Table Of ContentHUNTING
BEARS
HUNTING
BEARS
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO
HUNTING BLACK, BROWN,
GRIZZLY, AND POLAR BEARS
Kathy Etling
Skyhorse Publishing
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-62087-701-2
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction: The Spirit Bear
Chapter 1 : All About Bears
Chapter 2: Black Bears
Chapter 3: Black Bear Behavior and Sign
Chapter 4: Baiting Black Bears
Chapter 5: Hound Hunting
Chapter 6: Spot-and-Stalk Hunting
Chapter 7: Calling Black Bears
Chapter 8: State Bear Hunting Regulations
Chapter 9: The State of Brown Bears and Grizzlies Worldwide
Chapter 10: Hunting Grizzly Bears
Chapter 11 : Hunting Brown Bears
Chapter 12: Polar Bear Natural History
Chapter 13: Hunting Polar Bears
Chapter 14: Big Bores for Dangerous Bears
Chapter 15: Bowhunting Bears
Chapter 16: Making the Shot
Chapter 17: Do-It-Yourself Hunts and Packing for a Bear Hunt
Chapter 18: Fly-In Bear Hunts and Boat Charters
Chapter 19: Choosing an Outfitter or Guide
Chapter 20: Taking Firearms into Canada
Chapter 21: Trophy Bears
Chapter 22: Preparing Your Bear for the Taxidermist
Chapter 23: Hunting Licenses, Tags, and Regulations
Chapter 24: Staying Safe in Bear Country
Chapter 25: From Field to Table-All About Bear Meat
Chapter 26: Status of Bears throughout the World
Chapter 27: Threats to Bears
Appendix: Bear Score Sheet
PREFACE
THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME!
Many years ago a writer far more talented than I put pen to paper and
composed an outstanding short story called “The Most Dangerous Game.” In
this short story, a big game hunter has become bored with all of the world’s great
wildlife species. We know this because the story’s hero is taken inside the
hunter’s lodge while the hunter explains the circumstances surrounding each of
the animal trophies he has taken.
The twist in this story is that the hero himself has been brought to the
hunter’s island haunt to become the hunter’s latest prey. The hero is the most
dangerous game, according to the hunter, because he can think and plan and
strike back and, perhaps, even gain the upper hand and win this most dangerous
game.
I will not ruin the story for you, because it remains a notable piece of fine
literature and one worth reading even if you read it many years ago and don’t
remember how it ended—not that I can imagine anyone forgetting. I know I
never will.
That is how good literature should affect you. While I do not pretend that this
book is in any way, shape, or form, good literature, I do hope that it is both
educational and thought-provoking for would-be and current bear hunters.
Bears, like humans, are considered highly intelligent, fierce when provoked,
able to wreak revenge if the mood hits them, and dangerous. While humans have
the upper hand in most cases, the bear can be quick to gain advantage. It is this
element of risk and surprise that holds us in awe of them. It is the very notion of
going up against an animal that is our equal in some ways and very much our
superior in others that drives us as we save our money, sight in our guns, and test
our bows—and then leave the warmth and safety of our homes to meet up with
this grandest—and most dangerous—of creatures on its own turf.
Yes, bears are dangerous. We admire and respect them, as did our
forefathers, for those very traits. And yet these huge animals, some with five-
inch-long claws at the tips of roastingpan-size paws, more often than not choose
to run from an encounter with us.
Through the ages, we as a species have whittled away at the bear’s
supremacy until today perhaps even bears are no longer aware of how powerful
and strong and magnificent they still are.
Today we hold the fate of all the world’s bear species in our hands. We can
save these threatened and endangered animals or allow their numbers to dwindle
and them to disappear from the earth.
For in our drive to populate every bit of wilderness, extract the last drop of
oil from the earth, and constantly push bears into habitats that can no longer
support them, all for the gratification of recently acquired habits, it is truly we
humans who are now the most dangerous game. Not for our intellect and reason,
so cherished by that long-ago writer of fiction, but for our tendency to focus only
on ourselves and our desires, to the detriment of any other living species that get
in the way.
Like the bears.
—Kathy Etling
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writing of any book about the biology, behaviors, history, and hunting of
bears is never a solo or totally independent project. I absolutely would have been
unable to do this book on my own, that is the plain and simple truth.
Although I long have been fascinated by bears, cougars, and other large
predators, I have never hunted them. I have hunted other creatures who share the
woods with bears on numerous occasions, and I also have observed and
interacted with bears during many of my trips to the West, while both hunting
and hiking. Through many years of casual and serious study I have gained a
tremendous respect for both these animals and for the people who hunt them,
many of whom have been of inestimable help as I have pieced this book
together.
First, I would like to thank my good friend and mentor, Jim Zumbo, hunting
editor of Outdoor Life, for his advice, time, and anecdotes as well as the
generous loan of his entire library of bear and bear hunting photos and slides.
Jim has hunted bears for many years. His insights were truly of inestimable
value.
I would also like to thank M. R. James, editor emeritus of Bowhunter
Magazine, another dear friend who has also come to my aid on many previous
occasions. M. R. is a guru of black bear hunting, as you will soon see for
yourself while reading this book. M. R. has bowhunted black bears in many
different states and provinces. He has taken ordinary black bears and huge,
trophy bears, and he has done so while using a variety of different strategies and
tactics. M. R. actually enjoys getting “up close and personal” with black bears,
whether he chooses to harvest one or not. It shows in the wealth of anecdotes,
hunting advice, and photos he has so graciously shared with us.
Although I have never met Jerome Knap, owner-outfitter of Canada North
Outfitting, he too went above and beyond the call of duty. Jerome not only
consented to an interview, he forwarded from his office many large, full-color
photos of polar bears, polar bear hunters, and polar bear hunting incidents and
situations that few other people have ever before been privileged to view. These
photos, like the ones from Jim Zumbo and M. R. James, are all first-rate, and put
the viewer in the thick of what it must feel like to be hunting Nanuq. I feel very
fortunate to have been entrusted with their use, as well as to be able to pick a
brain as full of bear lore as Jerome’s.
