1st Time Kentucky Black Bear Hunting

[Tanny Boy]

Hello everyone, I scanned the section for another post specifically about Kentucky and didn’t see one so I hope this isn’t a duplicate.
Today I purchased my 2020-2021 resident Sportsman’s license in KY, entered the Elk Lottery (all 3 spots) and purchased a bear permit. I am for sure going out for the archery and modern firearm season for bear. I have plenty of time to do research and I just downloaded On X.
That being said, do any of you have experience hunting black bear in KY and if so could you lend a few tips. I am curious about all of the reclaimed mountain top mine land available for hunting. Have any of you had more or less success in those areas as it relates to Bear?

 

[Dave N]

No help, but welcome aboard! Took you long enough to post!

 

[Tanny Boy]

No help, but welcome aboard! Took you long enough to post!

Thank you! Haha yeah up until now I’ve just been on here creepin.

 

[mdeerjunkie]

Welcome!

 

[Tanny Boy]

Welcome!

Thank you!

 

[Empire State]

Welcome. I have no help to give, I'm learning also, but nevertheless welcome and good luck!

 

[Tanny Boy]

Welcome. I have no help to give, I'm learning also, but nevertheless welcome and good luck!

That’s alright, thank you! I know KY’s not known as a great bear state so the people with experience here are probably few and far between.
I imagine that a strip mine would draw animals in almost the same way that a burn does. All the canopy is been chopped, and all the growth is young. Does that make sense, and if so does anyone have experience hunting bears in the East in thick woods or burns?

 

[pabearhunter]

Welcome aboard. I see you can't bait for bear in Kentucky so bear drives are the next best thing.

 

[Tanny Boy]

Yeah no bait here, most of our public land here is very hilly. Would you recommend getting a group together and driving them anywhere that would be a bit of a geographical “funnel” or just to an open spot? I mean, in the end it’s a bear and it will go where it wants to go, but what has worked best for you?

 

[JTHOMP]

I'd recommend listed to Bear Hunting Mazagine podcast. Clay Newcomb has some good info on hunting bears in eastern deciduous forest. Based on my limited experience hunting them in Arkansas (more like hiking for sign), Clay Newcomb, and other people I met in Arkansas, they are easiest to find in the early bow season when they are hitting acorns. Guys I met in Arkansas have never seen one during rifle season in mid November. The scat I've found in November were around oak and hickory trees that had already finished dropping.

 

[Tanny Boy]

I'd recommend listed to Bear Hunting Mazagine podcast. Clay Newcomb has some good info on hunting bears in eastern deciduous forest. Based on my limited experience hunting them in Arkansas (more like hiking for sign), Clay Newcomb, and other people I met in Arkansas, they are easiest to find in the early bow season when they are hitting acorns. Guys I met in Arkansas have never seen one during rifle season in mid November. The scat I've found in November were around oak and hickory trees that had already finished dropping.

Awesome! I am hoping to hit archery season a little harder anyway so if that rings true for KY then I’ll have better sighting opportunities anyway. I am treating the Modern forearm season as a “just in case” week.
I have done some research and the area I would like to hunt is only two hours away from where I live. Aside from looking for sign, I’ll be marking oak groves on OnX. Thank you for the info man!

 

[pabearhunter]

Lots of boot leather and trail cameras. Berry patches, water, hair on rubbed trees above 5-6 feet to start with. Lots of listening and reading. Good luck and keep us up on your travels.

 

[BluegrassBilly]

I would put a call in to the KDFWR bear program coordinator (I think it's still John Hast). I'm sure he'd be willing to give you some pointers.

 

[Tanny Boy]

Lots of boot leather and trail cameras. Berry patches, water, hair on rubbed trees above 5-6 feet to start with. Lots of listening and reading. Good luck and keep us up on your travels.

I'm hoping to get out there to pound some ground in the next month or so. I'll post findings in this thread for sure.

 

[Tanny Boy]

I would put a call in to the KDFWR bear program coordinator (I think it's still John Hast). I'm sure he'd be willing to give you some pointers.

Thank you so much! I'll try to get him on the phone.

 

[Tanny Boy]

Well I went out and pounded the hills for about 7 miles. Man those things are steep. Marked areas heavy with oak and hickory trees. We saw a couple deep deep scrapes into Dead trees with bugs. This one pictures was relatively recent because all of the bark and wood scraped off was above all the leaves. Within the last few months I guess. We also found some scat that didn’t look too old. Also, it’s not super easy to see in the picture, but we also saw a pretty clear bear footprint. There was also a ton of elk poop when we got up on top of some of the reclaimed mines. I set 2 cameras out and will be setting out 2 more in a month or so. Will post more pictures when I check the cameras. Side note: I own a 2006 Toyota Sequoia and I never imagined it would get me into the places that it did this weekend. Incredible off road ability for what is almost a school bus.

 

[Tanny Boy]

Hey everyone, I finally got a chance to go check the game cameras. One camera produced about 115 pictures (three shot burst on), the other one produced 2150 pictures (three shot burst on). No bear but a ton of turkeys, whitetail, and squirrels. I moved one of the cameras farther east, much closer to the border with VA. I have not seen any bears yet but I now have 2 more cameras to set out. I'm going to put them at lower elevation, around some blackberries if I can find them before they fruit. There is one picture in here that I would like help identifying. It was a large dug up area, about 3 feet across and 6 feet long. I could see no discernible hoof or claw marks inside the dug up area, but there were elk hoofprints all around it.

P.S. Yes I am growing a mullet, no it's not because of Tiger King.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Welcome to HT!

 

[Tanny Boy]

Thank you!

 

[3855WIN]

Thanks for the reminder to apply for my annual Kentucky elk rejection notice. Good luck with the bears.