As you can see from my address I know S.F.A. about bears save that there are a few different varieties of which I believe the grissly is the most dangerous.

How dangerous is bear hunting? I know that is a broad sweeping question with no real answer so just generalise if possible.

Are there many fatalaties/maulings each year in USA.?

Are the licences to hunt them expensive?

Can they be hunted without a PH or guide?

Is there a minimum legal calibre.

Thanks in advance, any input is greatly appreciated.

bear hunting is very dangerous if you use a plastic tea spoon. however with a rifle it is slightly less so

quote:

Originally posted by uk roe hunter:
bear hunting is very dangerous if you use a plastic tea spoon. however with a rifle it is slightly less so

Thanks for the very informative response, I've learnt a lot. Probably lot's of fucking bears where you live.

Griz and Kodiak bears can be very dangerous but on the average, black bears are not.
There are more black bear attacks for several reasons. They are distributed all over the country (More of them.) People feed them and with the close proximity to people in general, they can lose their fear of humans. This is more common in areas where they are not hunted. Same thing happens with mountain lions where tree huggers stop hunting so the pretty animals won't be killed. As the population is protected and increases, lion attacks pick up.
The most dangerous is the Polar bear. They will deliberately hunt you to eat you. Like a great white, they eat seals.

Since a 50-lb dog is capable of ruining your day, even a smallish black bear can rearrange your physical being -- not that it necessarily will. I think that even though they aren't as "sexy" as grizzly bears, they should be afforded a lot of respect. JMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
I think that even though they aren't as "sexy" as grizzly bears, the should be afforded a lot of respect. JMHO.

I've only been bear hunting once but I agree whole heartedly with that statement. Even though black bears don't have the reputation that his bigger cousins get they still need to be respected. While the black bear will generally run away it isn't always the case and there are reports every year of campers being mauled by them. I'd say never get comfortable and trust any bear.

My biggest fear when hunting bear was to make a bad shot and have to track a wounded bear in the dense SE Alaskan rain forest. Even thought they aren't as agressive as Grizzly or Brown they still have large teeth and claws. I'm pretty sure that they know how to use them as well.

taylorforce1 -- that's a fine bear!! Congratulations!!

Black bear "attacks" are actually rare. Most of them involve bears that have been fed .We often see people take food into their tents , despite warnings, and the bear comes for the food. Bears have much better sense of smell than dogs.Biggest blacks in PA are 800+ lbs !

Absolutely, respect for anything with teeth! Not the same as the chance of an attack from some animals if you just blunder into them. Or being stalked by a lion.
I have years of experience with large black bears in PA. That was back when they had at the most, a 3 day season. The campgrounds and game lands were full of them. Every night they came into the campgrounds, chased off the guys eating on picnic tables and ate their fill. You never took food into a tent or left anything out that you wanted. I had one climbing the tree I was in deer hunting, must have weighed 500#. I talked it back down. It went to the apple tree I was watching and ate 2 bushels while destroying the tree. When it left, it slammed it's shoulder into my tree, shaking the whole thing.
I never seen one go after a person or heard of an attack.

There are actually quite a few attacks on the books. Yes they are more common then their brown cousins and living closer to urban areas which increases the chances of encounters......

quote:

Originally posted by pichon1:

quote:

Originally posted by uk roe hunter:
bear hunting is very dangerous if you use a plastic tea spoon. however with a rifle it is slightly less so

Thanks for the very informative response, I've learnt a lot. Probably lot's of fucking bears where you live.

Aw, c'mon mate, lighten up a wee bit. The Brit was just having you on.

KG

P.S. Statistically speaking, I don't think bear hunting is terribly dangerous, though any animal that has the ability to catch and kill large mammals as prey should have your undivided attention across the board. I've killed but one, and while not a massive coastal brownie (it was a nice specimen of black bear), by God, it was equipped to rip me to ribbons and devour me in large portions. So, I feel it was a good thing then that he was sporting a ~7mm hole in the top of his heart and lungs by the time I starting petting him.

Pichon 1,

Having not hunted bear before I'm ill equiped to answer th bulk of y0ur questions.

But, with my impending departure for parts north of Nome, Alaska in 3 days for Grizzly, I can answer some of your qeustions.

Your tag/license cost would be as follows.

$650 for Brown/Grizzly tag as a Nonresident Alien. You can shoot an animal of same or lesser value of the most expensive tag. Example; I will take with me my Grizzly locking tag. If on or near the last day of the hunt, I see a HUGE Moose, I can shoot it as their tags cost $400 vs the $500 I paid.

and

$300 for a Nonresident hunting license.

Brown/Grizzly bears, by law, must be hunted with an outfitter/guide in Alaska.

That I know of, no legal minimum caliber.

Link to AF&G
http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/

Link to License/tag page
http://www.admin.adfg.state.ak.us/license/

I hope to have a great report for all in a few to three weeks.

Black bears hunting is not dangerous statistically. Still likely to get tense when you are kicking around the mountain laurel looking for a wounded one. Better safe than sorry.

Having hunted in areas, where we have both, Id have to say there is always an element of danger, but not what some people would have you believe. Probably more dangerous to drive your car. We have people mauled every year, but it's usually in non hunting situations or where someone surprises the bear and he reacts agressively. Biggest problem is bears that lose their fear of humans and realize they have power over us. My wife talked to a friend, from Florida who wondered how we can go riding here with all the bears in the hill. My wife responded, at least we don't have to worry about alligators or snakes.
Grizz

LOL! Many moons ago when I lived in upstate NY a neighbor wanted to hunt Black Bear in a section of the Adirondacks notable for having many blowdowns of old trees, thinking he would find the bears in those brush piles. He also planned to use a 12 gauge shotgun with buck shot. A few days before his intended hunt, his wife came to my house and asked me to go with her husband and ride "shotgun" with a "real rifle." She was compelling, and I got a few days off from work to follow her husband with a .338 Win Mag. By the end of the hunt, I was convinced that hubby was nuts, diving into all that brush, and we did not see a single bear. (Thank goodness)

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
I think that even though they aren't as "sexy" as grizzly bears, they should be afforded a lot of respect. JMHO.

I agree.

I killed a bear on my one bear hunt in Maine a few years ago. Shot him, he ran off, let out a moan, and then the sun set.

I respected the heck out of that dead bear until I found him with the help of my guide.

pichon
"Thanks for the very informative response, I've learnt a lot. Probably lot's of fucking bears where you live. "

give it a rest!!! i was only joking!!! i am in the uk where we sadly killed all our bears a thousand years ago. so for me bear hunting is not dangerous.

Bear hunting is perfectly safe unless of course he gets a peice of you, and that happens from time to time, much the same with any animal under the right set of circumstances..I was mauled to no end by a smallish mule deer buck one time...

It never ceases to amaze me how our border collies will go after black bears and tree them I know they could kill the dogs in a heart beat but they want nothing to do with the dogs.w/regards

quote:

Originally posted by taylorce1:

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
I think that even though they aren't as "sexy" as grizzly bears, the should be afforded a lot of respect. JMHO.

I've only been bear hunting once but I agree whole heartedly with that statement. Even though black bears don't have the reputation that his bigger cousins get they still need to be respected. While the black bear will generally run away it isn't always the case and there are reports every year of campers being mauled by them. I'd say never get comfortable and trust any bear.

My biggest fear when hunting bear was to make a bad shot and have to track a wounded bear in the dense SE Alaskan rain forest. Even thought they aren't as agressive as Grizzly or Brown they still have large teeth and claws. I'm pretty sure that they know how to use them as well.

GREAT pix!!!
Thanks for posting them..

Don

Thanks guys, I love hearing the compliments on my bear!!! Keep them coming!

This was my first dedicated bear hunt, and the only complaint was I bagged this guy on the first full day I spent in Alaska. This was a DIY hunt in May of 07. I've carried bear tags before while hunting elk, but never just bear hunted. He turned out to be 9 years old and have a 19.25" skull. I'm pretty happy with how the whole hunt turned out. My friend even tagged out the next day with his first AK black bear.

Another fine bear!! Thanks for posting the pictures!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,417201,00.html Be nice to black bears , they're on our side !!

Atkinson summed it all up right, You just got to have common sense out there, Bear hunting is very enjoyable and a rush of adrenalin, having taken several bears in my lifetime and my 12 year old popped his first griz while sheephunting last month (Aug '08) bearhunting is a challenge but very rewarding, I have had encounters up close with bears but none gave me a problem, mostly they run off and never come back. Now for the expense part, Yes bearhunting can be expensive, Black bears not so much but when it comes to Griz and brownies its a different story, but one heck of a trophy!!!!

Yea I aggree with Ray most hunting is plenty safe until something bites you or gets a horn or hoof into you.

Weather getting lost ect are more likely to do you in then the critter you hunting.

But it always adds to the pucker factor when one knows the game can bite back.

Not exactly Paws in the Air , just one of my more humerous bear adventures. I ran into this cub, while sheep hunting on Wednesday. He was so busy digging up an ant hill, that he never noticed me until I started walking towards him and yelling, hey Yogi. No sign of Mama Bear.

Grizz

Last year I hunted at a ranch owned by a gentleman who had all the awards SCI has to offer. He has shot the big five and over 30 of the exotic mountain species. Only one time has he been injured by an animal and it was a smallish black bear. The animal was wounded and nailed my friend on followup. Nothing serious but he said he was black and blue from head to toe. He said the bear could hit like Sonny Liston. Fortunately the fellow with him shot it before things got out of control. He said he out weighed the bear by 50 pounds but it was still no contest!

Your drive to the bear hunting spot is probably vastly more dangerous.

Having killed more then a dozen black bears from 100 to over 400 lbs I can say that while a healthy respect is good, for the most part hunting them is not dangerous. As stated above, driving to the hunt is more of a risk.

That being said, your method of hunting and local area can also reflect on your safety. If you are in a tree over bait in middle America then you don't have a lot to worry about, but calling for bears in Grizzly country could put you in a world of hurt.