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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The North American Black Bear

What Family Does The N.A. Black Bear Belong:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae

The N.A. Black Bear, the most common of all bears, and the smallest of the North American bear, is still a big game animal who lives in most states and provinces in the U.S. and Canada.

You may have heard them called the ‘clown of the woods’. If you didn’t know why it’s because they can be so amusing while they play around in their habitat. They can act like little kids but remember they are still a dangerous and wild animal so don’t decide that you could go play with them.

Most people in the world have only ever seen black bear on TV or in a zoo, which is kind of sad isn’t it. Although when black bear hunting season takes some of the female black bears with cubs, even if it’s by accident those cubs don’t really stand a chance and either die or are killed by other predators or they end up in the zoo.

The average weight of a N.A. black bear is somewhere between 200 to 350 pounds, but is seldom longer than 6 1/2 feet. Anything beyond that would be classified as a trophy black bear.

I was fishing for Atlantic salmon one fine fall day and turned around to see what I thought was a small black bear sitting there watching me but when it turned and walked back into the bush I could see that it was much bigger than I had thought. Don’t be deceived by black bear that look small, they are still dangerous.

What do Black Bear look like?

Black Bear have short legs with clawed feet and a small stubby tail and for most times of the year are rather heavy set and thick looking. They have a long nose or snout with a set of canine teeth for chomping down meat and flat molars to grind the other foods they eat.

Black bear will eat anything their powerful jaws can handle and that doesn’t leave much out of their diet. They are known as omnivorous because they are opportunistic feeders.

What’s in their diet?

Black bears will feast on other animals, usually the dead kind, but will take down a moose or a deer if hungry enough. They espeically love fish, salmon being one of their favorite, as it’s a great way to put on the pounds they need to survive the winter months. They also eat all kinds of plant matter that is available at any given time like fruits and berries, various grasses & roots, honey, insects.