School me on black bear hunting.

conor_90 said:
More curious about NW Ontario/ black spruce shield country in general. Driving through the Hearst etc area on the “northern” highway I couldn’t help but reflect on how similar it looked to the part of BC I used to live/work/play in (peace/northern Rockies). Just flatter and with more lakes. One would think the area would be full of black bears. Maybe the amount of lakes would make it harder to target water sources based on the “ black bears have wet feet” phenomenon.

My ex was a forester who went to school in southern Ontario and worked in BC, and I spent about a decade in forestry/ oil and gas consulting so I’m a bit familiar with the difference between woodlot management and the clear cut, road building and slash pile burning forest management. I have to assume in the shield the process is more similar to the second?

Short of salmon bearing areas on the NW coast I’ve never seen as many black or grizzly bears as in heavily logged areas like the blackwater west of Quesnel and the nation lakes north of fort st James. These areas have some massive populations; corresponding to what amount to hay fields on every one of the many deactivated access roads crisscrossing the landscape


Antiqueguy, check out intersurplus if you want a nice old 9.3x62 Mauser action

If madoc is like the Kawartha Lakes area, you might have good luck in the wood lots by agricultural fields in the fall time

As the fields green up sitting their edges in the spring would probably not be time wasted either. Perfect time of year for the fawn in distress call too
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a fall oath bear will hard to beat but berries or blueberries are really good and sweet taste.
 
medvedqc said:
a fall oath bear will hard to beat but berries or blueberries are really good and sweet taste.
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The likelihood of tag soup spot and stalk is much higher in the fall, and from the sounds of it an Ontario spot and stalk in five days without scouting is more than a bit of a long shot to start with. While out here I’d agree with you on berry bears, spring’s gonna give him a better shot.

For black bear specific spot and stalk hunts, we only ever guided them in spring as more factors were in your favour.
 
If I don’t get one I don’t get one never a bad week when you’re in the woods. Only thing that sucks is no small game seasons are open at the same time as spring bear.
 
antiqueguy said:
If I don’t get one I don’t get one never a bad week when you’re in the woods. Only thing that sucks is no small game seasons are open at the same time as spring bear.
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Sure is…
Wild Turkey open all of May.
Coyote open all year and no tag required in WMU 61.
Red Fox and Skunk, all year.
 
Ardent said:
The likelihood of tag soup spot and stalk is much higher in the fall, and from the sounds of it an Ontario spot and stalk in five days without scouting is more than a bit of a long shot to start with. While out here I’d agree with you on berry bears, spring’s gonna give him a better shot.

For black bear specific spot and stalk hunts, we only ever guided them in spring as more factors were in your favour.
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yes vegetation is a killer even at the end of spring for us ... i had a few good souvenirs in saguenay where there is a lot of berry fields and in the fall some locals were telling us oh no you cant hunt black bear on stalk or approach you needed to bait ... well the berries are the best bear attractant i know, in the beginning of the spring once defrost and in the fall after a lovely rainy week when the sun is back out ...

antiqueguy said:
If I don’t get one I don’t get one never a bad week when you’re in the woods. Only thing that sucks is no small game seasons are open at the same time as spring bear.
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indeed.

Ardent said:
Trick is to hang ‘em, eaten fresh and they’re tough.
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tags soup can happen for so many species ... the worst certainly is on caribou especially in august where the meat is the best and full of fat but we re hunters not collectors ...
 
Love all this bear talk, I am especially looking forward to our bear buddies this year :) Scored a few pounds of h1000, got my 220 grain partitions loaded up for the new 300 win mag boom stick. Gotta still sight in the scope but that should take no time. I got a seed bin with a few ton of oats, 50kg of popping corn ,30 liters of deep fried chicken grease. Got back from a couple of local liquidation centers today. Scored 64 liters of miracle whip for $20!!!, 5 kg expired Reese's pieces, 10 kg of cheap peanut butter, and 5 gallons of subway sandwich sauces for $5/gallon. Now just to nail a woodchuck or two for some expired/rotting meat that should make the smorgasbord perfectly deluxe this year. I was originally going to just do one bait site but now I think I have enough food for at least three.

BGVZocj.jpg
 
apu said:
Love all this bear talk, I am especially looking forward to our bear buddies this year :) Scored a few pounds of h1000, got my 220 grain partitions loaded up for the new 300 win mag boom stick. Gotta still sight in the scope but that should take no time. I got a seed bin with a few ton of oats, 50kg of popping corn ,30 liters of deep fried chicken grease. Got back from a couple of local liquidation centers today. Scored 64 liters of miracle whip for $20!!!, 5 kg expired Reese's pieces, 10 kg of cheap peanut butter, and 5 gallons of subway sandwich sauces for $5/gallon. Now just to nail a woodchuck or two for some expired/rotting meat that should make the smorgasbord perfectly deluxe this year. I was originally going to just do one bait site but now I think I have enough food for at least three.

BGVZocj.jpg
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I think I’m going to be in the same position. Think I’ll offer a second bait location to a couple newer hunters that don’t usually hunt bear.

At about a full chest freezer full of breads/buns and get a shopper bag worth every week from a sub/corner store. Collected 20-25 gallons of candies, hot chocolate mix, expired cake mixes ect. I usually take 2-3 problem beavers in spring right here on property. Unlimited access to fryer grease. Probably won’t spend any $$ on bait this year.
 
Jimbobob08 said:
I think I’m going to be in the same position. Think I’ll offer a second bait location to a couple newer hunters that don’t usually hunt bear.

At about a full chest freezer full of breads/buns and get a shopper bag worth every week from a sub/corner store. Collected 20-25 gallons of candies, hot chocolate mix, expired cake mixes ect. I usually take 2-3 problem beavers in spring right here on property. Unlimited access to fryer grease. Probably won’t spend any $$ on bait this year.
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A beaver is a delicacy for a bear. I’ve seen them standing on a beaver house waiting and jumping into the water after one comes out. Yep, dead beavers are good bear bait, for sure.
 
Well mig doing to see where the slugs I have on hand shoot as well as Mexican match x54r and load some of the 350gr inter locks I have in the .458 win mag and see how that shoots. Wish my locally range was longer then 25 yards but it is what it is.
 
Well - I bear hunt in that area. Spot and stalk is definitely low probability. Since you are there for 5 days, you still have the opportunity to bait. Get the bait(s) going the weekend before the season opens. If you are stuck for bait food, buy molasses corn from your local Co-op, its sold in 25 kg bags.
As a minimum, it can possibly draw bears into the area, and you can combine this with your spot and stalk activities.
 
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