First bear hunt

[canadian hunter312]

I plan on heading north for my first bear hunt this fall and am going alone. I think I want to go for a week and plan on hunting the Temagami area on crown land.

What's the bear population like in this area?
Would spot and stalk or calling be more effective?
Is this too short of a time frame to even bother with baiting?
I'll have a deer tag too. What's it like hunting deer in northern Ontario when compared to farmland in the south?

In regards to keeping meat cool and edible for the remainder of the trip and on the way home, what is the best method?



Possibly stupid questions, but I'm used to hunting around home where I shoot something and simply bring it home to process it.

 

[jables]

I've yet to hunt the area, but have spent some time up in the area (New Liskeard, Matachewan, Elk Lake, etc...) and there was certainly no shortage of bears when I was cruising around. You might have good success in some of the big logging cuts/roads and walking down trails the trucks can't go, if that's your thing. I'm sure some more bear hunters will chime in, but I've only had success calling them in the spring, not so lucky in the fall. As for deer, there are very few to choose from up in the area, though every year you hear about more and more sitings up north, you'd probably be better of deer hunting a little further south towards North Bay. Most deer hunters that only hunt gun season often take the first buck they see due to big bush and lower densities, but with some scouting you can greatly improve your odds - natural funnels between lakes, swamps, creeks, etc will be productive when bucks are cruising during the rut. Depending on temperature, you may need to de-bone your meat right away, wrap it, and store in a cooler (making sure the water doesn't contact the meat).

Here's a pic of a nice bear that came running up to my truck when I blew on the Primos Raspy Coaxer last summer (thought he was going to jump in the front seat with me for a moment!)

 

[canadian hunter312]

jables, many thanks for the info and that's a great pic.

Would you consider that a small, average, or large bear?

There are very high deer populations in the farmlands that I hunt around here and i'm thinking the deer in the large forests of the north are a totally different animal. I will be focused on bear, but if I am having bad luck locating them I will gladly attempt to take a buck just to say I got something. There's pretty much a 100% chance at getting a deer around here so I won't really spend too much time trying for a deer in bear country.

 

[Mount Sweetness]

You would be best off paying someone for a 3 day hunt that has already done the baiting. You will not have to travel very far up.

 

[xeon]

You'd have a much higher chance of success with baiting. If you're going to be up there for the week, as soon as you get there, set up a bait and a simple ground blind somewhere and try not to disturb the area. You can try calling/spot and stalk elsewhere until that bait gets hit.

My personal quickest so far is 4 days from the first time the bait was set up to a kill. Setup a bait of fish guts the first day, nothing. Second day it got hit, Third day was the opener that I hunted at evening and saw nothing, and fourth day the bear came in while I was in a natural ground blind 35 yards away.

Or maybe try posting an add on Kijiji or some newspaper up there asking for help with baiting an area from another hunter?

 

[hoytcanon]

Go early in the season when there are still blueberries and spot and stalk the berry cuts... establish a bait site asap as a backup plan... it would be best if you could make a quick trip up the week before your hunt and put out a strike bait with an accompanying good quantity of bait. Locate a saddle or bottleneck near water... preferably a small river or larger creek... set-up a tree stand 20 yards downwind (check prevailing wind for the area)... ask a buddy to make a road trip with you to set-up the bait and do some scouting. Call the local MNR office and talk to the C.O that covers that area... ask him for areas of high bear sightings, vehicle collisions, nuisance bear reports etc... ask him where you can find clear cuts with lots of berries... ask him for the phone numbers of the companies logging the area... call those companies and talk to their foresters... ask about 3-4 year old cuts, ask them if their cutters or camps are complaining of excessive bear damage... buy the 1:50,000; topo maps once you narrow down your search... double and triple check access roads and cut locations... when you hunt be out before first light and stay on a promising location until dark. Once your scouting is done, photocopy the map locations where you plan to go.... write notes about where you will be staying, the roads you will likely be travelling and where you plan to hunt... leave these with someone at home in case you run into trouble. Good luck... bears are an exciting big game animal... and excellent on the BBQ.

 

[bigborefan]

I've hunted bear for 32 seasons and 24 of those I've baited 'em. There are too many lessons to be learned that can't effectively be stated in print form in less than a book on the matter by someone who can clearly communicate those issues to a beginner. So, the best anyone can do here is give a few pointers. Here are a couple:

1) Take a sack full of pre-cooked popcorn - it's light and keeps well. Take about 5 - 5 gal plastic containers with lids. Have access to water (a stream or lake), mix cherry coolaid with water in one of those containers up about to 1/3 of container. (The extras are for different locations or additional days) Throw in and mix a half bucket of popcorn. Stir well. Put on lid and cut a hole in lid that a bear can reach in with its paw. Fasten container to a sturdy tree with rope, chain, cable, etc. (That's to slow the bear down). The object is to get a good smell going that attracts bears. You can also pile on some dead wood, branches, etc, but don't obstruct the smell escaping into the air. Set up a ground blind off to one side at about 40 to 60 yards (Not necessarily down wind as the bear will come in from down wind after having circled the bait, and you don't want to be inside that circle - so not within 40 yards and in a cross wind if possible). Or, a tree stand. Be patient and quiet. Listen and try to catch a bears scent... yes, you can smell them if you are down wind of them. Be prepared to be surprised! They often arrive without making a sound... yet sometimes they break branches to announce their presence to any other bears that may be in the area.

Buy some black strap molasses at a Bulk Barn, etc - dilute it with water about 3 to 1 and splash it on bushes, trees, around the bait site, etc. That too serves as an attractant. Honey also works! The idea is to get some good smelling stuff into the atmosphere.

2) A moose call works - I called in a big black bear imitating a love-sick cow moose with hands cupped to my mouth.

Hunting bear is one of the most challenging and exciting hunts available in Ontario, in my estimation. Good luck!

Bob

www.bigbores.ca