Bear hunting 101

Due to the fact that there are so many people looking for bear hunting advice I have decided to start this thread to may be help answer some of ya'lls questions.
1. How do I find a bear? first you need to be in bear territory.Which is most all of the north Ga mountains.
second you need to know what to look for. my opinion the best sign you can find is several fresh piles of bear scat in an area of lots of food. Trails are next. bear trails look like people trails not deer trails they will usually use old logging rds and other natural paths in the mtns. use these trails for ambush as well as follow them and you will learn the bears core area. also broken limbs around large oak trees and claw marks on trees. I usually find bears close to cover in mtn gaps or mtn flats.
2. Do i need to control my scent? yes and no. bears are inquisitive if they haven't had much pressure on them and will sometimes just come looking for that different scent they smell. I always use scent away products and have had bear come to within a couple yards and stay aound for 30 mins or longer with me setting on the ground. My most important part of my set up is getting in a position that I feel will give me the best shot not the best wind advantage.
3 how do I judge the size of a bear? if you see the bear and it stands about knee high on all fours and looksto be at least 3 feet long and healthy it will weigh at least 100 LBs.
if you find sign and are trying to determin the size of the bear using the area then scat piles are a good indicator the bigger the pile the bigger the bear. if you find alot of very small piles and a few larger piles that indicaates that you have found a sow with small cubs.
4. how large a caliber do I need to use? my grand son uses a .223 and he killed a bear when he was 4 that only went 5 yds. shot placement rather than bullet size is much more important. you can shoot one with a .22 and drop him in his tracksor you can shoot one with a .300 ultra mag and not get him with a missplaced shot. practice shooting with as much stress and excitment around as possible because shooting your first bear can be a little unnerving.
hope this helps. I'll try to add to this thread a little latter.

Good thread!!!! Seeing many this yr? They are all over the place around here. I remember when a bear sighting was rare about 20 yrs ago. They seem to be po populating to fast.

Ok now I have a bear in view where do I place my shot? best shot is slightly quartering away just behind the front shoulder at the crease between the shoulder and the ribs. or a head shot with firearm only this is not a good bow shot.
now that I have shot my bear how do I track him up because I did'nt make a perfect shot? bears sometimes don't bleed to well because of fat stopping up the holes. so we will talk about how to find them because even though you don't find any blood or very little blood doesn't mean you didn't kill him. look for broken mtn grass or twiggs or torn up leaves a bear that is hit hard will tear up a lot of ground. carefully check out nearby thickets and creek beds on your hands and knees remember that a bear can still be alive and you might crawl right up on him in a thicket. usually a mortally wounded bear will travel less than 50 yds so sweep out in his last known direction of travel about 75 yds. dead bears are hard to see believe it or not especially if they fall in a ravine and slide under a pile of leaves so look carefully.
ok I found my bear how do I field dress it? if you are very sure tat it will weigh 75 lbs then field dress it like you would a deer. if it looks close to 75 lbs I would leave the bear undressed. the law says you can take the head and hide to the nearest check station and that is sufficent I would only do this on a very large bear to stop any confusion on weight.
How is the easiest way to get my bear out of the woods? if you are on a mountain side and you know the area very well then just give him a push and he will roll and slide sometimes several hundred yds, but make sure you know that when he slides off the mtn he is not going into a hole or other area that it will be harder to get him out of. you can use game carts or ropes and pullys or if you have very good friends that will help. you need about 4 people to get a bear out that weighs over 200 lbs. look for more info latter or ask specific questions or give your own input to this thread.

Great info. I plan on hunting as many weeks as I have to get a bear this year. I have alot of backpack gear and plan on going as far back as necessary and staying as long as it takes.

Thanks for the information.

Lots of wisdom there guys.

x2

Pappa Bear knows from whence he speaks...

Hope to see you this season brother!

*v*

So would you say that besides scouting for areas that hold bear I should hunt them much like deer? Ambush from a tree or blind, or is it better to have several areas scouted and stalk those areas similar to hunting hogs?
Thanks

GT Whitetail said:

So would you say that besides scouting for areas that hold bear I should hunt them much like deer? Ambush from a tree or blind, or is it better to have several areas scouted and stalk those areas similar to hunting hogs?
Thanks

Click to expand...

Both work....... just go deer hunting in a area that you have scouted and found signs of bear.

Shot placement

This is posted up over at The High Road in a great thread on the kill zone for different species. Its from the NRA Hunter Mag from a couple of years ago.

Great post Dana!! This will definitely get everyone going in the right direction. I believe it was you who also did a recent post suggesting those who were interested in bear hunting to take the time now to start the scouting. This is the best advice right now, especially slowly riding or walking the roads and trails of the forest lands, as YOU WILL SEE BEAR in the afternoons. As the hunting season comes on, it will be tougher to see them, as they will be going higher and concentrating on the acorns.

Dang I want to go bear hunting! I am in research mode to figure this out. Hopefully my years of deer hunting may come in handy. Cool thread.

i'll add some from my experiences too. now I don't claim to know everything and still have a lot to learn, so that being said--here goes:

on judging the size of a bear--you will learn with experience. but if you have ever deer hunted for BIG bucks, you will understand what i am about to say. when a bear or buck steps out and you ask yourself is it big enough, it probabally is not--if you are going for a trophy. When a trophy steps out, you will have no question and you will not have to look thru your scope to see if it is a shooter or not.

now if you are just wanting a bear(like most new to bear hunting folks) relate the bears size to other animals. The first bear I ever saw in the wild while hunting was on my first ever bear hunt. this bear came over the ridge by itself. I thought man I'm gonna get one on my first trip. It looked kinda small, so i kept waiting for a sow to be behind it, but it never came. So i looked at the bear harder, and to be honest, it didn't look much bigger than a large dog or some calves we had on our farm. I knew it was probabally 75lbs, but I had my doubts so i decided to let it pass. So what am i trying to say--If you have to ask yourself if it is 75lbs, it might be best to pass and wait for another--don't get caught up in the adrenaline rush.

Shooting at close range bears with a scope. I learned this the hard way. shooting a decent sized bear is way different than looking at a deer thru a scope. when a bear is close even with a scope on 3X it fills most of the scope up. so be SURE at the angle in which the bear is standing and the angle which you expect the bullet to pass thru the bear. The margin for error is slim if you miscaculate--i did just that. I shot a large bear that i thought was facing me head on only to discover afterward(by the sign left on the ground where it was shot)that it was not facing me dead on by actually quartering towards me. so I conclude that my bullet struck the bear somewhere in the front chest and then went to the front shoulder--missing any major vitals. given the short distance of the bear while looking thru my scope I evidentley misjuged the bears angle. Or to be on the safe side with one that close and to make tracking easier, just give it a head shot--if you feel comfortable with that. It makes tracking a lot easier!! I learned an important lesson the hard way. hopefully the bear made it and someone will get another opportunity at a trophy.

Great info !

I hope to go Bear huntin this year, an takin my Bow.
Good Luck to all !!! Great Post !

Best advice i can give, don't walk too far back in these hills because bears are really hard to drag out!

Great thread..

Thanks for great advise. Hoping to see one this year.

Another point... if at all possible, try to leave your vehicle in the low ground so as to drag the bear down-hill vs up-hill.

Anyone know of a good outfitter in Georgia? My wife didn't fall for the Let's go to Canada for vacation trick.