Black Bear
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racfish
- Rear Admiral Two Stars
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Black Bear
Does anyone here hunt for bear. Im wondering if you can bow hunt for bear? Or does anyone here bowhunt at all. I want to learn to shoot a bow. Im wondering if there are classes to take or seminars on Bow hunting. My bro is on Probation and cant use a gun. So were thinking of bow hunting for bear. Please give me some pros and cons on bow hunting Black bear. Another friend of mine shot a Blackie with high power . He gave me jerky and pepperoni that was beyond outstanding. Thanks all.
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Steelheadin360
- Commodore
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- Location: Snohomish, WA
Re: Black Bear
Black bear bow hunter right here.
first thing, heavy arrows- your gonna want that baby to sink in there
second- kill some other things besides a bear first, getting the shakes with a bear 35 yards in front of you sucks.
Go to your local archery shops and shoot a couple bows, tell them you are just starting out. The can masuare you up for draw length and figure out what wieght you wanna pull at. entry level bows are usaully cheaper and alot easier to shoot then the $800+ ones on the market. I shoot the Fred Bear MAULER and i love it. light and easy to shoot. and they are in the 500 dollar range.
Once you get a bow the biggest piece of advice i have is shoot, shoot all the time, get your upper body use to pulling the bow. watch videos on proper form and have someone watch you shoot. and dont just shoot from flat ground. go out in the woods and throw your target out in the trees, try pulling the bow laying down on your back and going to a crouched position (i have had to do this alot more then one would think) pratice shooting from your knees, from behind a tree, uphill, downhill. Pratice will make you a good bow hunter. I feel comfortable taking a shot out to 70 yards under the right conditions. that took me about 8 years of hunting to get that comfortable. ONce you get it down though i think its way more rewarding taking an animal with archery then with a firearm
first thing, heavy arrows- your gonna want that baby to sink in there
second- kill some other things besides a bear first, getting the shakes with a bear 35 yards in front of you sucks.
Go to your local archery shops and shoot a couple bows, tell them you are just starting out. The can masuare you up for draw length and figure out what wieght you wanna pull at. entry level bows are usaully cheaper and alot easier to shoot then the $800+ ones on the market. I shoot the Fred Bear MAULER and i love it. light and easy to shoot. and they are in the 500 dollar range.
Once you get a bow the biggest piece of advice i have is shoot, shoot all the time, get your upper body use to pulling the bow. watch videos on proper form and have someone watch you shoot. and dont just shoot from flat ground. go out in the woods and throw your target out in the trees, try pulling the bow laying down on your back and going to a crouched position (i have had to do this alot more then one would think) pratice shooting from your knees, from behind a tree, uphill, downhill. Pratice will make you a good bow hunter. I feel comfortable taking a shot out to 70 yards under the right conditions. that took me about 8 years of hunting to get that comfortable. ONce you get it down though i think its way more rewarding taking an animal with archery then with a firearm
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needs2hunt
- Warrant Officer
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Re: Black Bear
Archery hunter here also!!!
gonna go with steelheadin360 on everything he said... don't limit your self to one pro shop either(do not buy a bow the first time you go to a shop)... go shoot as many different bows until you find you that shoots well for you...don't compromise...Hoyts are a good bow... PSE is another... Martin.... I personally shoot a Mathews... once you get a bow... shoot every day... even if it's only 10 shots... practice practice practice... i shoot in my back yard at 10 to 20 yards...
are you going to shoot with fingers??? or with a release??? recurve or modern compound??? sights or instinctive???
there is a ton of info to learn... not just with shooting ... but also with arrows... size,weight, what kind of fletching, TUNING broadheads... don't buy the fastest bow out there... it gets real hard to tune your broadhead setup after you hit the 290 feet per second...
and try not to get shaky when your in a stand 20 yards away from a feeding Grizzly!!!! now that was scary... good thing i was hunting blackbear at the time...
gonna go with steelheadin360 on everything he said... don't limit your self to one pro shop either(do not buy a bow the first time you go to a shop)... go shoot as many different bows until you find you that shoots well for you...don't compromise...Hoyts are a good bow... PSE is another... Martin.... I personally shoot a Mathews... once you get a bow... shoot every day... even if it's only 10 shots... practice practice practice... i shoot in my back yard at 10 to 20 yards...
are you going to shoot with fingers??? or with a release??? recurve or modern compound??? sights or instinctive???
there is a ton of info to learn... not just with shooting ... but also with arrows... size,weight, what kind of fletching, TUNING broadheads... don't buy the fastest bow out there... it gets real hard to tune your broadhead setup after you hit the 290 feet per second...
and try not to get shaky when your in a stand 20 yards away from a feeding Grizzly!!!! now that was scary... good thing i was hunting blackbear at the time...
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racfish
- Rear Admiral Two Stars
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- Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:11 pm
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Re: Black Bear
Do you also pack a pistol or does an arrow take him down and kill him? The rest I'll start me reading on. Thanks guys. Im gonna go start checking bows out and get a feel for it. One last question would be,Does a crossbow work?
Re: Black Bear
Archery hunter here as well.
You should really understand where the vital organs are located on the animal you are hunting. Needs2Hunt is on target there is lots to learn. A bear holds their vital organs higher in the body then say a deer or elk. If you get a good shot you need to wait very quietly and possibly backing out for 30 min or an hour. If there is a thick brushy area and you did NOT get a good shot on the bear it is going there to die. You will need to take your pack off, leave your bow behind and pull out your pistol to track it in the thick stuff. You owe it to the bear to put it down quickly. You also owe it to your kids to come home alive. I am very careful just like Needs2Hunt is on taking a good kill shot as I never want to go into the thick stuff with a pistol. It is high adrenaline effort and it not pleasent at all.
If you could go with an experienced hunter that would be the best. There is a guided hunt which you could go on as well who would be a good first option.
You should really understand where the vital organs are located on the animal you are hunting. Needs2Hunt is on target there is lots to learn. A bear holds their vital organs higher in the body then say a deer or elk. If you get a good shot you need to wait very quietly and possibly backing out for 30 min or an hour. If there is a thick brushy area and you did NOT get a good shot on the bear it is going there to die. You will need to take your pack off, leave your bow behind and pull out your pistol to track it in the thick stuff. You owe it to the bear to put it down quickly. You also owe it to your kids to come home alive. I am very careful just like Needs2Hunt is on taking a good kill shot as I never want to go into the thick stuff with a pistol. It is high adrenaline effort and it not pleasent at all.
If you could go with an experienced hunter that would be the best. There is a guided hunt which you could go on as well who would be a good first option.
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Steelheadin360
- Commodore
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Re: Black Bear
go pick up a set of regs and read them.
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racfish
- Rear Admiral Two Stars
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- Location: Seward Park area
Re: Black Bear
Thanks Gents.
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needs2hunt
- Warrant Officer
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Re: Black Bear
no crossbow in this state (unless handicapped)... you can make a humane kill with a bow!!! just need to know where the vitals are... bear hunting can be tricky... if you get a good shot... be very careful tracking...wait .5 to 1 hour before tracking...the best thing would be if the bear drop while still in sight...
yes they changed the law a couple of years ago to where you can carry a firearm with you when archery hunting... if you are thinking about that... look at something no SMALLER then a 44 mag...
never shot a bear in this state... they start the season way to late... spring bear is oh so good... very little fat...
my first year of hunting i limited my shots to 30 yards or less...
2nd to 4 years limited myself to 40 yards...
now i'm comfy shooting out to 70 + yards... but i have a 7 pin site so that helps...
yes they changed the law a couple of years ago to where you can carry a firearm with you when archery hunting... if you are thinking about that... look at something no SMALLER then a 44 mag...
never shot a bear in this state... they start the season way to late... spring bear is oh so good... very little fat...
my first year of hunting i limited my shots to 30 yards or less...
2nd to 4 years limited myself to 40 yards...
now i'm comfy shooting out to 70 + yards... but i have a 7 pin site so that helps...
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racfish
- Rear Admiral Two Stars
- Posts: 4716
- Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:11 pm
- Location: Seward Park area
Re: Black Bear
I guess I have a advantage. I am handicap and applied for my handicap hunting status. The state gives you a master key for all the gates and allows you to shoot from my rig if I want. I dont want to hunt shooting from my truck. The thrill of hunting is the tracking. Much like fishing. Thanks again guys for your input. Me and my bro are looking into this.After eating the Blackie pepperoni,jerky and sausage Im looking forward to getting my own.