Douglas Boze - The Ultimate Guide to Black Bear Hunting

Copyright 2016 by Douglas Boze

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photo credit: Justin Haug

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-0979-9

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-0980-5

Printed in China

Contents

Dedicated to my wife Amy and to my boy Haydin.

Introduction

They walk mainly unseen through the woodlands and brush, maybe even through your neighborhood. Skirting prickly-pear patches and digging under acorn trees, cruising along cornfields and down creek bottoms, the herculean dark figures own the territories they travel. Small brown eyes, an always searching nose, keen ears, and enough claws and power behind them to get the job done, black bears are creatures to be admired, respected, and sought after. They are not graceful like deer but have agility similar to their ungulate prey. Loud and unafraid when comfortable, they can slink away just as quietly as a deer wanting to go unnoticed. They are really a contradiction of sorts, an apex predator that viciously attacks fawns and elk calves but enjoys fruits and berries just the same. How can you really characterize black bears? The truth is, I dont think you can. I think they are in a category all their own among big game. Hunting black bears specifically also puts you as a hunter in a category all your own.

Ive been hunting big-game animals since I was twelve years old. Some of the happiest times in my life have been hunting with my late grandfather, my siblings, and my dad. It truly saddens me when I meet someone who doesnt like huntingor, worse yet, hates hunters. It saddens me because they think hunters are bloodthirsty, poaching slobs with little or no regard for nature, in part thanks to Hollywood drivel. Several anti-hunters I have met would like to do away with all hunting. It bothers me for probably the same reason that it might bother you. If they want to do away with hunting, that means they would also deny the upcoming generations some of the happiest times, quite possibly, of their lives. If that were to happen, it would be a great loss to our country and heritagenot to mention, yes, even our wildlife.

Why are my hunting memories happy memories? Was it because I was successful on every single trip out and that hunting was as easy as they show on TV or on an overproduced cable show? Not really, no. I wasnt successful hunting until I was fourteenand by successful, I mean that I killed an animal. Even then, it was a black-tailed deer spike I shot with my grandfathers 12-gauge shotgun. I was so proud of that spike, I rode in the backseat of the Bronco all the way home looking at it.

The truth is, I spent my first few years hunting with boots that were hand-me-downs, way too big for me, and leaked. I carried a .30-.06 lever-action that I was more gun shy of than accurate with. I stumbled around, fell over logs, and got soaked and cold, all the while rarely seeing deer of any sort. I am sure, due to my clumsiness, anyone walking with me would not see any game either. My Uncle Joe can attest to thatwhich he told me as I got older. Thank goodness for the patience of loved ones when it comes to introducing hunting.

Yet, I continued to hunt. It was time with my family, friends, and nature that drew me further and further into my passion for the outdoors. I cherished sharing the times in the often miserable weather, dragging ourselves back to my grandpas Bronco, busting out a Coleman propane stove, cooking up a few cans of Dinty Moore with some butter rolls and hot coffee while overlooking some wooded gulley in the pouring rain. You see, I like to hunt not because I am bloodthirsty. I like to hunt because it gets me closer to nature, closer to my family, closer to the Almighty. I am fulfilling what I am designed to do. People who do not hunt are truly missing out on the human existence, in my opinion.

By natures design, I am not supposed to go to a drive-through window and eat out of a sack. That is not what humans have done since the dawn of time. What have we done as a species? We have hunted since the dawn of time! I am supposed to earn what I eata healthy, low fat, free-range animal that I respect to the highest degree. I am supposed to chase animals, to learn to track and follow, to learn to call to them, to learn their habits, what they eat, where they roam, why they do what they do, how they find food, and so on. Hunting and fishing, by definition, are natural ways to feed oneself and familyas natural as humans could possibly hope to get. Being a hunter is what we are designed for and therefore is what I am at the very core of my being.

So when you meet an antihunter or someone on the fence about hunting, be articulate and explain why you love it, how it feeds your family, how it is the greenest activity a person can do in this modern society. Perhaps you can persuade others to think twice about hunters, who are real people, grandpas and grandkids spending time together, fathers and sons enjoying the outdoors, mothers and daughters carrying on traditions, and husbands and wives building new ones. Explain how license fees and tags are used to help support game and nongame species alike and how without those funds we would not be supporting wildlife efforts against poaching. Thanks to the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937, hunters and fishers alike have raised more than eight billion dollars, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service data collected in 2013. Hunters, and their money, are the best friends of an animal.

Now, really, I have to ask you, why are you interested in bear hunting? Is it their super strength? Perhaps it is their cunning? I am sure for some of you the nice, full winter coat of the bear is very appealing. I can tell you why I am so infatuated with bear hunting. There are actually several reasons why. Black bears to me are amazing animals in strength, stealth, and overall beauty. But they can be deadlyand, to me, that is what is so appealing about them. They can stalk you just like you are stalking them. There is a degree of danger in hunting bears that is greater than that of chasing deer, and if you have not hunted bears before, you had better be well aware of the danger.

Black bears can be predatory to humans, however unlikely. Most times you see a black bear, it will bolt to safety, especially if it smells you. It does not want anything to do with you. But if one does attack, its predatory in nature. It is trying to kill and eat you, so you best fight back as if your life depends on it. Dont play dead like you are supposed to do with grizzlies. A few fatal, predatory black-bear attacks on humans have occurred in the past few years, and the number will likely increase as the black-bear population increases. Numerous states across the lower forty-eight are showing a massive jump in the black-bear population. With increased development and human population growth, it is important to continue to manage the bear populations through regulated hunting.