Black bears are wary, elusive Hunt can feature uncertainty

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Maine boasts the largest black bear population in the Northeast, and one of the highest hunter success ratios in the entire United States. Sportsmen travel from all over the U.S. and many foreign countries to experience a Pine Tree State bear hunt. Black bear, Ursus americanus, is the second most hunted big game animal in North America, with only the far more widespread and populous whitetail deer garnering more attention.

Black bear are rarely seen during the day, especially the older, world-wise bruins. Those brutes are intelligent, wary and very elusive, and every sportsman realizes that under certain circumstances this animal can readily maul them, and easily kill them with snapping jaws and raking claws.

This secretive big game animal that normally turns tail and runs at the first human smell, has been known to attack when wounded. At the first sign a cub is in danger, a mother bear can turn from teddy bear to nightmare, and on a few rare occasions, black bears have purposely stalked, attacked, killed and eaten humans.

Every type of hunting carries certain risks, but novice and experienced outdoorsmen alike will avow that there’s a special aura to bear hunting. Ask any farmer or rural housewife who has gone to investigate night noises in the yard, or on the porch and come face to face with a big bear on the other side of the widow or screen door. It happens more often then you’d expect in Northern Maine, and each encounter is unsettling.

Let me tell you what it’s like when the situation is reversed and you’re in the bear’s front yard. Several years ago an acquaintance of mine, who was a registered Maine guide and maintaining half a dozen bear baits for his sports to hunt, gave me a call. A month previously we had engaged in a long conversation on bear hunting, a sport I had yet to undertake. The season would open the following week and he told me one of his baits was being hit by more than one bear. Would I care to sit in a tree stand with him Sunday night and experience the feel of a hunt? I accepted, planning to arm myself with a camera instead of a gun considering the time frame.

Roughly two hours before dusk we parked along a remote woods road about half a mile from the path to the bait site, very quietly departed the truck, and began walking. Once on the narrow path it was about 10 minutes of very careful stepping to the base of a large tree, where a ladder rose to two seats attached one above the other, offset at 12 and 15 feet above the ground. Within a minute I had followed the guide up the tree and was perched in the lower, none to0 spacious tree stand, with a bird’s-eye view of a brush-shrouded bait barrel less than 20 feet away.

Having been pre-warned to maintain total silence and remain completely motionless, I still wasn’t really prepared for the total concentration required to remain immobile and alert while sitting on a dinner plate size seat and tormented by every insect in that township. There was no sound, no movement and no warning.

Suddenly, as if by a Seigfried and Roy illusion, this huge black bear was standing beside the bait barrel, its rear half still in the dense brush. Ears moving, nose smelling, eyes searching, the animal stood immobile for well over a minute, which seemed like 15 minutes to this mesmerized neophyte, and then slowly materialized into an entire bear of about 250 pounds.

Having satisfied himself he was alone, the bruin pulled the brush off the barrel, dislodged the cover and began to sample the evening’s menu. A boot nudged my shoulder and I ever so slowly tipped my camo-masked face upward just enough to see a hand and finger pointing left. Revising the direction of my gaze, I was in utter awe to see another bear standing almost under me a few feet from the ladder. Two giddy thoughts ran through my mind: I could hop right down onto his back just like Hopalong Cassidy used to do with his horse, and secondly, why can’t that brute hear my heart hammering its way out of my chest. The bear ambled off to the dinner barrel.

Within 10 minutes the guide again drew my attention to a dark clump of brush about 50 yards off to the right. Puzzled, I gazed at the spot trying to pick something out, when to my surprise the entire spot moved and then materialized into a bear slowly coming down another trail. Three black bear, all more than 200 pounds in the spot the size of your garage.

The newcomer was the dominant bear and didn’t take long to establish superiority by grunting, snapping, swatting and chasing the other two from HIS meal. Not to be deterred, one of the underlings would come close enough to draw the big bear into a chase and the second would sneak in for a morsel of food, and then they would revise the trick. This circus without a ring went on for more than 30 minutes with bear often running right under the tree. I could hear the jaws popping when they snapped at each other or growled, but seldom any noise as their huge bodies chased through the brush and woods.

Suddenly, amazingly, it was dark in the woods, and although we could hear the bear, they became less and less visible. The guide leaned down and whispered it was time to go. I stood slowly and leaned close to be sure I understood; he actually wanted me to climb down while the bear were still there! Yes he assured me, he had intentionally waited so the three big bears wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the tree stand location. I climbed down – not happily and not without reservation, but I got onto the ground. He was right behind me and we headed up the trail.

My hair stood on end, I was jumpy, heart racing and head turning like a light house beacon. Any small sound jumped me. What if the dominant bear heard me and came running thinking I was one of the two interlopers? It’s a very vulnerable feeling when you’re in their home court. That night, paradise was an open logging road with a truck nearby. The feeling of being around this big game animal is like an adrenaline rush of excitement tingled with trepidation. It’s why I hunt bear, and perhaps why you should try it. It’s the uncertainty – black bear hunters go afield because of it and in spite of it!

Getting started

Beginning bear hunters have a choice of hunting with dogs, hunting over natural bait or hunting over a manmade bait site. Maintained bait sites are by far the most popular and productive method of taking a fall bear.

Neophyte bear hunters who approach me for advice get a stock answer: hire a guide. I went with a guide for two seasons before venturing out on my own to set up and run a bear bait. My small investment in guide fees yielded great dividends of invaluable knowledge. Listen closely to the guide’s advice, watch everything he does and help bait the site if he’ll allow it. Ask a lot of questions, pay attention to details.

Perhaps you’ll enjoy hunting with a guide so much it will become an annual trip. Many sportsmen employ a registered guide simply because they lack the time to properly maintain their own bait, or perhaps their region has few bear.

Some folks just aren’t physically able to do the work necessary to set up a bait and blind and keep it going for four to six weeks. Others like to explore different regions, so they alternatively visit guides or outfitters throughout Maine to enjoy a variety of people and places. Guides depend on word of mouth and return customers to make a living, so most spend weeks of long days setting up top rate bait sites and stands. It’s very unlikely that a sport won’t get at least one chance at a good size bear during a guided hunt, and often several opportunities occur.

On your own

When the decision is made to go out on your own and set up a bear bait, there are certain general steps to follow and specific items needed. Having done your homework and spent time with a guide or a fellow bear hunter, let’s assume you need no direction on selecting a weapon, camo clothing, correct footwear and the right tree stand.

Rules and regulations governing bear baiting are precise and numerous, and well spelled out in the annual law book, so follow them to the letter to avoid any problems with state game wardens and landowners.

The farther north you go in Maine, the more woods there are, and therefore the more bear there are. Ask farmers or loggers where they are seeing bear during their travels, and do your own preseason scouting for signs, trails and spore. Bear prefer dark growth and heavy brush, so cedar swamp edges, and hardwood swales are popular hideouts.

With baiting, the important thing to remember is that the bear will find you once the food source is supplied. When setting a bait, shy away from roads, even dirt roads that are heavily traveled. Landowner permission is a must, not only for ethical land use but to be sure no other hunters are nearby.

For best results, there should be at least five miles between any bear bait. Baits too close together allow a bear to visit more than one bait, and perhaps someone else will get the first shot at a big bear that might have been yours. Serious hunters should set up and maintain two sites, just in case one is barren, attracts only small bear, or has only a sow with cubs visiting, which precludes a shot by any sportsman. More baits mean more work, but the odds increase in the hunter’s favor.

Before selecting the exact spot for the bait barrel, the hunter must locate the best spot for a tree stand. A solid sturdy tree that will hide his form with its trunk and branches, as well as provide a solid back rest, is good. Be sure you’re not facing into the setting sun, nor is the sun back lighting you as it goes down. Plan on being at least eight to 14 feet off the ground and trim only enough branches to give a clean view of the barrel and an open sight picture.

Place your bait bucket and barrel among trees and brush on three sides, with only an open space in front. Use wire cable to attach the barrel to a sturdy tree, otherwise the bear will drag it into the woods rather than come into the open to eat. Use a lid to keep coyotes, raccoons and other varmints out of the bait, and place several sturdy branches or small logs against the lid. When the bear paws these away, the noise will help cover any slight sound the hunter might make getting ready to take a shot.

Use bread, pastries and doughnuts covered with grease to supply the barrel. Honey, molasses, jelly or jam are other favorites for fall bear trying to fatten up to hibernate. For the first week, a few fish heads or lobster bodies will work as a stink bait to bring bear from farther away to investigate. Then they will find the sweets and keep coming back.

Pour a couple of gallons of grease on the ground in front of the barrel so any visiting bear will have to walk in it. When another bear crosses the first bear’s track, it will smell the grease and back track it to the bait barrel, and then you’ll have two visitors, and perhaps more as these bear travel afar spreading the smell of tasty treats.

It’s better to bait with fresh food daily or every other day, rather than in bulk once a week. This allows the hunter to check for fresh tracks, new trails and see how much has been eaten, and thereby judge how many and what size bear are visiting. Setting up and caring for an active bait, reading the signs and anticipating the hunt are as fulfilling as the actual nights in the stand. Like a good novel, there’s a new chapter each day you visit the bait.

Hunters may begin baiting today, although many won’t start for a week or 10 days, and Aug. 26 is the first night to sit on stand in anticipation. You’ll see bear, but maybe not the right one, the really big one. Possibly you’ll take a photo or video, and perhaps not fire a shot all season, but every sighting and each walk from the woods in the dark will tingle your spine. It’s that unsettling aura of possible danger that draws bear hunters back to the woods each year. Black bear hunting is always a season of uncertainty.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached at graves@umpi.maine.edu