Minnesota bear season 9-1-14

[pmer]

Is anyone going after bear? It seems like I would like to give it a try some time. How does bear taste, like chicken?

I wonder how much luck I'd have trying to bait the one my mother in law saw not to long ago?

[white eagle]

Bear(black bear) meat is excellent
chicken not so much more on the line of ham

[Dan Cash]

Can you run bear with hounds in MN? If so, it could be fun.

[quilbilly]

Bear meat is outstanding if the animal hasn't been gorging on dead salmon. Fennel + seasalt rubbed roasts are out of this world and bear sausage including breakfast, polish, and bratwurst are great.
Due to business I can't get out for bear much but my hunting partner missed a shot at one earlier this week. Sadly, the bunny-huggers made hounds and bait illegal in this state so our bear hunting is tough but the season is long here (Aug 1- mid Nov).
One good bait to use is dry cat food since it much higher in protein. Since bears crave protein, it doesn't take much to attract them. A cup or two in a pile and another cup scattered around the area will keep a bear in place until he locates every pellet. Just put the bait out a couple times a week in the morning (!!) and,once they find it, the competitive greedy bears will start coming in the afternoon to get it all. A 10# bag of Friskies from WalMart goes a long way.

[pmer]

Can't use dogs in MN. In north eastern Minnesota they have a 3750 bear quota and I'm in the no quota section so I think I can still get a license.

Cat food is the trick..hmm It does seem hard to keep raccoons out of the barn cats food.

How sensitive are they to human presence? I suppose down wind off the ground at 40 yards or more is okay?

[white eagle]

quiet very quiet is what bears are
different from deer they just show up
don't shoot the first one as there are many different animals coming to your spot
sensitive yes do use a cover scent,we used liquid smoke at the spot and while we were on stand
they got used to the smell

[quilbilly]

One of the reasons you put the cat food out in the morning is that it gives the bears a chance to get to it before the raccoons do at night. They are competitors for the same protein. 40 yards is about as close as I would get but you have to be extremely quiet, even more than for deer, if the bear have been hunted. My hunting partner found that out the hard way this week when all that happened was that his buttstock brushed his hearing-amplified ear protectors. The bear heard that faint noise from 30 yards and was gone in an instant. I did assure my partner the bear would be back (I hope).

[pmer]

I watched some bear hunting on youtube last night and saw some baiting and shooting. I now I'm jumpimg in kinda late as far as baiting but maybe bait a couple weeks and try a few hunts in the later part of the season.

I have a 45-70 micro grove I'd like to up and going (no molds) but otherwise have a Rossi lever action 45 Colt. So I might have time to get Accurate mold from Tom or just use some 350 grain Hornaday round nose in the 45-70.

[pmer]

I put out a bait station at my mother in laws. I used cat food and hung some sanitary items soaked with vanilla. She put me in a stand pines between two neighbors that see bear in their yards. There isn't too much deer sign and I found a small clearing. I still have to bring a limb saw and pick a tree, to make forty yards I'll be shooting between trees. It's crop land with swamps and blocks of woods.

Are the vitals more foward compared to a white tail deer?

Last knight I took a 2x8 power scope off a bolt action and barrel sighted it to the 45-70. I've tried some .452 diameter patching with it in the past but I'd like to get a .330 meplat 400 grain RF for it. Tom's web site says he is three weeks out and NOE looks to have something in stock. Off to go and make noise with the Marlin and get it zeroed.

[Rufus Krile]

Friend's party just took two blackies in the Gila country of NM with an '86 Winchester and 405gr Lee RNFP (16:1) over 16gr of Trail Boss. Said the bullets were still too hard... not much wound channel.

[pmer]

Thanks for info Rufus, I wonder what velocity 16 gr of trail boss would com e out to be?

I'm feeding something at my MIL's bait station, the food is always gone. The last two times I was there I could smell some type of critter around. It didn't smell like fox, deer, skunk or coyote.

More praise for Tom at Accurate Molds. He must have a great system for getting molds out in the mail. Ordered Saturday and arrived Thursday. He cut it for WW +2 % tin and 50/50 COWW/pure. should be good to go!

[Rufus Krile]

pmer: That load runs 1170fps across the chronograph with 26" bbl and the same with a 30" bbl. It isn't a 'book' load, but it shows absolutely no signs of pressure problems in three different rifles (two '86's and an '85). The biggest problem is finding some Trail Boss. If anybody knows of a stash around anywhere let me know. I really like the stuff. I see you also have some 5744... 27.0 gr behind the 405gr gives me 1400fps in my 30" Model '85and shoots real well with little to no abuse. You can run them a lot faster but there's really not much point in it.

[marshall623]

Thanks for info Rufus, I wonder what velocity 16 gr of trail boss would com e out to be?

I'm feeding something at my MIL's bait station, the food is always gone. The last two times I was there I could smell some type of critter around. It didn't smell like fox, deer, skunk or coyote.

More praise for Tom at Accurate Molds. He must have a great system for getting molds out in the mail. Ordered Saturday and arrived Thursday. He cut it for WW +2 % tin and 50/50 COWW/pure. should be good to go!
If a bear is close enough to get a wiff. They will smell like a wet dog. We have more than our share in our part of Va.

[pmer]

Thanks for the information. My mold is a Accurate 46-405A. I went for a 50/50 mix using boolits I shot into a snow bank last winter. Those were W/W and jacketed then I added lead round ball and a couple small chunks of tin. They are a SEACO 5 for hardness which makes them softer than COWW. I'll try for 1400 - 1500 FPS sized to .460''.