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#16287451 07/27/21
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I built a mineral station up on the mountain behind the house a couple summers ago out of cattle panels and t-posts to keep the hogs out, posts driven deep below the panel tops so deer jumping in and out wouldn't rip their guts out, put salt and mineral blocks buried up to the top, also loose mineral on the ground, after hunting season i put wheat mids/barley sprouts and corn chops for the dove, quail, deer and turkeys until spring browse returns, squirrels and coons have a heyday there too.

All was going well till i had an old buddy run a cat dozer up the mountain late Feb '21 and build a nice pond for the wildlife, pond was nicely filled by late April, trouble is i now have at least 4 different black bears living there, they sleep in that mineral pen at night crazy, some are collared, i called the bear biologist and asked about the yellow collars, red/blue ear tags, he said not to worry, they're not problem bears, just research animals, the colored ear tags are for male and female, yellow tracking collars are for hunters to see as collared bears are not legal to shoot here.

This is where the real dilemma begins for me, there are two very large un-collared bears up there, for some unknown reason i dont know if i'd shoot a bear, something deep in scotch/irish/indian dna? some kindredship? i know full well one of them could stand on my chest while pulling my face off, i respect them, but would certainly shoot one for messing with cattle or trying to come in the yard and eat Wifes little fat Rottweiler puppy, but dont have the hots for killing a bear, anyone else have a weird relationship about bears?

I have an old bow stand on up the mountain from there, it'd be easy enough, they've worn the trail by the stand to near three feet wide.


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I have had one come by my deer stand here in PA. I ususally find photos of them on my trail camera.
I know lots of guys that want to take one, especially in the archery season.
I just have to ask myself "what would I do with it if I did harvest one?". I get varing reports on the quality of their meat and I won't kill it if I don't eat it.

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10-4 WStrayer, i understand and have visited that part, i have a JD yard trailer with dump bed, it goes behind the lawn tractor, also goes behind ATV, have used it to haul 600lb feed up the mountain for the animals, that said, i thought of stashing it out at the bottom, checked with old bud, he said the instant i kill a black bear, call him and get the guts out of it.

I can manage the bear to the trailer and haul it down the mountain, bud will meet me in the upper pasture with ice, pickup and trailer, he has a cousin with a coroners table i guess it is with water and big walk in cooler, they'll skin the bear and cape? out the head as well as put up the meat, he says it's good eating off a smoker, i dont know.

Something i have to get by, i could hunt Cape Buffalo in Africa and big white tail deer everyday for the rest of my life, Elephant, Giraffe or Lion? no, dont mind if others want to hunt them, just not for me, may have to take a black bear and see, would be cooler if i could do it from the ground with Longbow, who knows.....


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I have had bear meat and find it very tasty. We used to be allowed to hunt them in Florida and since it was closed they are real problems. They are getting hit on the roads and in everyone’s garbage. I get them on trail cams all the time


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Thanks buddy, the meat will get consumed whether i like it or not, old buddy was damn near shorting the phone out with drool when we were discussing it, LOL! i'll dang sure be able to put this to rest if i arrow one.


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I know a few guys that see them often in archery season in PENN and it seems that a fair amount of them are harvested in archery and the youth/senior hunt

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Thanks Jericho, anyone ever mention any weird vibes/feelings after killing one?


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There was someone on here that said their fat is great for cooking. He made a great looking Blueberry cobbler with it. Don’t know how it tasted but it sure looked flaky. I have never killed one so I couldn’t say but I have come close bow hunting. I had one come up to my stand and look up at me and stood up on the ladder. I had my Ruger .480 out by then and locked on his head. Luckily he dropped back down and went back to eating acorns. It was a tall ladder and had he started to climb he would have as many rounds as I could fire before he either reached me or dropped dead


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LOL! good stuff pacecars, i'm thinking one round in the head would have done the deed, glad he backed off, hmmmm, bear lard pie crust, i'll have Wife look into that if i ever kill one, bet bear fat could also be used on Sharps rifles to protect the bores from rust and maybe even grease cookie ingredient, for dang sure lubing patches for round ball muzzle loaders! cool

As cool as it may be to take a bear on the ground with a Longbow, i fear it may make me unstring my bow and retire it, i love that damn Toelke Montana Whip, wish i wasn't such a damn square when it comes to respect for game animals. crazy


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A bear hunt is on my bucket list. I think they are a great animal and a worthy challenge. I would love to take one with the .50-90 Sharps with one of them huge bullets.


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Originally Posted by gunner500
LOL! good stuff pacecars, i'm thinking one round in the head would have done the deed, glad he backed off, hmmmm, bear lard pie crust, i'll have Wife look into that if i ever kill one, bet bear fat could also be used on Sharps rifles to protect the bores from rust and maybe even grease cookie ingredient, for dang sure lubing patches for round ball muzzle loaders! cool

As cool as it may be to take a bear on the ground with a Longbow, i fear it may make me unstring my bow and retire it, i love that damn Toelke Montana Whip, wish i wasn't such a damn square when it comes to respect for game animals. crazy



As Huey Lewis once said “It’s hip to be square”

Much respect for your ethics


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^^^^^^^^^Thanks Buddy.


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Nothing wrong with your mixed emotions . I've archery hunted them and taken three, passed some on gun hunts, not sure I care to take another unless it is an adventure hunt (costal AK). I'd say get a tag, sit a stand and hunt, you can decide if you want a kill when the time comes. Just watching and having them close is a thrill.
I've had good and bad bear meat, depends on what they were eating.

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I have shot several black bear and passed on many other opportunities. At least two of them were very good eating, and at least one was not so hot! I personally don't like handling the carcass, kind of gives me the creeps! I think it is a combo of the long hair, teeth/claws, greasy carcass and darkish blood, but I tend to find a reason not to shoot them generally.

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I have heard ones that eat a lot of fish and carrion suck. The ones around here would taste great since the eat so much corn😜


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Originally Posted by pacecars
A bear hunt is on my bucket list. I think they are a great animal and a worthy challenge. I would love to take one with the .50-90 Sharps with one of them huge bullets.


Dang, i missed this post last night, the scotch was gelling my brain LOL, i can guarantee you'll not get either of the bullets i sent you back on any bear, they are indeed freight trains buddy.


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54Woody, thanks for the report, i have an old buddy that drove all the way to Canada, hunted black bear off horseback, killed a very nice bear, i asked him once if he was ever going to hunt them again, he said nope, don't want too......., i may be in the same boat if i ever.

Thank you too patbrennan, i understand part of that, a buddy shot a black bear over in Arkansas iirc it was in the Muddy Creek WMA back in the mid 90's, i was at that camp deer hunting with my mzzle loader, they had the bear partially skinned out on his back on a bumper pull trailer, it looked like a small man, the muscle, meat and bone looked rather thin, made me wonder where all their strength came from, a wild animal of course, but they're not built very powerful looking, that one weighed around 250 lbs.

LOL pacecars, the ones here have been eating corn chops, barley sprouts and wheat midds with all the clean rainwater in that new pond, i have a ditch cut that intercepts a small drainage off the mountain, any decent rain puts a little more water in than just what falls in from the sky,



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I've never shot a bear but think I'd like to someday. I buy a bear tag every year to have on hand while chasing deer and elk, but have never hunted them specifically. I was told by a former BIL that bear look like humans when you peel the hide off and that was enough of a turn-off for him to ever want to shoot one again.

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A lot of similarities here JGray, i'll by a bear tag this year too, like was mentioned earlier, i'll know whether i shoot one if/when it shows up, i may be getting it figured out, must be because the bear and i are much alike, like to largely be left alone to go about our business, but can get testy i guess when riled! grin


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I feel you. Now that I [finally] have a nice color phase bear, which was my black bear bucket list, I can live without shooting another. Down here bear season is so blasted hot it's hard to hunt anyway. To seal the deal, my bear killing spot, and aluminum stand with it, burned to sand among the 500,000 acres lost in AZ this year. EZ decision.

So the next time I get an itch to hunt them I'll tell myself I'm holding out for a big one.


I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world itself is vexing enough. -- Col. Stonehill
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