Anyone bear hunted NC?

[geetar]

I’ve lived here all my life (29 years) and never chased bears. Trying to change that this year.

 

[GreenMachine]

I live in eastern/coastal NC. I have some friends that have done well with guides. I have seen a few and last year considered investing some time into it. The one area that I was interested in was so thick that it was unhuntable. One day I’ll put more time into it. The guided thing isn’t really my thing. There are some huge bears out here. Good luck!

 

[geetar]

I live in eastern/coastal NC. I have some friends that have done well with guides. I have seen a few and last year considered investing some time into it. The one area that I was interested in was so thick that it was unhuntable. One day I’ll put more time into it. The guided thing isn’t really my thing. There are some huge bears out here. Good luck!

Yea I’m looking to diy hunt them. It’s more likely I’ll go towards the mountains than the coast because that coastal swamp is so unhuntably thick.

 

[FLS]

I’m just across the line in SC. I’ve hunted as a guest with hounds on the NC coast.The group I hunted with kills several bears a year. I drew a coastal bear tag and killed a 250 lb boar here in SC a couple of years ago on a local WMA. I had been seeing a good bit of bear sign while deer hunting and had them patterned pretty well.

 

[Scott85]

I’m up in VA and without hounds it’s really hard. I recommend find some hickory groves that are producing nuts and hunt them hard. On bad acorn years the number of bear killed with a bow or muzzleloader go up and with a lot of acorns the kill numbers go down. It all depends on how far they need to go for food. I run 12 game cameras on 100 acres and besides just being plain assholes tearing up everything they are completely random and it doesn’t seem like they have any predictability in their movements.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I’m up in VA and without hounds it’s really hard. I recommend find some hickory groves that are producing nuts and hunt them hard. On bad acorn years the number of bear killed with a bow or muzzleloader go up and with a lot of acorns the kill numbers go down. It all depends on how far they need to go for food. I run 12 game cameras on 100 acres and besides just being plain assholes tearing up everything they are completely random and it doesn’t seem like they have any predictability in their movements.

What do you think about just doing long ass still hunts and just trying bump into them? Seems like the densities are back east are great?

I mean if the bear densities are high enough that in the eastern adaks, bears have figured out how to get into various types of bear canisters you would think that you could effectively still hunt bears making loops 1-2 miles outside of various camp grounds

 

[Scott85]

What do you think about just doing long ass still hunts and just trying bump into them? Seems like the densities are back east are great?

My cabin is in one of the counties with the highest density of bears in Va. If you sit in a stand long enough you will have a shot at a bear. Things I’ve noticed if a bear is just passing through he will never stop long enough to provide you with a shot. Another thing is the most bears I see are during the first week of rifle season and I’m hunting with a rifle and bear season isn’t in with a rifle.

I think the best bear hunting without a dog is during the early season over hickory nuts or hunting over an oak tree or trees that are dropping acorns when it’s a bad year for acorn and very few trees are producing acorns.

I will give out a standing invitation to any regular member of this forum to hunt black bear in December at my cabin.

 

[geetar]

My cabin is in one of the counties with the highest density of bears in Va. If you sit in a stand long enough you will have a shot at a bear. Things I’ve noticed if a bear is just passing through he will never stop long enough to provide you with a shot. Another thing is the most bears I see are during the first week of rifle season and I’m hunting with a rifle and bear season isn’t in with a rifle.

I think the best bear hunting without a dog is during the early season over hickory nuts or hunting over an oak tree or trees that are dropping acorns when it’s a bad year for acorn and very few trees are producing acorns.

I will give out a standing invitation to any regular member of this forum to hunt black bear in December at my cabin.

What part of VA are you in? My dad has a 5 acre vacation spot just out of Hillsville and they see a lot of bears around there. He got some on his camera there.

 

[Scott85]

What part of VA are you in? My dad has a 5 acre vacation spot just out of Hillsville and they see a lot of bears around there. He got some on his camera there.

Allegheny Highlands.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I haven’t hunted them there, but here are some observations walking through the high elevation VA, NC, and TN along the Appalachian Trail during fall bear hunting season.
1. Many hound hunters have poor ethics, such as half-starving their dogs, leaving dogs out for many days or 1+ week at a time completely unattended, and otherwise not keeping track of their hounds. Basically, spreading their pack over a very large area over a long time, hoping to turn something up. It’s a very hard scene to witness due to the mistreatment of the dogs.
-Hound hunters tend to pound some areas really hard and barely touch other areas, some of which have plenty of huntable bears. Not sure if the reason for this (less hunting later in the season, distance from roads, ?) I never tried to figure it out.
-Use the AT hikers to your advantage. Ask them on the trail, in trail towns, and shelters where they have seen bears, heard of bears being seen, seen prints/scat. Sometimes the locations of bears given are very specific/accurate. I’d suggest wearing plain clothes to avoid getting misinformation from the tree hugger types. Also the shelter logs may contain info about campsite problem bears. I did not heed the warning of one of these and had to fight off a boar with rocks.
-Re: walking between campsites hoping to encounter a bear. Some trails specifically are routed away from prime bear food sources to avoid bear-human encounters. If it were me, I’d focus more on food sources.

 

[FLS]

I’ve never met a real houndsman that abused their dogs, just the opposite. The dogs go where they want and sometimes it’s a while before they get recovered, and sometimes they will be in rough shape. Folks see a hound with his ribs showing and not knowing anything about the sport assume some evil hunter is starving his dogs. Usually that’s not the case AT ALL.
If you want to try and still hunt a bear near the coast try and find a swamp chestnut oak that’s dropping. When they do every game animal in the area will focus on them. When I find one dropping or not, I make a note. The bear I killed had the hulls in his poop, I knew where the trees were, and killed the bear when he came in to feed on them. The only natural feed source I’ve seen that is more reliable is a persimmon, but they’re all gone by the time the bear season opens here.

 

[rwc101]

I have returned more than a few emaciated dogs to hunters who seemed more excited to get the collars back than the dog. But that's another thread.

I've seen most of my bears in NC and VA while fly fishing. Coincidence? Probably, but maybe there's something to the stream covering your noise while still hunting.

 

[338 win mag]

Me and a buddy hunted some coastal gamelands a few years back. Thick is an understatement. Only open were long, straight, sand roads. Lots of pressure from dog hunters. I believe there are a couple gamelands in the Hyde county area that dont allow dogs....I could be wrong. Probably better luck on gamelands in the mountains, I think harvest statistics will back that up

 

[Pucky Freak]

I’ve never met a real houndsman that abused their dogs, just the opposite. The dogs go where they want and sometimes it’s a while before they get recovered, and sometimes they will be in rough shape. Folks see a hound with his ribs showing and not knowing anything about the sport assume some evil hunter is starving his dogs. Not the case AT ALL.

I’ve seen several NC dogs given up on seeking, or following bear scent and instead make the rounds between human strangers begging for food. Dogs with the bones to support 70 lbs of weight weighing 40 lbs and the entire pelvis visible. Dogs burrow themselves into holes or leaf piles too weak to walk, and waiting for death to come. I know several hound hunters in IA who treat their animals much differently. OP inquired about NC bear hunting, so I shared my observations, and glad others could share their observations as well.

 

[Scott85]

There is a lot of wannabe houndsman here in Va. They keep their dogs starved before the season and let them run all season. After the season the shelters are full of dog that don’t hunt because people don’t know how to train their dogs.

 

[geetar]

Me and a buddy hunted some coastal gamelands a few years back. Thick is an understatement. Only open were long, straight, sand roads. Lots of pressure from dog hunters. I believe there are a couple gamelands in the Hyde county area that dont allow dogs....I could be wrong. Probably better luck on gamelands in the mountains, I think harvest statistics will back that up

Thanks for the info Clint. I’m looking more towards the mountains. Your dad took a bear or two up that way didn’t he?

 

[Artemis.Agrotera]

It isn't NC, but I'm planning to make an attempt at bear hunting in VA on Rapidan WMA or somewhere in the Lee District this season. Turn it into a camping trip if the whole thing is a bust. I'll be still hunting, as I don't own any climbers, but I'm hoping for beginner's luck and poring over maps. Maybe some of those Shenandoah bears will make an appearance.

Incidentally, my mom is having issues with a juvie bear getting a little too interested in her chickens near Uwharrie NF. She's yet to actually see the bear on her trail cams, but there's prints and poop to identify it. Maybe you could consider that area for your hunt?

 

[338 win mag]

Thanks for the info Clint. I’m looking more towards the mountains. Your dad took a bear or two up that way didn’t he?

Yes back in the 70's. Had one mounted standing on his hind legs. Me and my brother used to pull the hair out of the legs when we were babies . I'll post a couple pics if I can find them. They are classic

 

[338 win mag]

 

[338 win mag]

The first bear is a tank! Wish I knew more of the back story. Sometime around 1976-78 I believe. Both from the NC mountains