Fox's Den Lodge Bear Hunting Tips
A black bear’s range can span from couple to 10 miles and this area
will often often hold a variety of boars, sows and cubs, so it's very common to
have more than one bear visiting your bait. Black bears undergo an annual rut
cycle beginning in late May and continuing through June. The larger, smarter,
and otherwise reclusive males become more visible as they readily cross
roadways, clear cuts and feed in open areas as they search for sows. Black bears
have relatively poor eyesight, but outstanding smell and auditory senses. Once
they get in the habit of coming in to your bait, as long we replenished it
regularly, they will be reluctant to leave the area. In fact, once a bait is
established, you may see the same bruin year after year
Black Bears are very sensitive to perfume,
cologne, deodorant, hair spray, scented soaps, scented laundry detergent,
cigarette and cigar smoke etc. etc… With this in mind, before the hunt; try to
prepare by trying some of the following.
Before coming up to the Fox's Den for your hunt, wash all your hunting clothes twice. First
with unscented laundry detergent and then a second time with just water to make sure all
the soap perfumes are out of your clothes.
If you smoke, bring some nicotine patches so you don't get the craving
while you are in the tree stand. The big trophy bears are older and smarter and
know what tobacco smells like and they know it comes from humans. Not smoking
will give you a better chance at a trophy bear. All animals have an instinctive
fear of smoke and fire.
Stay very quiet. Bring some mint flavored throat lozenges with you in case
your throat gets scratchy. This will help keep you from coughing.
Use unscented deodorant, soap and shampoo.
Stay still. A bear's visual acuity is largely based on movement.
After breakfast or after lunch, either brush your teeth with mint
toothpaste or chew mint gum while you are in the tree stand. When people go
camping in Ontario's parks, the first thing the ranger says is keep gum and
toothpaste out of your tent. Black Bears go nuts over the scent of mint. So mint
toothpaste and gum will not only cover up any scent on your breath, it may even
attract bears.
If you are going to drink alcohol the night before the hunt, which is a
big part of any vacation, it's best to drink beer. The next day, the beer smell
in your body slowly dissipates and makes you smell like bread. Other forms of
alcohol tend to give you more of an artificial chemical smell. You may not
notice it, but the next morning, people who have not been drinking can smell it
on you. A bear's sense of small is about 250 times better then a human.
Size:
In most cases, ears that appear big and close together generally mean a smaller bear. A smaller
looking pair of ears, spread farther apart is
usually a sign of a bigger bear. Once a bear reaches three years old (approx. 120 lbs.),
the bear starts to grow into it's ears. The ears and eyes don't grow as much as
they do in the first three years. Sometimes if a bear has a hard year with food,
the ears will look bigger because the bear is thinner. A simple method to judge
the size of a bear is to use the rings on the 45 gal drum at you bait pile. This
is important as you don't want to be disappointed by shooting to small of a
bear.
Cubs:
When a sow is with cubs, 90% of the time the cubs are in the lead. The cubs
will make more noise than a single bear. Most of the time, adult bears make
little or no noise.
Sows:
You can't shoot a sow with cubs. This is the law. So make 100% sure you
know what you are shooting at. Take a really good look around to make sure there
are no cubs. A sow's ears are usually closer together, as a male bear's cranium
grows wider on top and the ears look farther apart. They also look smaller,
which is really an illusion. These are just basic tips. It's
hunters who are the real leaders in conservation so do your part by eliminating
any possibility of harvesting a sow with cubs or a young bear.
FISHING AND HUNTING • NORTHERN ONTARIO CANADA
