clueless bear hunter

[skimerhorn]

I live in va, not known for its bear hunting.This year I want to try a diy on public land, but have no idea where to start.I primarily hunt whitetail, turkey,ducks,and geese.Where I live there is very few bear sightings at all, so I don't know what sign to look foe. I'm gonna go scout the place out a fee times before, but don't know what to look for? Can anyone please give me some advice of what sign to look for bear, should I look near water of marks on trees? And bait is illegal here, so is there any kind of other attractant to use? Like I said I'm flying blind here, just something I always wanted to try and now I'm gonna do it. I know a lot of these questions are dumb,but I'm just beginning I've never even seen a bear in the woods. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[mdunc8]

I don't know of anyone back home who spot and stalk bears. It's usually dumb luck while sitting in a stand or using dogs. I'm sure it can be done, but the only bears that I've seen back East were in SNP. I wouldn't suggest hunting there though.

 

[tarheel]

I would think any public land around the Dismal Swamp would be a good place to start. The counties in NC which abut the eastern VA border have heavy bear populations, but they mostly run them with dogs. You might Google for counties with high numbers of harvested bears in both states. So far as just stumbling upon one or spot & stalk I can't offer any suggestions, as I've never hunted them; only seen them in the swamps and walking through the church yard. (Really happened.)

 

[spook12]

Would this be a spring or fall hunt?

 

[skimerhorn]

This is a fall hunt that I want to try at the rapidan wma in Madison va. The only downside with the dismal swamp, is that its a lottery drawing. I have until Nov to do my scouting and research, online the game dept showed it was a excellent place for bears. I think the terrain is rough, not sure tho. So it seems other that spot and stalk it will have to be dumb luck. Are there any signs I could look for? Didn't know if a bear did something to mark his territory, like a deer scrape or rub? Are bears creatures of habit, do they usually have a similar pattern or are they all over the place? Just tryin to get some kind of info if I can, right now I'm flying blind.

 

[WV Hunter]

There is a ton of bears in the Mon Nat Forest in WV. Pocahontas County borders VA. I believe it is the George Washington National Forest in Va that butts up to us. I'd be looking in there and trying to find some good ole boys with dogs. I got fortunate and met some great guys with dogs and killed one in 2011. I couldn't go last year but they treed over 30 bears in a week.

 

[spook12]

FOOD.

Acorns,plums crabapples,wild grapes.If you find what they are feeding on you've got a shot.
About 10 years ago i found a old house place that is on Nat'l Forest there are still a few old pear trees and a plum thicket on it and I have had some luck there over the years. One thing I have noticed about Bears is unlike Whitetails they won't hold in tight cover to be kicked out from under your feet,so spot and stalk has NEVER worked for me in thick cover.
I have never taken anyone to ''My'' old homeplace and no one will ever know where it is until they read my will.

 

[tarheel]

Blacks have been known to stand up and mark trees with their claws. Their scat is hard to miss when you come upon it; I won't attempt to describe it. TMI. Often you'll find old rotten logs which will be rolled over and torn apart in the search for grubs, found one of those back in the fall while scouting for deer sign.

 

[Caseknife]

Ditto on the food sources. In the fall, eating is most of what is on the bear's mind. Scout for old homesteads with overgrown fruit trees and look for freshly torn apart logs, best sign that a bear is using an area. They will be where the food is.

 

[Gerald Martin]

skimmerhorn, I grew up in Harrisonburg. For years Rockingham county led the state in numbers of bears being killed. About half were killed by hunters who were not using dogs. Find any ridge or hollow that has acorns (white oak preferably) on the Va/ WVa line in Rockingham county and eventually you'll see bears.
If you can kill a deer during any season that the bear season overlaps with deer make sure you hunt the gut pile the next day. Most gut piles won't make it overnight, but its not consider baiting as far as I know to hunt over the gut pile of a legally killed deer. The season stuctures have changed a bit since I left in 2002 but I know I saw more bears the first week of November than at any other time. Back then that was early blackpowder season and bears were not legal. I think that that has changed and bear are legal during that time frame but don't take my word for it.
I know the west side is going to have a lot higher densities of bears anywhere except for the SNP. I think Rockingham Co has an estimated densitiy of 1 1/2 to 2 bears per square mile in the National forest.

 

[kansasdad]

My brother had a Great Dismal Swamp lottery bear tag. Didn't see a live bear in two weekends hunting. Second weekend there he left his tree stand with 15 minutes of shooting time left heading back to the dike/trail to get back to his car. Finding that his flashlight had failed, and panic laden, he failed to follow the game trail and lost his orientation on a very cloudy, dark and mosquito filled dusk. Several loud crashings in the underbrush near some torn up logs (bears grubbing he hypothesized) really got his imagination going. That was his last night in the Swamp.

The bears that are taken out of there are supposed to be the largest taken in the state every year. More bears are taken off of adjacent private or state land, than on the Swamp itself.