Bear Bums - Bear Hunting

That’s what Frank said today. “What if we get four bears?”.  Well, what if?

Tomorrow we start our journey to Prince of Wales Island, Alaska for our do it yourself black bear hunt.  Four of us with four bear tags, deer permits and fishing licenses.  We’re going to have fun.

We know we’ll be camping in the middle of a pile of bears but from past experience they still have the ability to be invisible, especially in the thick stuff we’ll be in.

Four bears would, for sure, max us out.  I think we can handle the worry.  Maybe we should call it a dream not a worry.  I’ve dreamed of getting leopard, caribou, moose, sheep and the list goes on.  If we’re honest as hunters we have a lot of strike out hunts.  Really quite a few strike outs for each successful hunt.

I have been stunned with the dream problems like a huge Kodiak bear to get home the week after 9-11.  The hide got stuck in Seattle, green, wet and very big and heavy.  Now he’s on the wall and worth the worry and pain.

Three of us drove from Utah to the North West Territories and got three huge moose and three huge caribou.  All that meat had to be flown out of the bush and rushed back to the lower 48 before it spoiled.  What a hunt!!  Worth all the worry.

So off we go on a hunt we’ve spent hundreds of hours preparing for.  We’ve made reservations, booked flights, scheduled appointments, taken off work, sighted in rifles, dreamed about success and now worried about being too successful.

We can handle the risk.  The first opportunity to take a good bear won’t be passed up.  We’ll let you know how we do.

By the way, the weather forecast looks reasonable, some rain and some sun.  Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the low 40s.  Should be great!

A black bear hunt offers us so many trophies. By keeping your camera handy you can get great photos of a live animal, many times.

Black bears are so abundant that even as a silent, shy animal the odds of catching a bear by a stream or in a grassy spot are good. I have a not too professional photo I took from a tree stand several years ago that has six average sized bears in the picture.

On different hunts I’ve seen black bears walk down a trail right to me, climb the tree my son and I were in and this spring I shot a fair sized British Columbia black bear at less than 10 yards.

I just had these photos emailed to me. This is a great black bear trophy for someone. Enjoy….

This is a really nice bear.

We’ve recently added Bear Hunting Resources on the left-hand side of the site. Please take a look and let us know if there are any other resources you would like. We’ll continue to add. Right now they include:

Shot Placement and Bear Vitals

Bear Skull Cleaning - European Mount

Judging a Bear - Selecting a Large Male Bear

I just read this article about bear overpopulation in the Ontario, Canada area. Here are some of my thoughts.

Some of the reasons I love bear hunting….I’m not sure I can number them without leaving out the most important or make it not sound like a political statement.

1. Bears have individual unpredictable personalities
2. Bears have personalities
3. There are bears pretty well all over the world (remember the bears of India—Major Jim Corbett; pandas, polar bears, grizzlies, browns, sun bears and the list goes on and on all over the world)
4. I can see them (if I keep my eyes open I see bears when I’m driving places, fall hunting, spring hunting etc.)
5. Bears, for the most part, are over-numerous.
6. Bears are quiet, loud, sneaky, shy, and aggressive and many times all at once.
7. With a little planning I can hunt them almost every year and have a great time doing it.

Articles like this one about Ontario, Canada bug me! I realize as hunters we’re stuck in a political mess and in many ways our neighbors to the north are worse off, like with gun laws and federal level laws.

I’ve been nervous as I’ve watched how our federal government handles issues like the wild horses and burros. Instead of making money on cowboys enjoying roping these wild animals we spend million of dollars on federal programs that do not work on capturing (with helicopters) and selling the horses to tree huggers.

We’ve (federally) acted similarly with the wolves, tree owls and even with our oil reserves. STOP ME! Anyhow, Canada in ways has a more difficult deal with national government than the USA has, but as hunters and bearbums we’re buddies. The Provinces of Canada have a huge resource with their bear population. Some of the lower States and Alaska have the same resource. I hope we can help out by sharing our excitement about bears and even our incomes as we travel and hunt in these locations. The loss of spring bear hunting in a Province like Ontario hurts us all.

Sorry about the politics. Take some time and read an old time story about hunting. See what we’ve given up and what we still have! Campfires In The Canadian Rockies or Man-Eaters of Kumaon by Major Jim Corbett.

I guess when I’m writing I think I’m speaking to a bunch of bear hunters sitting around the fire after a good day. In reality many of us are forced to satisfy our burn to hunt big black bears with reading, dreaming and the like. To satisfy those of us that dream and may not have a grasp on black bear numbers here’s a few words on the bear numbers.

Over the years I realize I have subconsciously selected and increased the likelihood of me being around hunters. Check out my today:

I was reminded, a past neighbor Kody, was headed to Blanding, Utah to start the dogs on bear tracks as the season opened this week end. The big problem with bear hunting in this area is too many bears. Dogs can’t stay on one track to the end without crossing other black bear tracks. Tough problem!?

Then here shows up a young man whose camper got ripped up by some black bears. He had the photos to Read the rest of this entry »

Our ongoing personal list for the 2008 Prince of Wales Island, Alaska black bear hunt. We’ll be in a small forest service cabin on a lake with well over 5 miles of salmon streams to hunt and fish on. (Salmon Lake Cabin—Karta River system)

1. Rifle/scope, scope covers, sling - (I don’t like scope covers, but in this case it is inevitable—they keep water out and in. I can shoot a scope that’s wet but not one that’s foggy)

2. 40 rounds of ammunition - (sight your gun in after the airplane ride) It has to be in it’s original containers for commercial flying! Pack it separate from your gun.

3. Binoculars - (don’t forget these)

4. Spotting scope - (We’ll have two. One for each group) They are expensive and heavy so make the younger guys carry them.

5. Sleeping bag, air mattress - (Not a huge one) The great big bed mattresses are not good-too heavy and would take up the whole cabin. I think our cabin is 16ft X 20ft. Therm-a-Rest, Slumberjack or the new Exped Downmat 7 Sleeping Pad that I Iove and blogged about.

6. Small Pillow - The small down squish-able ones the size of a loaf of bread or just use your sweater, if you’re a good sleeper. Do not take the one off your bed!

7. Small backpack - There are a lot of backpacks out there. We’ll be carrying lunch, waders, and emergent stuff, so we’ll need one that’s not tiny. I like ones with real back support and I want it to be as big as the air Read the rest of this entry »

The design on this bear hunting blog has raised a question or two with a sympathetic non-hunter. Last Christmas I received from Lynne, my wife, a computer generated caricature of me in a hunting setting. So, that’s me in the design/painting. I like it. A guy named Bryan Beaux Beus is the computer animator, artist person. Check it out. Here’s a bear and little deer from the painting.