Want to hunt bruins by bow? Here’s what to know

If you’ve bowhunted deer for years and want to try for bears, you’re just a tweak or two away from getting your bow and arrows ready for the challenge.

Likewise, if you’ve already gun-hunted bears and want to increase the challenge with a recurve, compound bow or crossbow, the archery rig you choose will work just fine on whitetails, too.

Either way, bear populations are strong across the Great Lakes states and nearby Canadian provinces. If you want to hunt bears every year, spring or fall, you’ll enjoy investigating and exploring endless bowhunting opportunities in the years ahead. Settling on a bowhunting setup takes far less time, especially if you visit an archery shop.

“Shoot whatever bow setup you want, but make sure you have full confidence in your broadhead,” said Kolby Morehead, editor/publisher of Bear Hunting magazine in Fayetteville, Ark. “A bowhunter’s priority is putting two holes in a bear; one entering, one leaving. Bears usually don’t leave as much of a blood trail as deer. Their hides have longer hair, and fat can plug up the wounds, so you want pass-through shots.”

MORE HUNTING FEATURES FROM OUTDOOR NEWS:

Should you shoot single-bevel broadheads? Here’s what to consider

Important features to look for when buying a gun safe

Seven ways to save some cash on your long-range scope setup

Randy Smith, owner/operator of Pappas Trading Post in Arena, Wis., echoes that advice. “You don’t want any second-guessing on your broadhead,” Smith said. “If you’re comfortable shooting a certain broadhead, and you know it always goes where you aim it, that’s what matters most.”

Smith and Morehead said most hunting bows easily send arrows through both sides of a bear’s chest cavity. “To save my shoulders, I only shoot 55 pounds on my bow, and Clay Newcomb (Bear Grease podcast) and his son (Bear) shoot stick bows,” Morehead said. “Their arrows are a bit heavier than mine, but it doesn’t take much to shoot through a bear. Other than its shoulder bones, a bear’s chest cavity is relatively soft. I recently shot a 427-pound bear with a three-blade broadhead. The arrow went straight through him like a laser.”

Smith said a bowhunter’s setup for deer usually works fine on black bears, too. He advises customers to keep shooting those rigs unless they’re heading to Alaska or Canada to hunt grizzlies and coastal brown bears.

“We don’t get too many guys going after grizzlies, but we have kids come in each year to get set up for black bears in northern Wisconsin,” Smith said. “If they’re shooting a 40-pound bow with fixed-blade, cut-on-contact broadheads, they’ll be fine. I also have a customer with a long draw who shoots a 50-pound draw weight and not-so-heavy 380-grain arrows, and he killed a 400-pound bear with a pass-through shot. But if you like expandable broadheads, you should go to a heavier draw-weight bow to shoot through both sides of the bear.”

Even though most hunters across the Great Lakes region use centerfire rifles for bears, Morehead thinks archery gear is ideal for the task. Unlike deer, bears don’t react to the sound a string makes when bowhunters trigger their release.

“Bears I’ve shot with arrows only went 15 to 60 yards from where I lung-shot them, and the one that went 60 yards was mostly because it rolled down a steep hill after it fell,” Morehead said. “They really don’t know what happened. They just feel a sting and start running. There’s no big boom to scare them off.”

Morehead said he prefers fixed-blade broadheads because he fears the bear’s thicker, long-haired hide and underlying fat can hinder penetration on expandable broadheads. “I’m not anti-mechanical broadheads, but they’re not all equal. I just advise bear hunters to use a cut-on-contact design that opens quickly. The long hair on a bear’s hide can cause problems for expandables, and I’m just a guy who doesn’t like a lot of moving parts.”

Smith, however, said he’s seen impressive results on bears with expandables. “I like them because they dispatch the animal so quickly,” he said. “You cut larger holes, cause greater damage, and put them down fast. Today’s bows shoot faster than ever, and expandables shoot more like field points, so you don’t need a perfectly tuned bow to put them in the same hole every time. Some fixed-blade broadheads need precise bow tuning to shoot straight.”

Smith and Morehead suggest bowhunters tweak some of their treestand setups to maximize results. For instance, set things up for 15- to 20-yard shots, and 25 yards at the maximum. Also, don’t set your treestand at nose-bleed heights that create steep shooting angles and possibly fewer pass-throughs.

More bow bear tips

For shot placement, start by aiming “middle of the middle,” but then edge forward a few inches to avoid a paunch shot. Do not, however, aim tightly behind the shoulder as you might on a deer. For height, aim for the exact bear’s middle. A bear’s belly can hang low, so figure its body cavity and internal organs start about 6 inches above its lowest belly hairs.

If you’re hunting over bait, let the bear relax and settle in for its last meal. Pay close attention to how it’s standing, and wait for a good broadside or slightly quartering-away shot with all four paws on the ground.

“Bears can take some strange angles, and cup their body toward you and compress the target,” Morehead said. “It can be hard to tell if it’s really broadside. If it’s actually quartering toward you, you’ll hit it way back. Bears are famous for giving you at least 10 options for body angles you’ve never practiced on a target. It might even roll over on its back or lie on its stomach. Stay patient. Don’t take a risky shot.”

But if a bear comes in late, get ready to shoot.

“If you wait for the bear to settle in as the light starts fading, it might get so relaxed that it lies down,” Morehead said. “You might never get a shot before dark.”

Consider using lighted nocks. “Bears often come in at last light, making it hard to see where the arrow hits,” Smith said.

Once you shoot, grab your smartphone and document what you saw as the bear fled. “Record where it ran and describe what you’re seeing,” Morehead said. “If it ran past a certain tree before disappearing, describe the tree and what else the bear ran past. Things will look different from the ground, and you’ll forget some details, so record everything while it’s fresh in your mind.”

When blood-trailing the bear, fire up your smartphone’s onX Hunt app, record the trail and mark all blood sign. If the blood sign peters out, study the onX trail you created for clues on where to search next.

“If I trail a bear more than 60 to 100 yards, I’ll pause and give it a little time while I study my onX in topo mode to look for water,” Morehead said. “A hit bear heads for water, and that’s where we’ll often find them.”

Choose the biggest peep sight you can accurately shoot. Super-small peep sights will fail you inside a thick woods as daylight fades. All you’ll see is black when you aim at a bear’s black hide.

Bears have relatively average eyesight and rely heavily on their nose to detect danger, so don’t take your scent and wind direction for granted.