Best Black Bear Hunting in the Lower 48

[D. Key]

As I have gotten older, I want to hunt Black Bear one more time before I get too old.  In the past, I have been on 2 previous "unsuccessful" Black Bear hunts, one in Canada and one in Idaho. I saw one bear on each hunt and both were a big disappointment.  It would be my preference not to travel internationally but may be a necessity.

Can anyone provide me with a lower 48 Black Bear lodge with a high percentage of success for a Trad shooter?  I will turn 67 in June and as they say "My biological clock is ticking". Which month would be best and which state is best.

Many thanks.

[RGKulas]

Not Wisconsin. You will be well into your 70's before you would ever draw a tag.

[ron w]

I would think Maine might be a good choice. Not in the U.S. but Bear Quest that is organized here on Trad Gang is outstanding. It is in Quebec, very well run and at 63 years old I got my first bear last June.

[oldgoat]

2x Bear Quest great bunch and crew. I am also ticking fast now but a friend talks about Idaho . I just don't want any treestands,gone to stay on the ground.

[Bobaru]

What Ron said..

I've been to Maine twice.  Great time on both hunts.  Plus, for reasons I don't know, the rates are less in Maine than some other places.

[Soonerlongbow]

Maine or Bearquest would be my choices also. However, if you wanted to stay close to home Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas all have OTC bear licenses. OK is fall only however.

[Sean B]

I've hunted Maine for many years. Tony Boucer of Squapan Mt outfitters runs a great camp and caters to trad bowhunters.  He is, in my opinion reasonably priced, esp for what you get. If you book the first week of the season, you'll be with Trad bowhunters only on the Black Widow Bear hunt. You need it hunt with a widow and have a chance to win one with the biggest bear.

I've also hunted with Tom on Bear Quest. I'll be there in June!

[Pheonixarcher]

This is the 2016 bear forecast printed in the April/May issue of Bowhunter Magazine. I hope you can read it.

[Fattony77]

Jerry Russell outfits for both the U.S. (Georgia) and Canada (Quebec). I haven't ever hunted with him for either of these hunts. In fact, I will be hunting hogs and fishing with him for the first time at the end of this month. Not only is he a Sponsor and member here on TG, he is also a traditional bowhunter and sets up his sites with the trad-bow hunter in mind. He also happens to be a very nice, generous, and easy-to-talk-to guy. I have no doubt that he would be more than happy to answer any questions that you might have. If I were going to go on a guided hunt for black bear, he would be one of the first on a short list of people to talk to.

Good luck!
-Tony

[Daz]

I know your hope is lower 48, but if you want high success, and to hunt off the ground (over bait), look at Rob Nye's outfit in SK (Canadian Trophy Quest).

If you are feeling up to the task, Bolen and Lewis in NW BC have excellent spot and stalk archery bear hunts, but these are a little more physical in nature.

[Bowwild]

I've hunted New Brunswick, Ontario (years ago), and Idaho last June.

My group killed 3 bears in 3 days on our Idaho hunt. The climb to the bait was INTENSE though!  But, the outfitter had baits on top that were easy walks.

If I ever black bear hunt again it will likely be in Ontario next spring now that spring baiting has been opened again in several areas.

[Basinboy]

Originally posted by Soonerlongbow:
Maine or Bearquest would be my choices also. However, if you wanted to stay close to home Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas all have OTC bear licenses. OK is fall only however.

Incorrect sir! Louisiana has no bear season! Hoping one day soon since they were recently taken off the protected species list.  

[Etter]

Ill just say this, if youre looking for a once in a lifetime bear hunt with a lot of bears, you need to go to canada. A canada trip is really easy with little hassle.

And Ill say this too, dont anybody put any stock in that thing posted by bowhunter magazine. I live in Ga and focus on bears more than anything. The estimate that we have 800 is laughable. Me and a buddy saw four in one morning of turkey hunting last week

[neuse]

May I ask what sort of prices for Canada or Maine?

[centaur]

I'm heading to Saskatchewan in May after 3 frustrating years of hunting in Idaho; saw bears each year, missed one good one, but mostly saw little guys. A buddy went to where I am headed last year; 6 guys took 5 bears, and the 6th guy could have shot several but held out. They all saw numerous bears every day, and 3 killed bears that qualified for P and Y.
I have chased critters in the Wyoming back country for 40 years, and in that time I killed one bear, but in all that time I may have seen 50 bears total (not counting Yellowstone). Wyoming has bears, but I wouldn't call us a hot spot for bear hunters.

[YORNOC]

I am not nearly as experienced as many here, but will give you my bear hunting experiences to add to your decision.
I have taken 5 ranging from 150 pounds to over 400 pounds. I've been on many, many trips where I either did not even see one, or never got a shot opportunity. But that's hunting!
Maine bear hunting was tough for me, and where I hunted the most. I am in Maine hunting something or another several times a year, and my son now goes to UMaine...which gives me yet another reason to go! It is a fall hunt and very comfortable. Mosquitos are out, but bearable. I have not been any farther north than the Rangely Lakes area. Always saw moose, really cool.
Plenty of bears, but damn smart and well aware they are being hunted. Many do not come in until after dark, especially the bigger bears. I took one in Maine at 5 a.m. from the ground while walking to my tree stand.
A fun hunt, I was never all that far from comfortable lodging and a warm shower. I have no experience hunting any farther north.
Ontario and Quebec had plenty also, but the black flies were so bad I was considering drowning myself to end the misery. Went twice, shot one, the 150#, and saw a whopper at long range. Just too far for me, was set up for a compound hunter. A spring hunt. They were moderately comfortable hunts, except the horrific bugs.
All the rest of my hunts were spring hunts in Alberta. I stayed in remote tent camps each time around the Peace River (general Carcarjou area)and saw the biggest bears of my life, and shot a few.
I even took a month off before the season my third year there and went up to work for a guide, building the camp site, setting baits etc. Learned a lot, saw a lot of bears as they emerged from the dens. These animals being up in the remote areas had very little or no human contact. No roads, everything was by boat and you hiked in to your stands from there. Three that I either could not shoot because it was pre season and I was filming, or not what I was looking for climbed my tree to my foot platform.
Don't let them do that. I had a bad experience with one.
The human fear was just not there from the larger animals. That is good and bad, its not cool having one stalk you all the way back to your boat.
But you can get very close for whatever trad shot you are used to and not worry so much about getting picked off. They were much more worried about each other than me while I was up there. I saw one brute sneak up on a smaller bear while he was eating beaver carcasses and beat the living snot out of it. If he didn't get away, he'd be dead.
A great place to hunt, but that type of camp is a rough and tumble type of hunting. Its physical and far from the comfort of a warm hotel room.

All being said above, I did not have Trad Gang back then. The input like you are getting is so valuable, and I wish I had it back then. The bear hunting groups sound like an absolute blast, and you are getting input from real people all over the place.
I cant give you input on pricing, I haven't hunted bears in ten years. But this is getting me excited, I may use the info above and get going again myself.

[Bowwild]

If were really serious about a big bear I would also go to Manitoba or west Canada.  Most of those hunts though are pretty close to $3,000 or more. My ID hunt was for brother, son, and grandson. They could not afford $1,000 more for the Canada hunts.

Our bears were smallish and 2 of 3 rubbed up - our hunt was early June. The outfitter was Russell Pond who also has an operation in Maine. The guides worked hard even though we were their last group of the year.  

I think they like rowdier groups than mine was though. We had very little to talk about and kept to ourselves visiting and trout fishing on our own in the St. Joseph river which was next to camp.

[stonewall]

I don't know if we have the best in here in N.C. but we have the biggest. World record 880 lbs. in Craven co. and just down the road a log truck driver hit one that went over 700 a couple weeks back.

[Michael Arnette]

It's from all that sweet tea  

[Pat B]

Down the mountain from where I live, in Greenville Co. SC. a hunter shot a 609# black bear while deer hunting a few years ago. Probably a state record. We have a pretty good population of black bears here in the mountains of Western NC but the most and biggest in our state are down east.
North GA has a good population.