Blood Sweat and Bears, a PA Opener for Blackies

Monteman11

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PA bear season is something far different than anything offered by other states across the US. The season is a short four days, there is no baiting or hounds allowed, yet still the statewide kill reaches near 3000 each year. Terrific bear management and research has built a strong and very stable population and while PA has some of the highest numbers of hunters pursuing black bears each season, each season still yields multiple bear breaking 600 pounds or more. I am privileged to hunt with a small group of guys that take bear hunting very seriously, and have become very successful at taking multiple bears each year with as little as four hunters. For most PA hunters, bear hunts include 20 to 30 hunters setting up drives through the nastiest and thickest portion of the bog woods. While we also do nothing but drives, we keep the group small affording a high opportunity and a more organized group that has all come for the same reason.

A little snow to help brighten the dark woods.



This year was one of those years you mark in the good column. Six hunters saw a total of six bears. One was missed and left for another day and a few 2 year olds were let walk. While shooting any bear in PA is legal, and in many cases a PA trophy given the low odds of less than 3%, these youngsters received a pass as I watched them wonder up the hill and out of sight.

The first bear of the day was an average 140lbs. It may be small by most standards, but with the short season and the way in which bears are hunted in PA, size is irrelevant. The 16 year-old gunner took his first hard-earned PA black bear on a drive literally 50 yards in front of me. It was a great thing to witness and a great memory as I walked up to him as he smiled from ear to ear as we approached the downed bear. I even got to hear my new 300wsm bark as I finished off the bear as it worked back towards me. There was no way I was going to take this youngsters first bear and memory from him, I let him tag the bear as I helped with the dirty work.


Being two miles as the crow flies and two and half using the ridge from the near vehicle, the work quickly began as we moved the bear up the ridge to be carted out near the end of day. Working in shifts, we made short order of getting the bear to the top of the hill and re-grouped for the next drive.





A good sign for the upcoming drives along a dense clear cut. Plenty of scat and evidence that the bears are in the area.




As the day continued so did the miles. We were covering ground quickly and making the most out of our earlier move to set two vehicle on opposing sides on the larger multi-thousand acre track of public ground. Covering the "good" areas with a small group was difficult, but we made the most and used the knowledge of our local group leader to execute drives. As the day continued, our group dwindled. Some gassed from the up and down of the steep hills and ravines, and other to start carting out the bear from earlier in the morning. Down to just four, we continued on side-hilling and steep hills hoping that we would again receive some last minute magic. When we came to our final drive, we had high hopes. The area was thick enough to hold bear and had plenty of food. When shots rang out again, we had again received some last minute magic in the form of a great 220 pound black bear. With daylight fading, we were in fact closer to the trucks, but the route to and from them was nothing but glacial boulders and never ending hillside. If you have never drug a bear, I will fill you in a little. They do not drag like deer, more like an alligator spinning continuously and ultimately rolling down the hill. On the flat it isn't much of an issue, but when you are on a steep grade, things are less than fun. While breaking down the bear and packing it out is an option, in PA, we have these things called bear check stations that the bear must be brought to for blood testing, mange testing, weighing, and having a tooth pulled. It is more like a three-ring circus with spectators and hunters, and bringing a bear in dissected is somewhat frowned upon.





A good sign for the upcoming deer season.





While this season is in the books. In one day from dawn to dusk we put between 12 and 14 miles on the boots, saw deer bears grouse and turkeys, and managed to take two bears. When I returned home no worse for the wear with minor bumps and bruises, my 3 year old son walked up to me an inspected the cuts and gouges covering my hands. He asked me if it was from the bear, thinking we must have done some hand to hand combat. I chuckled and said yes, it was from the bear hunt but not the bear. He looked at me and said "I want to go bear hunting to." I patted him on the head, gave him a big hug, and said soon enough buddy. I can't wait for the day he can join us in the woods.
 
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Outstanding photos and narrative. Thanks for "taking me along" with your friends.
 
Great stuff. Love all the pics.

Interesting to read how you guys hunt these bears. So different than other places where it is baiting, or spot and stalk.

Also interesting to see the "bear drag" being used to get them out of the woods. That looks like a ton of work. What would you do if he was one of those 500# boars?

Have you guys thought about skinning, quartering, and packing them out? Dragging is hard on the hides/hair, and given the time of year you guys are hunting them, they must have some amazing hides.

Congrats to the hunters. What part of PA is this happening in? My wife is from SW PA and her family is often telling me of their hunting adventures.
 
It is very different than most. I have hunted bears a bunch of different ways, and it is by far the most difficult as it requires loads of walking in some of the densest patches of clear cut, briars, and or mountain laurel. Not to say spot and stalk isn't difficult, just different.

Yeah, the drag was only until we could get it to a place we could bring in a deer cart. It is a ton of work and something much different than dragging a deer. We always joke about what we will do with a 500lb bear, or bigger. Luckily, or unluckily, we haven't had that issue. Over the over 30 bears killed by the group, none are bigger than 250. The big bears come from around areas with more corn and garbage foods to eat. There are some big mountain bears, we just haven't crossed them yet. They killed more than one this year over 700 pounds.

We have thought about quartering, but due to the bear "check stations" they aren't real thrilled when you pull up with bear parts as they like to weight them, take blood, and etc. It is legal to do so, and probably the route we would go. The hides are amazing, and we never drag far even if we have to move them with a cart up and over logs. We also use a sled sometimes and it works fairly well. I have seen some bears that were "dragged" for a while and they are essentially ruined. A real shame.

North central PA is where we hunt, but anymore, there are bears in about every county. Just tons of bears, but sporatic except for some centralized areas in the northern most part of the state. I live in SW Pa as well and have seen 4 different bears in the past year in an area 5 years ago it would have been a real surprise to see one.
 
As mentioned, a sled works pretty good for dragging out bears. We used my Otter outdoors sled last year in jersey to get one out for my friends wife. It weighed 651 dressed scored 22 1/16. I wanted it out whole
 
Great story, I just returned last week from SE PA hunting the end of deer archery. All my friends headed out to their bear camps. It's a different world back east.

Wonder why I can't see the pics??

--Bill
 
Don't know why you can't see PICS? Maybe you don't have html enabled in your browser?

Funny, I say the same thing when I go west. The people are so much more friendly and relaxed west of the Mississippi.
 
Nice writeup, Monteman. From your pics, I'd say you hunt in places similar to those we hunted for a decade or so. Lost our camp in Tioga SF a couple of years ago, so I haven't been up for a few, but sure had good times, and your pics bring back the memories.

You're spot on; a dead bear drags like he's got 40 grit sandpaper under him. My biggest up there was 464#, and I put him down near the bottom of the Pine Creek Gorge. Fortunately, a ranger opened a gate for us and escorted us down the rail trail in the bottom to within a few hundred yards of the bear. Six of us wore ourselves out getting him up the fill bank to the rail grade; busted ropes and a come-along in the process, but we eventually prevailed. Good times!

That was back in the day before I started taking decent field pics.
99bear.jpg


Gratz on the success! Loved the photos.
 
Congratulations on the bear hunt and thanks for sharing those amazing photos, I wish my photos would turn out half that good. What kind of camera setup are you using?
 
It took me a while to learn the camera deal, but I currently shoot a D300 with a wide array of 2.8 lenses. That being said, all of these photos were taken with one of the best and least expensive lenses on the market. It is a f1.8 fixed 50mm. While a wide 18mm is nice, you can accomplish alot with a lightweight 50mm, just back up a bit. I didn't want to carry a heavy 2.8 around, so I went with the 50mm to compact and lighten a heavy DSLR, and the results were good.

It is all in the lenses more than the camera body. Having decent glass, light, and learning exposure compensation anyone can take good photos. Compact point-and-shoots can work the same way, especially one of the better ones like the Canon s90 that allow full manual mode. The problem with most point and shoots is they have a high starting aperture and weak glass, and therefor struggle in low light with sharpness and clarity. Think of cheap binoculars vs. high-end ones, glass coatings and polishing are the only real difference besides price tag. The same goes for cameras.On perfect days, I can make a disposable camera look like a pro-grade DSLR but on average days, which are most prevalent, good glass makes all the difference.
 
As mentioned, a sled works pretty good for dragging out bears. We used my Otter outdoors sled last year in jersey to get one out for my friends wife. It weighed 651 dressed scored 22 1/16. I wanted it out whole

I was wondering if there was some whoppers killed in NJ this year. I've casually kept track of that situation, and figured there must have been some giants ripe for the picking.


Great write up and awesome pictures Monteman. I don't think I'd want to participate, but I've always been amazed by reading about your guys' season. It really does sounds unique. Some really pretty bears to boot.

So, so much different than hunting them out here. Our season is 4-6 months depending on where you're at, and you almost never see another hunter.
 
Toughest thing is getting a group that will stay together from one season to the next.I use to put on some drives but guys would give up or not want to go the next year,ect..It is by far the toughest hunt of the year if doing drives.After some swamps,it'll look like you just got done an MMA fight
Congrats on your success.For me, its better luck next year
 
You are correct mixedbag, but luckily, we have a good group that returns almost every year. It makes things a lot easier when everyone is on the same page.
 
Congrats monteman. A great write up and pics I to have taken a lot of bears out of the WV woods in in so many different ways. Some easy some hard. This years luckily was easy.
 
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