How to Hunt a Black Bear on its Own Terms

Undoubtedly, the late Craig Dougherty was the sharpest knife in my hunting drawer. The former president of Golden Eagle Archery (back then, bowhunters either owned a Golden Eagle bow or wanted one) didn’t possess Jim Shockey’s rugged outdoor looks, but Craig had no doubt forgotten more about bears, food plots (before they became a thing) and just hunting in general than anyone I’d ever known. On a visit to my western Massachusetts deer camp one fall, we got into a deep-dive discussion about bear hunting. As was the case in Massachusetts and several other states in the East, Craig’s native New York did not permit the use of bait or dogs for bears. Killing one is a huge challenge for sure.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Dougherty matter-of-factly said to me. “Not too many hunters give bears enough credit for their smarts. Guys will occasionally happen on one, but to purposefully kill a bear on what amounts to its own terms is pretty tough. Bears, of course, don’t know when the season opens, but sometimes it seems as if they do.”

So, how do you tag one without the assistance of a pack of well-trained dogs or a pile of bait?

“Mast production—both hard and soft mast—and the location of the mast are all-important,” said Dougherty.

SOFT SELL

Once the calendar flips to fall, black bears feed in hyperdrive.

“The quest for calories keeps bears active and foraging up to 20 hours a day,” according to the website bearwise.org, an education and outreach program founded and funded by state wildlife agencies. “This annual feeding frenzy, called hyperphagia, is driven by bears’ ticking biological clocks counting down to hibernation, when most bears in colder climates retire for the winter and live off the fat they’re working so hard now to accumulate. Bears also need much more water now, up to two to three gallons a day, in order to process all those calories and eliminate nitrogenous waste.”

Outdoor writer Tim Jones was the first to explain the concept of “the least factor” to me, but after years of boots-on-the-ground observation, I’m wholeheartedly in agreement.

“The preferred food source that is available in least supply is where you’ll first find the most game, whether it’s deer or bears,” he says.

So how does that factor into a bear-hunting gameplan? Source your soft mast first because it will generally be the first to disappear. Take a hard look for these soft-mast crops:

Wild Grapes

Wild grapes grow just about anywhere. They creep up fences in yards and forest trees alike. As the common name “riverbank grape” implies, they also love to grow along rivers and streams. Whether they are truly wild is debatable, but bears love them.

Blackberries

Folks down south are fortunate in that blackberries (wild black raspberries, as they call them) come into season early. In the Northeast, it’s typical to see a plethora of blackberries hanging on the vine long into fall. Deer, of course, love them and eat them vines and all. Bears are somewhat pickier.

Blueberries

These aren’t the low-growing blueberries from June. In fall, many Northeast high-bush blueberry bushes push out the last berries of the year. Would you want to make jam with them? Probably not, but bears all but inhale them. It’s comical to watch a big, old bear daintily eating a blueberry, yet that’s how they feed on them.

Pears

One of the earliest fruits to ripen in the Northeast, pears are a calling card for deer and bears alike. On my western Massachusetts homestead, I have a pear tree that bears fruit that no human can eat. It’s easily 50 years old, but take a bite of one of its pears and you’d never look at a pear again. The taste doesn’t dissuade bears though. Last October, two buddies and I took a mid-morning break from a fall turkey hunt to watch a sow and her two cubs charge directly to that pear tree. Passing cars on the road would run them off into the woods on occasion, but they would always return within minutes.

Apples/Crabapples

Apples and crabapples comprise a giant portion of a bear’s fall diet. Bears will break branches, claw bark and navigate electric fencing to get to the fruit. On multiple occasions, I’ve turned into my driveway to see bears in the tops of the apple trees on my property.

Chokecherries

These wild black cherries are certainly a staple for both bears and deer. With a soft outside and a pit inside, they are a two-season feeder. Quite often when strolling through the woods in winter, I’ll find a dug-up area where deer and bears have torn through the groundcover to get to the chokecherry pits.

HARD CORE

Soft mast is an all-important source of bear nutrition as winter slowly creeps its way into the Northeast. Hard mast, though, is how bears gain the most tonnage. Here are their best sources and where you need to focus hunting efforts:

Beechnuts

Beechnuts are a key component of the black bear’s diet, particularly in regions where beech trees are abundant. Is it their “superfood?” Perhaps not, but the mast is rich in calories and protein, and black bears will suss them out across many acres.

According to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, “Beech nuts become ripe in the fall just when many animals are building up fat reserves for the lean winter. Beech trees typically produce nuts every other year. Similarly, a female black bear gives birth to cubs every other year. Research has shown that in areas where beech nuts are a major food source, most of the female bears give birth in the winter after a good beech nut crop.”

Acorns

Acorns are a fatty, calorie-dense source that many animals, especially bears, rely on ahead of winter. About 60 varieties of oaks are found in North America. The majority of oaks fall in the Northeast are either white oaks or red oaks, and they have some significant differences. There are several ways to tell them apart, but the main one is that red oaks have pointy leaves, while white oaks have rounded leaves. Both bears and deer seem to prefer white oak acorns.

DRIVE TIME

Hunting preferred food sources isn’t the only way to tag a bruin without dogs or bait. Take Pennsylvania, perhaps the most the bear-crazy state in the country. Approximately 200,000 Keystone State hunters chase some of the biggest bears in North America each fall. The preferred tactic is what’s known as a bear drive. My first Pennsy bear hunt was a drive hunt and, frankly, I was unprepared for what would transpire.

We’d gathered at a trailhead near a new cutover. Most hunters had shotguns. As a stander, I dutifully took my place as first light approached. The shots began to ring out shortly thereafter and I ducked for cover. The shooting didn’t quit for 30 minutes. In the end, there were five dead bears of varying sizes on the ground. All had been kicked out of their hidey-holes, typically under deadfall, by the drivers. Exhilarating doesn’t even begin to explain it.

“Black bears lead a solitary existence and mostly just want to be left alone,” says Pennsylvania-based outdoor writer J.J. Faux “You’ll find them in the thickest, nastiest, dirtiest hellhole of a cover. Understand, though, that once they start running, bears will run in a straight line—regardless of the elevation or the obstacles. A bear’s main defense to being driven is to get out of Dodge ASAP. A driven bear doesn’t care who or what might be in the way.”

BEAR DOWN

• Proper post-kill care of bruins is essential.

No matter the season, it’s of critical importance to immediately take care of any bear you shoot in order to preserve its rich, delectable meat. (If you are not interested in eating bear meat, then why are you out there in the first place?)

First and foremost, keep a close eye on the temperature. Bears can spoil far more quickly than deer if not tended to immediately. As soon as your bear hits the ground, gut it and pack its body cavity with ice bags you’ve kept in a cooler in your truck bed.

Next, call your buddies. You might think that you’re tough and rugged, but I promise you’ll need help getting a bear, especially a mature one, out of the woods.

A well-honed hunting knife is essential for getting through the thick hide and tough joints. If you choose not to process the bear yourself, I wouldn’t blame you in the least. You basically have to skin them twice—once to get the hide off and again to get the fat off. If you know someone with experience processing bears, by all means give them a call.

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• This article was featured in the September 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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