Black Bear Hunting Guide >> Black Bear Hunting Tips

The black bear is one of the most intelligent animals out there with very developed senses of hearing and smell. Due to this fact, the black bear can easily detect the slightest smell of food which in many cases leads to roaming near houses or campsites in search for food. The aroma of carelessly stored food or garbage in many cases attracts bears form incredible long distances. In most cases, black bears travel and feed by night but there are some cases in which they are on the look for food during the day.

Bears also travel great distances in search for food when climatic factors affect nature, such as drought when there is a shortage of food. Usually but not always, black bears are shy and are afraid of humans but when they find some food near homes or areas where there are people, they easily lose their fear of humans. Female bears with cubs have the tendency to be more restricted when it comes down to movement, 6 to a maximum 19 sq miles in comparison to males bears which move around 12 to 60 sq miles. The size of the home range usually depends on the habitat’s quality. Most of the ranges are used by more than a single bear but specific areas are unlikely to be used during the same period. Both male and female ranges can overlap, but it is unlikely among the same sex.

“Bear trees” are the trees which are marked by the bears by biting and clawing the bark. The black bears are known for their swimming abilities; also, they are very good at climbing trees. Their speed is also quite impressive : 35 miles per hour. Another interesting fact about black bears is that these animals aren’t classified as true hibernators but you should know that their body temperature is lowered and also, their hart rate is slowed during wintertime. Denning allows the bears to survive during the harsh winter conditions when food is not so accessible. During denning periods bears don’t eat or drink, they also don’t urinate or defecate. Black bears can wake up during the hibernating period if they are disturbed so their sleep isn’t that deep. In most cases, black bears usually den under brush piles or fallen trees but also rocky ledges. Most of the dens have grass, rotted wood or leaves.

As for the denning periods, they usually hibernate from late November until the middle of March but there are some cases in which periods are shorter; it basically depends on the bears. Black bears eat almost anything they can grab their claws on: fruits, herbs, small rodents, bees, termites, pine nuts, rose hips, alligator eggs, trout and the list could go on forever; as you can see, the black bear isn’t very picky when it comes down to nutrition. Strangely, there are some areas in which black bear populations are growing constantly and others in which the population is slowly but surely diminishing.

Although at a first glance, the black bear doesn’t seem to be a very interesting animal, it has some unique characteristics which make him stand out from the rest of species thus making him special and captivating for all hunters.