# Bear application period open



## #1DEER 1-I (Sep 10, 2007)

https://www.utah-hunt.com/(S(gn3qp055vagljjfcegxt5tq5))/default.aspx

Open until the 29th


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Bears do not have a convenient place to get a good handhold for dragging purposes.......especially when your hands are greasy from gutting them. I've found that a hay hook in the lower jaw works pretty good if you do t want to cut them up. Good luck in the draws.-------SS


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## lucky duck (Dec 17, 2008)

9 points going into the draw this year............. Last year the odds on the unit I applied for were one in thirty nine, I wonder how bad they will be this year?


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

I think I have 10 points this year... NFC what to do with them. Dont know the first thing about bear hunting.


-DallanC


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## silentstalker (Feb 19, 2008)

What would you like to do Dallan? You start with 2 options. Bait or hounds? Then what area do you want to hunt? Some of the great units are San Juan, La Sal, Nebo, and Wasatch west. 
You will find bears anywhere you find elk. Baiting is a lot of work but is really fun. If I can help ya or answer any questions you have, send me a message. I love bear hunting. Im still learning but its a rush!


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

lucky duck said:


> 9 points going into the draw this year............. Last year the odds on the unit I applied for were one in thirty nine, I wonder how bad they will be this year?


Good luck. Hopefully the area you want will have a better year on acorns than last. All the bear literally disappeared towards the end of September and into October as you well remember. I got pretty lucky!


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

Springville Shooter said:


> Bears do not have a convenient place to get a good handhold for dragging purposes.......especially when your hands are greasy from gutting them. I've found that a hay hook in the lower jaw works pretty good if you do t want to cut them up. Good luck in the draws.-------SS


My dad and I both used our belts looped around the front paws last year to drag my bear. Worked pretty good other than having to stop every now and again to pull the britches up. Because it was starting to get dark, we took the whole animal back to camp where we had better lighting to cape the bear. Actually gutted after caping. I don't know if that was right, but its what we did, and it worked out. The bear was very difficult to move after caping as we kept the meat and turned it into some awesome Italian Sausage!


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

silentstalker said:


> What would you like to do Dallan? You start with 2 options. Bait or hounds? Then what area do you want to hunt? Some of the great units are San Juan, La Sal, Nebo, and Wasatch west.
> You will find bears anywhere you find elk. Baiting is a lot of work but is really fun. If I can help ya or answer any questions you have, send me a message. I love bear hunting. Im still learning but its a rush!


I'll send you a PM later when I get some time... today is a trainwreck of work meetings.

This spring / summer is the first in many many years I actually would have the time to bear hunt, usually we are in "crunch mode" this time of year and working mandatory saturdays / OT.

Bait sounds funner though to me.

-DallanC


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

BigT said:


> The bear was very difficult to move after caping as we kept the meat and turned it into some awesome Italian Sausage!


 I have only had bear one time, but it was very good. I know that a lot of people worry about eating bear meat, since being like pork, it can be susceptible to trichinosis. Did you do anything different with the meat (cleaning, preparation, etc.) than you would have done with a deer or an elk?


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## lucky duck (Dec 17, 2008)

BigT said:


> Good luck. Hopefully the area you want will have a better year on acorns than last. All the bear literally disappeared towards the end of September and into October as you well remember. I got pretty lucky!


 I'm am looking to do the multi season tag so if I get it, it should be good!!! But I am not even close to the bonus point pool so my odds are not very good, but there is always a chance.


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

CPAjeff said:


> I have only had bear one time, but it was very good. I know that a lot of people worry about eating bear meat, since being like pork, it can be susceptible to trichinosis. Did you do anything different with the meat (cleaning, preparation, etc.) than you would have done with a deer or an elk?


Didn't really do anything terribly different other than we kept the carcass out of any dirt, leaves, grass, etc. The deer I typically quarter out and it goes right into bags and into a cooler. This bear was caped on a tarp, and placed in a large cooler inside a bag. The carcass we wrapped up in the tarp after getting the guts out and gave to the processor 12 hours later. I am sure there is a way to quarter the bear, but getting the cape with its head and paws off, looks almost human so I wasn't quite sure where to cut. I took it to a local guy whose got 30 years experience doing every kind of meat possible. I thought Italian sausage was pretty safe. I just make sure its browned well and I think we're pretty safe from any potential trichinosis issue.

I guess the biggest difference was that I didn't pull any guts out right away because it was getting dark, we had only one flashlight, and I knew the caping process of the bear was going to take a little more time than normal. We ended up dragging the bear back to my pick-up. Luckily not too far from the road so I could use the trailer lights, and have a fire. So the guts were the last things to come out... Still in a pretty reasonable amount of time.


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Years ago I boned out a full bear carcass for a guy who wanted all salami made out of it. It was amazing how much like a human skeleton it looked like.:shock:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I hunted black bear in Northwest Ontario Canada 7 years in a row, in the 70s. Our hunting party normally consisted of 10 to 12 hunters. The first 2 or 3 years I hunted hard but never tagged out, spending most of my 5-day hunt helping drag bears out of the woods and then skinning them....then there was cooking. I was always cooking. The remaining years I had a bear tag but just went up there as the camp cook and chauffeur, hauling guys back and forth to their stands in a boat and packing bears back to camp. I was kind of a "hired hand" then and my buds would go together and pay for my trip.  

I'd take a couple guys out to their stands in a boat mid-afternoon then I'd go fishing, exploring, and nap until it was time to pick them up at sundown. Bear were dragged out, whole, at night or in the morning when it was cool. Gut piles attracted wolves and wolves ruined the stand for the next week's hunting party. So the rule was to take them out whole. 

Dragging an adult bear out of that country was impractical so we would tie the bear's paws together and haul them out on a pole. Straps worked better than ropes. Rope would damage the hair on the bear's wrists.

One stand, called Turtle Pond, required a portage with a canoe. Let me tell ya, getting a 400lb bear in a canoe, guts and all is mess. Transferring the bear from the canoe to a 16-foot deep-vee aluminum boat is an absolute nightmare. And I'm thinkin' a 400lb bear becomes a 500lb bear after it rolls around in the lake for awhile. 

Those were the days. We shot a lot of bears and a few wolves; caught a lot of fish. The outfit was Keiffer's Lone Pine Camp. Keiffer was an ex-farmer from Iowa. He lost his left hand in a corn auger accident. Keiffer could fillet a walleye as fast as I could with just one hand and a stump, just amazing. Of the dozen or so guys that use to go up there only two guys besides me are alive now. :?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> ..............................
> 
> Dragging an adult bear out of that country was impractical so we would tie the bear's paws together and haul them out on a pole. Straps worked better than ropes. Rope would damage the hair on the bear's wrists.
> 
> ...


Trying to find some pictures: Here's that old one-handed Keiffer (right) taking out a baby bear. The other guy was a bow hunter and not in our party:



The pole things worked OK. You can use two poles for a big bear in heavy brush. Takes 4 people, two on a pole thru the front legs and two on a pole thru the back legs. Just make sure you all start walking on the same foot.


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

Great story and pic Goob. 

I can only imagine how hard it would be to lift a bear into a canoe, then get it across any water without tipping. Then to lift it into another boat after it got wet....


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

BigT said:


> I can only imagine how hard it would be to lift a bear into a canoe, then get it across any water without tipping. Then to lift it into another boat after it got wet....


Kindof amusing to watch that swamp people show where they drag in 1000lb gators into low aluminum boats. 'Course gators dont have hair which suck up 100lbs of water like Goob mentions.

-DallanC


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

DallanC said:


> Kindof amusing to watch that swamp people show where they drag in 1000lb gators into low aluminum boats. 'Course gators dont have hair which suck up 100lbs of water like Goob mentions.
> 
> -DallanC


I don't know how they get those heavy gators in those boats. I'm thinking the effect of the weight is lessened by buoyancy. They get a third to a half of the total gator weight over the gunwale before they pull the rest in.

The flat-bottom boats they use are extra wide, very stable. I had an 18-footer back in Illinois. I bought the boat at an Illinois DNR auction. It had a big hole torn in the bottom. It was used by the DNR mostly to shock fish or run gill nets. Two guys could stand on the side, lean over, run catfish lines or pull in heavy nets safely. You couldn't tip the thing over. You can't do that in a semi-vee bottom boat.

Once you get a wet bear loaded the boat or canoe is pretty steady.


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## Flyfishn247 (Oct 2, 2007)

This is the first year I put in for the tag and not just a point. I have 9 points going in and about an 80% chance of drawing the tag I want. Spent the last few hours of work today browsing this sub-forum getting myself all excited...


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Flyfishn247 said:


> This is the first year I put in for the tag and not just a point. I have 9 points going in and about an 80% chance of drawing the tag I want. Spent the last few hours of work today browsing this sub-forum getting myself all excited...


Heh you are lucky, I punted again and just put in for another point, I have 9 bear points too.

-DallanC


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

Does anyone else think it's strange that you have to take a bear orientation course just to put in for a point? If I were trying to hunt one, sure, but it seems a bit unnecessary.

Not a big deal though...


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Clarq said:


> Does anyone else think it's strange that you have to take a bear orientation course just to put in for a point? If I were trying to hunt one, sure, but it seems a bit unnecessary.
> 
> Not a big deal though...


Yes... but it does make sense that at the time you start the process they dont know you are only putting in for a point. Ah well, test was stupid easy.

-DallanC


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

I liked the test. Sure, it was real basic and meant to really be a lesson, but being a person that has never really hunted or watched bears much, it was a good thing. Maybe tests/lessons like that should be mandatory at least once for all species.


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