Tactics/Knowledge

Brown Bear Predation on Moose & Caribou Research

By Biologist Wade Nolan
Seven bears gathered over 36,376 video clips across a period of time when bears are most likely to be feeding on moose and caribou calves. The cameras took a 10-second video clip every 15 minutes from mid-May to the end of June, which is calving season. At the end of the study, bears were re-darted and camera collars collected. What they learned was remarkable.

Scouting Tips for Fall Bears

By Josh Kirchner
Spring bear hunting gets a ton of attention, and it’s for a very good reason. During the spring time, there really isn’t anything else going on as far as hunting seasons go. You might get out for some turkeys, but that’s about it. It’s a fantastic time to solely chase bears. The wilderness is coming back to life at this time, as are we the hunters after a long winter. However, spring isn’t the only time to get out and try your luck at a big bruin. Fall is equally, if not more, productive as spring in terms of opportunity. There are some states that don’t even have a spring season, but do offer fall hunts. This can oftentimes be a great mixed bag hunt as well. Some fall bear hunts will overlap deer hunts, giving you the opportunity to hunt both at the same time. This is where I personally cut my teeth as a bear hunter and have come to really love hunting bears in the fall. The bears are fat, pressure is usually down due to antlers being on the brain, and the air is beginning to cool. Bears are secretive animals though. In order to find them, you need to put in the leg work and scout. Fall is no exception to that rule.

Five Tips for a Successful Bear Drive

By Freddie Mcknight
There are many methods to choose from for hunting black bears across North America, but where legal, driving can be a top producer among them. However it takes considerable knowledge about where and how to put on the right push through the brush to roust any bruin from cover. Follow these five tips to help your crew become a more efficient bear gang.

Tips for Choosing the Right Outfitter

By Bernie Barringer
There are good reasons for doing due diligence before you book a hunt. Guides like this one are one of the reasons you call references before you plunk down your hard-earned deposit. For every bad experience I have had a dozen good ones. But the bad ones do tend to stick in your mind. Let’s take a look at the key points in choosing the right outfitter and minimizing the chances of having a regretful trip.

Tough Times - How Covid is Affecting Bear Outfitters

May/June 2020 (Written April 2020)

By Brian Strickland
When the dust settles and we have a sense of normalcy again, we’ll tell stories about the "2020 Pandemic" and hope it never happens again. But we’ll also breathe a sigh of relief when we get back into the woods and make bear hunting great again! We’ll all get through this together.

The Best Bear Sign | What to Look for When Hunting Eastern Decidious Forest Bears

Hunting the Eastern Deciduous forest for black bear without the aid of bait or hounds is one of the toughest hunts in North America. Heavily wooded and rugged terrain combined with a “low density” animal to make the pursuit legit. Recently, I’ve been calling it the “sheep hunt of the South.” The only difference being the odds of killing a bear are probably lower. The first questions most people have are, “what does bear sign look?” and “what’s the best type of sign?”

Bowhunting | Practice Makes Perfect

By Bernie Barringer
I intend to be bowhunting as long as I can, and one of the best ways I can ensure that I have the strength to do so is through diligent practice and exercise. This is especially true of a guy who’s about to turn 60, but anyone half that age can benefit from the advantages of regular practice.

Scoring Bear Skulls

By Al Raychard
It has been said a trophy game animal is in the eye of the beholder. After more than four decades of hunting black bears, having traveled far and wide to do so and after seeing literally scores of bears taken by hunters in camps from Alaska to Newfoundland I believe that old adage is true. Some of those bears were unique in some way, perhaps with white “Vs” on the chest or were blonde, brown or otherwise off-color. My aging brain can’t recall each and every one, but I remember enough to say although there were some big bears in terms of weight only a small percentage were of such massive body size to be considered truly impressive. A fair number tipped the scales less than 200 pounds and only a faction, including only two of mine, had skull measurements that met record book eligibility. Yet, I can’t recall ever seeing a displeased look on the face on any hunter, and no doubt each bear was considered a trophy. And so they should have been, and should be, because every bear killed is a trophy in some way.

The Biology Basics of The Bear Rut | What You Need to Know for Spring Hunting

By Clay Newcomb
If you are bear hunting from late May into June, your hunt will be influenced by the bear rut. Knowing all you can about it will make you a better hunter. In a research paper written by Kim Barber and Fredrick Lindzey in Washington State, they noted that female bears range from 6 to 16 days in estrous each spring with the average being 9.25 days. The length of estrous often depends on how quickly the sow is bred. During the research period, male bears were with females from 2 to 5 days, indicating that this was when they actually bred. It’s important to note that this data was collected by radio-collared black bears. Black bears are “promiscuous” breeders, meaning they can have multiple partners. Biologists once observed a female grizzly bear breed 10 times with 4 different males in a two-hour period.
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