Who got a license

[David]

So who is going for the spring bear hunt ? what area ?

 

Me and my buddy are going to rattling brook, going to try our hands at the bow hunting. Anyone know this area, any stands that people wouldnt mind us using for a few days ?

[Brad Vaters]

Hey was planning a spring bear hunt this year in the black river area were we have a cabin.  But the thing is that i have never hunted bears before..Any helpful hints for bait and the type of area I should bait in.  I have all the gear such as buckets and barrels and trail cams. Just need to know what and were to use it...thanks

 

[Nicholas Easton]

I have been hunting spring bears in area 23 Bonavista North for the past 5 years and i have found grease from the local takeout and old doughnuts from Tim Horton's to be the winning combo. They love anything sweet like maple syrup, molasses, jam and vanilla. Early in the spring i use what ever i can get my hands on to make a big stink to initially attract any bears in the area including old fish and any kind of rotten meat. also i will make as big a mess as i can with the grease by poring it on stumps and splashing it on all the trees in the area to ensure the bears can smell it a long ways off. 

 

As for location i look for thick stands of spruce near areas where they probably would have been feeding on berries in the fall. good chance they will den close to their last food source. I found if the woods is thick they will come the bait early in the day because they feel more comfortable under lots of cover. I have had baits on the sides of cut overs and the bears wouldn't come out till almost dark. After they wake up they like to eat grass and tree buds so they will travel along grassy areas and woods roads looking for food. Also look for pinch points and natural travel ways around rivers, large ponds and bogs. I have had baits in places that looked good to me but it took a month for a bear to hit it and i have just picked a random spot without much thought and had a bear hit it the first night. sometimes its luck!!!    

[David]

You ever hear tell of burning the area nicholas ? heard people talk about it before, just wondering the reason

[Nicholas Easton]

no i haven't herd that one. I would guess that the strong smell of the ashes might just spark a bit of curiosity because they are really nosy, cant see them eaten it tho. Iv found them to be picky some will eat fish others wont, some likes seal others wont touch it and most of the time they wont eat anything really rotten. they may tear it up but they will always eat the fresh before the rotten.

[Doug Piercey]

Hey Nicholas have you had much luck in Area 23 with bears? I had a moose licence there last year but no luck, it was late in the season. Lots of signs but no luck.

[Nicholas Easton]

Yes, I got a small boar around 150lbs about 2 weeks ago with my bow but I had at least 5 different bears hitting my bait and one really nice boar pushing over 400lbs. I actually only managed to sit on my stand once this spring iv been really busy with other things and the weather in June was horrible. so, ill get the big one next year..lol.

[Doug Piercey]

NICE!! I was in the Jonathans Pond area just outside Gander. Some beautiful counrty lots of signs of moose but didnt see any. Never seen any sign of Bears, do you know if there are any around that area?

[Nicholas Easton]

Actually that is very close to the area i hunt. That is a very good area for moose and bears. You could put a bait out anywhere in that area and in a week or 2 a bear will be on it. Another good thing about bear hunting is the lack of hunting pressure. For the amount of bears in the area there are not a lot of hunters hunting for bear, especially in the spring. I hunt about 15min farther out Gander Bay Rd on Weir's Pond road but there are many good woods roads in the area for both moose and bear. every year for the past 3-4 years the moose in area 23 seems to be rising constantly, its to bad the government is going to try and kill them all off. Next time you are in the area and looking for some guidance look me up!!

[Doug Piercey]

Thanks Nicholas, I appreciate that.

[David]

Old rotten meat and fish is good bait. If you go to bakerys or a local tim hortons and get some old cookies and dounouts to throw in the barrel to. Alot of people also get old deep fryer grease from takeouts and spread it on the ground around the bait area so when a bear enters he walks in the grease and spreads the scent around the woods. Last time I went we picked up a few anti-freeze bottles full of Molasses at the feed mill on topsail road, it has a real strong smell and the bears seemd to love it, riped up everything we had molasses put on. I also heard of people using the purity peppermint knobs disolved in water and spraying it around.