Looking for a 2025 trip to chase bears with hounds. I know the easy answer is New Mexico or Arizona due to driving distance, but where are the better places to go? I love Maine, and wouldn’t mind going there, but I know nothing about this type of hunting. Idaho would be awesome but, they sure seem proud of their operations there compared to the rest of the US. I prefer somewhere with OTC tags.

I’ll send you a link in a PM

BC would be a great trip, but y’all don’t play well with the pistol I want to hunt with.

Arkansas or Eastern Tennessee if you want to hunt with hounds. Hunted in both places as a younger man, just be in shape. Chasing those dogs up and down the mountains will kick your a$$.

What’s your definition of better?

NM is hard to beat because most the good houndsmen are running bears or lions 300+ days a year. I have a book bear from NM

You might want to mark Arkansas off that list:

https://www.hgoid.com/

Great dogs, and hound’s men, but tough country. Allegedly a “gentleman's hunt”, but you’ll regret not being in decent shape. Feel free to pm me, as I just returned from a hunt with them on Friday.

Michigan or Wisconsin. Easier to draw in Michigan. Took me 10 years to draw my black bear tag for Wisconsin. I used hounds and I'll never go that route again. It was the most lackluster hunt I'd ever been on. First day of the hunt, we met in the forest and pulled cards from trail cams. Had a good bear that came by earlier in the morning. At 0700, we let the dogs loose. They treed the bear about 80 yards away off the logging road. I walked up to the tree and shot. Hunt over.

I realized then that wasn't my thing.

I need your luck. My last two were 6 plus miles deep in wilderness. Anywhere from 2000-3000ft of elevation gain, and jumped trees multiple times. The running bay is a fun hike also

@bobo , what gun do you use for a treed bear ?

Bear hunting with dogs is a big thing in eastern North Carolina- Beaufort county is known for large black bears. My dad's part of the family is from there and I have deer hunted there at the family farm. Seen many bears there.

I’ve read that those bears are the fluffiest of all of them.

I think they are a different subspecies of bear. IIRC they are coastal black bear.

North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Virginia, all have giant black bear. They killed one in New Jersey that was 700 something pounds.


A western mountain bear often times doesn't get much over 300....most that get shot are around 200 lbs.

Newfoundland also has some giant black bears.

Do you think that is due to diet like the difference is between Grizzly and Brown bear or actual genetics? Genetics should be easy to prove. years ago probably 30 years ago or more there was an bear hunt in NC coastal area that a supposedly 600 lb black bear had been taken and they attributed it to diet for the size difference then.

Newfoundland has lots of bear it also has runs of salmon up the creeks and streams that I am sure give at least some of the bears there a high protein and fat source part of the year.

I don’t believe New Foundland bears hibernate either, which affects their weight.

I can’t say that a fish diet attributed to their heavy weight. The big bears killed in New Jersey don’t have a fish diet

Too small to shoot, but the chase was a blast. About 60’ up the tree.

Shooting a few grouse and being within easy bow shot of elk was also a great experience.

Grizzly vs Brown are diet (and some of the ABC island bears have a touch of polar bear). There is no genetic separation though in Alaska as it’s a longitude point that separates

But with NC, etc Those states feed and don’t have harsh winters. The highest weight blk bears killed in the US have a high probability of tasting like donuts

Lightest one you own, as that final tree maybe 100 yards from road or 6.5 miles and 2k’ elevated

For me 223 with 77 TMK


They aren’t tough. Aim center center and they are done quick. Don’t aim for shoulder as that’s way to far forward

It’s weird them telling you to aim for the middle.

I couldn’t do it and shot behind the shoulder

Anywhere in Appalachia would be great. Plenty bears and plenty of people who raise and hunt with hounds there. Been to plenty of foxhound field trials there in my younger days.

Newfy Bears have a long hibernation period of 6+ months on average. Varies some over the island. In the SE it is shorter as snow depth is typically lower but still enough to shutdown all food. In the NW part of the island though snow can get 10 to 12 feet deep in the bush and no food whatsoever for them for a very long time.

https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/839845