Hunting black bears over bait is a lot of fun. No other method allows you to watch bear behavior at close range for such an extended period of time.
In prime bear country, shooting “just any bear” usually isn’t a problem during an outfitted adventure, but I’ve learned from experience that a baited hunt is far from a slam dunk when you set the bar high in bear size.
As a rule, when you book a black bear hunt with a Canadian outfitter, your guide will drop you off at a bait site early in the afternoon, then you’ll sit in a treestand or ground blind until the end of shooting light (half hour after sunset). During spring, this means you could sit for 8 hours, maybe more. Of course, bears could show up at any time, and more than once I’ve witnessed bears rush the bait as soon as they hear the guide’s ATV depart. Those bears have learned that the ATA arrival and subsequent departure means food. The engine noise is literally the dinner bell!
A couple of times in my hunting career, the guide and I have encountered bears at the bait site when we arrived for an afternoon sit. Usually these are smaller bears, and they run off when they see us approach. That said, one lesson I’ve learned from my many black bear hunts across Canada is the only thing predictable about bears is their unpredictability.
I recently ran across an interesting Facebook video from Cody Robbins. He started his outdoor career as Jim Shockey’s original cameraman/editor in 2001, and worked alongside Shockey for 7 years before branching out on his own. In 2008, Cody started his own hunting show called Live2Hunt. Cody and his wife live in central Saskatchewan, and in addition to producing content for his show, he now operates L2H Outfitting Company. It was during one of these days guiding a female client for black bears that he filmed a crazy-cool video clip; click here to check it out!
As you watch the clip, do your best to count the number of bears present while the woman gets her gear ready in the pop-up blind. Cody even has to scare one smaller bear off the cargo bed of his side-by-side! Needless to say, I doubt the client took a nap in the ground blind during her hunt. (Turn up the video volume for best viewing.)
