Year
Ella’s Bear
Why You’re Not Seeing Bears A Coat of Many Colors 202 3
Nine Bear
Legendary Bear Hounds Part 45
The bear hunting authority for 23 years
t/O ct
French Canadian Black B
S ep
Why Do Male Bears Kill Cubs?
Sept/Oct 2023 Volume 24 - Issue 5 Cover photo by Chelsea Hansler
By Chelsea Hansler
Houndsmen Weekend
By PNWild
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Nine Bear Year
By Travis Adair
Blast From The Past
22
Use of Leashed Tracking Dogs
By Ella McFadden
Ella’s Bear
Richard P. Smith
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By Stephen F. Fielder Legendary Bear Hound: Part 51 Piontek & Crawford’s Buck
Michigan Bear Calling Success
By Gus Congemi
26
The Trip That Almost Didn’t Happen
34
Why Do Male Bears Kill Cubs?
By Timothy D Fowler
30
Five Onion Bear Ragout & Biscuits
By Bernie Barringer
Bear Hunting Magazine Trail Camera Contest Winner
Columns 42 Bowhunting Bears
Wait til john comes to fill this thing!
44 Blood, Sweat, & Bears
Win a Moultrie Mobile Camera!
by Bernie Barringer - Bear Guru
#Sneaky_Sneaky
by Douglas Boze - Bear Dude
48 Black Bear Biology by Dr. Jenn Ballard - Animal Doc
50 Western Bear Hunting by Jana Waller - Western Hunter
54 Bruin Desinations
Submitted by: John Walters
To enter, submit a unique trail camera photo to info@bear-hunting.com or post to our Facebook page: Bear Hunting Magazine
by Al Raychard - Bear Hunting Veteran
56 Sacred Pursuit by TL Jones - Hound Pro
58 In Hot Pursuit
by Barry ‘Bear’ Siragusa - Hound Dude
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Bear Hunting
5
Houndsmen Weekend
An Annual Weekend of Following Hounds with Friends by Chelsea Hansler
@chelseahanslerart
With nothing but a fixed blade strapped to my belt, I left my friend and our two boys in the Toyota as I darted across the overgrown logging cut towards the bellowing of the hounds. This bear had come up treed once before, only to make a run for it as the other group had arrived. Feeling foolish for leaving my rifle in the other truck, I headed toward the pack knowing that, at the very least, if things got western or the sun set before the shooter could arrive, I could call them off. Every year we host friends for an annual “Houndsmen weekend.” It’s full of friends, family, good food, and, of course, running bears. Typically, my job for these annual events is to be at trail crossings to usher the hounds across safely, help get “shooters” onto bears, and sometimes carry kids into the trees. There’s often a backseat full of 10
Bear Hunting
Sept/Oct 2023
children, and it’s a fun change of pace from the many days we spend out just with our family. This year, however, I told our shooter for the day, Matt, I was driving my truck and because his Toyota wasn’t operational, he had no choice but to let me run point with the dogs in mine. To my surprise, he had no issue with that proposal and it was reassuring that the guys, despite having their dogs in my truck, trusted me to make the right call. The bellowing of the hounds echoed from the swamp below, filling the thick, jungle-like brush with the best sound there is. I’ve heard this sound countless times, but the close calls of last season for both myself and the hounds were lurking in my mind and I could feel my nerves washing over me. Last fall, I came face-to-face with a boar rushing the dogs only to be stopped dead in his tracks just feet from me. He looked at me, contemplating whether to commit to his charge through me to the dogs or retreat. I held my ground between us as Hooch came circling back to protect me once he realized what was taking place. Thankfully as soon as I yelled, the bear chose the latter, turning on his heels and running off in the opposite direction with the hounds close on his tail. My hands were clammy and my heart racing as I took a deep breath to clear my head. I skirted along the
swamp edge, keeping a close eye on the thicker brush to my left where I could hear the dogs. With no one even within GPS range, I was on my own. This was far from the first time I had walked into a caught bear alone, yet I couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that their lives and safety were solely in my hands. Knowing self-doubt would only be my demise, I pushed it aside and turned that fear into determination. Before rushing through the brush to the dogs, I confirmed that the bear was, in fact, treed. Cautiously I maneuvered down into the thicker brush, choosing the most direct route across the soaked, mossy floor. I could feel the water trickle over my boots and the scent of the wet moss filled my nose. As I approached, I scanned the tall pines above and was relieved to see the bear perched on a branch 20 feet up along an overgrown skidder trail. He had come down once before, so I knew that my presence would make him uneasy; there was a high likelihood he would try it again. Even at a distance, I could see blood on a few of the dogs. My heart raced as I prepared myself for the possibility that the bear might come down and try for a second round with the hounds. Without a gun, I had no desire to do the dance on the ground and I praised the dogs so their intensity would pick up. They put on a show and I hoped this would be enough to keep him there until the shooter for the
The author with her son and hounds ready for a chase.
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Bear Hunting
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Nine Bear Year By Pacific North Wild |
@PNWILD_
The 2022 hunting season was one for the books. As a team of three, we harvested a spring bear in Montana and four bears in our home state of Washington. In Washington you are allowed two bear tags over the counter and the season runs from August 1st through November 15th. Jeff helped our good buddy Jon get his first black bear, which was a beautiful jetblack healthy sow. Also, Jeff and his wife Janie set out to get her first bear and she was also successful. As I stated in the previous article I wrote about my experience spring bear hunting in Montana, Washington did not have a spring bear hunt last year, or this year. Could that be why there have been so many bears out the last couple of years? Possibly. I also think it has a lot to do with how late the seasons have been, and the accumulation of moisture has been a lot higher. Whatever the reason may be, it is obvious that there is no shortage of bruins roaming around this state and we definitely have a predator problem. It seems that no matter who I talk to, whether it be another hunter or someone who hikes a lot, they have either noticed more bears or have seen a lot more bear sign. On opening day of bear season last year, Jeff and Jon decided to take the day off of work and see if they could get it done on a quick day trip. With no other trucks at the trail head and not having to worry about pressure from other hunters, they had high hopes for the day and made their way up the trail. They did 16
Bear Hunting
Jeff (right) helped friend Jon get his first black bear!
Jeff was able to help his wife Janie her first bear soon after!
Sept/Oct 2023
Jeff filled his own tag after his friend passed up this bear.
Zack with his first bear of 2022!
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not even make it a half mile down the trail before spotting a bear. About eighty yards down on the river bank stood a jet black sow that was completely broadside, and Jon pulled up the rifle and shot. The bear climbed up a tree despite taking a hit in the lungs, so Jon shot her again and she fell out of the tree. Bear down! The following weekend on the same trail, Janie and Jeff played cat and mouse for most of the day trying to get within shooting range of a bear that they spotted just after first light. After getting setup and missing this bear on two different setups, they were able to get to eighty yards as well and she made a great shot to finally put this bear down. Getting new hunters out into the field and helping them successfully harvest an animal, will only spread the love for wildlife and the outdoors. So if you’re able to, take a child or an adult on-set hunter hunting so we can keep the tradition we love so much, going strong for generations to come. Now that Jeff had helped his buddy and wife get their first bears, he was ready to notch a tag of his own. The next weekend, Jeff and Zack headed back to the same area after work on Thursday, and Friday morning they were able to get on a bear right away. Zack had spotted the bear but decided to pass because he thought it wasn’t very big. But we know how deceiving the size of bears can be. Jeff was more than willing to take this bear and made three great shots to get his first bear of the year down. Ground shrinkage is a pretty common thing, but on this bear, it was the total opposite. It ended up being a lot bigger than they both thought it was and had a beautiful chocolate coat with a white patch on its chest. Friday evening I loaded up my truck and headed over the mountains to meet the guys at bear camp. Since there has been so much success in the same area, we headed out using the same trail where everyone else had taken their bears. It was late in the morning when we decided to have a nice break and a snack next to the river. While enjoying the sounds of the flowing water, I noticed a light colored animal moving throughout the thick brush a couple hundred yards up the hillside from where we were sitting. I threw up my binos, and sure enough it was a blonde color phase bear. The guys were about to doze off until I whistled at them, and they knew exactly what that meant. In no time, I had a range of 195 yards and they had a camera on me and the bear. One shot out of my Tikka 7mm Rem Mag shooting a 168 Berger dropped the boar right where he stood. Zack had a very successful bear season last year as well and was able to fill both of his tags on solo hunts. Both bears were taken in a different part of the cascades than where the rest of us have been hunting. He got his first bear on opening morning and then filled his second tag a few weeks later. It is a lot of hard work to hunt, film, and pack out animals all by yourself, but he managed to do all of that with no help at all. What a stud! Throughout our years of bear hunting, we’ve figured out that the biggest key for success is to find their food source. In August they will be feeding primarily on berries. Blueberries, huckleberries or thim-
Bear Hunting
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Legendary Bear Hounds: Part 51
Piontek & Crawford’s Buck by Steve Fielder
@stephen.f.fielder
Owner, Michael Piontek
This story is one about diversity and loyalty in unexpected places. It’s a revelation of the uses of resources for occupation and recreation. It’s also the story of the reversal of roles, of students becoming teachers and of learners leading the learned. At the heart of the story are hounds in pursuit of bears, bobcats, coyotes, and raccoons, and the recognition that perhaps breed, despite long standing loyalties, doesn’t matter as much as the outcome. This is the story of a Northwoods lad that took to hound hunting at a very young age and learned a lifelong trade that became his passion for 61 years. Michael Piontek, a career lumberjack and houndsman, was 10 years of age when he got started. Piontek says, “I’ve had hounds for 51 years. I’m now 61. I was born in Wabeno, in the northeast part of the state, right in the heart of logging country. I’m self-employed in the logging trade and I work year round. I met famed Plott man, Everett Weems, when I was 10 years old. When he was 77 years old, he came up to hunt with me and he told me when he was ready to leave, ‘I’ve owned and hunted with a lot of good dogs in my life, but none better than yours.’” Continuing to speak of one of the most famous crosses in the history of Plott bear dogs, that of Weems’ Plott, Butch, to Weems’ Plott, Jill, was crucial to Piontek’s early hunting experiences. He had gone out with Larry McKenzie as a kid, who lived about a half-mile down the road from his parents. McKenzie and Weems partnered in the breeding and promotion of the Weems-bred dogs for many years. Piontek recalled, “We hunted in the Spring. The first bear I saw treed by dogs was Larry’s Butch/Jill-bred dogs. We trailed a bear off the back side of a dump. The dogs caught it and treed it, but it came out of the tree. They caught it again and it stayed put. That was my first bear tree.” As part of the interview process for this article, Piontek and I discussed the Weems Butch and Jill dogs. My father and I owned two hounds from the cross and, naturally, I was interested in his experiences with them. He said, “The first time I hunted with Weems’ Punie, he treed a porcupine. Larry started Punie on bears and Everett wanted the dog back, so he took him home to Illinois.” I hunted with Punie several times and bred a female to him that figured heavily in our breeding program. I never hunted bears with Punie, but my father did when Weems brought him out to West Virginia in the mid-seventies. Somewhere along the way, Piontek strayed from the Plott path and began to hunt, although not exclusively, with Treeing Walker hounds. He described the process this way: “I started with Plott dogs. Fifteen years into it, I began to train dogs for other hunters and did so for six summers. With taking seasons occurring in December in Virginia, hunters wanted to have their dogs ready instead of laying them up all summer. To do so, they would send them to me. The dogs they sent were some really good Walker dogs and were mainly Finley River bred, a popular strain of Walkers from back in the day. Bobby Crawford, Dennis Nicely, John Henry Ritchie, and his cousin, Bruce Ritchie, were some of the guys that sent dogs to me. Most of my clientele were from Virginia. “I was using Plotts to tree the bears for the trainees, but these Walker dogs inspired me. Part of what I was looking for to improve the dogs I had, I found in these Walker dogs. They inspired me because they barked more on a cold track 30
Bear Hunting
A young Michael Piontek with the legendary Piontek and Crawford’s Buck.
and, overall, they were better open trailers. In many cases, the offspring I had from the Butch and Jill-bred Plotts were silent trailers. After 15 years of hunting, I found myself hunting Plotts and Walkers. “Some of the first of the Walker trainees were a pair of hounds named Buck and Bobby, littermates sent to me by Bobby Crawford of Fulks Run, Virginia. It was probably in the mid-nineties,” Piontek continued. “They were probably a year old and were totally green dogs. They had never been hunted. A lot of the dogs I received, usually totaling six to eight dogs a month, had never been on a leash. It was crazy. “The first thing I had to do was correct them for running deer,” he said. “They were deer crazy. The first bear I put them on was a treed bear that was coming out of a tree. That set them on fire.” Piontek began to work the Buck and Bobby pair into his pack and two months into their training they would run, bay, and tree bears. The following summer, Crawford gave Piontek half-ownership in the male hound and Piontek had him every summer after that. He would send the hound back to Virginia for the month of December. Crawford had told him, “You hunt him hard all summer and I’ll hunt him hard the rest of the year in the mountains.” The plan kept Buck and the others in great shape, and tuned them up for bear hunting year round. I asked Piontek to describe Buck. He replied, “He wasn’t tall or leggy as some hounds are. He was a big, stocky-built hound, and when he was in shape, his Sept/Oct 2023
Wisconsin logger and houndsman, Michael Piontek, at the den of a Wisconsin black bear.
was hot and sticky and we had a hard time striking bears. We put on a small bear at 11:00 at night, and they were still running and fighting the bear at 11:00 the next morning. We caught Buck at noon that next day. When I went to load the dogs, Buck’s feet were swollen to twice their normal size. The hounds had been running in blackberry and raspberry briars and all kinds of thick stuff. Bobby didn’t come out of her box, but Buck came out and jumped onto his box. He wanted to go, but he couldn’t. His feet were swollen and his eyes were matted shut. He had run 35-40 miles the day before.” Piontek recalls several hunts with Buck. “Here’s what he would do if we put several dogs out on a bait,” he said. “I recall it was the last year I hunted him. It was back in the beeper-box days.” Piontek is describing hunting with radio telemetry equipment commonly referred to by hunters as “beep-beep”, the equipment’s method of indicating the direction of the hounds by emitting audible signals. “Buck was going one way and the other dogs were going the other. I needed to go with the group and had to leave him. Later, I would go and find him treed by himself. He was such a good track dog that if there were two bears on the bait, he would take a track by himself. I’ve hunted hundreds of dogs and I’ve owned 10 dogs that I would consider exceptional track dogs. Buck was the best of them.” Michael Piontek (right) with Plott and Treeing Walker bear dogs.
endurance was out of this world. After three hours into a race, he would leave everything else behind. I saw him run bears 7-12 hours at a time.” I asked him to tell me more. “He had a chop mouth on the tracks and trees, and was a wide open trailer,” Piontek said. “He was an outstanding rig dog with a real good nose. I believe he would have treed until he fell over dead. He liked bears and wouldn’t mess with coons. He often would split off from other dogs and get on a bear by himself. Maybe the others would be messing with a coon and he would get out of there. When we would catch a bear, Buck would have holes in his hide from one end to the other. He worked a bear really close and hard.” Buck and Bobby were about identical in Piontek’s view and he ran them primarily as a pair that first year. Crawford then decided to keep the female in Virginia and didn’t send her back to him the following summer. Piontek spoke of a hunt he and Crawford took the first time he visited after sending the dogs to Michael. “After I had been running the two dogs for a month,” Piontek remembered, “Bobby came to hunt for a week and a half. He told me, ‘I paid you to run the dogs for two months, but would you let me see the dogs go just one time?’ It www.bear-hunting.com
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