Have you been, or plan to, go bear hunting? (Poll)

Have you been, or plan to, go bear hunting?

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Who all has been, or going, bear hunting this year? What state? Archery? Gun? Do you hunt from a stand or spot-n-stalk? Just curious how you all hunt them?

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California, every year. Archery (opportunistic), but mainly rifle. Even then, only opportunistic because I focus on deer and if I kill a bear, they are generally big and quite a chore to get the hide, head and all the meat (and sometimes fat) back to camp. All spot and stalk.
 
No. Bear are one of the critters low on my list. Guess what gets me more than anything else is the known parasitic issues with them. All I'd want is the skull, pelt, and claws. No desire to eat the meat🤮. So I pass on them. But I don't disgrace anyone who is contrary to my mentality. 🤘
 
Probably not this year. Have hunted them a dozen times, give or take. Always spring time after a long winter. First hunt of the year as the snow melts. Always a great time. Over the counter. We always had high success. I have taken 8-10 and our group of 3-5 each year probably have taken 35 or so. Low stress hunt with numerous sightings. I know the one year between 4 of us we spot and stocked 19 different bears. Tagged out with 4 bears for 4 of us.

Have 18 points here in Utah and will go for San Juan when I do, maybe next year.
 
StocknBone said:
If you love Mule Deer and hunting them, hunt these bears. A fun great investment.
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If I draw my early season deer tag in Colorado we will pick up some leftover bear tags. There are a lot of bears in that unit and need to thin them out and help the mule deer.
Here’s a bear we got a couple years ago on that same unit. She was aged at 10 years old and never had cubs. Probably ate a few fawns in her lifetime
IMG_7173.jpeg
 
Bear is pretty low on my list but it’s definitely something I’ll eventually do once for sure. I have 19 points for Utah so I have options. Time is an issue for me so I’ll probably have to hire someone for help. I just have to eventually prioritize the time to do it.
 
legacy said:
Bear is pretty low on my list but it’s definitely something I’ll eventually do once for sure. I have 19 points for Utah so I have options. Time is an issue for me so I’ll probably have to hire someone for help. I just have to eventually prioritize the time to do it.
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I wish you the best of luck on your fawn-killer hunt!
 
I bear hunt every year, never miss it. The other thing I do every year is end up giving myself a ton of crap I have to get done right at the same time. No difference this year, got a long list, probably going to punt for April and try and get it all done to hunt May. It only gets better later anyway but man one of these years, I’m going to have a stress free start to spring bear
 
MrShane said:
For the life of me I don’t know why any Mule Deer state does not allow free-for-all Bear hunting, even better add them to the Coyote Bounty program and pay $50 for each dead Bear.
I bet any and all Mule Deer biologists would agree?
#BringBackMuleDeer
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Colorado always has a lot of leftover bear tags. Raising the NR cost from $100 to $250 this year will probably result in a lot more leftovers.

That’s ok, we will still pick up a tag if we draw a mule deer tag. Always good to help keep the predators in check. And, I still have a cinnamon bear on my bucket list. lol
 
SDBugler said:
Colorado always has a lot of leftover bear tags. Raising the NR cost from $100 to $250 this year will probably result in a lot more leftovers.

That’s ok, we will still pick up a tag if we draw a mule deer tag. Always good to help keep the predators in check. And, I still have a cinnamon bear on my bucket list. lol
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Should be free to kill those giant garbage eating Raccoons.
And, the State should offer a bounty for each Bear/Coyote/Cougar killed.
Cheap investment to bring our Deer back.
 
There used to be lots of bear hunters with dogs in NW Kali and bears were kept pretty well in check. I see a lot more bears now and could have taken a truck load over the years but just never had the desire. I don't like eating them or it would be a different story. I'm always deer hunting when I see one, so I'd rather just shoo them away.
 
MrShane said:
Should be free to kill those giant garbage eating Raccoons.
And, the State should offer a bounty for each Bear/Coyote/Cougar killed.
Cheap investment to bring our Deer back.
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birth control would bring the deer back not predator control.
 
Killed one smallish bear I badly misjudged on size. Did not care that much for the meat. I will probably go again since my hunting buddy and my son both want to kill a bear. I doubt I shoot another one unless it definitely on the large side.
 
JPickett said:
You just do the shaker barrels? Popcorn for bait?
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It's on private lands, so I can use more than one barrel. I use one vertical barrel. Fill it with popcorn and the leftover cakes, donuts, breads, etc the store lets me have.

The roller barrel is filled with COB (corn, oats and barley) that's treated with molasses. I also sometimes put some syrup on the standing barrel and maybe some fryer grease I keep around from the local grills. And then put some marshmallow cream or other treat on the tree to keep them coming.

But I"ve used all kinds of stuff in the past. I don't use meat in the barrel any more. Gets too hot and the maggots are crazy.
 
CFMuley said:
Headed to Russia in early May for brown bear, and then the day I get back I’ll head to Montana for my annual bear hunt up there. This will be my 9th year in a row.
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Wow you are a braver man than I going to Russia. I guess you think it is safe, but too much going on over there for me.

Hunted with a friend this last week named Vlad. Parents moved from Russia when he was 10 to California. He know lives in Nevada. So he made the statement he escaped from communism twice. Once from Russia and once from CA 🤪
 
txhunter58 said:
Wow you are a braver man than I going to Russia. I guess you think it is safe, but too much going on over there for me.
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I'm with you.

Personally, there is absolutely no way I would leave North American soil under this administration right now.

I'm not really happy about even going to Canada next month....
 
I keep thinking a grizzly bear hunt would be awesome........however that is me behind my computer saying that........maybe I would change my mind going to face to face with one.
 
My son hunts spot and stalk, or calls them in with predator calls. We cannot possibly eat two bears on top of the deer and turkey we kill, so I am content not to hunt them myself. They are damn fine eatin', however.
 
We usually have at least one tag in camp in CA. Like Snoop said above it's usually gotta be the right bear in the right place at the right time for us to miss time from chasing deer.

They're a bit of a pain to deal with. Nothing to grab onto and like a bag of jello to move. Once you get them gutted and cool it's pretty similar to anything else. We love the snack sticks when we have them. Great eating.
 
I won’t miss spot and stalk spring bear, I do it every spring, it’s a wonderful time to be in the mountains and watch the plants and animals come back to life after a long winter. And if I get a bear it is good meat
 
Beautiful brown bear!

I grew up hunting back bears every year but with dogs. To me it was a lot of excitement for mostly lack luster endings… and iv never eatin a bear I have liked. Though I’m tempted to try spring black bear out to see if there’s a difference
 
SDBugler said:
If I draw my early season deer tag in Colorado we will pick up some leftover bear tags. There are a lot of bears in that unit and need to thin them out and help the mule deer.
Here’s a bear we got a couple years ago on that same unit. She was aged at 10 years old and never had cubs. Probably ate a few fawns in her lifetime View attachment 141878
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Got lucky and drew my early rifle deer tag. So gonna pick up a leftover bear tag and hopefully put a bear on the ground and save a few fawns. It is sad that there are so many leftover tags yet Colorado increased the NR bear tag cost. Hopefully this doesn’t cause guys to decide not to pick up an extra tag and result in increased bear populations.
 
We used to chase em a lot with hounds up until California banned that. I've killed two, a big one when I was 12 and one the last year we were allowed to chase em. Don't have much of a desire to shoot another, but I suppose I'd shoot a coal black one or the one a buddy of mine sent me a picture of that looked about like a Holstein cow
 
I like to shoot them to save a few elk calves. but here they expect you to bring out the worm infested disgusting meat so you either have to be an outlaw or bring it out and toss it. it takes a lot of the fun out of bear hunting.
 
Togwotee said:
I like to shoot them to save a few elk calves. but here they expect you to bring out the worm infested disgusting meat so you either have to be an outlaw or bring it out and toss it. it takes a lot of the fun out of bear hunting.
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I don't have much experience with bear meat, but my son's 10 year old bear from two years ago was FANTASTIC. In fact, he was eating that bear meat before his elk meat that year. However, the blueberries were crazy thick up above treeline that year, so maybe that had something to do with how good it tasted?
 
Maybe the worms add a good flavor.

I've seen what they eat. and I've seen the worms in them. I know a pig farmer and he says he wouldn't eat a wild hog or a bear because of the parasites. good enough for me, game over I'm out.
 
X7ahunter said:
We used to chase em a lot with hounds up until California banned that. I've killed two, a big one when I was 12 and one the last year we were allowed to chase em. Don't have much of a desire to shoot another, but I suppose I'd shoot a coal black one or the one a buddy of mine sent me a picture of that looked about like a Holstein cow
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Never found that coal black bear growing up that had a nice coat or of good size. Still think about it.
 
SDBugler said:
I don't have much experience with bear meat, but my son's 10 year old bear from two years ago was FANTASTIC. In fact, he was eating that bear meat before his elk meat that year. However, the blueberries were crazy thick up above treeline that year, so maybe that had something to do with how good it tasted?
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Spring bear?
 
Rie bread said:
Beautiful brown bear!

I grew up hunting back bears every year but with dogs. To me it was a lot of excitement for mostly lack luster endings… and iv never eatin a bear I have liked. Though I’m tempted to try spring black bear out to see if there’s a difference
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For what’s it’s worth, I’ve never eaten a fall bear, but all the spring bears I’ve eaten have been mild with no gaminess.
 
CFMuley said:
For what’s it’s worth, I’ve never eaten a fall bear, but all the spring bears I’ve eaten have been mild with no gaminess.
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That’s hopeful to hear cause we always ground our fall bear with a wild hog. The fat made good water proofing! Thanks for posting your far off adventures!
 
littlebighorn said:
My son has a tag this year so we will be out in a few weeks to see what turns up. It's a San Juan tag but with all the tags they have given down there, the big bears have been really thinned out.
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Update on my son's SJ hunt.
We spent a total of 8 days (3 different trips) on the Spot and Stalk hunt. We saw one bear and couldn't get a shot because it was moving. We have previously been on that hunt when we would have easily seen a dozen bears during that time, but this year, they were scarce. Even the houndsmen were struggling.
 
Big fuzzy coyotes, I usually kill one every year just to help our deer and elk herds out. They are really thick here in oregon in the area that we hunt and can be a real pain at times. During archery elk season they really respond to elk calls.
I have harvested with a rifle, bow and pistol. I even hit one with a rock onetime just to see if i could.
 

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