Wild_Guide_Spring2016

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A BEAR’S SENSE OF SMELL This is the single most important aspect of black bear hunting and for good reason – bears have the best noses on the planet. how good is it? Well lets put it into perspective. Mammals process scent through olfactory receptors in the back of the nasal cavity. Humans have approximately 6 million olfactory receptors in our noses. A bloodhound, known for their impeccable sense of smell, have around 1.8 billion. That’s a lot, making their sense of smell 300 times stronger than ours. A black bear has 12.6 trillion olfactory receptors making their sense of smell 2100 times better than ours. Black bears have been seen to travel 18 miles in a straight line to a food source, so you can bet that no matter how ‘scent free’ you think you are, a black bear can smell you from miles away. That said, there are a number of steps you can take to ensure that you are as scent free as possible. scent control Start with the clothes that you will be wearing. Wash every article in scent-free detergent and then run them through the wash another time or two with no detergent to thoroughly rinse them. Because fabric softener scents tend to linger, do not dry your clothes in the dryer, rather hang them outside to dry. Once dry, store them immediately in a plastic bag. Large zip-style bags are best as they lock odours out. As an extra level of precaution, store the bags in a tightly sealed plastic or rubberized bin. Before heading out on the hunt, shower with scent free soap and shampoo, but don’t forget to brush your teeth. Bears love the smell of mint, so use this to your advantage. Your hunting clothes, especially outer layers, should remain sealed in their bags and bins until you arrive at your hunting destination. Once dressed, take one last preventative step and spray yourself with scent blocker from head to toe. Remember to pay attention to wind direction and always stay down wind of your prey. A BEAR’S DIET There are some interprovincial differences surrounding the matter of how to hunt a black bear because not all provinces allow hunters to use bait. Regardless of the method you plan to use, baiting vs stalking, it warrants some knowledge of a bears forage and habits before you set out. what do they eat? While black bears are known to be omnivores, plant matter such as berries, nuts and farm crops make up about 90 percent of their diet. Once bears locate a food source, they will generally frequent that spot until the forage is depleted. This knowledge alone probably has you thinking about some likely bear buffets in your area but the best way to know what the bears are eating is to do a little pre-season scouting. A quick look at a bear’s droppings will quickly shed light on it’s recent intake. Now that you know what the bears are TIP Hang a rag soaked in your favourite bug repellant near your treestand. Not only will this help ward off bugs, the bear will come to associate the smell with the food source and won’t notice anything different when you’re sitting there wearing the same repellant. eating, it should give you some clue as to where they are eating. Now we just need to know how to apply this knowledge to put us in the right place at the right time. when do they eat? If you want to know the best time of day to catch a bear gorging on their food of choice, you will need to research your local population a little more. The general consensus is that bears typically eat at dusk, so hunt late afternoon until sundown. But this is largely dependant on what and where a bear is eating. A black bear that is focusing his foraging efforts on a crop of corn will usually only enter standing corn after dark, making it difficult to ambush him on his way to the field. So your best bet is to locate his exit routes and put up a nearby tree stand. Black bears tend to bed down for the day so plan to ambush him as he leaves the crop early in the morning in search of his napping spot. The use of trail cameras will come in handy here to determine what time he’s moving. Of course, there won’t be any crops in the spring but a tactic to bear in mind for the fall. 43 Wild Guide . Spring 2016
BAIT SITE According to Kim Hoffman of Holt Lake Lodge Adventures in Saskatchewan, the best time of day to hunt black bear may be a matter of little consequence. “With the use of trail cams, I have learned that the myth of evening hunting is just that, a myth. Bears are more active at all times of the day then I once believed. We have hunted specific bears at first light, some midday and of course the usual evening hunt.” While bears may not be picky about what they eat, you’re bait site requires a bit of careful consideration. There are a few things that every bait site should have. Three main components are, of course, the bait, an attractant of some sort and a treestand. bait Of course your site needs bait. This is what you will actually be feeding the bears. This is usually a belly filler of some sort placed into large steel drums or plastic barrels. attractant An attractant helps spread scent into the air and get the bears coming in. There are a number of ways to do this, such as spreading things like molasses and peanut butter on trees and logs around the bait site. For something that will keep bears coming in 24/7, try hanging an attractant between trees out of the bears reach. This can be created by taking a small bucket, drilling a few small holes in the bottom of it and filling it with things like berry pie filling or vanilla icing. On hot days this will slowly melt and drip out the bottom of the bucket giving bears a teasing little taste. You can also hang things like animal carcasses, or try filling the bucket with fish entrails. pacifier This is an optional component, but one that can be quite effective for keeping the bear on the bait longer. The idea here is to create a bait pile that the bear has to work at. This can be accomplished by digging a small pit about 6’ across and 2’ deep. Place your bait in the bottom of the pit and cover it over with large rocks and logs. Use the biggest objects you can and really pile them on. This also serves as a great way to gauge the size of the bears coming into the bait. You can tell this by the paw marks they will leave around the pit as well as by the size of objects they are able to move. tree stand The placement of your treestand is as important to your success as anything else at your bait site. This needs to take into account the wind direction, the direction from which animals will be entering the site, and the angle to the animal when you take the shot. Your treestand should always be downwind of your bait to help avoid the bears detecting your scent and as far from the entry points as possible. shot alignment The last thing to consider when setting up your bait site is your desired shot. You should set up your bait in a manner that the bear will be broadside or quartered slightly away from you when he is at the bait. You can do this by using logs and boulders to funnel the bears to the bait in the desired direction. Just be certain you don’t inadvertently obstruct your shot. Another trick is to securely fasten your bait barrel to a tree at the right angle to set the bear up for the shot. site management Now that your bait site is set up and baits are full, you want to give that site a week or two before you start hunting it. This gives bears time to find the site and to get comfortable with eating there. Bears are big eaters and will clean a site out pretty quickly. Once a bear cleans out a bait, it generally won’t return to the site so it’s important to check regularly and re-fill baits as needed. BEST KILL SHOT ON A BLACK BEAR A wounded bear is an angry bear, and an angry bear is much more likely to attack and kill you. While the threat of danger may be part of the allure to hunting a big bruin, a wounded bear is not something you want to find yourself faced with. The best way to ensure your safety is to make sure your first shot is a kill shot. This is true for bow and rifle hunters alike. A black bear can run as fast as 55kmh which makes firing a second shot unlikely should he decide to run at you. So what is the best kill shot placement? While a head shot is a certain immediate kill, the brain is a small target and a miss can injure a bear or miss completely and simply anger him or frighten him off the bait never to return. Even if your shot finds it’s mark, it’s going to cause irreparable damage to the pelt which may be of interest for a rug or mount. The same is true for a neck or spine shot. The target is small and with it’s thick fur and layers of fat, can be difficult to find on a bear. For these reasons we say a lung shot is best for bears. It’s a big easy target and will ensure a clean kill. Be aware that the lungs are further forward on a bear than on a deer so keep your shot nice and close to that front shoulder or you could end up with a meat spoiling gut shot. Wild Guide . Spring 2016 44
Page 1 and 2: Premiere Issue FISHING GEAR PRO TEC
Page 3 and 4: SPRING 2016 WHAT’S FOR DINNER? Ca
Page 5 and 6: SPRING 2016 CO NT RI BU TO RS Jamie
Page 7 and 8: 13 FISHING INCEPTION The Multi-Mate
Page 9 and 10: LURE Rebel Pop-R. Our favourite col
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Page 13 and 14: Wild Guide . Spring 2016 12
Page 15 and 16: You are able to find a list of stoc
Page 17 and 18: GEAR Guide Rattl’n Vibe Hot Tiger
Page 19 and 20: I like to switch it up in the sprin
Page 21 and 22: FISHING ISSUE SPRING CRAPPIES by Da
Page 23 and 24: When To Fish Let’s start with the
Page 25 and 26: LAKE TROUT Grey trout can be in som
Page 27 and 28: BROOK TROUT The speckled lady, for
Page 29 and 30: WRITE for Wild Guide We always love
Page 31 and 32: WILD GUIDE WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNIT
Page 33 and 34: GEAR Guide We tried a few different
Page 35 and 36: Because light absorption is greater
Page 37: Fireside Baked Lake Trout This is a
Page 40 and 41: It’s a good idea to teach your ki
Page 43: THE BLACK BEAR, NATURE’S ULTIMATE
Page 47 and 48: SPOT N’ STALK BLACK BEARS by Jaso
Page 49 and 50: FIRST AID When fighting for surviva
Page 51 and 52: Split Single Log Stove- Split an ei
Page 53: Tin Can Rocket Stove - Start by ass
Page 56 and 57: Prehistoric Hunt by Jason Dyck It w
Page 58 and 59: TAke it alL In When we fill our hea
Page 60 and 61: FIELD TO TABLE
Page 62 and 63: Moose Sirloin Stew 61 Wild Guide .
Page 64 and 65: Moose Burger with Smoked Gouda, Dee
Page 66: Moose Sirloin Stew Ingredients 4 po

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