t wonder! Call Bob and ask him or ask Bob to bring his kids,” said Brent Reaves, a lifelong hunter, trapper, fisherman, and committed outdoorsman. You might catch Reaves on Clay Newcomb’s Bear Grease Render podcasts.

He shared this sentiment a few weeks back on my pod, Elevate Your Game.

The good old days are mostly past when most kids were raised nearly feral on acres of wild land. Sixty years ago, the rules for kids during summer holidays were simple: 1) stay away from the water when you’re on your own, 2) if you’re hungry, supper is at six, but otherwise come home by dark. Most nine-year-old kids could shoot the eye of a prairie dog at 50 paces with their open-sighted single shot .22 Cooey or Lakefield. A good number of those kids ran their trap lines, which provided pocket money and deeply ingrained life lessons in addition to ample entertainment after school.

Kids participated in scouting for fresh places to hunt and could positively identify male and female versions of whitetail deer, elk, and antelope, and two kinds of bears.

They helped with skinning freshly killed animals, cutting and wrapping game, and making sausage. Dads and uncles hunted, and sometimes aunties and moms, but everyone in the neighborhood celebrated a successful hunt after that 30-06 or 270 Winchester resting in the back of the window of the family pickup got a workout.

Kids also learned early how to bait hooks and figure out which strategy for fishing was most successful for whatever fish were targeted on that body of water during each season and each type of weather. Kids learned how to rig a bobber, how deep to run the bait, how to jig, how to bottom bounce, and how to chuck brass spoons half a football field from the shore or a boat.

Reaves said, “I can remember the first duck that came in when I was 11-years-old. It came into the decoys and I shot it out of the air. I can remember just like it was yesterday—smell the cordite, you know, it was floating across the timber where we were standing. I hold in reverence a lot of things like that, and I’m sure a lot of other people do too. It’s so valuable to me and it’s so pure and it’s so human to interact with nature in that way. I want to fill up the freezer. I love to shoot ducks and turkeys, but I also know that we’ve got to take care of those things and I feel responsible as a steward of nature to help people see that.”

Taking a kid along just might change their life (and yours). Today, more of us live in cities than ever before in the history of the world. Electronic distractions abound from the assortment of Roblox games to Minecraft. I used to spend Sept/Oct 2022

and there are crows and there are bugs and there are different trees to look at. There’s always something to learn. There’s always something to pass on. My advice is don’t think about including somebody else, just include them because it’s just like a burden being cut in half when This is Brent Reaves, his fun-loving you share it with someone. The joy daughter Bailee, and handsome is doubled when you share it with hound Waylon on one of their them.” regular raccoon hunts!

Remember the priority is making sure whoever is along for the my allowance on Len Thompson spoons, mostly solid ride or day has some good fun. They need to learn something brass red and white and five diamonds, the big and be left with a desire to come along again. Offer them the number twos. The local Northern Pike were hard on chance to come along again when the day ends. spoons and stainless-steel leaders. Most of the time, My kids started early on varmints with a rimfire .22. kids now don’t even know if they want to hunt or fish After a couple of years and some coaching, my boys brought because they’ve never even had the opportunity to their centrefires when they were 12-years-old. Each of them see what’s involved. Someone has to offer to take tagged a whitetail the first season they could legally do so. them along. Be that someone.

Now they have kids of their own and are gearing up to train The cool thing about outdoor pursuits with the next generation of hunters. kids is there are unlimited interesting things to learn “You’ve only got so many sunrises to see. And you’ll and there’s time to talk and listen. Can you identicheat yourself if you don’t get out there and share it with fy that birdsong? What about this turd? Is it a deer somebody you like, share it with somebody you love. Be gratebear or goose? (Kids love checking out turds, as do I). ful for what you have and just get out there and enjoy life. I Where are you most likely to find bears or hares in the think on my tombstone it’s going to say ‘I had a good time’,” spring? What about the fall grouse and whitetail? In Reaves said. He also mentioned his older brother, Tim, includwinter, what signs do you look for to find game? Can ing him on hunts when the only thing he could do was get in you tell the difference between a grizzly bear and a the way. But he took Brent anyway. This is a great lesson for black bear by tracks and scat? While we’re on bears, all of us. are all black bears black?

What will you do this fall? Whom will you take along?

Plan ahead. Get mom and dad’s permission and engagement. Pack some favorite snacks and drinks. Think up about 10 questions in advance that you might ask your guest, if needed. I noticed my grandkids are sort of quiet when we’re all together, but one-on-one they have an unending list of questions. There are other things to talk about in the woods too. Which mushrooms are the best to eat?

Have you made homemade pizza with foraged mushrooms? How about making shortbread cookies with spruce tips? Be prepared to prime the conversation pump to get them started, if needed.

Reaves said, “You’ll always have time for yourself, but you may not always have the opportunity to include someone that wouldn’t get to go otherwise. I just think it’s so important, especially for a child, to get them in there because it’s wholesome and something to be shared. You don’t have to be successful for it to be fun, because if you just look around you there are red birds and there are blue jays www.bear-hunting.com

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{Hounds and Bears} Column

IN Hot PUrsuit @

By Barry ‘Bear’ Siragusa

thehuntinghound

how to manage your bear hounds in high temps

Bear hounds getting a fresh drink of water during a western bear hunt.

The dog days of summer have passed us by. The long summer days when our hounds bask in the sun, or hide in the shade, are slowly giving way to cooler nights, changing leaves, and more active bears looking to put on those precious pounds before winter sets in. Everything from the hounds to the bears they run seem to sense winter’s approach.

However, summer hasn’t completely disappeared and occasionally makes its presence more than a memory. We have all experienced those September days—reminiscent of July—when the humidity rises, the sun bakes, the air is still, and it gets HOT. I speak from experience when I say that unexpectedly warm autumn days are as effective a killer of hounds as even the meanest bear. Overheating and heat stroke has killed many good bear hounds.

Here are some tips for what to look for, how to avoid heat stroke, and how to handle it when the proverbial dog doody hits the fan.

Heat stroke in dogs is often lethal and, if they are lucky enough to survive, it can cause permanent damage to their brains, liver, kidneys, and other internal organs.

The hound that is lucky enough to survive heat stroke will be susceptible to it for the remainder of its days. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard someone say, “I don’t think it’s heat stroke. She was running in warmer temps a month ago with no problem.”

Well, back in August, that dog was acclimated to the summer heat. She had been baking in the warmth and her body was in full blown hot summer mode. Now in September, hounds like her have several things working against them. The recent nights have been cool or even 66

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downright chilly. Their bodies have begun to conserve heat and their metabolism is working to burn calories to keep them warm. As the hounds trained, they built muscle. Muscle produces enormous amounts of heat in a hound’s body. The increase in activity usually requires an increase in calories to maintain their condition. What we have are hounds that have been getting signals from their bodies that winter is coming, and their bodies will struggle to make the adjustment to sudden hot ambient temperatures on the fly.

Counterintuitively, the hounds living and hunting in the northern climes are the ones most at risk. Dogs that live and hunt in warmer climates tend to be well-acclimated to the conditions. Dry ground hounds, or hounds used to hunting in the swamps of Florida, can work effectively in heat that would absolutely destroy a big northern boy like me with northern hounds like mine. My hounds would wither and fade after mere minutes of trying to work and exert themselves in heat like that, unless they had a good long time to acclimate. The thing that will dictate whether your bear hound can take the heat is the conditions it has recently become acclimated to. If your hound has been dealing with

Bear dogs panting while watching a bear come down the tree.

Sept/Oct 20220

50-60 degree temperatures for the last two weeks, it’s a good bet that a freak day with 80 degree heat and high humidity will be approaching too hot for that hound.

pouring water. Lift the hound’s back leg and allow the How to avoid heat-related problems thin, poorKeep your bear hounds well-hydrated. A well-hydrated hound will stay cooler than a hound that isn’t drinking well. ly-furred skin on their stomach and inner A few tips are: thighs to cool. If you have a baseball cap, use it to fan • A few hours before heading out, give the hounds a the dog’s stomach and thighs.

If you have the possiquart of water each (baiting with a small handful of bility to submerge the dog in water, do that (while supkibble works great). porting the dog’s head above the water) for 30 seconds • Don’t give your dogs a heavy meal before heading out. at a time with a minute or two break where the hound is A hound with a full gut will be harder to keep cool. out of the water. Repeat until the hound starts to regain • Keep an eye on the weather forecast. Experience and its motor function and its breathing begins to calm. Take common sense will tell you what is too warm for your your time. Remove the hound immediately from the water hounds. Plan accordingly. if it starts to shiver. Lowering the body temperature too fast can be dangerous as well.

As the hound cools it will most likely begin to drink, often to the point that they vomit. A dog that is breathing hard and then vomits has a high chance of inhaling water/vomit into its lungs, raising the risk of aspiration pneumonia. Try not to allow the dog to drink more than small sips of water (a few tongue-fulls) at a time.

Murphy’s Law seems to be a houndsman’s constant bedfellow. So when a hound overheats, it seems like it is always far from the truck in some endless holler filled to the brim with mountain laurel or alder brush. If you need to carry the hound out, do it in short spurts, allowing A plott hound cooling off the dog time to rest and stay cool. A sweaty houndsman in the water after a long will keep an overheating dog too warm, so take breaks on chase. the way out (for both your sakes).

Once you are back to the truck, keep the hound cool. Put it in the cab of the truck as you drive What to watch out for while out there so it doesn’t have to combat the body heat of the other There are early warning signs that your hound is hounds in the box. If the hound is still struggling to stand starting to get dangerously warm. Any hound that is exeror is still breathing hard and fast, get to a veterinarian as cising will (of course) be panting; that is not an immediate fast as possible. IV fluids and medication can do much to alleviate your hound’s distress and mitigate long-term cause for worry. If you see your hound start to produce consequences of the heat stroke. enormous amounts of drool, more than it can effectively Overheating and heat stroke are hard on the expel from its mouth, so that it is coughing and hacking to body. I once overheated while doing construction and clear its airways, then it is time to start paying attention. it took over a week before I felt like myself again. I have A hound whose eyes are bugging out of its head with a been prone to overheating ever since. Allow your hound tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth is struggling.

Once they become unstable on their feet and you can look some days to fully recover. A few days of care may mean into the dog’s mouth and see that its airways are fully open, the difference between having that hound treeing bears for years, and suddenly being in the market for a finished its gums and tongue are bright red, and it is blowing and sucking air as fast as it can, then you already have a prob- bear hound.

Follow these tips. Enjoy the warm days of running lem. If the hound starts to have seizures or is still breathing but otherwise unresponsive, then the dog is full blown heat autumn bears, and keep your hounds safe and cool. stroking.

Hounds, especially hounds on a bear, have drive A walker hound enjoying a and grit that can sometimes write checks that their bodies refreshing drink of water. can’t cash. Many a houndsman has gotten to a tree on a Keep those hounds hydrated! hot autumn/spring day and found hot hounds with their sides slathered with drool as they bark treed. That’s not unusual, but I have personally had hounds that have gotten game denned or treed, only to collapse after we have left the tree and they have had a few minutes to cool down.

The hound is starting to or has overheated. What now?

Use whatever means you have necessary to gradually cool that hound down. If you have water, do not try and force the hound to drink. Pour that water over areas of skin where bigger veins and arteries transporting blood are close to the surface. The carotid artery in their neck and femoral artery in their back leg/thigh are great places to start www.bear-hunting.com

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Bandit Hat! For sale only www.bearhuntingmagazine.com Bear Questions/Answers With Al Raychard

Q-An apology must go out here. I got an email from an interested reader about bear anatomy. I had a chance to read it but lost it soon after when my computer went on the fritz before I had a chance to answer him personally, which I normally do. My apologies to that reader.

The question dealt with conflicting answers concerning whether black bears’ vitals are located forward, backward, higher, or lower than a deer’s vitals.

A-A bear’s heart and lung location is slightly farther back than in deer and the heart sits relatively low. After dozens of bear kills over the years, my personal opinion is the heart shot is always a gamble on black bears (especially with archery gear) since its location is deceptive due to a bear’s long hair. This makes bears look bigger than they really are in many cases. A low heart shot may not only miss the heart but the lungs as well, and depending upon the bear’s position the heart can also be partially protected. The best shot is to the lungs, ideally broadside. The lungs are the largest vital actually extending back beyond the middle of the bear and offer the largest margin for error. When broadside, aim for the middle of the bear vertically and horizontally, “middle-of-the-middle” as the saying goes, and then forward three-tofour inches towards the front shoulder. Bear Hunting Magazine Editor, Clay Newcomb, has an excellent short video on YouTube called “Shot Placement on Black Bears” that addresses this issue and contributor Bernie Barringer’s article “Understanding Bear Vitals-Not Like a Deer” is also excellent.

A-Not as long as Phil Murphy is governor of the Garden State, who was just elected to a second four-year term last November. An opportunity to hunt bears is doubtful as long as anti-hunt, humane groups, and the anti-hunt media fight against it. The public is also heavily divided on the issue. Under their governor, New Jersey has yet to update or renew its bear management plan—which is required to hold a hunt, in essence putting an end not only to the hunting season but all bear studies conducted by wildlife officials.

Q-I have my first bear hunt this fall and I was wondering how to safely cook bear meat?

A-As a general rule, bear meat such as roasts should reach an external temperature of 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes per pound and an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees F for three minutes or more. All bear meat, including small cuts such as chops, steaks, and tenderloins, should display no pink meat or red fluids after cooking, especially around any joints or close to bones.

Q-My buddy and I have a debate going. I say fixed heads are best for bear hunting, but he says mechanicåal. What do you think?

A-I hate to get between two buddies, but I’ve killed bears with both. But if push comes to shove I’ll take fixed, cuton-contact heads over mechanicals. My personal experience is that they offer deeper penetration, in most cases more internal damage and result in more pass through shots, which is always my goal. However, Q-Is there any chance that New Jersey and Floriwhatever design is used, shot placement is da will ever get back their hunting seasons?

Submit your questions to always key. alraychard@sacoriver.net 68

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