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I slipped right into a floor blind, crossbow in hand, late within the afternoon. The late-September air was delicate and wind low. The day earlier than, simply 50 yards away, a big bear had stopped on a path between a cornfield and the bush. The wind had shifted, giving the bear sufficient of my scent to cease and switch tail. There was no wind in tonight’s forecast, so I hoped this wouldn’t occur once more. In line with my path digicam, this huge bruin made his method out of the corn between 5 and 6 p.m. day by day, so the percentages have been good that he’d return.
I’d nestled in and was feeling fairly comfy. The solar was getting decrease within the sky, however there was nonetheless loads of mild on the path. The ready started and for the primary hour it was all quiet. In some unspecified time in the future, I seemed all the way down to verify the time on my cellphone. Once I seemed up, all I might see was black. The large bear had quietly padded down the path and parked 12 yards away, the place he was having fun with some corn. I took a deep breath and slowly lifted the crossbow.
I positioned the shoulder and moved the scope to the place the lungs could be. With a delicate pull on the set off, the bolt discovered its mark. The bear tore off, however I heard it go down simply out of sight. After a 20-minute wait that felt like every week, I left the blind to search out the bear. The bolt was on the bottom, lined with blood and darkish hair. A look to my left revealed a black form mendacity lower than 50 yards away. It was a big bear of about 300 kilos with luxurious black fur. It could present a lot fantastic consuming of smokies, breakfast sausage, and burger.
There could also be no extra intense a looking expertise than pursuing bears on the bottom. There’s simply one thing about being up shut and private with a black bear, at eye stage, which will get the adrenaline flowing. Establishing there may be not troublesome however requires some forethought and preparation.
Floor blinds an enormous assist with scent management
The only and best technique to hunt bear on the bottom is in a blind. The bottom blind could be a business pop-up, one thing home made, or fabricated from branches and different pure objects that cover your physique.
A completely enclosed floor blind has the good thing about serving to to scale back the dispersion of human scent. A black bear’s sense of scent is unmatched. They’ll detect a meals supply as much as 40 kilometres away or extra. Bears have a big nostril and the realm inside, referred to as the nasal mucosa, is 100 occasions larger than the human nostril. That enormous proboscis is difficult to idiot. So, something that may scale back scent will enhance your probability of success.
The hub or pop-up type floor blinds are my favorite as they’re transportable and may be rapidly taken down and moved. Most have a number of viewing window choices, and a few even are constructed with scent-free materials. Though looking floor blinds are usually fabricated from camo materials, it doesn’t harm so as to add slightly pure camouflage. Just a few branches, grass or well-placed spruce boughs assist make the blind look extra pure.
Pure floor blinds
Pure floor blinds of piled-up boughs, branches, or barn boards are another choice. You’ll not have the scent management of an enclosed blind however can have much less concern about bear vandalism. I’ve hunted from pure blinds a number of occasions and it’s fairly a distinct expertise than being in a totally enclosed blind. Lack of motion is crucial as bear have an uncanny knack of seeing even the slightest motion.
A number of years in the past, whereas on a fall bear hunt with OOD contributor Tom Armstrong, I bought a first-hand style of simply how conscious a bear may be of its setting. Armstrong and I have been arrange on the sting of an open farm area the place bears travelled from bush to corn and again. It was an unusually lengthy stretch of open area, and the bears crossed at completely different factors. We have been in a makeshift blind alongside the sphere that allowed an excellent view. Armstrong was watching to the best, and I used to be watching to the left. I’d introduced each a rifle and a shotgun for the hunt and would use one or the opposite relying on the place a bear would possibly seem.
At one level, a bear got here onto the sphere to the left and began to amble throughout. The animal was at about 100 yards, so I made a decision to make use of the rifle and never the shotgun that was in my arms. Once I slowly leaned ahead for the rifle, the bear stopped and hightailed it again to the woods in excessive gear. Simply that little flash of motion was sufficient to spook it. Concentrate on your motion and profile in an uncovered blind. Much less is all the time extra.
Spot & stalk
Stalking bear shouldn’t be for the faint of coronary heart. Black bears are low to the bottom and may be very troublesome to see, in even one of the best conditions. It’s a really bizarre feeling to be shifting in on a bear after which see it disappear. The very best choices for stalking bear are in farmer’s fields, the place they eat corn, grass, or alfalfa; or in cutover areas the place bears dine on blueberries and different wild fruit.
The important thing to stalking bear is to maintain the wind in your face and transfer solely when the bears are feeding. Though bears aren’t as skittish as deer whereas feeding, they’ll stick that head (and nostril) up like a periscope or rise up on each hind toes. A big standing bear has an excellent view of its setting and can bust the unaware hunter rapidly.
It’s wonderful how briskly a spooked bear can exit a area. Keep low and use something you’ll be able to to interrupt up your silhouette. At occasions, you could wish to simply sit in opposition to a tree or stump close to a well-used space and await a bear to maneuver your method. That is the gutsiest of performs however can work effectively when the bears are in transit or feeding on corn or fruit. This transfer might be particularly troublesome in farm fields, though the occasional bale of hay can present nice cowl.
Scent management might be key whenever you stalk a bear. Clothes that has built-in scent management is helpful when stalking. I’ve a Scent-Lok camo swimsuit plus hoodie that’s my go-to bear hunt clothes. A face masking is a plus as flashing human pores and skin is a warning signal to bears. I’d additionally advocate scent management spray. There are a number of completely different choices, some are an earth-scent whereas others are marketed as human scent coverings. In my view, any scent management is best than none. A bathe with scent-killing cleaning soap earlier than a hunt will assist. Charcoal insoles in your boots hold that a part of your anatomy a bit much less pungent.
Looking bears on the bottom is an exhilarating and satisfying pursuit. Look no additional if you’re on the lookout for a singular looking problem this fall.
Baiting
Bears will nearly all the time reply to a bait, or meals supply, nevertheless it doesn’t all the time need to be enormous. On the sting of a area, a number of apples or some corn will usually get bears to cease for a mouthful on the way in which to wherever they’re going. Scatter the meals on the bottom close by of the blind. You have to to have it nearer (10 to twenty yards) when capturing a bow or crossbow. In the event you do choose to place apples, corn, or popcorn in a container, it is going to must be chained down. The one hazard with baits close to floor blinds is the bears will usually stick round and discover the realm. That may put your blind in peril.
Ideas from a information
Corey Hayward (Bear Trak Outfitters) guides in Dorion, northeast of Thunder Bay. He solely does floor hunts and with bow or crossbow. He had this to say:
“Looking bear from the bottom may be very efficient and, for my part, has some distinct benefits. The factor I search for when looking from the bottom is a dense space to cover the blind. Again it as much as a thicket of balsam firs or beneath an enormous pine, trim to suit the blind in, then brush to interrupt its form up. I wish to put some brush in entrance of the blind piled as excessive because the window and a pair toes large to discourage the bear from coming too shut. I search for 15-20 yards distance to the bait when establishing for archery. When hunters are too shut or too far, executing a deadly shot turns into a problem.
“As soon as the blind is about, go in and arrange your chair and capturing stick. Set your self up earlier than something occurs — get your bow/gun out ensure you can draw or get your gun up with none interference. Little motion and quiet is the important thing. Most huge bears aren’t shot at a bait. Normally it’s behind the bait, off to the far left or proper as a result of it’s hesitant to come back in. Take a look at the bear trails coming into the positioning and minimize some capturing lanes. Trim simply sufficient to slide a shot by.”
Initially printed in Ontario OUT of DOORS’ 2022-2023 Looking Annual
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