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Black bear hunting in North America is no joke! You definitely need someone to act as your guide, someone who has expert knowledge about bears, especially their habitats, habits and body language.

As far as their dwelling places go, black bears like it rough! And the cold does not bother them, though it might bother you! Though their favorite hidey-holes are forests and areas covered with shrubs, they also wander around ridge tops, burned areas, conifer forests, avalanche chutes, high tidelands, agricultural fields, wet meadows, riparian areas and swampy hardwood. So if you want to go black bear hunting, there?s quite a vast territory to cover!

How are black bears different from other bears? For one thing, their back legs are longer than most other bears. The rest of their features include?a large body, long snout, rounded ears, small eyes and a short tail. They have an acute sense of smell. Generally seen on all fours, you may also see them balancing on their hind legs only. Being flat-footed, the gait is lumbering. If seen during fall season, the time when they are preparing to go into hibernation, these animals seem to have grown in size!

Black bear hunting may be one of your favorite pursuits, but the law will not allow you to go shooting blindly! The reproductive rate of female black bears is very low. Therefore, black bear hunting requires licenses to hunt as well as hunting permits. In fact, they may be withheld during certain months of the year. Book early, to hunt early!

The ability to read the body language of a bear is very important. When a bear is up on its hind legs and sniffing the air, you automatically assume that it is taking up an aggressive stance. And so it might very well be. It could also mean that it suddenly comes back on all fours and charges at its enemy! Watch out for other signs depicting aggression, if you want to be safe. Black bears have been known to kill humans; fifty-six deaths were confirmed during the last century.

Any doubts in your mind during black bear hunting, refer to your guide! A cub may be mistaken for an adult and be killed. Note if the animal you are aiming for is older in age and larger in size. Smaller and younger bears should be left alone as they are just getting ready to breed. Mistakes can lead to alarming consequences.

So if you want to make your black bear hunting trip a memorable one, brush up your knowledge and skills. You are bound to get your reward!

I like to hear black bear hunting success stories and would like to publish a few stories here on Black Bear Hunting New Brunswick.

I was chatting with Kevin Caissie a few days ago and he was telling me about how good the black bear hunting went during the spring black bear hunt for 2009.

I am looking forward to a few greeat stories from Big Paw Outfitters in the next week or so. I will be sure to add a link here to the black bear hunting stories from his lodge.

I am looking forward to the story he started to tell me about the black bear they bagged at BPO lodge, perhaps the biggest they have taken there to this point. Cool.

I guess it just goes to show that you can do a whole lot better black bear hunting if you take the time to find the right guide and lodge.

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• Choosing the Right Black Bear Hunting Outfitter & Preparing For Your Trip (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

If you are into the challenging adventure of bear hunting, you must know your bear hunting dogs. These hunting dogs vary in breed and type. The basic hunting breeds are : hounds, water dogs, and terriers. Whatever their breed or type, hunting dogs have been bred over the years to assist their owners in bringing home food for the family.

Different breeds of hunting dog have different sets of skills. For example, bear hunting dogs. Stamina is an important factor but not the primary skill here. It is highly important , yes, but the ability to pick up a scent and stay with it is more important in this case. In addition the ability to see exceptionally well all play a heavy part in making good bear hunting dogs.

Hounds are popular bear hunting dogs because of their superior stamina and sight & scent abilities. The Rhodesian Ridgeback (also known as the African Lion Hound) hunts large game such as bear, deer, elk, and moose. Other breeds used as bear hunting dogs are the Plott hounds and the Walker hounds.

If you want to use bear traps, know that these and the use of bear hunting dogs has become controversial in certain areas, with strong animal protectionists. Trappers and hunters, not suprisingly, view this form of political control by such groups as a personal attack on their historical and traditional way of life. They say this is unnecessary chipping away at their individual rights.

These trappers and hunters argue that their method is a safe and effective way of killing bears. This is more so because large numbers of bears can threaten society and human populations. Noentheless, The Maine bill, Legislative Document 1635, bans recreational bear trapping in Maine. However, it allows bears to be trapped for scientific research, animal damage control or public safety even though the traps are the same as what hunters use. This ban would remove the use of three types of bear hunting baits, bear hunting hounds, or traps.

If you want to go bear hunting, there are some popular bear hunting areas such as Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Minnesta, Montana, New Mexico, and North Carolina. These offers professional guides and outfitters for the black bear, brown bear, and the grizzly bear. Professional outfitters can be a money saving option for you, especially if you are hunting big game. Check them out if you decide to go bear hunting in these areas.

Note that bear hunting licenses are required and some states require tags. A 5-day bear hunt usually cost around $1,250 for you and your hunting dogs.

Bear hunting is indeed a very lucrative buiness. Just look at Colorado . Bear hunting business are worth an estimated $180 million annually and rising.

Gary T is the owner of GuideForHunters.com, a website for hunting dogs. Get this FREE ebook on how to plan for your perfect hunting trip plus weekly tips & tricks.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_T

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• Choosing the Right Black Bear Hunting Outfitter & Preparing For Your Trip (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

Non residence of New Brunswick are required to have a licensed guide if they plan on hunting black bear here and you must be at least 16 years of age. In my opinion that’s great as it puts money into the pockets of our local economy.

This works great in a number of ways.

• A non resident black bear hunter possibly gets the experience of a lifetime.
• A black bear guide or outfitter makes a living and of course spends his/her earnings locally.
• The black bear population is controlled so there is a healthy population that is less likely to move into populated areas.

A non resident can purchase a license from a local licensed outfitter or guide, they may also enter into computerized draw.

Note To Non Resident Black Bear Hunters:

• The non resident black bear hunter can only hunt in one Wild Life Management Zone.
• Also the license is not transferable or refundable.
• Only one bear per season

Find the Wild Life Management Zone Map and more info here.

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• Choosing the Right Black Bear Hunting Outfitter & Preparing For Your Trip (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• B.C. to end hunting of white-phase black bears (canada.com)

Black bear in New Brunswick Canada are plentiful and for that reason need to be control to avoid over population, which leads to conflicts for food with other black bear and habitat for both bear and humans, especially as our towns and cities grow in size.

DNR does a great job at controlling the culling of black bear, keeping the population down to a healthy sustainable group.

Of course the black bear is considered to be big game and therefore hunted for sport and bragging rights, not to mention the great bear skin rugs they produce.

Speaking of bear rugs. I have a friend who is not only a black bear hunter but he is also a great black bear guide, outfitter and lodge owner. He has a huge black bear rug on the wall of his hunting and fishing lodge.

Black Bear Meat Makes Great Table Fare

I remember many moons ago, the first time I tried black bear meat. We were already used to eating wild meat as we lived on a farm out in the country and hunted a lot. I loved and said I felt like Daniel Boone. Black bear make for some great table fare.

Hunters Eager For Black Bear

Last year, in 2008, there were 2569 resident licences sold as well as 2740 non-resident licences sold for a total of 5309.

BTW: Out of the 2740 non-resident licences sold only 2380 were actually used.

The stats for the Black bear harvest for 2008 kind of shocked me. But it also shows me why it’s important to find a good black bear outfitter so that you have the best chance of bagging your black bear.

In 2008 only 407 black bears were harvested by resident hunters, so out of the 2569 licences sold only 407 bears were taken.

In 2008 there were 1357 black bear taken by the 2740 non-resident hunters. Note: Only 2380 of the 2740 licences sold were used by non-residents.

If you are not familiar with New Brunswick but you still want a great black bear hunting outfitter I would suggest you check out the post here on finding the best black bear hunting outfitter for you. You can also see what you need to do to prepare for your bear hunt.