North American Super Slam: Black Bear

Native American tribes had long respected and revered the black bear before any Europeans ever came to this continent. It was an animal that, to many indigenous people, represented courage, strength, and protection. It’s easy to understand why they were held in such high esteem. Most of the time, they forage peacefully and try and avoid conflict. When provoked, however, they can elicit terror. Black bears are featured prominently in the mythology of almost all the North American tribes.

Besides the spiritual connection, for many, the Black Bear also represented a resource for clothing, bedding, food, fat, bone tools, and jewelry. Out of all the tribes, the Ute Indians' respect for the black bear is legendary. I was first told this by a local game warden Bob Holder who also holds black bears in high regard after working with them for over 40 years. The Ute Indians perform a bear dance that was first documented in the 15th century by the Spanish Conquistadors.

Harsh Lessons

My respect for black bears dates back to the first time I ever hunted one with a bow. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I had a rather intimidating first experience that was my own fault, entirely. My buddy Blye and I were helping an outfitter set up bear baits and get camp ready in exchange for hunting ourselves. When it was our turn, we each picked a bait site and went in to hunt.

When the first bear came into the bait, he was aggressive. He approached the bait huffing and intentionally stepping on branches to announce his presence. He would pop his teeth occasionally and look into the brush at what I assume was another bear that I couldn’t see. I waited until I had a good angle, drew my bow back, and took the shot. My arrow went through the bear fast, and he reacted by growling loudly and biting at his side before jumping into the thick brush.

Best I could tell, it was right on the border of being a lung shot or one in the liver. Between the thick hide on the bear and my excitement, I wasn’t sure. The bear disappeared almost immediately and I didn’t hear the tell-tale death moan. The outfitter had told us to bring a gun when we went in alone to hunt for safety because of the amount of bears in the area. I had brought a single-shot 12 gauge loaded with buckshot to put in the tree with me just in case. After I shot the bear, I left my gun hanging in the tree and decided to climb down and just walk over and look at my arrow so I could better discern where the arrow had hit based on the blood. In hindsight, I should have waited a while or just snuck out of the area to give it some time before returning with my buddy to trail up the bear.

Instead, I was excited and decided to look right away. I lowered my bow and climbed down to take a look. I had my bow in hand and an arrow nocked as I walked to my arrow. The brush around the bait site was thick, and I had no way of knowing the bear was only a few yards away. I had leaned over to pick up my arrow that was stuck in the dirt when I heard what sounded like someone trying to stifle a cough really close. I was startled and stood up quickly when a very angry wounded bear ran at me from only a few yards away. I was running to my stand, only a few yards away, and threw my bow at the bear. I made it to the stand and was going up the screw-in steps as quickly as I could when I realized the bear was right behind me.

I reached up and grabbed my shotgun with one hand. I cocked it and swung it down while cocking the hammer with my thumb and shot it one-handed. The recoil from the shotgun wrenched the gun out of my hand and it went flying to the ground. My shot was not good, but all the pellets hit the bear in the front leg, knocking him off the tree. The bear fortunately died at the base of the tree, leaving me a little shook up but with a healthy respect for black bears.

Since that close call over 30 years ago, I have come to realize that my experience was the exception and a rare occurrence. Usually, black bears are only aggressive when they are wounded, protecting a food source, or if it’s a sow protecting her cubs. I will caution that there have been occasions of black bears attacking people and eating them. More people have been killed by black bears than grizzly bears, but that’s simply because black bear populations are much larger and they inhabit more places, therefore black bear and human encounters are much more common.

Tactics

Since that first bear hunt, I have managed to take black bears with a myriad of weapons, including recurve, compound, handgun, and rifle. My favorite ways to hunt black bears are calling them in with a predator call or spot-and-stalk, although I have hunted them over waterholes, at bait sites, and with hounds. My deep respect for these amazing animals continues to grow the more I am around them.

Calling

For calling them, I use a mouth call because, in the places I have hunted, an electronic call is illegal. I have found that calling loudly, aggressively, and non-stop, or as long as I can before I need a break, seems to yield the best results. If you can emulate a doe fawn bleat or an elk calf with a diaphragm or call, that can work great, but I have called most of my bears in using a rabbit call,  just squealing loudly and non-stop. When calling black bears, it’s best to have two people and be careful as bears are coming in to eat something or coming in out of curiosity. I like to be set up where I have a little room to see the bear coming and have plenty of time to react. I also advise a heavier gun. For example, although I have used a bow, I usually use a Rossi lever action chambered in 45-70 loaded with Hornady 325-grain FTX bullets.

Pursuit

Spot-and-stalking is also a fun and effective way to harvest bears. I have lots of luck using this method in the western states because you can use optics in the more open country to find bears and then try and slip into range. This method is a lot tougher in a lot of other states or Canadian provinces where the thick cover can make it difficult to spot bears unless they’re in meadows or along logging roads. For this method, I use good optics to help me cover a lot of ground from one location and I wait until a bear is in a position where I can slip in with the wind in my favor and the sun at my back, preferably. If I am in a place where the cover is too thick to glass effectively, I will try and target food sources like elderberries, plum thickets, acorns, or even agriculture fields with crops planted like corn or oats.

Water

Besides baiting, in areas where water is scarce, I find hunting water is a super effective way to harvest bears in the fall. If baiting is the most effective if the weather is right, I would say hunting water holes is my number two most effective way to hunt bears. Tracks around waterholes are a dead giveaway to how many bears are around and the size of the bears. When it comes to targeting large boars, I am looking for a bear's front pad to be at least 4 ½  inches wide.

Out of Proportion

Oftentimes people grossly overestimate bear weight and size. If you measured all the bears that people claim are 200-300-pound bears, you would find that most are half that size. The largest black bears are found in the eastern United States. If one were to take the average weight of a mature black bear boar it would be between 200 and 300 pounds, and for a sow, 130-200 pounds. That can vary based on food sources and location. Bears are at their heaviest in the fall before hibernation and can lose approximately 30% of their weight in hibernation. So, a 300-pound bear in the fall may come out of hibernation in the spring weighing 210. Black bears also come in several color variations. I have seen red, brown, cinnamon, and blonde bears and all types of subtle variations in between.

A General Store with Teeth

Bears also sometimes get a bad rap for not being great table fare. That is hogwash. They are delicious when handled and cooked properly. I have had whitetail deer at friends’ houses that tasted gamey and tough. I’m sure you have, as well. Bear is the same, if handled and cooked correctly, it’s amazing. I will say that fall is the best time of year for harvesting a bear that is delicious with lots of fat. If you like the fat, shoot ‘em in the fall. If you like it a little leaner, go for a spring bear.

Either way, whether it is required by law or not to take the meat, take it, enjoy it, and by doing so give the amazing black bear the respect it deserves and utilize everything you can. Besides the great meat, beautiful hide, impressive claws, and skull, the fat can be rendered down to make amazing cooking grease and can even be used to help waterproof your boots.

There are all types of methods for hunting bears and all are exciting because of different reasons. My advice would be to try as many as you can to see the challenge in all of them and enjoy the time spent in the woods.