Bigwoods bears

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BigJake

New member
Well I just arrived at Paul Smiths College in the center of the Adirondack mountains and I am very excited to be here to say the least, the views just from the campus are spectacular. But back to the main topic, I have been out hunting and hiking a lot just for squirrels, but I see that early bear season opens in a couple days, (sept 15 I think), and I have know clue how to hunt them. I was planning on just visiting some power lines and glassing for them. Another question I have is where are bears usually found in big woods like this, and what do they eat should I look for a specific area to focus on?

Thanks for any advice
 
Find the berries, find the tree nuts (out here it's acorns and/or pinion) and you'll find the bears. I'm guessing you're mtns are no different than ours, you'll find that in the greatest abundance on south facing slopes. Sounds like any clear cuts with southern exposure in your country would be my focus. Assuming your bears are similair in habit, they'll be sleeping during the heat of the day (4 maybe 6 hours) and feeding the rest of the time. Be patient. If you can find them feeding, chances are they are there for a while. If you lose sight of him for extended times, don't give up. Stay down wind, and you can get away with a remarkable amount of movement. Wait for the right shot to make a clean and quick kill. Go to the library and check out "The Perfect Shot", study it. Shoot true. Good luck.
 
Thanks stormking. Yes I have the Perfect Shot book I'll have to study up on the black bear chapter again. Before my 300H&H arrives I'll have to get pretty close for a shot though since all I have now is some 1oz slugs.
 
Around here(Wis.) we use bait and or use dogs but those are the two predominant ways of doing it . You may want to scent the air with a honey burn to attract them to ya .I don't know what the game laws are there but finding out is the standard to keep you out of trouble
Good luck
 
Does NY state law allow using a predator call for bear?

I agree with the above post on nuts and berries. Out here in Calif the bears go crazy over elder berries, choke cherries, prickly pear, and pinon. We also have a fair amount of acorns, and they love these too. Find the nuts and berries and you will find your bear.


Calcoyote
 
I don't want to dicourage you BigJake but early season bear hunting in the dack's can be a challenge.Baiting is not legal in NY and the berries are gone by mid-Sept..Clear cuts are few and are often on paper company land which is leased to clubs.There are virtually no oak trees in the central Adirondacks,although I do know of a stand near Long Lake.The beech nuts aren't falling yet and are spotty most years anyway.You will sit for a very long time watching a powerline r.o.w. before you see a bear,unless you are a very lucky hunter.
My best advice is to find a stand of choke cherry trees (assuming they're producing this year) and watch it in the evening.Better yet if you know of some apple trees with apples watch them.You can tell if the bears are activly feeding there as they break out the limbs to strip the fruit off.Baiting is not legal but the use of scents is.Scents can be as effective as bait if used right.I don't know of anyone who has killed a bear in the dack's by calling but heck it's worth trying.I can't think of a more exciting way to kill one.The most important advice I can give(I'm sure you already know this)is to do your scouting.
You can use a 300 H&H if you like but in my opinion you will be way over-gunned.I've hunted with guys who have killed black bear with a 30/30,my choice is a .308.
Good luck to you hunting and good luck with your goal at Paul Smith's(forestry?).I'll be in the Long Lake/Tupper Lake area Thursday to do some smallmouth fishing and scouting for the opening on Saturday. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Thanks guys. I wouldn't call all the time, but if I see one far away, I will wail on that call and see if he comes to. ADK, I went out for a hike/scouting session today and your right all the berries are gone in the powerline rows, though I'll keep looking in the woods nearby. The 300 is the most accurate centerfire I have that would be appropriate for bear. The 30-06 is loaded down with 150's at around 2500fps(could be enough I guess). I want a 30 cal for bear though. I know that my 270 and 257 with the right bullets would take 'em. The load for the 300 isn't even that hot, with 200SGK's at about 2700fps. Very accurate though. Oh yeah, I'm majoring in Fish and Wildlife Management, with concentration on wildlife. So far it's a very fun class.

Oh yeah on my hike this morning I saw a Marten, something I've always wanted to see.
 
Paul Smith Collge was ranked as one of the top schools in the country for involvement in the outdoors by Field & Stream. I'd sure like to go there. Can't tell you anything 'bout bears though. Good luck.
 
Try a honey/bacon grease burn. Find a spot where you suspect that bear are and do it there. Try to get it so the wind is carrying the scent towards their direction of travel to you.

Take a fairly good sized coffee can (minus paper) and fill about 1/3 with honey, and about 4 tbsp of bacon grease. Now take a Sterno can and place it on bare grond. Take some rocks or sticks and place around the sterno. Get things tall enough to get the bottom of the coffee can about 2-3 inches off the sterno can. Once the can is secure and not going to tip over, light the sterno and wait. Don't worry about it when she starts to smoke...that's what you want. I will make alot of sweet smelling smoke that will drive them nuts!!!!

Make sure you allow yourself ample time for it to all burn. That will probably take about 2hours start to finish. Let it burn right down to nothing. Once the smoke clears be looking hard!!!! I shot a big male the same way 8 years ago here in Maine that dress at 340 with 19 9/16 skull, 7" across the pad and 7 1/2' tall. According to the Biologist, the tattoo in his lip revealed he was 19 years old and at his largest weight he was 576. They dragged him out his winter den a total of 5 times. The last time he was 11 and that was his weight. They think he would've still weighed that if not larger, had it not been for his lower jaw. It was totally broken and severed just behind his canine teeth. Remarkably it was still attached with the skin and all, but obviously unable to eat and defend himself properly. It just flipped and flopped all over. He was still healthy though! He is now hanging on the wall.

Good luck!
Pete
 
They thought either from him running into a car, or one hellofa fight. He did tell me the last time they tagged him at age 11, it was not broken.

Pete
 
Big Jake,
I've been up for the last three early bear openers. My friend came very close to getting one on the ground first year out. Since then, we have yet to see another.

ADK has given you superb advice!

A fellow camper killed his first NY bear on opening evening this past weekend! And with a bow no less!!! What a fantastic accomplishment.
Anyhow, I kind of picked his brain a bit and his advice to me was exactly what ADK has given you. This gent had been hunting the same area for three years and finally closed the deal on a gorgeous sow (dry) of about 300 lbs. He was hunting a small stand of choke cherrys in close proximity to a thicket with raspberries. An ideal location that took three years of fine tuning to "bear" fruit. He did point out that most of the berries were gone, but the bears were still sticking to their routine and thus vulnerable for ambush.
All of the bear scat I found myself high on the rocky shelfs were loaded with cherry pits. Just wasn't able to put in enough time scouting to zero in an area better...

Black bear are more spooky than a big tom and have the nose to put a whitetail to shame. They pose quite a challenge in the lush early season under fair chase condtions.
I love going every year though!
Good luck to you...
 
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