Black bear hunt?

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Smithcotrapper

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This is my first post here so I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I hunt,fish, and trap just about every available critter in tn. I live near carthage, tn and I hunt in Elmwood, tn. I was thinking about doing a archery black bear hunt this fall during the archery season for bear and was wondering if anybody had any tips on where to go, things to look for, specific equipment, etc. thanks
 
Well my only problem is that I'm in middle tn. And hunting in east tn so we're gonna go scout a few times before hand but we will probably only get one actual hunting trip. But if a deer or hog walks out I'm taking it as long as it's in season
 
Poser":17hq142d said:
Maybe archery is a bit more predictable and patternable with food sources, but my experience bear hunting without dogs thus far has yet to produce a single bear sighting. I'm not so sure I'd invest myself fully into "bear hunting" during bow season as I would be mentally prepared to opportunistically take a bear while deer hunting. If you can find lots of bear sign in an areas and, particularly, if you can identify some food sources that seem to be getting hit regularly, I'd look for some terrain funnels and travel routes. The general problem is that bears can have huge territories and often are not patternable in big woods settings, but if you are set up on travel corridors and funnels you at least have the opportunity with deer as well.
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I think Poser gives some good advice, I'll just add a few things, since I live in bear country, literally, see them regularly in my yard.
1st. We have 4 bear reserves in upper ET here and 2 reserves and the smokies in lower ET. I would pick areas close to those reserve areas to hunt.
2nd. Your best opportunities are going to be early in Archery season, I see lots of bears in the month of October. They're feeding 24/7 this time of year. And have not been hunted by dogs yet.
3rd. On years with low mast crops hunt low and close to farms if you can find access, on years with good mass, look for areas with high balckberry and grape production.
4th. Bears will also be digging for yellow jacket nests, which they absolutely love. If you find an area that has several nests dug recently, your probably going to have some bears still in the area. On very warm days try hunting ridges that decend into shady laurel valleys that have water. Mid morning is a great time to be still hunting on these warm days as bears will be moving to the shade as the temperature is climbing.
5th. Always hunt the wind, fair warning, it will change multiple times a day. Moutain thermals are unpredictable and that's a great challenge to evercome
 
Thanks everyone. This is really helping as October will be here before we know it. I may do one preseason trip just to kind of get a lay of the land and some likely areas and some areas to avoid
 
Smithcotrapper":2377a1cd said:
What's wrong with still hunting?
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Low, low probability of success.
I originally wasn't a supporter of bait or dogs (still not so much dogs), BUT in the lower 48 that is about the only way to locate and harvest a bear.
If you are working the tidal flats in BC or Alaska, things are different.
I am planning on a bear hunt in WA this Fall, over bait.
 
Definitely more successful with dogs, not easier just more successful..lol Anyone that that thinks that hounds make it easy has never been. Atleast not in these mountains. Don't think I could shoot one with its head in a bucket baiting ain't for me I guess.
 
You guys ever come up my way, shoot me a PM, can't promise a bear, but I know some areas that have a good number of bears. Problem is you'll need to do some serious day hikes to scout those areas.
 
Smithcotrapper":2o3v55ek said:
I may have to take you up on that 7mm. Do you not hunt bear?
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If I ever get a large boar in range during archery or ML/gun I would take him. But he's gonna have to be a good one, in the 400 lbs. range or better. Used to bear hunt with my uncles in North Carolina, back in my younger days. They've all passed away now and I never bothered getting back into hound hunting after that. Have no interest in shooting a young bear, but I usually have serveral opportunities every year, so I think your desire to still hunt one is doable if you do some early season scouting. But I also think you could do just as well stand hunting, at least in this area of the CNF.
 
LanceS4803":jwbutuhx said:
Smithcotrapper":jwbutuhx said:
What's wrong with still hunting?
Click to expand...

Low, low probability of success.
I originally wasn't a supporter of bait or dogs (still not so much dogs), BUT in the lower 48 that is about the only way to locate and harvest a bear.
If you are working the tidal flats in BC or Alaska, things are different.
I am planning on a bear hunt in WA this Fall, over bait.
Click to expand...

are u hunting with a guide service, family, native land or a diy hunt ?

i ask because i live in WA and for over a decade baiting bears is an illegal activity statewide. the local law takes illegal hunting seriously , recently a hunter was fined approx. 25 grand and sentenced to 5 years in the pokey for killing and beheading 5 muley bucks.

bear hunting isn't all that difficult if u really know how to hunt bears. from coast to coast including alaska and canada i have hunted and/or photographed black/grizzly/brown bear and don't find it that challenging. dogs or bait isn't necessary.
 
If you want to kill a bear with a bow, come to Unicoi County knock on doors and get permission to hunt private land bordering government. You will go home with a bear hide. Its more challenging for me to kill a buck with a bow than a black bear in Unicoi.
 
I'd think pre-season baiting would work (on private land). At least you would know they are in the area. Also if you want to spend money, there are some bear guides around.

Though I didn't have much luck with my guided turkey hunt, that doesn't mean that they don't work. If you don't have much time to scout, do preparation and such, I think saving up some money for a few days of guided hunting would give you the highest success rate.
 

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