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Bill Lang
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 Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:02 am Post subject: More Bear Questions |
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This weekend I was fortunate enough to get into the woods for a white
tail muzzleloader hunt. (passed on some does but saw no bucks -
still a good day). I saw quite a bit bear sign. Clawing, prints,
scat etc. About mid-morning I saw the best sign there is, The Bear.
He passed about 75 yards upstream from where I was sitting. Yes
sitting, so there was a brief sphincter tightening moment as I
considered what to do with a large dangerous animal I couldn't
legally shoot yet and me holding just a one shot weapon.
Fortunately, he never winded me and just sauntered casually back up
the ridge.
I'll be back there in 2 weeks for whitetail general firearm and bear
will be legal then. I'm really hoping for another chance at it. I
want to be prepared on the slim chance we cross paths again.
So, share. Baiting is illegal here but I know where it is
travelling, how can I improve my chances? If I do succeed, how is
field dressing different from whitetail? I'm thinking rug, so what
do I need to know about caping? How quickly do I need to get it to a
taxidermist? Etc. You can't insult my intelligence as I have none.
I'm a full-on bear noobie.
Thanks all. |
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Larry Griffith
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 8:52 pm Post subject: Re: More Bear Questions |
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When you field dress a bear do so as you would a deer or any other big
game animal.
Make sure you cut in center and strait line as possible to the brisket.
When you skin the bear split hide on inside center of legs to the ankle
joints and seperate at the joint leaving paws intact.
Split up briskit to center between fromt legs.
Skin bear handing head down making sure not to cut thru hide. Cut under
tail leaving it intact attached to hide.
pull skin down neck as far as you can then cut and saw off the neck at
that point.
DO NOT cape the head!
Leave that for the taxidermist.
thak the freshly skinned hide withe the head intact to your taxidermist
asap.
If for some reason you can't get to the taxidermist within 24 hours
after skinning freeze the nide in a rolled package hair side out in a
well dealed heavy duty garbage bag until you can get it delivered.
You can keep it frozen up to one year withoun any damage.
Hope this helps. |
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Larry Griffith
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:20 pm Post subject: Re: More Bear Questions |
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Hi again, just thought I would offer a couple tips.
First of all had the bear winded you it would have cleared out of the
area faster than a deer. Generally speaking bear are as afraid of
humans as deer are.
You should not be concerned about an attack unless the bear is wounded,
at this time of year sows do not attack over cencern for their cubs.
Bear are somewhat creatures of habit it will probably be traveling the
same general area where you seen it.
Bear do have a wide range but as I said they are creatures of habit and
tend to travel the same general routes. If you can, scout the area for
fresh sign,scat, tracks signs of feeding etc.
Be sure to get down wind from where you think it may be, other than that
about the only other thing you could do is watch deer gut piles in the
area,bear love them and they are not considered bait. Also natural
foods such as acorns,apples or other fruits attract bear,corn fields
etc.if any such mass is available you might try watching those areas.
Good luck. |
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Bill Lang
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:57 am Post subject: Re: More Bear Questions |
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On Tue 11 Nov 2008 09:52:59a, Larry Griffith (ldg929@WEBTV.NET)
wrote
| Quote: | When you field dress a bear do so as you would a deer or any
other big game animal.
Make sure you cut in center and strait line as possible to the
brisket. When you skin the bear split hide on inside center of
legs to the ankle joints and seperate at the joint leaving paws
intact. Split up briskit to center between fromt legs.
Skin bear handing head down making sure not to cut thru hide.
Cut under tail leaving it intact attached to hide.
pull skin down neck as far as you can then cut and saw off the
neck at that point.
DO NOT cape the head!
Leave that for the taxidermist.
thak the freshly skinned hide withe the head intact to your
taxidermist asap.
If for some reason you can't get to the taxidermist within 24
hours after skinning freeze the nide in a rolled package hair
side out in a well dealed heavy duty garbage bag until you can
get it delivered. You can keep it frozen up to one year withoun
any damage. Hope this helps.
|
What about bleeding before field dressing? That's something I've
never done with a deer, but I've seen it mentioned in several
different places. |
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Bill Lang
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:02 am Post subject: Re: More Bear Questions |
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On Tue 11 Nov 2008 10:20:04a, Larry Griffith (ldg929@WEBTV.NET)
wrote
| Quote: | Hi again, just thought I would offer a couple tips.
First of all had the bear winded you it would have cleared out
of the area faster than a deer. Generally speaking bear are as
afraid of humans as deer are.
You should not be concerned about an attack unless the bear is
wounded, at this time of year sows do not attack over cencern
for their cubs.
Bear are somewhat creatures of habit it will probably be
traveling the
same general area where you seen it.
Bear do have a wide range but as I said they are creatures of
habit and tend to travel the same general routes. If you can,
scout the area for fresh sign,scat, tracks signs of feeding etc.
Be sure to get down wind from where you think it may be, other
than that about the only other thing you could do is watch deer
gut piles in the area,bear love them and they are not considered
bait. Also natural foods such as acorns,apples or other fruits
attract bear,corn fields etc.if any such mass is available you
might try watching those areas. Good luck.
|
Thanks Larry. I'll keep these things in mind. I'd already thought
about using a gut pile, now I'll just have to find a nice fat doe
early in the morning close enough to drag to the hollow I want to
hunt. I normally don't like taking a doe early, but I'd make an
exception in this case. |
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Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:09 pm Post subject: Re: More Bear Questions |
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"Bill Lang" <wjlmutt@BITEMEMINDSPRING.COM> wrote in message
news:Xns9B55D53FC9375bungalobill@199.45.49.11...
| Quote: | On Tue 11 Nov 2008 09:52:59a, Larry Griffith (ldg929@WEBTV.NET)
wrote
When you field dress a bear do so as you would a deer or any
other big game animal.
Make sure you cut in center and strait line as possible to the
brisket. When you skin the bear split hide on inside center of
legs to the ankle joints and seperate at the joint leaving paws
intact. Split up briskit to center between fromt legs.
Skin bear handing head down making sure not to cut thru hide.
Cut under tail leaving it intact attached to hide.
pull skin down neck as far as you can then cut and saw off the
neck at that point.
DO NOT cape the head!
Leave that for the taxidermist.
thak the freshly skinned hide withe the head intact to your
taxidermist asap.
If for some reason you can't get to the taxidermist within 24
hours after skinning freeze the nide in a rolled package hair
side out in a well dealed heavy duty garbage bag until you can
get it delivered. You can keep it frozen up to one year withoun
any damage. Hope this helps.
What about bleeding before field dressing? That's something I've
never done with a deer, but I've seen it mentioned in several
different places.
|
Bleeding is totally unnecessary unless you really like ruining the cape and
paying more for a taxidermist to repair the damage.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service
http://www.herefishyfishy.com |
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Larry Griffith
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject: Re: More Bear Questions |
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| Steve,any luck with the bear hunting? |
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Bill Lang
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:04 am Post subject: Re: More Bear Questions |
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On Sat 29 Nov 2008 08:33:24a, Larry Griffith (ldg929@WEBTV.NET) wrote
| Quote: | Steve,any luck with the bear hunting?
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Wasn't Steve, and no.
I think the &^$%%er was playing with me all week. Every day there
were new signs near every one of my stands. I flagged a trail up a
ridge to assist me finding my way before daylight, the bear started
using it. Even tore down the ribbon on several of the trees. Left
him a gut pile, he ate the whole dang thing overnight. Four hollows
on two mountains were torn all to heck, but I never saw him again.
If I had to guess, my scent control was good enough for whitetail but
not good enough to fool him. I have 11 months now to stew before I
get to try again. Gonna be a long year. <sigh> I really wanted
that rug... |
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