Bowhunting for Bears

[Nails]

With the bear season opening in few days, who plans on hunting strictly with their bow this season. Do you have back up, with a shotgun/rifle or bear spray. Or is your partner your back up?

[ex bc guide]

I plan on taking a island bear with my bow this year,hopefully my hunting partner will be my back up with my .340 sako 250 gr.
Mike

[Kirby]

I will be doing it bow style, done it before, on several different bears. I will be backing myself most likely, planning on backing myself with my 870 express, with 3'' slugs. I personally don't like other people backing me up, means I will be twice as loud on the stalk.

Kirby

[oldtimer]

I hunt strictly with my bow and my son chris ( willy ) will be my back up. It gives me a VERY safe feeling knowing he is there. Mike

[houndogger]

I shoot all my bears with a bow and never felt a need for backup.

[love the woods]

I am bowhunting for bear this weekend.I feel like a little kid on christmas eve.I cant sleep and have gone thru my gear every night.

[QnsCowboy]

I better get out for spring bear this year!!!!!!!!!! I will only be hunitng with my bow, but as far as a backup, hopefully won't need one, but as long as I can run faster than Nails, I should be ok...

Craig

[Kirby]

For back up, I use it more when I am approaching the downed bear.
The first bear I ever shot with the rifle was in this manner, I had seen a bruin feeding on an old mud slide, I made the stalk, got withing 25 yards the arrow hit the bear, he went down came up, and lunged, and ended up in a pile of young aspens, I was pretty sure the arrow was a double lunger. However, I wasn't planning on walking into this thing with nothing but my bow, so I waited my 20 minutes, and circled the aspens, I managed to get up on an old blow down log, and got a view of the bear, and he had turned around and was facing back up the way he came down, at this point for what ever reason(muscle twitch, rock rolling who knows) his front right leg shifted, and I nailed him in the head with the rifle. I walked in, he was dead from the first arrow, double lunger, and took out the offside sholder. However, I still like the feeling of a rifle/shotgun when dealing with a possible wounded bear in close quarters.

Kirby

[Sikanni Stalker]

I am with hounddogger on this one. I have taken a spring bear each year with the bow and then one late in the year with rifle. I have never taken gun with me during bowhunts.
Maybe I should have, but I figure that I take care of the bush enough out there, cleaning campsites when I can, picking up bottles and cans that get left, even cleaned an ice hut up this year that had been destroyed on the ice at CHarlie Lake, that the bush will take care of me. Sounds naive, buts its the law of nature man.

[willyqbc]

I hunt strictly with my bow and my son chris ( willy ) will be my back up. It gives me a VERY safe feeling knowing he is there.

Wish i could say the same!! I was in on a very aggressive blackie at 40 yards last year and my back-up (oldtimer) was 300 yds away with the rifle

.......says he had me covered the WHOLE TIME!!!

Was a good thing that bear decided up a tree was a better idea then running me down!! .....oh, hes a dead bear now by the way!

I will be packing the shotgun when out by myself this year

Chris