Bear Hunting

Bill Vaznis, Editor of Bear Hunting Magazine

One of the advantages of shooting bears over bait is that you generally have ample time to size up the animal, and then wait for the perfect, one-shot kill. All bets are off however when you are out on a limb near the bait barrel, or hiding behind some brush at ground zero. This is where an unwanted noise or an involuntary movement can send a big bear packing. Indeed, this is where even an experienced big-game hunter can get “bear fever”, and blow the shot of a lifetime.

If a bear spots you sitting in your stand for example, curiosity may get the better of him and he will come over for a closer look-see. One of the real thrills of bear hunting is having a 400-pound boar march over to the tree you are sitting in, stand up and go “woof, woof” in your face. If that doesn’t kick start your imagination, you either have nerves of steel or you passed out on the first “woof”. 

Over the years I have had several bears climb up the tree towards me, mostly out of curiosity. Usually the bear will shimmy back down the trunk, but a couple of times I had yell at him when he got too close (okay, so I lost my nerve!), and once I had to kick my boot at his snoot to get him to go away. Generally however, if you just sit still the bear will soon be satisfied you are harmless, and shuffle over to the bait barrel, and in so doing put himself in harm’s way.

New bear hunters often get the jitters as a bear makes his final approach to the bait site. If your leg starts to hop about then like a rabbit on the run, your best defense is to decide not to take the shot. You will be surprised how cool, calm and collected you can be when there is no pressure to shoot. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show! The bear may leave, but if not disturbed he is more than likely to return. And when he does, he will be more relaxed, and so will you—maybe even enough to make the shot.

One of the secrets to shooting a big bear at a bait site is to be sitting stone-still facing the bait with an arrow nocked. Then wait patiently for the bear to relax and look away or put his head in the barrel or just lay down and become preoccupied with eating. If you can keep your wits about you, then this is the time to pick a small spot to shot at, raise your bow, take careful aim—and shoot.

Bill Vaznis, Editor of Bear Hunting Magazine

Many outfitters, guides and do-it-yourself hunters use “stink baits” as a primary attractor, hoping the outlandish odors will quickly attract bears to the bait station. Where legal, rotting fish or beaver carcasses work great as does a pail of dated chicken or various meat by-products left out in the sun for several weeks.

Another trick is to smear lard, cooking grease or even peanut butter on several nearby tree trunks to help “steer” the bear towards the bait station. An incoming bear goes from one tree to the next until he “stumbles” upon your cache of goodies. Even a burlap bag soaked in molasses and then spread between branches where it can catch the evening breezes has been known to attract bears to an ambush site.

One of the best attractors however is a grease pad. Peanut oil, discarded chicken fryer grease or even molasses can be spread upon the ground around the bait site. As bears come to dine, they invariable get the oil or grease on their fur and feet. When they leave and go where bears go they can’t help but leave a scent trail behind that other bears often find irresistible. This is a good way to get multiple bears on a bait station.

Are you making these bear-baiting mistakes?  Take a look at the ten bear-baiting mistakes listed in this story from Bowhunting World.

Is this a blunder? Read the article to find out.

Mistakes include:

Picking a Bad Site

Focusing on a Bear’s Sweet Tooth

Overfeeding

Using Expired Bait

Check out the other blunders by reading “Are You Making These Bear-Baiting Mistakes?”

By Bill Vaznis, Edtior of Bear Hunting Magazine

 TREESTAND RULES

For best results, locate a suitable tree for your tree stand BEFORE beginning your baiting operation. On more than one occasion I have visited a hot bait site teeming with big bear sign only to realize there was not a suitable tree nearby to erect a tree stand. Even if you choose to hunt at ground zero, you must pick a shooting location first before you start your baiting operation.

Your chances are best from an elevated platform. Your goal then is to erect a stand 12 to 15 feet off the ground, and no more than 20 yards from the bait. You also want to approach your stand quietly without going near the bait.  If a big bear knows you’ve have been at the bait recently, he may very well retreat until after dark. Keep in mind that once a bear claims a food source as his own, he often camps out nearby. Thus any noise out of the ordinary such as the clack of metal or the squeak of a tree stand will raise his suspicions. Here are some more tips to consider.

• Pick a large tree with many branches to help camouflage your silhouette and then position your stand so that you can shoot from a sitting position.
• Whenever possible, establish a “staging area” for yourself. This will allow you to check the bait site from afar using a pair of binoculars without stinking up the site with your stench. This also helps keep unwanted noise to a minimum.
• Force the bear into a broadside or quartering away angle by cribbing the bait with logs, stones, etc. Any other shot angle is dangerous and unacceptable.
• A dilemma often presents itself when it comes time to exit the stand. On the one hand, you can tip toe out of there hoping that if there is a bear nearby, he won’t hear you and thus ruin the surprise you have in store for him. Or, you can make a fair amount of noise, as if you are replenishing the bait barrel, and then be on your merry way. Your goal is to exit the scene without tipping the bear off to your intentions. You don’t want to be so quiet however you inadvertently come face to face on the exit trail!

By Bill Vaznis, Editor of Bear Hunting Magazine

5-inch front pad tracks.

The site intrigued me. It was situated at the confluence of two streams, a natural crossing for black bears, and well off the beaten path. It was also dark under the canopy of spruce and fir, even on a bright sunlit day, which gave me the willies whenever I replenished the bait. Indeed, the five-inch front pad tracks in the nearby mud indicated a mature boar was raiding my cache of meat and pastries every other night or so, and the last thing I wanted to do was to come face to face with him in the poor light.

I hung a portable stand crosswind to the pile of logs covering the bait after one of his visits, and even though I was anxious to loosen an arrow, I waited for the bear to get used to the new set-up before climbing on board.

Portable tree stand.

It was the right decision, for the first night I hid aloft, the big bear circled cautiously downwind of the bait site, and once satisfied all was safe committed himself to the offering just before dark.

I waited for him to present a quartering away shot, and when he did, I came to full draw, aimed and released a vaned shaft at his vitals in one fluid motion. The Pope & Young bruin let out a deafening roar upon impact, and immediately fled the scene with his stubby tail tucked between his legs like a scalded dog. His efforts were to no avail however as he was already dead on his feet expiring less than fifty yards from my stand.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

Baiting remains the most popular bow-hunting method for black bears, and accounts for more entries in the various record books than stalking, tracking, still-hunting, calling and running ‘em with dogs combined.

But setting up a proper ambush is not so easy a task. For openers, black bears are secretive creatures of the deep woods and dark swamps. Even in farm country, they seem to thrive on the edge, padding carefully about those nasty hard-to-reach tangles of brush, boulders and fallen snags. Oh, you will see them feeding in the wee hours along the edges of clear-cuts, open meadows and wind-swept ridges, but their daytime lair will most always be in the thickest and most impenetrable cover available. Even when on the prowl for food or mates, black bears, and especially big boars, choose routes that offer them the most protection.

Nonetheless, it has been said that enticing a bear to a bait site is not a difficult task. Indeed, try hiding a cooler of meat or a couple bags of groceries in bear country, and see what happens! It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days or so for a bear to find your goodies, and devour them without so much as a “by your leave”.

Bait site.

What is difficult however is meeting that bear at your bait site during legal shooting hours. Big boars are smart, very smart, and that means you have to plan your ambush well ahead of time. A bag of pastries tossed on the shoreline may attract a roaming bear, but there is no guarantee that he will give you a clear shot unless you pay close attention to all the details.

When bears emerge from their dens in the spring, it takes their digestive tracts a while to adjust to the long period of hibernation. Red meat, carrion and even fish are often just too much for their system to handle. Spring greenery in the form of new shoots, green grasses, clover and the buds, leaves and catkins of the aspen tree are a few of the important foods bears seek out now. Where else might you find a hungry spring bruin?

• Water and sunshine promote the season’s first greenery. Look for tracks and scat along the edges of rivers, lakes and other large bodies of water.

• Stream banks, especially where thick brush and uneven terrain make it difficult for humans to walk, are natural travel lanes for mature boars.

• Bears always check out the confluence of two streams, where a river and a stream meet or where moving water enters and exits a lake or pond.

• Bears routinely patrol the edges of swamps. Expect increased activity along any ridge or finger of land that leads in or out of the swamp.

• Look for claw marks on the trunks of aspens, and “bear nests” in the upper most branches, for signs of early spring feeding.

• In an effort to help hold the soil near construction projects, managers often plant clover. Look for this much preferred delicacy near the edges of forest service roads, logging roads in and around re-claimed clear-cuts and along gas lines, maintenance roads and well heads. Power lines, gas lines, underground communications lines and other rights-of-ways are another area worth a careful look-see in early spring.

• If you are not sure when the bear is hitting your bait, affix a timer to one of the entrance or exit trails. You may learn that the bear is chowing down right after you leave for the evening, or that he is more nocturnal than you thought, feeding after midnight. On rare occasions, a big bear may also feed at first light.

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Bill Vaznis, Editor of Bear Hunting Magazine

A few more things:

TURKEY CARE

You must cool the bird down as soon as possible or the skin will slip causing massive feather loss. Either make arrangements to put the bird in a local grocer’s freezer, or ice it down as soon as possible. Unless you are experienced, do not try to skin the turkey yourself. The damage you cause will more than likely be irreparable. And unless you are going to be out of town for an extended period of time, don’t gut the bird, either, especially if you will be at a taxidermist’s studio in a few hours—Rick Streeter.

SALTING HIDES

Salt is used to draw moisture out of the hide so that it dries, the theory being that bacteria needs moisture to survive. Sometimes we see where a hunter salted the hide out to the head, but left the hide on the animal’s skull. Invariable the mount is ruined because the unsalted portion of the hide spoiled.

To salt a hide or cape properly, rub salt into the entire hide, paying close attention to the edges, and the eyes, lips, ears and mouth on the head. Roll up the hide and store it in a cool area. Wait 24 hours, and shake out the wet salt. Then re-salt the hide and hang it out of the sunlight in a cool dark area. Your goal is to get all the wetness out of the hide. You will get about a half-gallon of moisture from an average whitetail deer cape, and a full gallon from an average bull elk cape—Rick Streeter.

SHOULD GAME ANIMALS BE AGED?

A game animal starts to decay as soon as you shoot it because they are leaner than domesticated cattle. The fat on a cow protects the meat allowing you to age beef, and like a fine wine the longer you age it the more flavorful it becomes. What little fat there is on a game animal however starts to rot immediately transmitting a bad taste to the meat. A deer for example is 95-99 percent lean, and the leaner the meat the faster it deteriorates. Thus you cannot hang a deer for any extended period of time in the hopes of tenderizing the venison—Larry Mandell.

Bill Vaznis, Editor of Bear Hunting Magazine

TROPHY CARE

Rick Streeter is an award-winning taxidermist with a penchant for detail. Like Beckley and Mandell, he believes you must be prepared to take care of your trophy before it hits the ground. “On any do-it-yourself hunt,” advises Streeter, “check ahead to see if there will be a generator in camp for cooling the hide and meat. Is there a freezer available in a nearby town? What about a walk-in cooler? A taxidermist? A meat cutter?  If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, then you must be prepared to make other arrangements before you step into the field.

“Even if you book a fully guided trip, you can’t expect the outfitter or guide to double as an expert taxidermist, too. I tell my clients to find a local taxidermist, and ask him how he likes his hides. He is more likely to give you solid advice concerning trophy care.  I just had a new client come into my studio requesting a full body mount on a beautiful black bear. Unfortunately his guide cut the bear’s rear legs off, and there is nothing I can do to repair the damage.”

If you are back in the boonies, and do not have access to a freezer or cooler, then are going to have to remove the skull yourself, but be careful. The hairs here are quite short in this area making it difficult for a taxidermist to repair the damage if you cut a hole or lop off an ear by mistake. Use a scalpel, available through your taxidermist, or a small folding knife, the smaller and sharper the better. Use a larger knife only for scraping excess meat off the hide.

Take your time and do a good job. What you do in the field before it reaches a taxidermist can mean the difference between a life-like mount for your living room wall, or a bad mount destined for the back of the garage.

“The first mistake hunters make,” says Streeter, “occurs when they cape the animal. For a full shoulder mount, you must cut the hide off from well behind the front leg. Starting at mid body is never a bad idea; too much cape is always preferable to not enough. Use a big knife, like one with an eight-inch curved blade, and try to leave as much muscle tissue on the carcass as possible. Otherwise you will be spending extra hours later scraping the meat and fat off the hide.

“The most common error we see here at the studio however is a cape with four eye holes. This occurs when you cut into the membrane located right above the eyeball. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, stick your finger into the animal’s eye socket and feel for the knife’s blade. The presence of your finger against the blade will hopefully guide you around the socket and stop you from cutting through the upper eyelid.

“The second most common error occurs when you slice the lip leaving most of it attached to the skull and not the hide. The trick here is to insert your finger inside the animal’s mouth, and find the knife’s blade. Then cut inward and back towards the base of the jaw so that you do not cut across the lips. Your taxidermist will need at least a half-inch of lip all the way around in order to give you a quality realistic looking mount.

“Finally, when you get to the nose, stick your finger inside one nostril at a time, (you can use a pair of rubber gloves here if you are a bit squeamish) and feel for the blade. You want to leave the animal’s nose on the hide, not the skull.

“If you are going to be in the field for an extended period of time, and there is no freezer available, you must also turn the ears and split the lips. The lips are easy, but the ears are a bit tricky. I recommend my clients practice on does or yearling bucks before planning a do-it-yourself hunt.” 

I have found that a small folding Havalon knife fitted with a standard pointed replacement blade is the ideal tool for caping big game critters. Its thin scalpel-sharp blade lets me work confidently around the  eyes, ears, nose and lips without fear of slicing into the hide.

Indeed, look closely at mounted bear heads for example. If there appears to have been reconstructive work done around the eyes, then you can bet the eyelids were damaged during the caping process, or too much tissue was left on the lids and there was slippage. Either way, careful skinning with a thin sharp blade will help eliminate these problems.

How should you transport the cape? Whenever possible pack the cape in a burlap bag. This will allow air to circulate around the hide. Generally, however airlines what the hide in a plastic bag so that it doesn’t leak blood into the hold of the aircraft. But the second you disembark get your hide out of that plastic bag and put into a burlap bag. 

“You can also elect to transport your cape in an ice chest,” says Streeter. “Put the ice in a plastic bag, or keep a block of ice in the bottom of the chest with a piece of burlap used to separate the hide from the melting ice and the bacteria in it.

If you don’t what to chance skinning out the head yourself, it is best to freeze the cape and head. The cold temperatures will slow down the growth of bacteria, and the deeper the freeze the slower the growth. 

“Do not salt and then freeze the cape however,” warns Streeter. “It will actually rot in the freezer, although at a slow rate. Like ice on a winter road, the hide will remain damp even though the air temperature in the freezer is well below freezing. If you do elect to freeze the cape, put it in a plastic bag. This is the only time, other than traveling on a commercial airplane when it is mandatory, that I would recommend the use of a plastic bag. You don’t want a warm hide to sit in a pool of water where bacteria are thriving.

“Finally, look at a strand of deer hair under a microscope and you will see roots growing around each strand of hair. The bacteria loosen the roots causing the hairs to fall out. When packing, storing or transporting hides, think dry and cold. Moisture and warmth are big no-no’s.”

Bait Site Test Score

Well, here is what I think is going on. The first tree stand sounds like the ideal black bear set-up, but it is not unless you have never seen a bear before or all you want to do is take pictures.  It is probably being hit by a sow and cubs—not legal targets anywhere.  The cubs knock the grass down and scatter food all around like a pack of first graders.  To confirm your suspicions, simply check the immediate vicinity for small tracks and droppings in the half-inch diameter range.

If you now a trophy bruin is in the area, stick with it. Sooner or later he will show himself.

The second bear is bait-shy due to the lack of adequate cover near the bait causing the bear to only hit the bait after dark. This is the outfitter’s fault.  Although you don’t know for sure just how big this bear really is, it might be worth your effort to move the bait and/or tree stand closer to cover, and then wait for the bear to become accustomed to the new set-up before you take the stand.

Stand three is the best of the lot. Any place that gives you the creeps has big bear written all over it. Big old bruins are extremely solitary, except during the mating season, and there’s no better place to be left alone than an impenetrable tangle out in the middle of nowhere.  In addition, that ridge is a natural highway in and out of the swamp which doubles your chances of a sighting.  I would hunt this stand in the absence of big bear sign simply because of the typography.

Timing is the key however. Don’t sit in the stand until you fully expect the bear to show.  If he is hitting the bait every second or third night, hunt elsewhere for a night or two. Your best chance of tagging this bear is on the first night you hunt it, so wait for all the conditions to be in your favor before you climb aloft.

Finally, no matter what method you choose to bag your bruin, gun, bow or muzzleloader, remember that you generally only get one small window of opportunity. If you don’t shoot during those few seconds, your trophy will probably disappear before your eyes—like the 400-pounder did in the beginning of this article. Don’t let that happen to you!

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Part Three: Black Bear Behavior

Behavior of other bears at the site can be another indication a dominant bruin is working a particular bait. For example, a yearling bruin may eat nervously or very early in the evening, and then bolt at the slightest noise.  I once watched a yearling bear announce his arrival at a bait site by snapping branches and then huffing, puffing and popping his jaws.  “A little like a teenager whistling in the dark,” I thought to myself later.  I guess he didn’t want to run into any “big” surprises at the dinner table!

Indeed, one of the biggest mistakes neophytes make is shooting the first bear that comes to the bait. There is a social hierarchy among bears, and no place is this more evident than around a bait site.  Sows, yearlings and young boars often feed first with the big boars feeding last in the waning light.  

A subordinate boar will generally announce his arrival by purposely snapping a twig as a warning to any bears already on the bait. Subordinate bruins will generally melt back into the forest in anticipation of his arrival. The snapping of a twig also serves as a safety valve for him. The last thing he wants is to do is surprise a more mature boar at the feeding site. He knows from past experience that he is no match for the dominant bruin. 

*   *   *

Here are three bait sites for you to ponder. Which one would you choose, and how would you hunt it?

The first tree stand is situated along a seasonal stream that drains a three year old burn.  The bait has been placed just inside the alders where the stream bisects a long meadow lush with the season’s first grasses.  Your outfitter tells you the bait is being devoured nightly, and he is sure you’ll see a bear the first night you sit in the stand.  There is no well-defined trail coming into the bait, but the grass has been knocked down all around the site, and bait has been scattered all about in a wide circle.  In fact, it is such a mess the site looks like it has been hit by a tornado.

A trail camera strung adjacent to a bear trail can indicate the number and coat color of visiting bruins.

The second tree stand is on a peninsula that juts out into a remote wilderness lake.  There’s not much ground cover near the bait, but the outfitter assures you there’s a trophy bear in the vicinity.  An experienced bear hunter the previous week watched a big black circle the bait on two occasions, but the bear refused to expose himself during legal shooting hours.  Although the hunter was able to sneak out of his tree stand each evening without spooking the bear, the outfitter blames that hunter for not getting a shot because he was too fidgety in the stand.

The third bait is situated at the foot of a narrow ridge that rises out of a large, impenetrable swamp.  The spruce/fir trees are so thick here that little daylight ever reaches the forest floor.  It’s a scary place, even in the middle of the day. According to the outfitter, the tree stand is a long walk off the tote road, so you won’t be picked up until well after dark.  Make sure you wear a head net, plenty of insect repellent and a carry a spare flash light, he says.  The bait is only being hit once or twice a week, but almost all the bait is taken on each visit.  There are no well-defined trails leading to or from the bait.

Come back Monday, September 21st to learn your score.

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First keep in mind that nearly all book bears are males, and these big boars don’t advertise their presence in a manner that smaller boars, yearlings and sows with cubs so often do.  So, you’ll want to examine the bait site carefully and weigh all the “soft” evidence before you make any decisions as to the size, age and sex of those bruins in attendance.

Start by looking for bear tracks in the nearby mud, sand or soft earth.  They are hard to find, but a front pad better than five inches in width is usually a very good bear (The rear pad resembles a barefoot person). Creek beds, logging roads, gravel bars and beaver dams are all good places to look for tracks. Keep in mind that large bears rarely approach a bait station on a daily basis, while subordinate bears will feed here almost daily. Indeed, those “old” tracks you found on the beaver dam might in fact be heralding a return visit by that bruin in a day or two.

A bear's spoor is a dead give away as to his age and probable size.

You should have no trouble locating entrance and exit trails if the bait is being hit regularly. If so, examine nearby trees for more bear sign. Claw marks spaced high up the trunk will give you clues as to how tall the bear is, and the space between individual clawings can give you a sense of how wide his front pads might be.  Fresh beds on the trail or near the bait site can also indicate relative body size. Be aware that bears will often sit on their haunches, like a dog, leaving smaller “beds” than if they were lying on their belly. Finally, if the nearby brush is thick, look for bear “tunnels” hollowed out of the branches and leaves, and bear fur stuck to those branches. This is an excellent way to determine the color(s) of the bear(s) feeding here.

Of course, seeing a big bear within a half-mile of any bait station is a good sign, even if that particular bait has not yet been hit. Sooner or later that bear will sniff out your pile of goodies, and sneak in to check it out. When he does, he may not leave any obvious clues behind, such as tracks or claw marks, and he may or may not sample the food.

He will often however first circle the bait, staying under cover and just within sight of your offering. You will have to look closely, maybe even get on your hands and knees, as the trail will be faint. Look for wide pad impressions in the dead leaves, crushed vegetation and bear hair stuck in the bark of nearby tree trunks. You may also find logs ripped apart, overturned stones and ankle-high vegetation ripped out of the ground all along this trail, indicating the bear was feeding as he was watching. You may even find where he sat down on his haunches like a dog or laid down on his belly facing the bait as if he was carefully studying the set-up (he was!).

 This trail is undoubtedly one of the surest signs you have a big bear working the area, and one of the most overlooked pieces of big-bear evidence available. Locating it usually separates the casual bear hunter from the real expert.

A trophy bruin will often circle a food source before committing himself. Stay alert!

Once you have a trophy boar visiting more or less regularly, you will notice that unlike sows, cubs and yearlings he will put his feet down in the same spot each time he visits. This is one reason why big boars are so easy to snare. Indeed, after a dozen or so visits you might see a faint trail of pie-plate size circles of cleared soil leading to and from the bait. This is a good indication the bruin is sneaking in slowly and very carefully, one outstretched paw at a time.

He will also step over any obstacle in the trail during his final approach such as a dead log or pile of debris very stealthily, electing to put his pad down just on the far side. Sows, cubs and yearlings on the other hand seem to rush right into a bait site, over stepping any obstacle by several inches.

Another clue you have a dominate bear sniffing around is when you stumble upon several large piles of fresh dung one and a half to two inches in diameter scattered around the bait site.  I’ve found THE stand when scat such as this seems to be placed purposely on entrance and exit trails. Any droppings the size of a soft drink can usually indicate a very big boar has taken over the bait site, claiming it as his own so to speak, with his own specially scented territorial marker. My impression is that these strategically deposited droppings also function as a warning sign, telling other male bears to keep out, and if any other boar dares to trespass, he trespasses at great risk.

All else being equal, absence of small bear sign is sometimes a good indication a decent bear is in the area. If you must flip a coin, lean towards bait sites located in clearings adjacent to thick underbrush because these locations provide cover that draws larger bears.  Keep in mind that your best chance at a bear will be on the first night you hunt from the stand.  Once the bear knows your sneaking around the bait, he’ll be much more difficult to bag.

Check back Wednesday for Part Three!

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