Early Bird Bruins

It’s the silence that you first notice. Initially it’s just a feeling that something is different, but you can’t quite put your finger on what it it. The realization arrives slowly, like a Polaroid photo coming into focus: the crickets!

That constant, monotonous din you had dismissed as background noise as you sat on your stand has stopped and the woods are dead quiet. That’s how you know there’s a bear nearby, and you fight to contain yourself, moving only your eyes so as not to give away your presence

You rarely hear a bear moving through the woods. When you do, it’s either a sow with reckless cubs or a big boar alerting others to his approach. Otherwise, these black forest ghosts can move without sound, even on the stillest of evenings and on the driest of leaves. You must remain motionless and alert at all times, otherwise they’ll see you long before you see them, and you’ll never know they were there.

That’s just one of many challenges bear hunters face, and it’s often compounded by a season that sometimes starts before the kids head back to school.

WHERE AND WHEN

Warm temperatures can influence the choice of hunting locales, particularly when hunting over bait. While you’re still sporting shorts and t-shirts around home, bears are already wearing a fur coat, which makes moving during the heat of the day uncomfortable. They might move any time but they’re far more likely to wait until the sun and the temperatures drop, giving you precious few minutes of legal shooting time, often when the bugs are at their worst.

Mornings tend to be slow, but you never know. There’s also a greater possibility of spooking a bear off your stand site by going in before daylight, so you might consider waiting for shooting light, then slipping in slowly and quietly.

For some of the same reasons, stands, blinds and baits should be set in cool, dark areas. Whether it’s heat, danger or likely some combination thereof, bears don’t like walking around in broad daylight. Look for places with dense softwood cover, particularly in low-lying areas and near water—the kind of places mosquitoes love, too.

For non-bait hunters, or for those in areas lacking the aforementioned cover, there are other options. Bears are fattening up now, so look for any concentrated food sources. In Maine it might be a beech ridge above a cedar swamp. In Pennsylvania, it could be an oak stand, preferably with patches of dense mountain laurel for cover. Older, larger trees produce more nuts and attract more bears. Sitting and still-hunting are both good methods. Just remember to be mindful of wind direction.

Crop fields, especially corn, are another option, and farmers may welcome you since bears can make a real mess of agriculture. It won’t be hard to find where they’ve been feeding—it will look like someone has been riding an ATV in the field. Next, look for trails leading to the woods. Bears tend to be very regular about which trails they use. Pick the trails leading into the darkest, coolest cover and you’ll have better odds of catching them coming out before sunset. Berries are ripening now, too, and bears will graze through them voraciously. Blueberry barrens are a good option where they occur. You can often find blackberries and raspberries in regenerating cuts or fallow fields. Signs of recent activity should be obvious.

THE HEAT IS ON

The early part of the season often means warm weather, which brings bugs, sweat and, if you’re lucky, a race to process your prize before it spoils. You have a few options for dealing with stinging, biting insects. One is choosing the right apparel. You could wear something with a tight enough weave that mosquitoes can’t insert their stingers through it, but those garments also hold in body heat, enhancing the second challenge. Mosquito netting is another, better option, especially for the face and hands, but a full-body suit will allow you to wear lighter, more breathable clothing.

While netting allows moisture and heat to escape, it does the same for your odor. What bears may lack in vision they more than make up for in scent detection. The simple solution here is to be meticulous about odor control. Wash, wipe or spray yourself. Your clothing and all your equipment needs to be sprayed down with an odor-neutralizing solution. Keep clothing in an air-tight container until you reach your destination. Dress outside the vehicle, then spray or wipe down again when you arrive on stand.

Another more practical and effective method for battling biting insects is a Thermacell. If you’re not familiar with it, this device heats a pad saturated with a synthetic insecticide that, when vaporized, repels insects. It works, and because it’s a synthetic substitute for natural vegetation, bears and deer don’t seem to be alarmed by the odor.

BE COOL

There’s not much you can do about temperature except to dress appropriately, but you need to work hard to maintain your composure. When I was guiding bear hunts, I would warn hunters new to the species that it doesn’t matter how much hunting experience you have; the first time you see a bear, you’re probably going to lose your ... stuff. More often than not, that proves true. Calm yourself down and wait for an optimal shot. Proper shot placement is always important, but never more so than when the heat is on.

PROPER PREP

Once you get a bear down, the race is on to get it out of the woods and cooled down as quickly as possible. That becomes a greater challenge if you can’t

locate it right away. Regardless of temperature, you need to take your time and follow the same procedures that you would later in the season. Once you locate it, then you can be hasty.

Ironically, bear hunters are more inclined to take their bears out of the woods whole, particularly the bigger bears. I guess it’s so they can boast about their boar, but it seems silly and a tad irresponsible, especially in the early season. As soon as that animal expires, bacteria and bodily fluids begin the process of spoilage inside a warm body wrapped in fur. A better approach is to field dress the bear on-site, which also makes the drag easier. (Of course, check your state’s regulations first.)

It’s also a good idea to have a few bags of ice on hand. You don’t need to carry them afield, but keep them in a cooler in your vehicle so that you can ice the bear down as soon as it’s out of the woods. Stuff a couple bags in the body cavity and get to the check station. Then, add more ice and head for home or camp.

Once there, you can slow down a little, but not a lot unless you have a walk-in cooler. Another factor with the early season is long days. It gets dark late. Add tracking, dragging, a visit to the check station (if it’s open) and the ride home, and it’s already after midnight and you’re exhausted. You can get by with a few hours of hang time, particularly if it’s cool, but you should skin the animal that night if it’s still hot. I quarter my bears in camp and put the quarters, loins, rib cage and neck in a large cooler with artificial ice blocks.

Late summer may not seem like the ideal time to be hunting when you could be fishing, golfing or swimming. However, it’s often the best time for bears. As the days grow shorter, bruins race to lay on as much fat as they can before winter, and they may be in a state of walking hibernation—or even in dens—by mid-fall. You’ll have to deal with the heat and the bugs to tag an early-season bruin, but if and when it works out, you’ll be glad you did.

CHECK THE CHECK STATIONS

• Have a post-hunt game plan before you hunt.

Don’t wait until your bear is down to figure out where the nearest check station is and what the hours are. Look it up in advance and have a plan. That way you’ll know how long it will take for you to get there and whether it will be open. If you must wait until the next morning to check your bear, have a plan to keep it cool.

ANATOMY AND SHOT PLACEMENT

• Pick your spots carefully.

Bears are built somewhat differently than deer. They have much thicker hides and denser bones, making proper shot placement even more important. Even with a firearm, you should only take broadside or quartering-away shots. Otherwise, a shot that might kill a deer will only wound a bear, leading to a long, frustrating and potentially dangerous night of tracking.

---

• This article was featured in the September 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

---