Besides pleasure, meat and fur are the most tempting factors for hunters to go after bears. From grizzly to black bears, bear hunting is a common activity since the prehistoric times. Today, it is one of the legally accepted hunts worldwide including United States.
Throughout the northern hemisphere, different bear species are widely spread appearing in varying habitats. Across the globe, bear is one of the most privileged big game animals. In areas where bear hunting is done quite frequently, they turn out to be purely nocturnal.
If you want to go for bear hunting, you must take appropriate measures and make proper arrangements. Moreover, you should have suitably developed skills and all understanding about safety tactics because bear hunting can become intense. Predatory bears are fully capable of fighting back the hunter when startled and can be extremely dangerous.
What to Ensure Before Hunting:
Make sure that you are fully equipped with the knowledge, skills and firearms prior to set out for bear hunt. But, the most important thing to be considered is that how much you are familiar with bear species, their habitats, population quotient, regional variations, food etc. In addition, you must know what season is the most suitable for bear hunting.
General habitats of bears are located in Northern America. You can also find large densities of black bears in the heavily timbered forests situated near agricultural lands.
Depending on local hunting regulations, you can hunt bears during spring or autumn seasons. In contrast, black bear hunting is allowed in about half of the fifty states including south, Midwest and the east coast areas. However, in most of the eastern states, black bear hunting is prohibited but opens sometimes for the limited seasons.
This is the reason, it is always recommended to go with the flow and always consult the hunting authorities of the state you want to hunt bear. Otherwise, you may be caught and penalized for illegal hunting during the off season
Spring and fall are the most favored times of the year when you will be legally permitted to hunt black bears. Fall is the most typical and general season when the most bears are hunted.
If you setup your hunt based on following ideas, you will definitely earn an unforgettable life experience.
- Learn about bear and their habitat
- Educate yourself on bear hunting basics
- Know and practice scouting techniques
- Learn and practice stalking techniques
- Choice your firearm wisely with complete accessories
Covering up these key aspects will actually assist in making your hunting endeavor great
- To know about bear populated areas, you can use topographical maps or can look into public records usually maintained by wildlife agencies.
- You may need special permits from local authorities looking after legal and benevolent bear hunting activities in the state.
- Knowing the bear hunting basics means how much you are aware of the safety measures and hunting jurisdictions in your selected area.
- Ensure that you have right optics and weapons for spotting, stalking and targeting the bear.
- Practicing all significant scouting and stalking techniques is the must-to-do thing if you really want to take pleasure in impeccable bear hunting.
What to Do During Hunting:
All you need during bear hunting is exactly following the carefully planned strategies. This planning is all dependent on the tactic you choose for bringing the bear down.
It is critical to bring into play different tactics to hunt bears. As soon as you make an educated decision to opt for the most appropriate tactic for particular hunting situation, chances will be higher for the premium outcomes.
Four Essential Bear Hunting Tactics:
Hunters often use below listed four shooting tactics to take on bear’s life. An incredible bear hunt is only possible if you recognize and employ the best suitable method all the way through your hunting venture.
- Spot-and-Stalk Bear Hunting
Spotting and stalking method is popularly practiced in western areas wherein hunters can see at longer distances because of the mixed vegetation and open lands. In Alaska, hunters prefer using this tactic from boats and after spotting the bear, they find out a proper place to go ashore for stalking.
First, locate yourself at vantage point providing a clear view of the surroundings and then scan the entire area using hi-tech binoculars or spotting scopes. Now spot your desired bear and wait for the shooting opportunity. Execute the stalk right at the moment it comes in your shooting range.
Spot-and-Stalk method is preferable over others because it offers great efficiency leading you to cover large area with little effort. It offers you ease of selecting and hunting the bear of your choice because you have enough time to evaluate them.
It also helps you in avoiding undesirable situations as you do not have to walk through hunting area. Hence, leaving no scent behind and there will also be no noise to spook bears out of the area.
- ‘Baiting the Bears’ Hunting:
If you want to observe the bears behavior or you want to select the bear of your choice to hunt then bait hunting is the best option. Using this tactic, you will surely delight in the high-percentage shots with confidence because you will be situated at manageable and close point. Hunters using close range weapons or bow and arrow for bear hunting prefer this mode.
All you need is to set out bait preferably meats for attracting bears at your preferably selected spot. You can easily ambush the bears using tree stand already set at 20-30 yards of distance from the bait. After setting up the trap, just wait for the bear to be lured by bait and then shoot it. This method is legally accepted in few states while totally banned in some other.
- Hunting Bears with Hounds
You can also use dogs for bear hunting though it is outlawed in many states of the country. This is the method most of the hunters might not be able to experience yet. Hunters are not required to walk for long, instead they go for road drive with hounds in their trucks back.
The moment dogs smell bear scent they start barking and hunters get alert. Chase begins after hunters mark the real trials of bears. Hounds take the hunters to the exact place of the bears.
- ‘Calling the Bears’ Hunting:
Wounded game calls along with many other types of calls are often used by hunters to draw the bears into their selected area for perfect shooting. You can use this method in combination with spot and stalk method for outclass results. Always keep the backup when using this method because bears come close to you as fast as they can and often looking for the fight.
Knowledge and skills are everything to come up with the most successful undertakings. Same holds for bear hunting and you have to know all essential attributes to avail yourself for this venture. You must not forget that having and using right hunting equipment is not only important but a vital thing-to-do for effective and safe bear hunting.
