Tracking Wounded Bear

[bogwalker]

How long after wounding a bear do you begin tracking it?

Do you track at night?

How far will you track it before giving up?

[Archerysniper]

It depends on were you thought the shot hit hit or were you saw a arrow hit, normally if I dont see it go down I wait at least a hour and half then go look for sign if it's good then I will follow if it's spoty or not good colored blood then I will back out till morning, this is what I do for all animals for bear I will track at night but not without a 12ga loaded with 00 buck.

[motley man]

If I wound a bear and it runs off out of sight, I set for 20 - 30 minutes just in case it circles back. After that I check sign of the hit, blood, arrow whatever. I will track until I am sure that I won't find it, sometimes come back next morning and start again. I have only shot them in the afternoon, so night is a factor. I don't track after dark, can't see them in thick brush, and they are black. If they run a long distance, they can be hard to track so don't push them. Haven't lost one yet as I have a good tracking friend that helps.

[Boar]

I havent had the the issue yet of of tracking at night, but will if I have too, cause I will gather that meat. When I do I will be packing a load made by hevishot, A 3" mag load of 12 pellets of 00 Which will be pushing about 2400ft lbs at 10 yards. Either that or their saboted load. Ive droped two bear where they stood, but have had to trak others an have been fortunate to hear the death moan an knew it was over. Boar

[jay83196]

That's a great question....I've often wondered what to do, chances are my shot would be later in the day you hope it drops or at least it doesn't go far. It seems a little spooky to track a wounded bear at night even armed, I'd do it too, for a short distance. How loud is a death moan, have heard its earie cool. Do they always do it?

[bogwalker]

Jay, No they don't always make the death moan noise when they die. As common as it is suppose to be I have never heard it. It depends in part where the bullet/arrow hit.

[Random guy]

We never stop and never give up. We owe it to these critters to exhaust every effort to make sure they are either going to be fine or put down.

We begin tracking immediately. While our clients are hunting we are loaded and ready with lights, flags, machetes, phones, compasses, GPS units, ATVs. Otter Sleds, and gutting gear teamed up with years of experience...and Kelly carries the .348 lever action and I have the tactical shotgun loaded 0000 Buck just in case things get close.

Now if we feel it is a good shot and good blood we go like heck to find the animal and get the body cooled down ASAP for the best meat and prevent any chance of spoiling. If it is a bad shot we often times will put the tracking team to one guy moving as stealthy as possible to prevent pushing the bear farther. It’s always a judgment call and many times it is a tough decision to make.

As far as how long to track them we have gone 48 hours only to track them right back to the bait and where they returned to feeding.

Some of the best stories are from tracking. We have crossed county lines, floated across rivers in the Otter Sleds and many loopy loops where the bear has changed roles and put us in front...that makes you think.

[leech~~]

We never stop and never give up. We owe it to these critters to exhaust every effort to make sure they are either going to be fine or put down.

We begin tracking immediately. While our clients are hunting we are loaded and ready with lights, flags, machetes, phones, compasses, GPS units, ATVs. Otter Sleds, and gutting gear teamed up with years of experience...and Kelly carries the .348 lever action and I have the tactical shotgun loaded 0000 Buck just in case things get close.

Now if we feel it is a good shot and good blood we go like heck to find the animal and get the body cooled down ASAP for the best meat and prevent any chance of spoiling. If it is a bad shot we often times will put the tracking team to one guy moving as stealthy as possible to prevent pushing the bear farther. It’s always a judgment call and many times it is a tough decision to make.

As far as how long to track them we have gone 48 hours only to track them right back to the bait and where they returned to feeding.

Some of the best stories are from tracking. We have crossed county lines, floated across rivers in the Otter Sleds and many loopy loops where the bear has changed roles and put us in front...that makes you think.

JP has some great suggestions. We don't all have the resources or man power that he has to put on the trail. But, I would say as he did that a GPS or compass and at least two people would be the only way I would go anymore. We learned the hard way and spent more then a few hours finding our way back to our bait stand after tracking one in the dark. The only way we found our way back once we got close enough was that we could smell the bait! Make sure you have some good batteries in two lights, another fun thing! Nothing worst then crawling on hands and knees in the brush and have your light die!

[bogwalker]

Jonny P, Sounds like you are storming the beach at Iwo Jima.

[Random guy]

Jonny P, Sounds like you are storming the beach at Iwo Jima.

Bogwalker...you have walked in the bog, you know just how it can go.

As far as lights I keep spare batteries in my "track pack". Once the lights go out it turns into "The Bear Witch Project", complete with panic, strange sounds and fleeing throught the heavy brush.

Another GREAT thing to have is reflective vests. We use the mesh DOT green that has the reflective stripes. With the fear and adrenline running high you always wonder about the guy back 20-30 yards freaking out and firing. My vest cleary states in majic marker on the back "not the bear"

[lichen fox]

We've had to track a few over the years and our approach is pretty much the same as Jonny's....We use lanterns, GPS, Compass and just as an extra security measure...toilet paper! Not for what you may be thinking...neither of us has ever filled our pants, although we did have one friend running the other way when my partner almost stepped on the bear our friend had hit...the bear ended up coming right at me and running into a round from my 308...As we track, we hang, drop pieces of toilet paper just in case our GPS batteries go dead, we loose a compass, etc...it also helps with visual direction when you loose the trail...you can look back and see the last general direction the animal was traveling...and if you have to go back in the daylight you can get back to last blood pretty quick....we've only had to go back in the morning two times in 20 years and have lost only one wounded bear...when they let you get real close and they start growling and popping thier jaws...back off for a while...they're just about finished when they let you get that close...we had one that that happened on...he was sitting on a light trail in very heavy cover...my partner was on his knee's looking at the bear about 10 feet away...I asked if he could see the bear...he said, yep...I said what's he doin?...his reply...he's looking at me...I asked if he wanted the rifle...he said no, he's about done...we just sat still and in a couple seconds the bear tipped over!

[Random guy]

The "Track Pack"

Two flashlights

batteries

compass

gutting gloves

bone saw

marker ribbon

water (drinking and washing)

machete

ammo

paper towels

wire for tag

tag

whistle

gps

leather gloves

hand drag sling

matches

good knife

gut hook

bug spray

cel phone

two way radio (seldom works)

rope

small first aid kit

CAMERA

... and a can of orange spray paint. With the tough economy we cannot afford to give the clients bear spray anymore; we give them orange paint instead. That way they can spray the bear on the face as they are being eaten and we can later identify the bear to get the valuables out such as watches, wallets rings etc etc.

[bogwalker]

I guess my method of tracking wounded game must be old fashioned. No bells or whistles, or at least not many. First of all I prefer to track in the dark. I choose to go low and slow (knee pads can come in handy for light blood trails or trails with no blood). We never want to push a wounded bear,and we get close enough to hear bear breathing. More than 3 people are just too many. Too much noise, excitement, walking over or ruining sign etc. Blood,hair, fat etc on brush can give you a good idea where the bear was hit and how serious his injury is. If not found that night the meat will spoil. Black Bear flesh decomposes incredibly fast.

[lichen fox]

Bogwalker...I agree...two is perfect...3 people max and the lantern's/lights really help illuminate the blood vs daylite tracking... but the best case scenario is making a perfect shot and seeing the animal go down or hearing the death bawl...after a few long track jobs in our early years we've perfected our distance and shot angles with consistant stand placement on every bait...it takes a little more set-up time when you begin baiting but we haven't had to track one anywhere in about 7 years!

[leech~~]

The "Track Pack"

... and a can of orange spray paint. With the tough economy we cannot afford to give the clients bear spray anymore; we give them orange paint instead. That way they can spray the bear on the face as they are being eaten and we can later identify the bear to get the valuables out such as watches, wallets rings etc etc.

JP, love this part! At least their wives will be happy to get the good stuff back!

[jay83196]

With a shotgun or rifle where is the best shot placement? Just like on a deer?

[bogwalker]

I help a friend who does tracking for hire. Best tracker I have ever seen. Some hunters get a bit shakey tracking through swamps, bogs whatever at night. They hire him to recover their bear.

[Boar]

Pretty much the only part of the hunt I havent experienced yet, Ive been fortunate so far. Sounds like JP is chasing ogres through the swamps with pitch forks an torches, cant help but invision JP chasing Shrek throu the swamp. Boar

[bogwalker]

Boar, Now that is funny!

[Random guy]

Did I mention I often wear hip waders when tracking...because I'm in the swamp.

Sadly in my neck of the woods it is alot like chasing Shrek through the swamp.

[bogwalker]

Johnny, I wonder if God made so much swamp and bog to give guys like us some elbow room.

[charliepete]

How long after wounding a bear do you begin tracking it?

It depends on the hit. If I center punched them and I know it I give them 20 minutes and go get them. If I made a bad shot (like too far back) I wait as long as I can given the temperature and weather conditions. Bears rot quick in the early season and I'll push a bear I normally woudln't if I think it's going to rain

Do you track at night?

I definitely track at night. I like using a coleman lantern like I would for deer, but I carry my .44 mag (and I'd rather get a ticket than mauled to death so I don't case it)

How far will you track it before giving up?

I don't give up as long as I can track. I track until I find last blood (using toilet paper to mark every speck of blood...it helps establish direction and predict what the bear will do next) and if the blood runs out I mark the last spot on gps and start grid searching. I had a bear run almost 200 yards into an alder swamp one time without dropping any blood even though he was center punched. He had so much fat that it plugged up the exit wound and the entrance was high enough that the hair soaked the bloodup before it could drip. If I hadn't spent hours grid searching I never would have found him.

[kelly-p]

One thing to add to this thread is that we have tried some of the "blood lights" that are supposed to make blood glow in the dark. I wasn't impressed with them. The best is still a very short or no blood trail from the bait to the bear.

[bogwalker]

One thing to add to this thread is that we have tried some of the "blood lights" that are supposed to make blood glow in the dark. I wasn't impressed with them. The best is still a very short or no blood trail from the bait to the bear.

When you guide hunters you track bear.

[KGPZ]

When you carry 45.70 you don't track bear.