black bear hunting

[bigbearslayer]

I have been hunting bear for 3 years now and would like to know what to look for in the spring for makeing a new bait for the mn fall hunt

[charliepete2]

First off look for bear tracks. When it's warm enough for bears to be out of hibernation, but still muddy and nasty it's quite easy to cut a track. Concentrate on areas that green up early. Bear's focus on grass just after getting up for the spring.

Once you find an area with bears, approach finding a bait site like setting up a deer stand. Namely, look for natural funnels and pinch points where the predominant wind direction is in your favor. Deep woods water sources are great for creating these funnels. Use rivers and beaver ponds to your advantage. Besides creating funnels, berry production is higher along water ways and that brings in the bears in the fall.

Once you find a good pinch point, look for an oak or other densely branched large tree to break up your outline. I like my trees to be wider than my shoulders and have lots of branches. You can get away with tons of movement in a tree like that. Avoid telephone pole aspens. You stick out like a sore thumb and an old boar will pick you out easily.

One more piece of advice, think about what the average lazy hunter will do, and don't do that. A great majority of bear hunters never get off a logging road more than 50 yards. Most drive as far as they can on a logging road, park the truck or wheeler in the easiest spot to turn around, walk 50 yards and dump a bait. They aren't thinking about the lay of the land or pinch points, they find the easiest spot to park, walk 50 yards, and dump a bait 20 yards from the nearest sizable tree.

[89Bronco]

If you can, keep scouting during the summer and into the fall. When the blueberries are ripening look for patches that have been cleaned out, see if there are some flat places in the grass and shrubs where the bears sit and eat and look for scat. Look for clearcuts that sprout raspberry bushes along the burms and edges and see if those get cleaned out. If you have oaks around, bears will sit and eat all the acorns off of the ground. We used to hunt near the Canadian border and had one little patch of oak trees in the middle of all the pines, popple, and birch. Every fall there would be bear dung all over underneath those oaks. Look for old fallen logs that are ripped open for the ants and bugs. Look for anthills that have the tops taken off and dug up.

[bigbearslayer]

Do most bears stay in the same area that they hibernat in or do they find a new place each winter and do they come and go from the den each night? I seem to have better luck in the pines and popple most hunters I talk to say to hunt the swamps why is that? What do most hunters do for bait do they just put in on the ground or dig a hole and cove with logs or put out a 55 gallon drum?

[maros91]

I have been told to hunt swamps because it is dark and cool for the bears. The water keeps them cool.

Some people dig a pit and cover with logs, others build a "crib". If you search bear bait or cribs in this forum you will see a pic what a crib looks like. You can't just place a 55 gallon drum in the woods. It is illegal.

[Dave Hughley]

All is good to use, except for the 55 gallon drum as it is illegal to use them.

Be careful putting baits out in swamps. You want to keep the bait dry as once it gets wet it is no longer any good. Location is the most important thing to keep in mind when placing your baits. Oaks are a good place to plant your bait as bears will travel for miles to find an oak grove.

[charliepete2]

When bears hibernate they don't get up from the den on a daily basis. They lay up for long stretches of time. It's not like they are truly asleep as they can be rousted, but if you leave them alone they'll stay put. I saw a radio tracking study done last year that said that most of the bears being tracked didn't reuse the same dens from year to year.

Black Bears have pretty big home ranges compared to whitetails. I've seen figures suggesting 8-60 square mile ranges for boars. The available food is probably the biggest factor. When food gets scarce, they really cover ground. I saw one study where a mature boar covered hundreds of miles just before winter trying to fatten up enough to hibernate.

If you get interested in black bears (beyond just hunting) Minnesota has some great resources. The people up at Vince Schutes place near Orr are a wealth of knowledge, and Lynn Rogers is one of the most well respected Black Bear biologists in the country. He has a black bear center up near Ely.

[tealitup]

How many people will not bear hunt this year with gas prices being so high? If it reaches $4.00 a gallon it would be hard for me to drive 4 hours to bait.

[charliepete2]

I'll bait three times before I hunt. Each trip will take about 1.5 tanks of gas in my fuel hog truck. That ends up being about $100 difference if gas jumps up from $3 to $4. I'll split that cost with 4 buddies this year. Somehow I think everyone would rather come up with an extra $25 than scrap the trip.

[maros91]

I applied for Area 51 last year and didn't get drawn. Previous years there were more than a couple hundred leftover license. I think gas prices had something to do with it. I am applying for area 45 this year.

[89Bronco]

I'll still hunt. I'll be driving 3.5 hours up to hunt. Just have to cut out some other stuff. I remember when gas would spike at the end of August to $1.89 or $1.95 a gallon a few years back and I would think, "Holy ****! How am I going to afford to come up here every weekend?" It all works out if you plan your little costs between now and the fall and throw that money into the gas-jar.

[bigbearslayer]

I applied for area 45 this year me and mine dad have been for 3 year now and it seems like one will get one and one will not.Do any hunters have bear pic from the area I would post mine pic but dont know how to? Do a lot of hunters prossces your bears if so is it the same as a deer?

[roosterslayer]

I have a pic of a smaller bear and a decent bear from zone 45 just south of mille lacs

[roosterslayer]

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa298/roosterslayer/?action=view&current=SUNP0010.jpg

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa298/roosterslayer/?action=view&current=SUNP0012.jpg

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa298/roosterslayer/?action=view&current=SUNP0013.jpg

[charliepete2]

I process my bears myself. The cuts are just the same as deer, but bear are quite a bit more substantial and definitely fattier. Since I take most of my bears in fairly warm weather, I'm glad I do my own processing as I can have one quartered up and in the freezer within hours of shooting it.

[89Bronco]

I'm the same as Hubercita, I cut mine up ASAP. Makes for some tasty meat. I saw one guy register his bear in Orr one warm fall afternoon. Had it in the back of his pick-up for all the world to see. I asked him if he had gotten it that morning, he said no, yesterday afternoon. I would've hated to taste that one!

Get the fat of the meat and cool it down as soon as you can. If you are skinning it whole, don't be shocked to see that it looks similar to a human after you take all that fur and fat off. Especially the legs/arms and feet/hands.

[89Bronco]

Here are a couple of pics from 2006.

[bigbearslayer]

Can someone tell me how to post pic? 89Bronco what did you use for bait it looks like popcorn? do a lot of people use donuts or get there bait for lucky 7?

[maros91]

I buy some of my bait from Lucky 7. I have a question about storing donuts. Would the donuts be o.k. if I put them in a 55 gallon drum and stored them in a big freezer? If I'd put them in now would they be o.k. come August?

[maros91]

 Originally Posted By: bigbearslayer

Can someone tell me how to post pic?

How to post a pic

[bigbearslayer]

thanks biff tannen on how to post pic! I would think if you are going to put the donuts in the freezer they will be fine. I have heard of people putting bread in drums and packing it so tight that just the top molds.

[bigbearslayer]

Here is some pics from last year what do you think?

[bigbearslayer]

[surewood]

Biff, when my Dad use to hunt bear he use to pile them in the freezer and they were fine when the season came. One of his bears was 398lbs. He just missed Boone and Crockett the guy who measured it said that if he had brought it in after the 60 day drying period it most likely would have made it, but it was over ten years before he had it measured. He got it in the 90's.

[89Bronco]

That year I got an oats and corn mixture from Homestead Mills in Cook. They had an ad in the paper with a 30 or 50 pound bag (I don't remember) for not very much $. I used cooking grease from a local eating place near my house and had some candy hearts and chocolate syrup from Lucky 7. Having said all that, I did not get a bear that year, however. It was either mama and cubs coming in, or they would hit it at night. For bait, though, every year is different. It's whatever I can find for cheap.