Texans going bear hunting

[awildswanger]

Howdy all,

Myself and a few fellow gentleman of the Lone Star State are looking at hunting Black Bear somewhere this spring.

To put it plainly, we have little to no idea what we are doing hunting outside of Texas. We are open to nearly any state, any method. If possible, we would like to do DIY, and over the counter. We may or may not end up finding a guide, but OTC is what we’re going for.

Our main constrictions are as follows:
-Cost: Lower is better
-Distance: Ideally not far north Canada or Alaska
-Ideally would like for at least one or a couple of us to be successful

Questions for y’all:
-Recommendation for state? Area of State?
-Methods? I will be planning on using archery equipment, but maybe a rifle. Most of the group will have a rifle
-Gear?
-Tips, Tricks, Advice all appreciated!

Thanks y’all!

 

[Nick Muche]

If being successful is important, especially with archery for your first time, I highly recommend booking a quality bear hunt in Canada. These can be had for about 3500 in most cases. You'll enjoy it a hell of a lot more than just winging it, etc.

 

[PresTex]

I’ve gone with Jeff Lander up in BC and it was awesome. Great hunt for archery guys and Jeff is the man. Getting up there is a bit of a pain in the ass but the amount of bears up there is crazy. Me, my two brothers, and my buddy all shot bears.


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[sneaky]

Spot and stalk with a bow can be done, but you'll exponentially increase your odds with a bow if you have a bait station set up. Hard to do that having to travel from Texas though.

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[BackcountryBloodline]

I’ve gone with Jeff Lander up in BC and it was awesome. Great hunt for archery guys and Jeff is the man. Getting up there is a bit of a pain in the ass but the amount of bears up there is crazy. Me, my two brothers, and my buddy all shot bears.


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Definitely no shortage of bars up here, bit of a trip and spot & stalk only but very few hunts can compare to spot & stalk archery bear in my opinion. Lots of color phase bears in Landers area as well

 

[Hooverfb]

Where in texas yall from? I'm going to Cali this fall to hunt bear. Goodluck!

 

[Bruce Culberson]

Definitely no shortage of bars up here, bit of a trip and spot & stalk only but very few hunts can compare to spot & stalk archery bear in my opinion. Lots of color phase bears in Landers area as well

Did you call in the bear from your video? Did you know he was there or were you cold calling? I've only tried calling a few times but haven't given it a serious go...yet.

awildswanger - BC and the other provinces do require a guide/outfitter. Here in BC they are one of the cheapest outfitted big game hunts though and bear populations are strong. Bag limit is two.

 

[KHNC]

Cali is full of huge bears. Especially since they banned dog hunting. NorCal mtns are loaded with them. CHeck out shasta mtn area and surrounding country. Find a spring head water source early season and sit on it. They WILL be there or close.

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

Did you call in the bear from your video? Did you know he was there or were you cold calling? I've only tried calling a few times but haven't given it a serious go...yet.

awildswanger - BC and the other provinces do require a guide/outfitter. Here in BC they are one of the cheapest outfitted big game hunts though and bear populations are strong. Bag limit is two.

Yes, that one was a bit of a weird situation. I've done quite a bit of blind calling for bears before but never had any luck with that, in my experience they won't travel very far even for an easy meal unless they're real hungry. I had pretty much given up on it but for whatever reason I felt like giving it a try that evening after seeing some claw marks on a burned tree...no way to know whether they were from 5 minutes ago or last year but gave it a go anyway. As soon as I started blowing the call I saw a bear hop up out of a depression in the hill across from me about 45 yards away and start running down the hill towards the timber reprod to my right. That would have had him popping out of the christmas trees about 5ft from me so I quickly crashed down the hill into the old growth where I could watch the base of the hill and called a bit more. Nothing but the wind was still good so I snuck back over to the edge of the cutblock and saw him sitting up at the top of the hill staring down at me. I think at that point he thought I was another bear, he had obviously heard me run down the hill and he ran back up to the top, when he saw movement at the timberline he huffed at me super loud to let me know he was there and ready to fight for the meal. I ranged him at 83 yards and wanted him inside 35 so I started calling again and he immediately started hopping down the hill, I had to keep blowing the call desperately otherwise he would lose interest and start to wander off after 2-3 seconds of no calling. When he disappeared in the reprod I took the opportunity to range a stump where I figured he would pop out, it was 30 yards away. He popped out right beside it, wasn't a great shot angle and I should have been more patient and waited for a better one but I'm glad it all worked out in the end.

 

[Bruce Culberson]

BCB - I'm not trying to derail the OP's questions,..... but that sounds like a darn exciting hunt!

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

BCB - I'm not trying to derail the OP's questions,..... but that sounds like a darn exciting hunt!

You bet! Also huffed in the biggest bear I've ever seen that day, he broke the timber at 20 yards and kept walking straight at me until he caught my movement drawing back at 15...that'll get the heart going! Also not trying to derail the OPs thread but if anyone wants to see what we're talking about it's video #14 in the Rokslide 2019 film contest thread, voting is open until tuesday

 

[Kgentry]

Have a look at Idaho. OTC tags are pretty fair and there’s a lot of country to hunt with quite a few bears and color phased bears.

 

[PaulRevere]

I might be able to help ya out if you are interested in Montana? Send me an email [email protected]

 

[264win]

There is lots of great DIY hunting for spring bear in ID and MT, also plenty of great fishing and varmint/ predator hunting, but that is a heck of a drive from Texas.

North Carolina is known for having very big bears, but no idea on what it’s like to hunt there ( yet )

 

[awildswanger]

BCB - I'm not trying to derail the OP's questions,..... but that sounds like a darn exciting hunt!

Agreed!

 

[alexanderg23]

If you don’t want to pay for a guided hunt, and are just looking for the adventure, I’d go to Montana the 2nd week of May. There’s several places where if you spend a week hiking around you’ll see a bear. PM me if you want.

 

[.270]

If you want to do a DIY hunt look at AZ, Bear hunts are OTC for most units for the general spring hunt, which the tag is also good for the fall hunts. NM and CO have fall hunts that are otc being close to TX.
AZ would be a spot and stock hunt for the spring hunt, some units only open to archery but those are more conducive to sitting water.