eastern bear hunting

[gigandet642016]

roksliders,

looking to do a bear hunt in the east next spring. what are your favorite states? how do you like to hunt them? drop some sweet pics below!!

 

[Team4LongGun]

PA spot and stalk is the only way I hunt them. Scout pre season, find the food and the bears will be there.

 

[Smtn10pt]

Not sure of any eastern states with spring seasons...

 

[nettereo16]

Not sure of any eastern states with spring seasons...

Correct, there are none

 

[gigandet642016]

Not sure of any eastern states with spring seasons...

thats useful information lol.

 

[Bloodonthevanes]

for spring you are SOL, but many good hunting opportunities for early fall. I have been going to NH for a few years now and there are plenty of bear. You can DIY or go with a guide. Guides can be tough to get into because of the transport tag laws and each guide only gets a certain amount per year. The guides usually keep their clients from year to year, but call a few and see if you can get on a call list. I will be up there first week of september and I love it. It has become a great kick off to the hunting season. And what I like is when I get back I am right into archery season.

 

[gigandet642016]

PA spot and stalk is the only way I hunt them. Scout pre season, find the food and the bears will be there.

curious what you are looking for when it comes to food. do you just walk logging roads where good grass grows or do you tend to look for agriculture? maybe mature oaks for an acorn drop? i am from ohio and spot and stalk can be tough due to the amount of thick cover and timber. glassing clear cuts may not be bad either

 

[scott85]

For eastern fall bears look for hickory nuts first.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Find corn fields and the bears will be there,

 

[Team4LongGun]

curious what you are looking for when it comes to food. do you just walk logging roads where good grass grows or do you tend to look for agriculture? maybe mature oaks for an acorn drop? i am from ohio and spot and stalk can be tough due to the amount of thick cover and timber. glassing clear cuts may not be bad either

Keep in mind I'm referring to solo bear hunting. I never did the "traditional" PA bear hunt involving 25 guys banging pots and pans conducting drives-not for me.

I scout a week before the opener of bear. I am looking for beechnuts, hickory nuts, acorns, basically whatever crop is having the best year. Keep in mind, a heavy beech nut crop 3 years ago hasn't been back since. It varies each year. As for corn, none to my knowledge of public land has corn fields, nor are there many corn fields still standing by the time PA's bear season comes along.
Berries can be good, but again last years spot will most likely not be the hot spot this year. I still hunt-cover ground, but painfully slow. I bump bears EVERY year and can't go slow enough. Swamps and other areas most don't want to venture to are also good.

 

[JDK]

I cannot speak to the quality of the hunt but Maine has a spring season on tribal lands only. Some of the tribes issue a small number of permits to outfitters. They are over bait.

 

[ledflight]

NJ has eliminated its bear season for a couple years - your might have luck near the border in NY.

 

[7Bartman]

I provided some information on food sources in this video that should be relevant to MD, PA, and NC. I can speak for the states further North. As others have stated, no Spring seasons.

 

[Bloodonthevanes]

Keep in mind I'm referring to solo bear hunting. I never did the "traditional" PA bear hunt involving 25 guys banging pots and pans conducting drives-not for me.

I scout a week before the opener of bear. I am looking for beechnuts, hickory nuts, acorns, basically whatever crop is having the best year. Keep in mind, a heavy beech nut crop 3 years ago hasn't been back since. It varies each year. As for corn, none to my knowledge of public land has corn fields, nor are there many corn fields still standing by the time PA's bear season comes along.
Berries can be good, but again last years spot will most likely not be the hot spot this year. I still hunt-cover ground, but painfully slow. I bump bears EVERY year and can't go slow enough. Swamps and other areas most don't want to venture to are also good.

what part of PA?

 

[scfreeman66]

PA has an early fall muzzleloader season as well as an early fall archery season for bear that runs concurrent with archery deer season. It would be a good time to hunt here if you are Non-resident.
Both early fall seasons have had pretty high success rates with my hunting friend group.

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[Bloodonthevanes]

PA has an early fall muzzleloader season as well as an early fall archery season for bear that runs concurrent with archery deer season. It would be a good time to hunt here if you are Non-resident.
Both early fall seasons have had pretty high success rates with my hunting friend group.

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in PA if you know of the feeding path you can do awesome on the muzzleloader

 

[mitchellmountain]

Find corn fields and the bears will be there,

This, at least in Pa

 

[timberjack86]

Here in the Southeast they will be in the white oaks. Went scouting today found some fresh sign and plenty of white oaks. Just waiting for September.