Black Bear

If you are bear hunting from late May into June, your hunt will be influenced by the bear rut. Knowing all you can about it will make you a better hunter. A 1980 study by Kim Barber and Frederick Lindzey conducted on Long Island, Washington, found that female bears are in estrus ranging from six to...

Laney Malavolta was found dead north of Durango, Colorado, on April 30 in a wooded area near U.S. Highway 550. Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the La Plata County Coroner’s Office confirmed Tuesday that Malavolta’s death was the result of a black bear attack. According to a press release by CPW, 3...

After all the work to get within shooting distance of a big bear, you need confidence in your ability to make a great shot. Bears are big, tough animals that are unforgiving when hit badly. Many new bear hunters use shot placement and strategy derived from experience in deer hunting, but bear...

Timing is everything with hunting. The best destinations in the world can be highly productive for a certain species at a given time, but at other times can be only average. Oftentimes spring bear hunting is lumped into one broad category covering the months of May and June. When booking hunts in...

If you’ve failed to tag a deer or an elk and now you’re trying to salvage your fall hunting in order to maintain the honor of your family name, why not go after a black bear? You don’t have to plan for years in order to put some bear steaks in the freezer. Many states offer over-the-counter bear...

The big, chocolate-colored boar was exactly the type of bear I’d dreamed of for years. This was the third time he’d bayed up on the ground in heavy cover and it was my last chance. Our crew had been after him for eight hours and, with evening approaching, there wasn’t time for another chase. The...

Famed hunter and explorer Daniel Boone once killed 155 black bears in a single year. He brined and smoked the meat and sold it as “bear bacon.” Today, most American hunters who do hunt bears will kill only one or two in their lifetimes. For them, bears are regarded as a novelty species, something to...