Black bear numbers are booming across the nation. Pennsylvania has so many bears that it should harvest 25% of the inhabitants yearly simply to maintain the inhabitants secure. West Virginia additionally has wholesome populations, particularly within the Monongahela Nationwide Forest. Prolonged seasons give archers an important alternative to reap a bear in every state, with the Mountain State’s season open till December thirty first.
An Missed Alternative
Hunters flock to outside exhibits such because the NRA Nice American Outside Present every winter to ebook a Canadian bear hunt. These journeys contain in depth journey, the necessity for a passport, plus no less than $5,000 in information charges and journey. Mockingly, savvy hunters can hunt black bears on public land for simply the price of a license in quite a few Japanese states the place black bear sizes can exceed 500 kilos, a lot bigger than their northern cousins.
Search for the Acorns
Searching methods in mid-October are a lot the identical for deer as for bears. As acorns fall, particularly white oaks like these proven above, deer, bears, and wild turkeys will congregate to eat this high-protein gasoline for the winter forward. As you scout potential grounds, search for rubs, scrapes, and bear indicators, akin to logs and rocks which have been turned over. Whenever you discover a superb mast supply, you’ll usually see piles of scat, and the bigger the stools, the bigger the bear.
Bear Gear
What works for deer works nicely for bears. A big broadhead behind the shoulder of a black bear is extremely deadly, and so they usually expire inside 50 yards of the shot. I as soon as took a bear with a video cameraman standing behind me, and after we replayed the footage, the bruin took three jumps after the hit and went paws-in-the-air. At this time’s highly effective crossbows have sufficient kinetic vitality to be authorized for Cape buffalo, and an arrow by way of the lungs will zip proper by way of, giving a twin blood path. Bears have much less visible acuity than deer however have an equally efficient sense of scent, so use your similar scent elimination techniques for every.
Bear Camps on Line
Most people consider Airbnb as a trip search engine. Nonetheless, many house owners of rural homes and cabins have discovered that they’ll lease their services to sportsmen and enhance their enterprise. I’ve a cabin booked for late October with Rocky’s Rustic Cabins, and I stay up for a scorching bathe at first of every day and a cushty mattress on the finish. These cabins have trendy conveniences for cooking, washing, drying garments, and perhaps a scorching tub. My cabin in Bowden, West Virginia, is simply 10 minutes from the Monongahela Nationwide Forest, which accommodates almost a million acres of public land. I turkey hunted there one spring, exploring extensively, and located as a lot bear scat as deer. For searching and licensing in West Virginia, click on HERE.
Cabins and Data
When firearm season opens the week earlier than Thanksgiving, these cabins ebook up shortly, however till hunters uncover how handy and profitable archery bear season will be, vacancies happen. Rocky will be reached on Airbnb.com or by cellphone at 304-642-1369. He’s an avid deer hunter and hunts the Monongahela extensively, making him an important host and supply of knowledge. He took a lot of the nice bucks mounted in his cabins.
