Bear hunting with hounds offers adventure in the early season

There is something rejuvenating about spring. For most of the hunting world, the fall is the beginning of the new year. Hunters’ pockets are filled with new tags and their minds with anticipation of the possibilities that lie in the season ahead. For myself, the new year has always begun in spring. When lion hunting closes at the end of March, I have a two-week vacation before turkey and bear hunting season begins. Spring is the beginning of my hunting season, and with it comes sunshine and new opportunities.

My hunting season historically starts with coaxing turkeys and practicing my spot-and-stalk abilities on the elusive ground squirrel. However, over the last decade, I have slowly altered those rituals to include listening to the cry of my hounds as they pursue one of the toughest animals in the woods. Hunting black bears with hounds was never my passion. Initially, I hunted bears using spot-and-stalk or baiting methods, but once I raised my own pack of hounds, I fell in love with the pursuit and began to fully understand why hunting bears with dogs has become an obsession for most houndsmen.

Over the course of my hound career, I have caught quite a few bears, but this spring we cornered one that tops them all. I finally completed my trifecta by killing a giant bear with my dogs. Prior to killing the bear, I had only shot two animals caught by my dogs–one big tom mountain lion, and a big tom bobcat. The sweetest part is that all three animals were trophy size and caught by dogs that I raised and trained myself. As I look back at my career as a houndsman, I am proud of what my dogs and I have accomplished, but I’m afraid I opened a door I may never be able to shut. Pursuing black bears with my hounds is now a spring ritual just like turkey hunting is to me. The weather is good, the bears are rested, and it makes for some of the most exciting hunting you can ever experience.

The Big Bear

The dogs excitedly piled out of the box one by one, springing from the tailgate full of energy. They had not hunted since lion season closed at the end of March, and I could tell they were happy to be in the woods again. It was the first of May and the opening day of bear season. I put on my pack and slung my 30-30 over my shoulder as we started our descent into the canyon. I had no intention of needing a gun on this hunt, but with bears, you never know what is going to happen, and it is always a good idea for everyone to have some sort of firearm, just in case. The purpose of today was to catch a bear for my friend Tyler, and I honestly had no intentions of killing one myself.

As we hiked into the canyon, the dogs ranged back and forth in front of us, searching for the scent of a bear. It was a beautiful spring day, and everyone was enjoying the hike, looking for shed antlers and any evidence of a bear in the area. As we headed up the opposite side of the canyon, we could tell the dogs were cold trailing something slowly, and we followed along, watching them work.

We reached the edge of a field and the dogs slowly trailed up the canyon. My five-year-old female, Annie, trailed across the field quietly and disappeared into a thicket. Shortly after she disappeared, we heard her long drawn-out bawl, and the other dogs raced across the field and joined her. It was not long before the canyon echoed with the roar of five hounds barking treed. We all scurried across the field with smiles on our faces to see what they had found.

The dogs had caught two small bears and they were treed in a ponderosa pine. There was a turkey carcass at the base of the tree, and it was obvious that the bears had simply climbed the tree to evade the hounds. It had not been much of a challenge for the dogs, but it was a good start to our day. After taking some pictures, we called the dogs off and headed up the canyon, leaving the bears to their turkey.

My brother and his wife were also with Tyler and I on the hunt, and we all spread out, moving up the canyon and letting the dogs hunt as we looked for sheds. It was not long before I heard a faint echo coming from somewhere up ahead. I could see four of my dogs, but Annie was gone again, and I realized that she had trailed silently up the canyon without me knowing. I called the other dogs and started jogging in her direction to get them to join her. As I jogged along, I noticed a large bear track in the mud. When I stopped and looked at it, I realized it was one of the biggest bear tracks I had ever seen.

By the time all of us caught up to the dogs, they had lost the trail. After circling the area multiple times, none of the dogs could figure out which way the bear had gone. We decided to drop into the canyon and hunt back down to where we had initially crossed, hoping to pick up the trail or jump the bear somewhere in the creek bottom.

We walked side hill through the small draws as the dogs scoured the ground around us. I could tell that a few of the dogs had picked up the track again and were cold-trailing slowly along an old roadbed. They had trailed the bear off and on for a mile at this point, and I figured they would eventually get it to jump from its bed. As we crested a ridge onto an open hillside, we stopped and watched the dogs.

Annie and Kelly, my one-year-old pup, trailed down to the creek bottom and into a large brush patch. Shortly after they disappeared, we heard the high-pitched cry of the hounds. The other dogs poured down the hillside to join them and soon the whole canyon was roaring from the wail of the dogs. Suddenly, the giant bear emerged in the creek bottom. He was so large that it seemed like he could barely run from the dogs. He plodded up the creek with the dogs swarming behind him, and the chase was on.

The only problem was that the bear was going the wrong way. We were running out of real estate, and I knew we had to cut them off before they got to the head of the canyon. This type of bear would never climb a tree, and if we did not cut them off in time, my dogs would be baying him around all day on property I could not hunt.

We ran along the roadbed parallel to the bear and the dogs. I knew we had to stay in front of them and cut them off at the creek bed. As we ran, I remember looking over my shoulder and telling Tyler to be ready to shoot. It was about 400 yards to where the road met the creek, and the closer we got to the creek, the closer we got to the dogs. The noise from the creek bottom was so intense that it made me run faster. I could tell by the sound of the dogs they were swarming the bear. We were slightly ahead of the dogs when we reached the creek bottom.

Across the creek about 50 yards, there was an opening and a little bench. I looked back at Tyler and said, “When he comes through that opening, kill him.” The roar of the dogs was getting closer by the second, and I ran down the road to look for another opening to shoot from. As I looked back at Tyler, he was running behind me, and I knew the bear had gotten past his shooting window. Suddenly, we all emerged at the same spot at once. There was the giant bear with all five of my hounds roaring behind him. He was only 30 yards away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tyler shoulder his gun, and I kept saying “Kill him, kill him, kill him,” but his gun was not going off. The bear was about to be out of sight and there was not any more time. There wasn’t time to think, he was about to be gone. I shouldered my rifle and shot him just before he went out of sight.

Then everything was quiet, I could not see the dogs or the bear, but we hurried in their direction. When we came around a bush, there was the bear sitting on his butt like Buddha, less than ten yards away. My dogs were in a circle around him but not making a sound. Blood was running out of his mouth, and when our eyes met, he pawed the ground with his front feet like he wanted to charge. He never got the opportunity, I shot him in the center of the chest, and he tipped over, dead.

Watching my dogs bay that bear was one of the most intense moments of my hunting career, but my initial response was disappointment. I had previously killed multiple big bears, and I was disappointed that Tyler had not killed him. I knew it needed to happen, but I really wanted it to be his trophy and not mine. He never got a clear shot and did not want to risk hitting one of the dogs.

I had previously killed a bear that I believe was 400 pounds, but this one was larger. His head was enormous, and I figured it would easily make the record book. The eyes looked so small compared to the head that they seemed to almost not exist. The color of his hide was beautiful, without a single rub mark or impurity. His legs almost gave a purple color in the sunlight, and his muzzle was beige. We stood there in the sunlight, taking in the moment and reflecting on what had just occurred. When my brother and his wife showed up, it really started to sink in. He just stood there admiring the bear and said, “That’s the biggest bear I’ve ever seen.”

It was one of the happiest and proudest moments of my hunting career, and I was glad I was sharing it with this group. They understood the love and effort I had invested in my dogs. In 12 years of raising and training my own hounds, I had only pulled the trigger three times. I had killed a big lion, bobcat, and bear with dogs that I had raised and trained myself. That was the goal I had set so many years ago, and standing over that bear was one of the most fulfilling moments of my life.

The sun came out and we all skinned the bear while reminiscing about the day. When we finished, the hide and head were put in my pack, and we started the two-mile hike out of the canyon. My brother and I took turns carrying the hide and later found out the hide and head weighed 90 pounds. The hide was 7’3” long and the skull officially scored 21 5/16” after the drying period.

Bear Hunting with Hounds in the Spring

Spring bears are notorious for running. Perhaps it is because the winter has depleted their fat stores and body weight. As a result, “spring bears” typically do not weigh as much as “fall bears.” I am sure that it is a lot easier to run with their weight being reduced, and it probably has a little something to do with it. Regardless of why, spring bears are known for running and challenging the dogs.

Most bear dens I have found are on the north faces or areas that have timber or cliffs. Often, they will make dens below bluffs or within the root systems of large trees. When bears come out in the spring, they initially don’t move a great distance from their dens. Locating bears in the early spring can be difficult, and often there is still snow on the northern aspects. Sometimes you must cover great distances to intercept a bear in early spring, and in my experience, they do not move around much. During this time, they will search the edges of roads for grass and focus on the southwest aspects that are free of snow.

As the weather gets warmer and more food sources become available, bears move around much more. Bear hunting with hounds early in the morning for bears that walked during the night can be productive, as well as late in the afternoon just before evening. In the area where I live, bears will start to breed at the end of May and through the month of June. This makes for great hunting. There seem to be bears moving constantly, looking for both food as well as the opportunity to breed. The weather is also outstanding during late May and early June. During this time, deer and elk have their offspring, and bears are extremely hard on newborn fawns and calves during their first month of life.

Striking/Rigging

The most common strategy used for bear hunting with hounds is to have the dogs “strike” or “rig” a bear from a pickup truck or ATV. This is usually done by placing the dogs up on top of the dog box, or onto custom-built racks on an ATV or UTV. When the dogs locate the scent of a bear, they alert the hunter by barking. Depending on the area being hunted, the hunter will often attempt to look for a track to determine the direction the bear was headed, and then release the dogs.

Bear hunting with hounds this way allows the hunter to cover a lot of territory without wearing himself or the dogs down prior to starting to trail the bear. The only downside to bear hunting with hounds is that it requires dogs that have the ability or training to be able to strike scent. Not all dogs are capable of being good strike dogs, and it requires a lot of hunting opportunity to keep them good at it. Even if a hunter has very natural, well-bred dogs, they still need a lot of reps to maintain efficiency. Not to mention that they also need to be trained to not strike the scent of every deer, elk, moose, and coyote in the woods.

Even within a good pack of dogs, most hunters have one or possibly two dogs that they consider good strike dogs. Unless someone is a professional hunter and hunts all the time, it is difficult to maintain and train new dogs enough to have them truly proficient. I know multiple hunters that hunt their dogs over 100 days a year. They typically have a lot of dogs that will be capable of striking and catching game, but even within a good pack of dogs, usually, there are one or two that stick out as good strike dogs.

Hiking/Free-casting

If they are unable to drive into your hunting area, hunters will often ride mules or horses or hike their dogs into good bear habitat. The dogs can be kept on a dog lead or turned loose to hunt while the hunter hikes or rides along with them. I often bear hunt with hounds this way because most of the areas that I hunt are not accessible by driving. It makes for some long, hard days of hunting, but the benefit is that I don’t spend as much time waiting for a bear to cross the road. By hunting this way, you can go directly to where bears are. My hunting time seems to always be decreasing, so when I get to go, I need to ensure the dogs get the chance to chase something.

The downside to hunting this way is that I often tire my dogs out in one day of hunting. Whatever distance I walk, they typically do twice the amount. My hunting is usually in rough country, and after a full day, I usually need to lay them up for a day or two. If I could hunt day after day, I would change my strategy, but that’s not an option right now, so I go all in and rest them until I can go again.

Conclusion

Maintaining a pack of good bear hounds is a lot of work, and building that package takes a lot of time and money. It takes a special hunter to dedicate that much effort and special dogs to be able to strike, trail, and tree bears consistently. I have met some of the finest bear hunters in the country, but I do not consider myself to be one of them yet, nor do I consider my dogs to be the greatest bear hounds. Regardless, hunting bears with dogs is some of the most exciting hunting you can ever experience. If you don’t have dogs of your own, find someone who does and give it a shot. You don’t know what you are missing.