The Best Strategies For Hunting Southern Black Bear

Bagging a black bear on a still hunt is one of the South’s toughest hunting challenges, but I was up for it. Although dogs were legal, I didn’t want to hunt with them. The idea was to match my woodsmanship against a bear’s senses. One major hurdle I would likely face was that bears become nocturnal once they detect human presence, and deer season had already opened. Although they don’t have great vision and their hearing is only so-so, bears are endowed with noses capable of sniffing out a faint scent from miles away. And if they get a whiff of humans in a place where there shouldn’t be any, bears might only venture out in the open at night.

With hunting prohibited in bear sanctuaries, I wasn’t surprised to learn that 90 percent of bears taken in North Carolina are shot within 10 miles of such locales. On the tip of North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) biologist Dale Davis, I headed to a game land adjoining a national wildlife refuge on opening day.

BEAR NIRVANA

Bears were feeding on grain crops on local farms and a NCWRC impoundment. A gated trail allowed only foot travel, so after grabbing my gear, I headed for swamps beyond the millet and corn fields. Trees along the way bore the clear marks of claws and teeth, and bear scat with grain in it was everywhere. Equipment roads narrowed into trails that quickly became tunnels through dense thickets. Stooping and then crawling on hands and knees, I eventually found the place Jones had described. Towering bald cypresses with their bark stripped showed where bears had climbed, and black gum trees with their tops broken off divulged where they’d slept and fed. Bears had built nests that rivaled Tarzan’s treehouse by stacking black gum limbs that had been stripped of their berries.

I picked a spot and just sat and watched nothing much happen for hours. Disappointed but not discouraged, I decided to call it a day and return the next morning to try again. As I stepped out of the denseness to where I could finally stand upright, I thought I saw a black Labrador, only it wasn’t merely a big dog.

My Remington 700 .30-06 soon touched my cheek, and an instant later the muzzle flash in the scope forever burned the crosshairs aligning on the bear’s shoulder into my memory. I found blood before calling my wife to tell her I was tracking a wounded bear and where. Next, I reached for my Smith & Wesson Model 57 and, holding the revolver in one hand and a flashlight in the other, I knee-walked into the thicket to find my first black bear.

EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES

“The only good bear is a dead bear” was once a common saying among farmers and other residents of rural areas, which is probably why only a few North Carolina counties had bear seasons when I downed my first. But hunters and biologists have been working together to restore the South’s premiere big-game animal, and bear populations are growing. Now, all 100 Tarheel State counties are open to bear hunting, and finding public lands for this pursuit is as easy as checking the state’s wildlife agency regulations.

Once you select a general area to target, the homework really begins. The best information sources are biologists, foresters and law enforcement officers, all of whom can direct hunters to public lands with an abundance of bruins or to landowners with a bear problem on their property.

After deciding on a tract, you must scout for bear trails, tracks, scat and marked trees. The latter is a particularly good sign because multiple bears usually give the same trees the rough treatment for years. In mountain areas, there’s no better find than a bear den. But whatever the tell-tale sign, the next step is to patiently sit over it and wait for the protagonist to make its entrance.

Since bears don’t truly hibernate in the South, hunting seasons are mostly timed to protect the sows (females), which experience a metabolic slowdown during winter because they will be bearing cubs. The metabolism of boars (males) slows little, if at all, so they remain more active and are targeted more often.

OTHER TACTICS

Of course, there are other ways to hunt bears. There’s the spot-and-stalk method, most effective when hunting on farms or from a position overlooking crop fields and wooded areas loaded with hard and soft mast. In autumn, a bear can double its weight through hyperphagia, gorging mainly on foods high in sugar or carbs, such as farm produce, acorns and persimmons.

Baiting, now allowed in a number of areas, increases one’s odds considerably. The trick is to place enough bait in dense cover to last several weeks. Visiting the bait site before opening day is counterproductive because, as mentioned earlier, the slightest human scent can turn bears nocturnal.

While opening day of bear season is usually the most fruitful, subsequent hunts can still be successful when the weather cooperates. In general, cold weather makes bears move and hot weather causes them to hunker down. They leave their bedding cover earlier in the morning or afternoon when it’s raining, and they stay out in the open longer on foggy mornings. But my game cameras have revealed that even the biggest bears are furtive. Many will come out at night and trouble-test the air with their nose before snatching an ear of corn and running back into cover to eat it. Some may roam during daylight hours just a time or two in an entire season, limiting hunting opportunities. This requires that we remain focused and turn down any tempting shots at deer, hogs or coyotes.

LET THE DOGS OUT

Hunting bears with hounds provides the highest odds for success. Those who prefer such hunts see them as social events and typically travel to different states and bear zones to take advantage of varying seasons. The players often know one another and even lease land together. They’re also acquainted with farmers and deer hunters who have bear conflicts and will invite them to pursue what they see as a nuisance. And many houndsmen are well known to wildlife officers and biologists because they frequently assist in sampling by providing bear weights, teeth for aging and reproductive tracts for recruitment data.

Parties hunting bears with dogs are obvious; you’ll see pickup trucks with dog noses sticking out of boxes in the back. While all the participants will have bear tags, there’s usually a designated shooter, with the privilege sometimes awarded to the first hunter to arrive. Nevertheless, a request to tag along is seldom turned down.

To get the hunt started, a “strike” dog is thrust into action. If it strikes a hot scent, a pack of “trail” dogs join the effort. And since it takes a lot of hounds to “bay” or “tree” a bear (corner it or send it up a tree), “treeing” and “fighting” dogs are also released. All canines are tied or held back before a shot is taken so they won’t lunge at the bear.

The biggest bears are usually bayed on the ground because they rarely can climb trees. But don’t expect to set a new record while hunting with hounds since bears are shot in the head to drop them instantly. For records, bears are judged by skull measurements and any damaged skull is disqualified.

While the best firearm is a scoped rifle, some hunters prefer open sights or illuminated dot sights. Many others rely on a shotgun loaded with a slug. A big-bore revolver, like a .41 or .44 magnum, hauled in a shoulder holster leaves a hand free for holding a dog leash and pushing saplings out of the way.

RETRIEVING YOUR KILL

A bear hunt is far from over after the shot; there’s still the matter of retrieval. While you really have nothing to grab a hold of on a bear, you can make a handle for two by inserting a 2-foot section of an inch-thick hardwood sapling between its teeth and tying its mouth shut around it. It also makes a good cleat for tying cable or rope so multiple people can lend a hand.

Since even a smallish bear is tough to drag, an electric or portable fuel-powered winch can come in handy. Where legal, an ATV or a farm tractor with a front-end loader or forklift may be pressed into duty to drag the bear to an agriculture supply scale for weighing.

When I still- or stand-hunt, I pack a receiver-hitch-mounted game hoist in my truck. With extra cable or rope, it can winch a bear a long distance. I also enlist other hunters to help, in case the bear is too far or too big for my gear.

TRACKIN’ DOWN BRUINS

• Best options for black bear hunting in Southern states.

Hunters judge a bear’s trophy quality by its weight, with 500 pounds being the ultimate goal. Natural habitats rarely yield such bruisers, but bait and nearby agriculture can boost black bear weights beyond a quarter-ton. Take that into account when weighing your options. Here are some top public-land spots across the region to get you started.

Georgia’s bear hunting occurs in September and October. Chattahoochee, Chestatee, Oaky Woods and Dixon WMAs allow it. Permit hunts are available. You can hunt with dogs in some areas, but hunting over bait is prohibited. Visit georgiawildlife.com for complete details.

Hunters in North Carolina can target bears from October through January, but there are 10 different zones with varying seasons. The best public tracts are Pisgah, Nantahala and Croatan national forest game lands. Permit hunts are available, and hunting with dogs is allowed. Hunting over bait is permitted on private property, but dates vary with the area and conditions. Get more info at ncwildlife.org.

In South Carolina, bear hunting takes place from September through January, but seasons vary by zone and weapon type. The best WMAs are in Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and Williamsburg counties. Permit hunts are available, and baiting is allowed only on private land in Game Zone 4. Go to dnr.sc.gov for full details.

You can hunt bears in Tennessee from September through November (dates vary by zone and weapon). The top place is Cherokee National Forest. Baiting is not allowed, but hunting with dogs is. For more information, visit tn.gov.

Arkansas allows bear hunting from September through December in zones 1 through 5 only (dates vary by zone), but most of the hunter success (70 percent) occurs during the opening of archery season. The best areas are Ouachita National Forest and WMAs in the northwest part of the state. Bait is allowed on private land. For additional info, go to agfc.com.

In Louisiana, resident hunters picked by lottery will be allowed to target bears (strictly still-hunting) from Dec. 7 through 22 in Bear Management Area 4 only. This will be the first season since the state’s black bears were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1992. Baiting will be allowed, but hunting with dogs will not. Find more info at wlf.louisiana.gov.

Oklahoma offers bear hunting in October and November in all 12 of the state’s southeastern counties (dates vary by weapon). Hunting with dogs is not allowed, and baiting is prohibited in WMAs. Check wildlifedepartment.com for more details.

---

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

---