Florida is having it's first bear hunt(quota) in 20 years. The bears are getting pretty thick in North Florida. I am on a lease and there are only about 10 hunters on our 1,700 acres. We have been seeing 1 bear in particular that simply makes the rounds to all our stands and devours our corn. We are limited to stand hunting due to the "thickness" of all the vegetation. When the bears are around the deer & hogs simply evaporate. This particular bear is about 200 lbs give or take.

There are a couple of catches:
1) If the bear is within 100 yds of a feeding station he can't be taken. So, it isn't like I can simply go hunting and if the bear shows up take him. He would either be coming to, or going from a stand.

2) Anyone, and everyone, can buy a bear permit. But, after opening weekend the quota hunt will be ended after 100 bears are harvested.

3) It will be during muzzleloader season. I CAN use a centerfire rifle or pistol.....but only for bear. But, I would be able to take a muzzleloader and a revolver. That way if a nice buck comes up I can simply use the muzzleloader. If the bear is close I could use my revolver. If not, I can use the muzzleloader.

The hard part is the thickness of the brush. It would have to happen fast. Two or three steps and he is gone. They usually stay in the thick stuff unless they are devouring the corn at a feeder.

I will be going to scout the area this weekend for a place to set-up that would afford me the best opportunity for a successful harvest.

Do you think I should go for it, or not?

Find his trail and sit on it.Can't be any thicker than here in S.E.Alaska.Just be sure you really want to shoot a bear maybe ten feet away,its fun for sure

X2

The more I think about it......the more I want to go for it. It would definitely be different.

If you don't buy a permit, you'll most assuredly see him

Go for it

^This^

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.......

You got that right. Think I am going to go for it. Will let you know the outcome.

Good luck to you Mike! Keep us posted!

DO IT!!!

That's life ;-)

I'm not one to throw money away on vises such as drugs,drinking, gambling... A hundred bucks spent on a chance to shoot a bear for me is a no brainer... yup sign me up please. Not saying i dont have vises... fly fishing , rod building , fly tying ,hunting , guns , reloading. My vises wont land me in jail or in trouble with the wife. Buy the tag and whack a bear.

Give it a shot. What have you got to lose?

Personally, I'd use a specialty muzzleloading handgun on them.

Can you use an attractant? I have heard that stuff like this works somewhat well.

http://www.codebluescents.com/bear-magnet-power-start-drip-bag-w-beaver-castor

Got your tag yet?

We can't use any attractant. I will be getting my tag in the next couple days.

Don't procrastinate, you might use the money somewhere else like say a new gun?

Already got the new gun. So, I'm good there.

Participated in a webinar with the Fl Dept Wildlife a couple days ago. As of 10/20 there have been 2,868 bear tags sold! No telling how many sold since then. Only 320 bears will be taken statewide. I got my tag. I will have my muzzleloader and my 629 along. If I have a shot within 35 yds I will try to use the revolver. Any longer and my skills will require me to use the smokepole for ethics reasons. I leave tomorrow and the hunt starts Saturday AM. I will keep you posted. Wish me luck.

Best water repellant for boots hunting bears is bacon grease,works great and not bait.

Now that is one for "the book."

That's hilarious. Bacon has so many uses.

Atleast he'll know what tree you're in. Closer shots that way. Wait to pull the trigger until he is tickling the bottom of your stand.

I'll have to remember that if I ever go bear hunting.

Its also a safety thing. If a bear gets you he will be chewing on your feet giving time for killing shots.

Well? Were you one of the lucky ones before they shut it down?

Curious as well. This hunt made the national evening news a few days ago. I had the news playing while working on the 'puter, and caught it out of the corner of my ear. Thought of this thread.

It sounded like more than a few bears were harvested, and that only a couple of folks were cited for doing something wrong. And that particular news program didn't seem too badly biased.

Craig

I read over 300 bears were harvested.

What a wild ride. But, was successful! Got to camp Friday afternoon. Did some chores and such. Saturday morning I was ready. The bears apparently decided to sleep-in. Saturday evening I was chomping at the bit......no bear sightings. I was like you have to be kidding me!! We had been seeing 80% bears for 2 solid weeks.

I called the Bear Hotline Saturday night to see if any quotas had been filled. Wow..3 out of 5 bear management units in the state had tagged out on Day 1. My area in the North and the Everglades South were still open. I went out Sunday morning wondering if I was going to get skunked. Saw a couple does. Not the Make or Model I was after. My buddy had a tag and couldn't fill it as he had to leave for work.

Sunday afternoon rolls around and I new it was now or never. Went to the stand early and just sat. I had my 5" 629 , loaded with 240 gr XTP's over a stiff load of H-110. This was for use if a Bear presented itself at 50 yds or under. Had my CVA Optima muzzleloader stoked with 110 gr BH-209 topped off with a Barnes T-EZ 250 gr .45 sabot for anything over 50 yds or if a nice deer showed up since it is muzzleloader season here. At 5:20 PM I look at my watch and said to myself, "you have 40 minutes of shooting light to make a Bear materialize out of thin air." It wasn't looking too promising. Exactly 5 minutes later I look to my right and SEE THE BEAR!!! It was 85 yards. This was going to be one of those shots where I had to become a Contortionist. Left leg way up and over to my right. Sling wrapped around my forearm. Now if the crosshairs would quit trembling! It didn't do that at the range..LOL. The Bear started out facing me and slowly began to swap ends. I picked my spot and got a slight quartering away shot and squeezed the trigger. As the shot broke, and the smoke cleared away, I saw it running to the thick stuff 10 yards away traveling in the opposite direction.

My heart started racing, and I started trembling. It took me about 5 minutes to simply get the rope tied to lower my rifle down. Finally with that monumental task achieved I slowly eased out and down the stand. As light was fading I eased over to where the Bear was standing when I shot, S&W 629 in hand, glanced around. I saw the paw marks where it bolted away. Being very colorblind I decided to go to camp and get tracking help and let the Bear settle down and expire. 2 buddies and their 4 wheelers came back to help me look. It was 8 PM and pitch black. They spotted blood right away and we began the slow, stumbling, tracking job into the briars. After about 50 yards the blood trail disappeared. We saw the line of travel and my buddy continued on that same line. After about 30 minutes he had gone about 70 yards and.......there it was! Down for the count. We negotiated it out with some difficulty to where we could get a 4-wheeler in, loaded it and headed to camp.

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%2013_zpsmxylzbod.jpg?t=1445903944

To say I was happy would be an understatement.


http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%205_zpsjx1rv3cy.jpg?t=1445903949

It was a female that had a gross weight of 225 lbs.

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%201_zpsziplc502.jpg

Ursus Americanus Floridanus.

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%201_zpsaxb6tsxi.jpg?t=1445903949

The local Processor and Taxidermist field dressed it and placed it in the cooler over night. I went and got it Monday morning and took it to the check station. I brought it back to him and he is going to make me a Bear rug to put on the wall. Will get the meat when I go back in a week or so.

I am still on cloud 9. I thank all of you for encouraging me to go for it.

The Animal Rights People have been all over this with protestors all over the place. None were there when I got to the check station. They left the night before. I really don't care if they had been there or not. They are not well educated.

They did somehow get my e-mail and I have received some hate mail. One was just a plain old PETA type. But, the other one was quite an angry sort. What is with these people?

Awesome bear! Congratulations!

Thank You TN Lone Wolf. I couldn't figure that part out.

No problem.

Sorry to hear about the angry emails you got. They're just cowards hiding behind the anonymity of a computer screen.

Mike,

very cool, and congrats. Don't let the tree huggers get you down. Those folks would rather the bear and deer get killed by vehicles and such, with no desire to let the professional game managers actually manage the populations.

Craig

MIke, very nicely done!!!! I'm glad you took the $100 chance cuz it surely paid off! Congratulations!!

I am very glad it all paid off for you!

The only thing better would have been if it was in MY handgun range.

Glad you connected. Was surely worth the "gamble" in every way!

Good job. Great color in that bear. It'll make you smile and remember every time you look at it. Congratulations.

It sure will. It was a bit different than 95% of the others. Most had a very tan muzzle. But no complaints here.

Congrats on the fine bear.Remember to cook meat well.A man can get hooked on bear hunting