A buddy and I hiked out of a steep canyon in the Snake River breaks when a chocolate-colored black bear appeared on the ridge, above. He’d never shot a bear. Before pulling the trigger we evaluated the situation. The bear was gorging on rose hips. There was no rush.
It was mid-morning and the mule deer we sought were tucked away. The bear was inside 200 yards on the same ridge as us.
“If you shoot that bear high on the shoulder and drop it, it’ll be an easy pack out,” I whispered. “If it rolls to the bottom of the canyon, we won’t get out of here until after dark.”
We waited for the bear to move on to a tiny flat. My buddy made a perfect shot. In short order we skinned and quartered the bear and got the meat into coolers back at camp. The day was hot, so we took the skull to a wildlife check point to have a tooth pulled for aging, a requirement in the state. Start to finish, just under six hours elapsed. We were back to hunting mule deer that afternoon.
If you’re hunting deer or elk in the West this fall, consider getting a bear tag. Many states offer over-the-counter bear tags, some you can even purchase after the season has begun.
In recent decades, black bear populations have exploded throughout the West, and fall is prime time for hunting them. Now is when bears forage on berries, nuts, fruits, even grass that’s greening up with the first rains of fall. Morning dew at high elevation is enough to spur new grass growth, and bears will find it. These food sources make for the perfect spot-and-stalk scenarios.
Calling bears in the fall is also productive. I’ve never had success calling bears off fall food sources, but where food is sparse and bears on the move, deer and elk distress calls can bring in bruins.
Fall bear meat is delicious. The thick fat is also worth saving to render down for baking. The key to a great-eating bear is quickly skinning it and getting the quarters, backstraps and neck meat off the carcass, and the meat off the bone and quickly cooling.
Our family eats a lot of bears. Due to its high fat content, we don’t age it. The faster you can get the meat cooling, even cut, wrapped and freezing, the better quality it will be. You can thaw and dry age steaks and roasts in the refrigerator for a few days, prior to cooking, if you’d like.
If wanting to make a rug, get it into a freezer right away. If in camp, cape it out, flesh all fat and meat from the hide and cover it in salt, thoroughly working it into every fold. A 25-pound bag of salt will suffice.
If elk or deer are your primary target, assess the situation before pulling the trigger on a bear. Hit through both lungs, bears die fast. Miss the mark and what seemed like an easy pack can turn into the better part of a day, even more.
Should you spot a bear on the crest of a ridge, a spine or high shoulder shot will anchor it. Though bears quickly expire when punched through both lungs, two lunges can result in building up enough speed to roll to the bottom of a canyon. Unless there’s road access in the bottom, taking a shot may not be a wise choice.
I once shot a big bear right before dark. I missed the spine. The bear was dead, but not before sprinting 15 yards, then rolling more than a half-mile down the canyon. What should have been an easy pack found me getting back to camp at 4 a.m., just in time to get the meat into coolers and head back out in search of elk.
Pre-hunt preparation is important when it comes to fall bears. Lost sleep can be made up, but you’ll want to have pack frames and game bags to efficiently handle the meat and hide. Check state regulations when it comes to having a tooth pulled for aging, as the timing of this can interfere with your deer and elk hunt. If you shoot a sow, there may be a request for the reproductive parts.
Lining up a cold-storage option in a nearby town is not an overkill, especially if hunting elk. Many times over the years buddies and I have taken elk, deer and bear meat to nearby towns with cold storage, something that’s vital to saving the meat on hot September archery hunts and early October rifle hunts. Handling such chores during the heat of the day results in little lost hunting time.
One of the joys of hunting the West is the variety of game you can pursue. With abundant bear numbers in many states, and tags that are easy to get, a little preparation can go a long way in making a bruin a big bonus on your next hunt.
* Want to learn how to skin and breakdown a bear? Scott Haugen can teach you. Head to scotthaugen.com to order his comprehensive DVD, “Field Dressing, Skinning & Caping Big Game.”
