BigBendFishing.Net

Based on the number of young bears I see, the males start chasing them off the sows in Sept/Oct (these are 18 month old cubs). The sows get bred in fall/early winter and go into "hibernation" in Jan/Feb to give birth. I don't know when the cubs are totally weaned.

galantnole wrote:Anecdotally - Have you ever had a black-bear burger? A bit gamy, but delicious when done right.

I killed a medium size boar bear many moons ago from a tree stand in the former Suwanochee wma with an old smoke pole for a weapon. His glands pretty much tainted his meat. The guy hunting with had dogs he used to catch nuance bears with and he wanted the meat, so I let him have it all but one ham. I soaked it for 2 days and then cooked it on the grill. Tasty was not one of the words I would use to describe it. Not wanting to be wasteful, I made some real strong brown gravy and we plowed through it. I guess I didn't know how to cook it right. Might have been better if I had made hamburger out of him. He was so infested with ticks and such that his hide was worthless. If I ever hunt one again, I am going to go hunt one in the winter up in the mountains when their fur is prime.

Season dates and harvest numbers should be based on science. Closing the season was not. Opening it was. But they had a poor plan. I look for it to open again, with better control. There are plenty of bears to allow a properly managed season.