HOW CLOSE WOULD YOU GROUND HUNT A BLACK BEAR

[EastWaViking]

about 300 yards... if I was in a tank.   Bears freak me out.

[rasbo]

about 300 yards... if I was in a tank.   Bears freak me out.

:chuckle:you just have better sense than some of us

[bearpaw]

Most important thing is watch your clothing don't have foreign odors and use lots of unscented coverscent. goodluck......

[DOUBLELUNG]

I have ground hunted them in Alaska, thought it was the perfect setup until one smaller one that was curious came up from behind that I did not hear or see and he then decided he wanted to see what was in the ground blind, there was a lot of yelling and bawling going on. So be careful they are by nature curious.

Joe

Hey Joe, did the bear make any noise too?   

[bearpaw]

 

[Huntbear]

Man, I would lovve to get that close and personal with a bear when hunting.  I have loads worked up for my Redhawk that would be powerful bear medicine.  Just the adrenaline rush would be awesome, let alone getting a bear too.

[klickman]

It comes down to the individual.  Black bears I don't think are that big of a deal.  They'll high tail it more often than not.  But they are curious animals.  put your stand in the best location you will be fine.  If it were brown bears on the other hand get me 30ft up a tree.  I hate brown bears

Klickman

[Timmybob]

Damn, you guys are hardcore...Bucklucky, You really stuffed a barrel into a bear and bang???

[Hornseeker]

You still run dogs BuckLucky?

I've put the barrel against several bears heads.. pistols and my old 30-30 both... purty fun. I've shot one bear that was about 300 yards, the rest were ultra close hound deals....

[bucklucky]

Damn, you guys are hardcore...Bucklucky, You really stuffed a barrel into a bear and bang???

No joke, it was bayed up and throwing dogs left and right. Goto do what you goto do.

You still run dogs BuckLucky?

I've put the barrel against several bears heads.. pistols and my old 30-30 both... purty fun. I've shot one bear that was about 300 yards, the rest were ultra close hound deals....

Not so much anymore. Still got a few coon dogs though. Its all I really had in the first place. Cant say I ever truely owned a "Bear dog" like some do. I get out every now and again during season for local walk hunts.

[KillBilly]

I killed seven bears in North Carolina with my .44 Mag. They were all pushed by dogs running deer. The closest one was about 10 feet, he came out of the brush running right at me. If I hadn't fired, he might have run right over me.. it scared him to death.    Most of them averaged about 15-20 yds.

[Hornseeker]

Shoot, we had one bear... this is crazy chit... that had fought the dogs for a few hours. I finally got in there. I could see dogs spread out all over the dang place..prolly 8 dogs in there... then I spotted the bear... he was a 90#er and these dogs wouldnt get NEAR him.. Now.. I've seen these exact same dogs bite 250# bears and kill 100# bears on the ground before I got there.... this bear must have been a serious bad ass...

he was just walking slowly and the dogs were anywhere from about 20-50 feet in a big circle around him. Anyhow, I walked up behind him and drew the hammer back on my 30-30 and when I did he wheeled around to see what it was...I was Right there with him....at that time I slipped cause he startled me. As I was falling the barrel touched the side of his head and I pulled the trig.. he came to rest with his head on my boot...

Thats "one" of the fun stories I've got from a lifetime of chasing bears with dogs.... memories that are burned in and will never be forgotten!!!

[Pathfinder101]

I think you were asking about "how close is too close regarding scent", right?
I set up a ground blind on a trail that a bear was using every day last September for my son and I.  We sat there four days and never saw the bear.  We sat mornings, we sat evenings, we sat midday.  He kept running through the area whenever we weren't there.  We were set about 30 yards from the trail.
One of the guys from my elk camp came and took a look at where we were set, and told us that we were too close.  He said the bear could smell us and would just wait til we left to come thru.  Either he was right, or we just really had some rotten luck.  I couldn't move the blind back any further and still see the trail, so this year I am probably either going to find a better vantage point from which to watch the same trail (don't know that there is one), or hang a tree stand.  Either way, I will manage our scent more carefully than I did last year.

So, from this experience, I assume that 30 yards is "too close"...

[saylean]

Scent depends on the wind I would say...

I was within about 10 yards of a bear two years ago...heard brush moving, looked over (I thought he was farther off)...all the sudden a bear stands up 10 yards away or so, looking right to left and I freeze.

The wind was right and he just plopped down and kept on going in the brush.

[cohoho]

First without a baited site, you might be sitting for a very-very long, unless it is over a particular berry bush or salmon stream that is getting hammered on a reular basis.  For bears over bait, normally kept the stand 20-25 yards from bait, to keep them from being nervous.  Had ground stand for the first year ONLY, then had a close encounter with Brownie that was too close for comfort so went to ladder stands without question.  But putting a stand in hopes of a passng bear, I guess I am confused?  Spot and Stalk seems maybe a better option in this state without bait....