So, heading to Minnesota for a September 1st bear hunt (Thank you again to my host). I’ll be sitting all day for up to a week, so need something light for potentially upper 80 degree days. I’ve got my standard scent-lok stuff, but I haven’t hunted critters that can smell well at those temps. Looking at UA heat gear and running my ozonics on full blast all the time. Got plenty of clothes for anything under 70 degrees.
Just exploring any local knowledge I can get before I open the checkbook.
THX
Just some general ideas…
Not sure where you’ll be hunting but I assume it’s somewhere in north central or NE MN. Leaves likely wont start changing until the 1st week of October so you’re still talking summer green. The one thing I’ve noticed is so many camo patterns are designed for hardwood forest. A lot of NE MN is popple/birch/balsam country so it may be worth finding this out. If so, some of the camos designed for the west may be worth looking into. Basically camos that have some whites and grays in them. I know Predator & KUIU have some patterns like this.
Make sure you have a head net. The bugs can be really bad in early Sept.
I think too much thought goes into camo for early bear season. More important is learning to just not move too suddenly. Bears have long been said to have bad eyesight but they can see sudden movement VERY well.
On that expensive scent blocking clothing, all the scent control in the world isn’t going to hide you from a bear because you have to breathe. Refraining from eating garlic and onions while you are hunting can help and any alcohol you consume the day or night before hunting will be oozing out of you the next day , all of this of course on your breath. Brushing and garling and rinsing makes you happy but doesn’t hide you from a bear. Smokes of any kind while in camp or actually hunting will put a target dot on you. And then there’s this thing that bear just seem to have this 7th sense that knows you are around when in the woods.
I noticed that baiting and taking stand early in the morning will often make the bear go nocturnal if you startle them coming in to bait or set up to hunt. They’ll leave the bait before you even get there in the morning and won’t come back until well after dark or they’ll go visit someone else’s bait where they haven’t been disturbed. Staying after dark and spooking a bear off a bait or trail can do the same thing.
My baiting was always done at late-morning….11 or so and I’d get into the stand right after. Bear can smell the change of smells at a bait pile and will come in during daylight if the smells and bait are right. Daytime bears tend to be less tentative about coming to a bait when the woods are full light and not full of shadows. I’ve never taken a bear before noon and never have shot one after 4:30 in the afternoon.
Some wind is not a bad thing, but an all out blow can really screw up hunting time any time of the day. Don’t let rain chase you out of the woods as some of the best hunting can be had during a nice rain as long as there’s not thunder or lightning.
Of all the variables that come with hunting bear I still feel that movement is the biggest spoiler of all. Use bug repellant as it doesn’t seem to bother bear and swatting bugs will ruin more possible shots than any other concern.
As the above poster said. Bear have very poor eye sight but will catch a sudden movement. Any camo will work. Sit still and be quiet.
I forgot to mention the be quiet part. Bear have incredible hearing and the ability to pinpoint where a sound comes from and how far away it came from. If at all possible take a piece of carpeting into the stand for you feet and be darned sure to knock any mud or dirt from your boots BEFORE you climb into the stand. And those nice little snacks all wrapped up in foil and cellophane wrappers that you stick in your pockets…they can sell you out at 40 yards and 22 feet up. Gotta stay quiet too.
Thanks guys, appreciate the advice. Long time whitetail guy and just trying to make sure I haven’t missed anything. Just hoping it’s not 90 degrees all week.
Even in remote areas bear have more human interaction than people realize and are plenty accustomed to the human scent. Bears are color blind and seem to not have the focus that we do but they are masters at detecting movement, just like your whitetails except bears will dismiss slow motions faster than a deer will. The big thing with bears, as it pertains to the hunter, is their hearing and deciphering natural noise from the woods from sounds made by man. Wind makes them super wary but they’ll tolerate hearing a chain saw a mile away while they will simply go on red alert if they hear a small clod of mud that went to the stand with you fall and hit the ground.
And when you are developing your bait stations, do not bring the favorite hound with you for company. A dog will scent up the area around the bait source and bears have no time for dogs. Bears cohabitate with wolves and will tolerate the smell of them. Dogs…..nada.
Go have fun. Keep your stands at a height that will afford you a nice shot but still affords you the backdrop of surround tree canopies and not a background of big blue sky. Wear comfortable camo that is cool enough but still helps keep the bugs at bay. The last thing that would be on my list of things to consider would be any of this scent stopper stuff as its expensive and tends to be HOT when the wood’s temps and humidity levels go uphill and the woods are always full of humidity and when it comes to bears simply is not that effective for something that really doesn’t matter. Other things that come free are more important.
Great Advice, thx. Will post the results this fall.
Bring a good book and a thermocell.
Bear’s can smell you and will know you’re there, but there stomach over rules caution, unless you’re after a big trophy bear. But Minnesota bear’s typically or on average aren’t big ag bear’s, they are woods bear’s for the most part.
Have the thermacell and a pile of refills.
Bug Tamer suit
bug tamer suit x2 love mine but the pants don’t hold up in the woods… jacket is better also thermocell is worth its weight in gold remember to bring it with when you bait to get the bears used to it. I ended up hunting in silky turkey hunting pants a bug tamer top and crocks a few years ago it was really hot 90 plus days and in the woods no wind was no fun
One step closer…thanks for all the advice. Actually the mosquitos weren’t as bad as they are at my house. We had flood water a couple weeks ago and its been terrible.
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Just gotta talk this guy into coming in during shooting hours. Plenty of his friends are….click on the photo for the whole picture.
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