SchuylkillOutdoorsman

I am new to hunting black bear in PA I went last year with no luck.. I do not know the first thing about it really... The area I hunt holds them I have seen bear there before but where do they go.. what do they prefer to eat.. The area I hunt is swampy bordered by hardwoods ... lots of acorns.. lots of mountian laral (spelling error for sure) this place is very thick gotta crawl threw most of it.. any suggestions

Thanks
Mike

BuckSecrets

Hi,
With acorns bears will be eating them. Bears are omnivores and eat almost anything. If there are blackberries or some other berry in the area, they will be concentrating there for the most part. Bears have a very wide range, and in the northeast in most places they have a 28-30 day circle of territory they cover that can be 100 miles or more. That means if you see a bear, you won' t see the same bear again for almost a month. There are exeptions:

When there' s a large concentration of food in one spot.

When they are denning up, or are in their dens for the winter.

They don' t eat laural.

If the cover' s that thick, find a food source and stay put. If you make noise you' ll just push them out ahead of you and you' ll never see them. With bears you just have to be in the right place at the right time. Hope that helps.

Good Luck this season!
Mark
http://www.buckhuntersecrets.com

PAbearman

Hunting bears in PA is about 30% skill and 70% luck. The skill portion is only finding an area with good sign/habitat. Best thing I could suggest is to scout the area really well. Bears like the swampy areas, so that is a good spot, they also like the laurel for good cover, with it surrounded by hardwoods another plus to your area. I would say, scout the hardwoods and look for the food, acorns, beechnuts etc., look for signs of feeding, once you find that, look for the trails back into the swamp cover, best thing is look for the crap piles, the more you find the better, shows higher activity in the area. If you find a spot like this drop back into the cover and find a spot that gives you the best view of the area, keeping in mind the wind. Bears have an excellent sense of smell, vision is poorer, but if they smell you, forget it they will never give you a shot. One thing to remember, like the previous post said, they will travel alot for food in the fall, so just because they are there the first week in November, doesn' t mean they are still there come bear season. Best case would be to find several spot with good sign and food sources and then check back right before the season and see which ones have the fresh bear sign and thats where you hunt.

Keep in mind, that alot of hunters in PA will get together and drive for bear, so that gets them moving around some. When pushed they may run for miles, but they usually head for areas of cover, where they think they will be safe, so even if your area has old bear sign, it may be an area they will head to if pushed by other hunters, so stay put all day, watch you scent and keep alert.

Note I can swear by: If a bear is running thru the woods towards you, you will know it. Imagine how much noise you would make, running thru a thicket with all your hunting gear and thats what a bear sounds like running thu the woods, you can definetely hear them coming.

Good luck. Email me if you have any further questions. Help if i can.

SchuylkillOutdoorsman

Thanks for the info, much needed!! Yes the spot is very very thick, thanks for the info on how much they move I didnt realise that travel that far. I guess it is 70% luck with a 3 day season.

Hale87

I would summarize all the info you have received into the three main things. Bear **** being my first priority, then food and cover equally. We have found as a gang that if bears find a good food source they seem to stay put. If I can' t find crap, I' ll keep moving. Around here (south central PA) the bears seem to run the top of the mountain. That' s also where they seem to crap the most. Last year while scouting the day before, we found a pile of crap at the base of the " steep" and on Monday we killed a bear probably not a hundred yards from that spot. I would also like to add the fact that we have killed numerous bears in the same hollow through out the years. We hunt in a gang and we' ve killed half of the 12 bears that we' ve killed in the same spot. We' ve been hunting bear for about ten years and we normally kill one each year. Last year in two days we killed two and hit another that unfortuantely got away. There' s normally around five to six of us hunting in a group, so I think we' ve been very fortunate. Glad to help, and good luck.

emlaur

I have hunted bear in New York, mostly the Adirondacks, since the early 1970' s. The advise given here is right on the money. If your state does not allow baiting and/or hunting with dogs then tagging a bear is mostly a game of chance. However, if Pa. allows the use of scents as New York does, you can tilt the odds in your favor. Purchase two or three scents from reputable suppliers and use them the way the old time trappers did. Use a drag-line and pads on the bottom of each boot when you walk into your hunting area. Wear rubber boots that are free of human/foreign odors. Pay strict attention to the wind. Be prepared to put in alot of time. Good luck!

bear_trap1

one point that these other gentlemen never hit on when your looking for sign look for a lot of over turned rocks bears have a habit of looking under them for bugs if the dirt under the rocks is somewhat fresh and moist the chances are they are eating in that general area and good luck

Sl;ider1

Stay away from the TEETH and CLAWS!!!!!!!!!!! If a bears ears apear to be large it is a small Bear. If the ears apear to be small it is a LARGE BEAR. GOOD LUCK!!!