Black Bear Hunts

Hunting Black Bear

Before going black bear hunting, here are a few pointers:

Get in shape. Even if all you do is walk to a stand over a bait spot, bear hunting will be physically demanding. Bear country and bear camp are very different from home. You can handle the additional tension of unfamiliar settings with a regular conditioning routine.

Verify each document once again. Your success depends on having the proper documentation. All documentation must be correct, including passports, licenses, and permits for carrying firearms.

Check out your equipment. Nothing is worse than being caught in a downpour and finding that your rain suit is leaking. All of your hunting gear should be double-checked. It is a good idea to check it once more right before leaving.

Alaska Black Bear Hunts

For black bear hunters, Alaska is the promised land. As long as the bears are in the properly specified regions, you can shoot up to three of them each year. You are also permitted to hunt in the spring and fall, using dogs, bait, or even from a boat or snowmobile, as long as you come to a complete stop before firing. Despite being large, Alaska has a healthy population of huntable black bears—about 100,000 bears, to be exact. It's not simple, though; bears are practically nonexistent in some places.

There may be an abundance of black bears in some regions, especially along the shore, but there may also be an abundance of brown bears, adding some unneeded excitement to your hunt. Even though the majority of black bears in the Far North are jet black, there are certain areas with color-phase bears. Before firing a shot, be sure you can differentiate a grizzly bear from a black bear. If you find yourself hunting in a region with a lot of grizzlies, you should also bring bear spray.

As long as there is an appropriate open season and a tag for the animal, Alaska has a special system that permits you to harvest a game animal other than the species listed on your tag. Tag costs are minimal. Before setting out on a DIY hunt, make sure you are well-versed in the state's very complex legislation and laws that control traditional harvest and other activities.

One rule to be aware of is that bears taken between January 1 and May 31 must have their skulls and all of their meat saved.

Montana Black Bear Hunts

On the plus side, hunters suffering from excruciating cabin fever episodes throughout the offseason will find that Montana is a fantastic spring getaway. The best part is that once you get a black bear tag for Montana, it is valid for any open unit (anywhere the quota is still unmet) during any season. The season ends when the black bear quota is filled or May 31st, whichever comes first. Most units open around mid-April and remain open throughout. Once you have purchased the proper license, you can hunt throughout the spring, archery, and fall seasons until you find your bear.

The state offers an archery-only season in the first half of September and a few archery-only districts. A $10 extra "bow and arrow" license is necessary. Montana is the best place in the Lower 48 to spot and stalk black bears. Public land with healthy bear populations is widely available if you're willing to backpack into a wilderness area.

When going bear hunting in Montana, there are a ton of "don'ts" that you should be aware of. Don't shoot a grizzly. Before receiving your black bear tag, you must complete a state-provided identification course to teach you the distinctions.

Baiting is prohibited. It is forbidden to use chase hounds. The use of electronic predator calls is forbidden. Trail cameras are banned. It is prohibited to communicate while hunting using a radio, text message, or cell phone. Additionally, make sure you do your required reporting within ten days and get the required inspection of your bruin completed.

New Mexico Black Bear Hunts

Black bears tend to be underappreciated in New Mexico. While there aren't as many bears as in the other states on this list, there are still enough color-phase bears that aren't under any kind of pressure. It can be quite successful to call with a predator mouth call (electronic calls are prohibited for bears).

Since the state operates on a quota system, non-resident hunters can buy a tag over the counter; however, once a given unit's quota is reached, it is closed. The unit closes after either the whole number of bears has been harvested, or the maximum number of female bears have been removed, according to a novel quota criterion that is used.

All bear hunts in New Mexico occur from late summer through early fall. If you are traveling from another state, get your New Mexico hunting license, habitat stamp, and bear tag ahead of time. Hunters must have the correct license at least two calendar days before hunting. The state's best populations can be found in units 1 and 4 in the north and unit 10 in the west; all three have historically had bear quotas greater than 100. (total).

Several units have resident-only draw tags, and a few more have limited draw tags. For these tags, the application deadline is in early February, as mentioned.

North Carolina Bear Hunts

Many hunters are surprised to learn that North Carolina outperforms the majority of western states in terms of bear harvest volume and size. In the 2015 hunting season, hunters killed 3,118 bears. The estimated population of many other states is less than that.

It's the top state in the Lower 48 for taking down a truly large bear. The top 20 largest bears ever taken are all 700 pounds or more, which is quite heavy considering a hunter in North Carolina once killed an 880-pound bear. Even counting the bears that were weighed and recorded, about 1,200 black bears in North Carolina have reached weights of over 500 pounds.

Where to go: Hyde County is home to five of the top 10 heaviest black bears in the record books.

Although dates vary significantly between places, the season generally lasts from mid-October to early January. Therefore, do your research before planning a hunt. Additionally, because most of North Carolina is private land, non-resident hunters almost always need to employ an outfitter with leased access or have a close friend who has access to a lot of lands.

Along with having excellent black bear hunting, North Carolina also has highly accommodating residence laws. If you can present a valid North Carolina student ID, it qualifies you as a resident for resident tag and license fees.

Oregon Black Bear Hunts

Many bears can be found in Oregon. In actuality, the state yearly sells a lot of OTC tags. A first-come, first-served policy is used when selling the over 4,000 spring "draw" tags. To go bear hunting in Oregon on your own, though, you'd best have a strong will, be legally astute, and be familiar with the laws of the land. The residents view bear hunting as extremely dubious due to the state's overwhelmingly liberal makeup. Thus, hunting bears is strictly controlled. It is forbidden to use dogs or bait. Without a valid, unused deer or elk permit in your possession, you are not permitted to hunt bears during the deer or elk season. Decoys that move are prohibited. Having said that, there have been numerous years of increasing black bear populations.

Finding a shootable bear might be difficult because you cannot use hounds or bait. Yes, even when nearly 30,000 of them inhabit the state. Get high up and look for freshly dug holes, torn-apart deadfall logs, and other indications of recent bear activity as the snowpack thins and the slopes turn green. If you concentrate on those places, you might catch a spring bear eating fresh greens to jump-start his digestive system. Search for large bears in the natural fruit patches in the fall.

Black bears in Oregon come in a variety of color phases, including cinnamon, blond, and other colors. Excited hikers commonly mistakenly believe they've come across a grizzly bear, although Oregon's last grizzly bears were slaughtered in the 1930s.