SevereEddie

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd introduce myself here and ask for help since there appear to be a number of skilled hunters here. I've been hunting foxes and rabbits for years and now I feel the need to make a transition to something larger. Specifically, I wanted to know, what do I need to start hunting bears?

I've read some blogs and websites and they all seem to suggest getting a hunting hound for this. Is it something I should do? I have a dog but he is not all that athletic

As for the gear, what is the best gun for this type of a hunt? Of course, it would be great if it didn't cost an arm and a leg. I need those for hunting, haha.

Anyways, I appreciate your help and taking the time to read this.

Eddie

Oldtimr

Getting a dog to hunt bear would depend if it is legal where you live or hunt to use a dog to hunt bears. What state do you live in? Generally a pack of dogs is used to hunt bear, not just one so you would have to train a pack of hounds before you hunted which is another skill you would have to learn. You would be best served to find a bear hunter or hunters and ask if he or they would be willing to show you the ropes than to read blogs because you have no way to know if the person writing the blog knows what they are talking about or are just posting some drivel they heard from someone else that doesn't know what they are talking about. There is a learning curve to be taken into consideration. Where in the area you want to hunt do bears live and what kind of sign do bears leave behind and what does some of it mean? How are you going to get the bear out of the woods, it is a lot different and harder than a rabbit or a fox. Are you any good at tracking a wounded animal? What should you look for in an adult bear, if you have not seen a fair number of bears most people can't tell a 50 or 60 lb cub from an adult. Forget the blogs, buy some books about bear hunting and talk to bear hunters. People here can give you some ideas on how to learn, recommend calibers of rifles etc, and asking questions is great, we have bear hunters here who can give you some tips, but you can't learn how to hunt bears on the internet if you have no practical experience in big game hunting without putting in the time in the field to learn.

TN Lone Wolf

Yeah, definitely find someone who's willing to take you bear hunting.

SevereEddie

Hey, thanks for the replies.

When it comes to hunting I consider myself a loner. I pretty much never asked anyone for help, except for a couple of pointers I got from my dad. I would really like to try to do this myself (personal achievement, you know?), but I want to get as much info on it as possible first.

I was hoping there were some people here experienced in bear hunting. I would like to hear something firsthand.

Do you think I should start with something smaller?

Thanks for all your help!

Oldtimr

How old are you and what state are you from?

Nomercy448

Be honest with yourself - if you don't know how to hunt bears, you're not the right person to run your own dog(s) on bears. More than anything, that's not fair to the dog(s). I also haven't seen much productive bear hunting being done by ONE dog - I'm sure guys do it, but in general, more hounds are better than one.

As others have mentioned, whether running hounds for bear is legal will largely depend upon where you live, or where you want to hunt.

If you're talking about an out of state hunt, most likely you'll be using an outfitter/guide, in which case, you need to pick a state and outfitter which fits your desire, whether it's stand, stalk, or hounding. I prefer stand over bait or stalk hunting for bears, as opposed to hounds. I reserve hounding for coons and big cats - just a way to spread out the types of hunts for me.

For what it's worth - the hunting tradition is not about being a loner, it's about a noble tradition passed down from one hunter to the next. You came on here and asked experienced hunters for advice - that's no different than doing the same of a real, living person local to you.

Sheridan

Some are hounds men, some like to hunt them over bait and some track/glass them...........................

It's the "hunt" that is most important & of course, to learn about bears !!!

SevereEddie

I'm 35, from Wyoming, but I am willing to go anywhere else.

Anyways, thank you all for the info. I will keep it in mind.

Regards

Topgun 3006

I would look into where the best bear country is near where you live and then talk to guys that hunt them. Most of the bear hunting in Wyoming is done from treestands over bait and the G&F requires that a person register their baitsite(s) with them and what can and can't be used for bait. Obviously most bears live in areas with good cover, so we're talking about the BigHorn Mountains in the northcentral part of the state and the various mountain ranges on the far west side of the state. While we were hunting in the Salt River Range on horseback last year not too far northeast of Afton we saw a huge black bear sow that had two cubs that were a year old and they were also real big. We actually thought they were grizzly bears from a distance until we set up our spotting scopes and honed in on them. They were on the remains of a deer carcass that a hunter had shot several days before we hunted the area. PS: If you live in Wyoming, I can't believe you haven't been hunting antelope, deer, and elk and are asking about bears!