Hunting Northern Minnesota next fall. Hunt is over bait. What advice do you all have.
Thanks,
Paul
wait for the perftic shot it will come and take the time to judge the size of the bear,they will fool you if you have never seen a bear before. i had to learn the hard way once.
doug77
Practice, Practice,Practice, then Practice some more.
Find out the hight of the stand You'll be in... Study up on the vitals... If You can get a 3-D target of a bear would be good...
I agree with the practice at the height you will be at. I also have taken a couple practice arrows and taken a couple of practice shots from the stand. Take your time as the bears will most generally hang around for a while so you will get a chance for the perfect shot. But be careful because bear hunting is addicting.
Remember, bears look huge when you first see them, especially if you haven't been exposed to a bunch of them, take your time and calm down, have something set up to help judge their body size, precut logs, branches, barrels etc.
Terry
Bowshot good info ,i made that mistake the first bear that came out i thought was big ,i shot 150 lb bear.Not going to make that mistake again.
Well my motto with whitetails is "If its brown its goin down"
so for Black bears maybe it will turn out "If its black put it on its back" :goldtooth:
I plan to use a 57lb longbow with cedars with wensels on the business end. I will probably use my treesuit.
Paul
160gr Snuffers.
-Brett
Longbowman,
A 150lb bear is a respectable bear. That is at least a 2 year old if a boar and could be 6 or 7 as a sow. Michigan bears average around 120.
Legolas,
Bowshot has goo advice. If you can take your time and watch they are a fascinating animal. Your setup will crush any black bear on the continent.
Good luck
Take yor time! Calm down...relax... Don't rush a shot if it sprints away....it came in once it'll be back. Watch and enjoy! Magic time. That was the advice I got before my first bear hunt in 1972... good then...good now... many bears later.
Went to Canada 2 years ago and shot a 250 pounder out of a double bull blind at six yards.I shoot a zipper recurve with woodman heads.Bear went 40 yards double lunged the bear,shot it at 11oclock in the moring.11 of us went and brout back 7 bears...zipperman
Where can I get a good bear pepper spray?
Thanks,
Paul
You have a PM>>>>
If it is parallel, wait until it steps and moves that big shoulder bone forward. You only have a relatively small sliver of kill zone if that bone is back. There is no rush; they will almost invariably come in and out again and again. If you wait a bigger one might come in. Of course, I have usually gone with "The Legolas Motto" :D but I missed taking a 250+ bear by my impatience! :banghead:
Leave the pepper spray at home...you've got more chance of accidentally spraying it down your pants than needing it for a blackie.
Get him a bit quartering away and shoot him in the middle. If you hear any sound out of him after he runs off...moan, gurgle, heavy breathing etc. he's down for the count. Silence doesn't mean he isn't dead, but the sounds above means he is 99% of the time. I've never had problems with blood trailing bears contrary to what I've heard - but then mine were all shot with big Snuffers. Thin skin and light ribs compared to a whitetail (except the shoulder is heavier).
Hunting black bears over bait is a circus - really a blast. Relax and enjoy it, don't overthink things.
Have fun!
Ryan
Take your time and look over plenty of bears. A shot will come so don't rush it. Most problems come from shooting to soon. Let the bear settle down and give yourself time to relax while studying the spot to put your arrow. Slightly quartering,too broadside a little above center mass. Remember. A bear has 6 to 8 inches of hair hanging down. Do not go up from the bottom to pick a spot like you might on a deer. Go from the center up, or the top down. A bears lungs are very small in relation to it's body size. Try to wait til the front leg is reaching forward. It exposes more lung area without hitting shoulder blade. The sooner you recover your bear and get it dressed the better. Bears bone sour very quickly and is the reason most people say bear meat is no good. Good Luck
find the trails the bear will approach the bait from. Set up a story pole over each trail (basicly a stick over the trail at about crotch high...34 inches or so) when the bear walks under it, if his shoulder touches it he's "usually" a shooter.
Bears are judged by skull size...big bears have ears that have migrated down the side of the head and not the perky "top mount" ears of the sows & cubs.
Take your time and do not shoot the firt bear you see. It is possible, in good areas, to see a dozen different bears over a bait. Size em up and enjoy them.
DON"T FORGET THE BUG DOPE!
Again, bears are subject to massive amounts of ground shrink...they ALL look big till they are down. Then, lots of em will fit in a five gallon bucket.
I recommend the Thermacell.
Guys thanks for all this education. I really really appreciate it.
Got a thermacell and will get a good netted facemask.
Paul
Besides all the pre-hunt prer and practice, practice, practice, Be very patient.
Allow the bear to come in a few times. They like to run in knock the rock off the cover, grab a piece of food and run out to eat to the side so let him get relaxed before you shoot. He'll come back in. Unless of course he doesn't run to the side and offers ya the perfect shoot.
As above posts, my brother while rifle hunting took a bear at 80 yds that looked real big in the field. The way the fur stands up came deceive you as to the size. Got back it was only 60lbs. :(
Use the drum which are typically cut in half as a guide. There are some great tapes out there.
Black flies, if their there you will know it without good netting. :knothead:
One final important note, if the outfitter packs you a lunch to take with as mine did at Slipp Brothers which I highly recommend, keep it high in your pack.
You wouldn't want one climbing up the stand your in to get a bag you let by your feet. :biglaugh:
Great information here. One thing that I would add. You will be spending LOTS of time in a stand, enjoy it. Look around, it's very cool all the wildlife you will see around a bait site. I would take a paper back book to read and look up after every page. This helps kill time and keeps you still on the stand.
Good luck and have a great time. It can be WORK if you let it. It should be fun!
William,
The book is a nice touch. I deer hunted this year and listened to my Ohio Univ. basketball team with an earphone in one ear. That was a treat. Of course I won't be doing that.
Paul
Pretend you are hunting smoke because that is usually how they appear. I agree with most of the advice but I have had enough bears come in once and then never come back that I would take the first GOOD shot presented. Shoot them right and they seldom make it much over fifty yards. Expect ground shrinkage! You don't have to apologize for any bear you shoot. They are fascinating animals and each deserves our greatest respect. It will probably be warm so get the skin off ASAP. Don't roll it up but spread it out even if you put it in a freezer. After it has cooled down then you can roll it up. You will have a blast.
Well I did the hunt and did not see any live bears but my fellow archer bagged one.
Bear hunting sure is exciting and feels so different than whitetail hunting. I just got on some bait that was not active and moved to new bait the last day.Hunting something that can eat you sure does kick it up a notch.
Minnesota does not allow use of flashlights after dark if your bow it not cased and that was scary cause I did not pack any heat. The unrecovered bear are eaten at night by the wolves. I have to admit that I finally said screw it, I will pay the fine I need to see getting out of the woods.
Thanks for all the advice.
Paulie
Bummer on not getting the bear.....but it sounds like you had a good time, and probably learned a lot. Nothing like actually getting out and doing it!
Maybe your next bear hunt will get you a rug.
Good luck.
Goose
Goose,
I did learn alot!
This was the first time I also ever paid for a hunt. Here in SE Ohio I just have private land to hunt on anytime. Paying was foreign to me.
I got to tell you we were 3 archers in a 20 something group of rifle hunters. When I took my longbow out to shoot on the 3D bear it quickly got heads turning and alot of "that's cool" kind of comments. I had heard the head guide at times will ask to see a hunter shoot and I just got at it before he asked. After about 12 arrows I heard "That is good shooting there, just be sure that bear has his front leg forward". I turned around and it was Dale Himes, owner of the camp.
Boy, was that a confidence boost.
Someday I will try again.
Paul
Legolas,
I to did my first bear hunt this year but up in Canada and I learned a lot. Like nothing gets my heart pumping like a bear up close and personal and snuffers won't punch through the shoulder and leg bone of a big male bear. Dale Himes is right on there. I'll stick with my good old two blade STOS next time. Also, cmao didn't matter much and trying to hind your scent was pointless, those bears knew your were there. One even climbed up to my tree stand and bit a chunk out of my seat while I was back at camp having lunch. That was exciting. They devided up the rifle hunters and bow hunters into to two camps 40 miles apart which I like as well. Never heard a gun shot the whole week.
CJ
Good info here. I have a Homer Ocean charter arranged for Spring 2010 for coastal blackies and plan on taking a 60# SR Swift or 65# Robertson VF using 2219's with about 200grns up front (about 700grns total). I usually use Stos, but after this discussion, I think I'll try to go to a good 3 blade like the Woodsman and make sure to hit him where it's been recommended here. Really looking forward to this adventure, all acounts have been positive in TBM and hope it's all it's touted to be.
Wait for a good shot. Never shot one over bait.
I concurr with what others have said about the size of the bear being somewhat difficult to determine.
However, I think it depends on how many bears you have encountered and I believe that encountering them within archery range it is much easier to get a good estimate on their size. Therefore if you are going to take the time to get a look at a good bear at close range it will be somewhat easier.
I shot one with a longbow and another one with a rifle. It was much easier to tell the size when I was standing 15 yards or so away than it was when I shot with a rifle from 50 yards.
Another thing to consider is what you want from the bear. The hide, the meat or both. Some bears have better hides for rugs and some eat better if they are on specific diets. I know the one I shot this September was grazing on blueberries and was really a treat to chew on. It was almost like beef.
Glad you enjoyed your hunt.
just remember bears have big bellies that hang low its easy to shoot to low because of the way their bellies hang some good advice i was given is draw a line through the middle of their body horizontally and on vertically makng a + has long as you are on teh head side of teh virtical line and close to the horizonal line youll have a died bear i shot mine to low only caught one lunge very bad blood trail because of the long thick hair also youll wnat to knwo what you are going to do with the bear once you have him rug or full body or 3/4 mount and talk to your taxidermist find out how they want you to skin him. Cant tell you how many bear hides we get in that are skun wrong for the type of mount they want good luck !
If you plan on using a headnet make SURE you practise with it on! That little bit of advise would have helped me on a beautifull bear in New Brunswick a couple of years ago. Came to full draw and my finger caught the headnet and bunched it up right in front of my eye. Bear saw me let down and took off. Last decent bear I saw on the rest of my trip. I was sick, just an oversight on my part.
GLENN
Bear hunting In Minnesota was a tough one this year. My/our small group of 5 only got one bear, should of had 2 being one wasn't recovered via bad shot. The bear numbers were way down where I bear hunt. I run 15 baits and not one of them had sow and cubs at them, not good! I really believe that the sows and cubs and the younger bear's never made It out of there dens In the spring of 2008. We had a early snow storm that denned them up early and also a late snow storm that kept them In the dens In the spring. Allot of them ran out of fat and died In there dens I believe. It's going to take a few years for the population to come back. Most of the bear that we had hitting our baits were some of the biggest bear that I've ever seen. 95% of the bear hitting our baits were big older males. We had trail cams out on every bait.