Well, back from what was supposed to be one of the most exciting hunts I’d go on this year. For the past few years, I’ve wanted to hunt New Brunswick for the facts that they allow 2 bears to be taken, you can often see multiple bears on bait sites, and that I’d never hunted Black Bears in the spring before.
Aside from scent control, one of the biggest factors affecting bear hunters is that we’re slaves to the weather. Too hot, bears don’t move. Too cold, bears don’t move. Too much rain, yep, bears don’t move. Where I hunted in NB, spring was 3 weeks behind and there was still snow on the ground in some areas. Weird I know, 2 feet of snow in June, but that’s what we were presented with. This made the outfitters job getting to the bait barrels tough, and also kept the bears on a vegetation diet, instead of being married to a bait bucket. Couple that with the fact that the rut was late, and you have the perfect recipe for a bad week of bear hunting.
Unfortunately, I came home empty handed, but, I can rest my head at night knowing I stuck by my morals and ethics, and didn’t harvest a bear just to say I did it.
My first night in the blind, I watched a gorgeous sow pick food from the barrel for about 20 minutes. She had a phenomenal coat, and for someone who was on their first bear hunt, would have made a great rug. I tend not to shoot female animals. For one, if they’re with young, and you don’t see them with the mother, you now have a 100% mortality rate on your hands. Second, taking out a female, even if she isn’t with young, essentially kills off 2-3 potential cubs she could have that year. Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t take a sow if presented with the opportunity, but personally, I don’t because of the implications. Would I shoot an older, dry, mature sow? Yes…10/10…but it’s hard to tell unless she’s showing serious signs of age.
The following nights, I dealt with on and off rain, hail, swirling winds, and other environmental factors that made for a tough hunt. On Thursday, the 4th day of the hunt, I caught a glimpse of a bear in the tree line, and it turned out to be a good looking boar, about 200lbs. He was super cautious, wandering in and out of the tree line, nose in the air, looking for love, and not for food. The only shot I was presented with was a 108 yard shot, downhill, with him facing me. Too small of an opportunity for me to comfortably take. Two other guys wounded bears in camp earlier in the week, and I wasn’t about to be the third. He left as fast as he’d come, and I never got a better opportunity.
I closed out the week seeing two small bears, and harvesting none. My two friends that accompanied me each got themselves their first bears, and that was reward enough for me. I learned more about bears and bear behavior in one week than I had in the 5 years Id spent hunting them. A lot of factors, out of my control, contributed to me not harvesting a bear. I can say that I made the right decisions in not shooting the two I saw, and that my judgement of their physical characteristics allowed me to make that right decision. New Brunswick broke me, and ruined my undefeated streak against black bears, but I will be back, and I will fill two tags. Until then, I’m keeping my unfilled tags as a reminder of how bad tag soup tastes.
Black Dirt Diaries 