Bow Hunting Bear

By Bobby Edwards

It was close to 80 degrees and I was camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the second week of bow season last year. I had previously decided I would take a full week in the mountains with my primary focus being black bear.

As my buddies and I contemplated where to hunt that evening I knew one of two places I wanted to be in a stand. Wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts and my knee- high rubber boots I took off at a snail’s pace up a nearby creek bed.

This creek is fairly shallow and only has a couple of spots that the water will come over my rubber boots if not careful. On one side a bluff, on the other is a nasty laurel thicket. The only other way in is up over a mountain, then back down the other side to the creek. The creek gives me a scent free approach and is at least 5 to 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding ridges.

I had my pack and bow in one hand and my climber in the other while placing each step meticulously on the slick rocks. Eventually, I arrived at the little white oak grove that would be my resting place until dark. I found a poplar tree growing about 20 yards from one of the largest oaks in the grove. I had to take only two steps from the creek to the tree. I was settled in and enjoying the evening as the cooler air thermals made their way down through the creek bottom.

At around 6 pm I heard splashes in the creek above me and immediately eased my release onto my Parker bow and looked to see a bear coming. As he zig-zagged through the bottom closer to me, I talked myself through the situation.

Over the past three years I have had many close encounters with bear but none of my tags have been used. This time the black bruin closed to within 15 yards and I had the opportunity to draw the bow.

He paused briefly, just barely broadside, and I released the Beeman Hunter arrow tipped with a T3 broadhead.

The bear spun around several times, woofing the whole time, and was then on a flat out run towards a gully.

I then heard a sound I’ve waited to hear for over 20 years. I heard the death moan that made every hair on my body stand on top of my goose bumps. I had finally killed my first black bear.

I had worked hard over the past three years to spend part of my fall focusing on black bear. The focus has earned me and my hunting buddies a lot of close opportunities.

As I pull out one of my the last roasts from the bear I shot last fall with autumn knocking on our door, I find my anticipation growing with high expectations for this year’s bow season chasing another opportunity.

I thought it would be good to share with you a few things I’ve learned about this black, furry critter.

When it comes to finding bear in Virginia, I turn to the National Forest. With the growing population, Virginia now has a season on bear in most counties and there were bears killed in 69 different counties last year.

While you can find them throughout the state, I still prefer the mountains where there are high concentrations. The NF also permits me more than a million acres to find a bear.

Acorns are king with the all wildlife, and bear will camp out close to any white oak grove with nuts. A bear’s primary focus in late summer and early fall is putting on weight to store fat reserves to survive the winter. Young boars are also developing their home ranges as at age two they get run off by the sow so she can bread again in June.

I start looking and talking to others to find out how the acorn crop is. Every year I have a least a dozen white oak groves in the mountains that I check. Knowing the acorns are there is the first start.

I take a pair of quality Nikon Monarch binoculars into the mountains during August and September, scanning the oaks to survey the acorn crop. While there I also learned from my best friend to look at the trunk of the tree to see if bear have been climbing them to get to the acorns prior to them falling.

Once the acorns start really falling it’s time to figure out which trees hunt, and I try to figure out which area is being frequented most. Bear leave scat and the more of it the more frequently they are visiting. Large scat piles along with smaller scat piles often suggest a sow with cubs. Large scat piles showing various stages of age is a great indicator of frequent use over extended time by a bear.

I find that acorns along or near creek bottoms seem to be most attractive to bear. I also find that when bear take to one of these spots, the deer avoid them. I also find that bear tend to visit these spots if they have ample cover almost any time of the day. It seems they just cannot resist.

Another good bet is north-facing slopes. Most north slopes have laurel thickets, but if you can find openings within them that have nuts you may want to check them out. The temperatures can be much cooler there. The hardest part with these openings is getting in and out of them without disturbing the bear. If you can’t get in and out without being heard or winded then find another spot.

-I have found that the older bear seem to take a more direct path than a younger bear. The younger bear that I have seen while in the stand take more of a zig zag approach and move very quickly.

If you have ever been to a shopping mall on a busy weekend you’ll notice the teenagers are zig-zagging through haphazardly like they have no plan. Their attention gets diverted easily. However you see adults taking deliberate paths and are going from point A to B.

However in comparison to a deer, even the mature bear move much differently and do not mill around much. It’s much easier to get a shot at a deer than a bear. If you really spook a bear he will head for the next county, whereas a deer will typically run short distances and reevaluate the situation.

The movement is one of the first indicators of sizing up the bear. I have found bear size hard to judge. The most reliable indicator of size is the head and the ears. A large bear will appear to have small ears while a younger small bear will have well defined ears that are clearly visible. Also look at the bears head shape, especially the nose. A small bear’s head and nose will look more rounded in comparison to a mature bear’s squarer head and nose. Big bears legs will look shorter in comparison to a large bear.

When I shot my bear I would have bet anyone there that he was 50 pounds heavier than he was. Look at pictures and study any bear you see and chances are you’ll still over- guess the size. I’m getting much better at judging the size, but still can’t judge them as well as I would like, especially when seeing the first bear of the season.

Several years ago I drew my bow on a young bear waiting for a shot opportunity. He finally hit an opening I had glanced over to. He stopped in the opening when I bleated at him like a deer. At this point, all I could see was the group of orange leaves right in front of my kill zone. I freaked out and thought there was no way I could shoot through that thick tangle of leaves. As it turns out looking at the leaves through my binoculars after the bear was long gone, it was only three small leaves that would have had no impact on my arrow or its impact point. However, looking at those leaves against the black fur of the bear made then very pronounced.

If it had been deer I wouldn’t have even known those leaves were there. I probably still wouldn’t take the shot. My buddy had the same exact thing happen last year and never released the arrow.

A scouting camera can confirm a lot about the bear in the area. Be certain to put a bear-proof steel box around your camera. They are very curious critters and will chew on your camera and locks. I watched one try to tear my camera from the tree for several minutes. Most of the pictures you first get will be hard to even tell that it’s a bear. They tend to come from behind or from the side of the camera and then investigate it up close only getting the underside of the paw, the nose or just a black blob. As they get used to it you’ll get better body shots.

I highly recommend you study an anatomy chart of a bear. A broadside shot with the front leg forward is your ideal shot. The only other shot I’ll take is a very slightly quartering away shot. Anything else and you most likely will have a wounded bear on your hands.

Bear can smell better than deer. After you find where the bear are feeding regularly, make certain you have a route in and out to your stand that avoids the direction that you think the bear are coming from. Most likely they are coming from the closest laurel thicket.

Swirling winds and thermals are very tricky in the mountain. Understand the air movement when setting up your stand or you’ll never see him. I don’t worry about getting in the perfect tree that hides me on a bear as long as the wind is right. They do not see or detect movement as well as deer do.

Hunting bear is not for the faint of heart. You don’t need nerves of steel, but they’ll rattle you especially if they are in the area at night. They are nowhere as skittish when they have the cover of darkness in their favor. Keep your distance and it goes without saying don’t get between a mother and her cubs. It’s wise to check up in the tree when going in at first light, a bear very well could be in your stand or on a limb above it. I had another buddy spook something that was feeding near his stand pre-dawn. He sat down at the base of the tree waiting for daylight when a cub came down the tree he was sitting up against. Momma bear was waiting just a short distance away. Yeah, he had to change is pants!

Bear Harvest results from VDGIF

Virginia Counties with the Greatest Bear Harvest

County	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Rockingham	162	165	200	176	186
Bath	75	60	120	93	146
Augusta	124	77	105	129	143
Nelson	49	59	97	92	115
Highland	52	65	132	81	114
Botetourt	61	66	103	120	104
Rockbridge	69	80	104	100	104
Alleghany	114	64	131	87	103
Shenandoah	91	72	81	99	75
Craig	66	42	66	41	68
Madison	89	76	108	85	67
Albemarle	63	78	82	96	67
Page	90	82	123	130	61

Source - http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/bear/harvestsummary.asp

My favorite Bear Roast Recipe

Slowly thaw roast in salt water for 24-48 hours

Place in Crock Pot on High 2-3 hours (in Coke)

Skim fat off that floats to the top and then remove roast and dump the coke out

Put roast back in with 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup and 1 bag of Lipton onion powder mix

Add potatoes, onions, and carrots

Cook for about 12 hours until meat falls apart.

It’s VERY important to fully cook bear well done. Do not eat rare bear meat.

Save the Ribs – Bear ribs have a lot of meat on them and are my favorite part of the bear.

Cook in pressure cooker 10-15lb psi in Coke for 20 minutes. Put your favorite dry BBQ Rub on both sides. Place Ribs on charcoal smoker and slow cook until the meat just starts to fall off the bone. Baste with your favorite BBQ sauce for the last 20 minutes.