{"id":129390,"date":"2020-06-01T17:50:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T21:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=129390"},"modified":"2025-12-29T06:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T12:30:32","slug":"hunt365-how-i-killed-a-bear-with-a-bb-gun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/hunt365-how-i-killed-a-bear-with-a-bb-gun\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Killed A Bear With A BB Gun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"How
Photo: Don Baxter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Black Bear hunting may be the most varied kind of hunting on the planet and it\u2019s a very different hunting experience to every person you talk to. It could mean hunting over bait or spot and stalk, with boats or with hounds, arrows or bullets, public land or private. It could be within an hour\u2019s drive of home or an all-out Alaskan adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last three years, I\u2019ve tried most of the methods and I\u2019ve brought home two black bears. Whatever you think you know about each of those methods, don\u2019t judge them until you\u2019ve tried them yourself. Hunting bears with whatever method or tool is just not as easy as it sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunting with hounds and horses in Idaho, for instance, is one of the biggest adventures you can have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding Hounds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first thing you need to know is that hound hunting means working with highly skilled individuals \u2014 both the dogs and the owners. The dogs have been trained to find and follow the scent of bears. The seven Treeing Walker hounds I\u2019ve worked with also pursue cougars and bobcats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dogs run around and around sniffing the ground looking for bears. Once they find a scent that is fresh enough to be exciting, they sound off making a big noise to let you know they\u2019re onto something. They take off barking along the trail, hoping they\u2019re going the right direction, and coming back to go the other way to find the freshest scent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dogs are going and going, trying to get close to a bear and chasing it until it climbs a tree to get away from the dogs. Bears run faster than dogs, but they know dogs don\u2019t climb trees, so they\u2019ll take refuge up a tree until the dogs leave. But these dogs won\u2019t leave until they\u2019ve either been hauled away on leashes or until the bear falls dead from the tree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How
Each hound gets a transponder collar so the houndsman can keep track of his location.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, the houndsman is trying to keep track of the dogs on his GPS unit. The dogs each have a collar that transmits the location and the track the dog has run. This is overlaid on a topographical map and the houndsman can see where the dogs are and where they\u2019re heading. The GPS also sends an alert when the dogs have treed a bear (which it interprets from the amount of time they\u2019ve stayed in one place).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The houndsman\u2019s experience is essential here because he has to know when to follow the dogs and when to let them run without pursuing them. The dogs may chase the bear several miles but end up treeing it a few hundred yards from where the chase began. The houndsman learns to interpret both the bears and the dogs and tries to initiate the chase in the most economical manner that won\u2019t make him run extra miles before the bear is treed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a fascinating process, and my friends with hounds go bear\/cougar hunting several times each week, treeing bears all the time but never killing them. It\u2019s easy to see that both the dogs and the houndsman enjoy the pursuit and appreciate the chance to sharpen their skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding Horses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you want to go bear hunting with hounds on horses in Idaho, go watch The Man From Snowy River and then multiply the mountainous terrain times 1,000. Idaho mountains are only available in one style: steep. Riding horses to hunt may sound like a relaxing way to enjoy the countryside, but not when you\u2019re pursuing hounds and bears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bears and hounds don\u2019t stick to the trail and they don\u2019t take the easy way to go anyplace. Although you\u2019re with horses, you should expect to use your own legs to climb and descend the steepest hills because staying mounted can be too treacherous. Even then, some of the stuff I\u2019ve ridden pursuing bears would make those Australians pucker tight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How
Copper is of the Paso Fino breed and he makes a smooth ride over any terrain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The horse I use is a Paso Fino named Copper. He\u2019s 19-years-old and can cruise up and down those hills like they\u2019re flat ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Not You, It\u2019s Me<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been hunting three times with my fellow writer, Riley Baxter<\/a>, and his dad, Don. They guide in another part of the state, and I\u2019m lucky enough that they invited me along to hunt nearby. They never kill bears themselves, and I feel very fortunate to get to go along and hunt with them and their hounds. The problem is, I think I\u2019m bad luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first time I went with them we rode 25 miles (which was five times as far as I\u2019d ever ridden total) and the dogs pursued one bear for hours and never got it treed. The week before and the week after they treed several bears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How
The dogs can chase around in a big circle, ending up where they started. Good houndsmen know when to chase and when to wait.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Miraculously, they invited me again this year. But again, we rode 26 miles and the dogs only got onto one bear late in the day. It turned out to be a very young bear and Riley and Don promised they could help me find a more mature and larger bear another day. The next week I couldn\u2019t go and they treed five bears, three of which were good shooters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, before my third trip I did everything I could to shed my bad luck. But by 3:00 in the afternoon, it looked like the problem was still me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How
This small bear is about the same size as the first bear I killed; Don and Riley assured me we could do better.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Small Bears Are Delicious<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We started the day in the same spot where we had gone last year, and it was the same place they\u2019d treed several bears last week. This time it was just Don and me. The weather was perfect with cool temperatures and slightly cloudy skies. Bright yellow balsamroot flowers with their blue-green leaves covered the hillsides, and the sweet smell of wild onions was everywhere. It seemed like the perfect day to hunt bears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And sure enough, as soon as we got to the mouth of the canyon where the dogs had picked up sent previously, they started bawling and chasing. It\u2019s exciting when you hear that sound and it makes you want to kick your horse and chase up the hill, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, Don\u2019s experience and instinct about bears and dogs told him to be conservative. We followed the major creek in the flat area but didn\u2019t head up the draw where the bear and dogs were going yet. Suddenly the dogs were heading back toward us, then up another draw. Then back down and up another. Finally, they went over a major ridge into the next drainage over and we started after them. They had already chased about five miles and we\u2019d ridden less than a mile in the creek bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How
Horses make it a lot easier to put on a lot of miles following the hounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Getting up over that major ridge was one of those times when we had to dismount and hike, leading the horses. Going from the creek bottom to the ridge top was 1000 vertical feet climb and very steep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we topped out, we could hear the dogs baying: They had treed a bear. Now we had to navigate a way down to the bottom of the other side, another 1000\u2019 descent, and up a little draw where they had the bear pinned down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closer you get to a treed bear, the faster your heart beats. The dogs are making a ruckus and you are trying not to get your hopes too high. This could be a huge mature boar, or it could be last year\u2019s cub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we rode up the draw, the tree came into view, a huge ponderosa with pink bark standing alone on a hillside of scrub bushes. High up where the branches started, there was a bear peeking around the trunk. It was last year\u2019s cub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decision time: Would I kill this bear, or continue the hunt?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going through my mind was the fact that this would be my last chance to this season. The first bear I killed two years ago had also been quite small, and its meat was tender and delicious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn\u2019t a bird in hand worth two in the bush?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was only 10:30 in the morning, and I decided not to shoot the bear. I think Don appreciated that decision and was happy to continue hunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tired Dogs & Persistent Dogs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thermals flow uphill, and the dogs can sometimes find a scent on the air at the top of a saddle. And sure enough, when we got near the top, the dogs got onto a scent and took off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stayed on top and monitored the dogs from the ridge. The funny thing is that the dogs went up and down the canyon below us over and over again. Then they split up, following two different trails. We walked the horses back and forth along the ridge top trying to stay near enough to get down when they treed a bear. This lasted a couple of hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, one dog came back up to the ridge, and then another. We walked back toward that saddle and two more dogs walked up, tongues out, looking exhausted. The horses, the dogs, and I caught forty winks while Don went to call the other dogs back up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How
After many miles of chasing bears around the hills, the dogs and I caught a quick snooze.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After thirty minutes, Don came back, but the two dogs hadn\u2019t come back up. They were still pursuing a bear down below. We mounted up and rode the ridge nearly to the end, about 1,400\u2019 above the creek below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly, the dogs changed their bark and we knew they\u2019d treed a bear. The other dogs took off to catch up, like characters from the Little Red Hen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We dismounted and surfed down to the creek below, riding the loose dirt and scree. It\u2019s fun to half-slide down the mountain, especially knowing that there was a bear waiting for us. But I was mostly focussed on not being crushed under a horse as we slid down the mountain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shut Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a curious thing about hunting bears with hounds: You have to be quiet, but not all the time. I\u2019m used to being quiet continuously when sneaking through the woods pursuing deer and elk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s a little incongruous that we\u2019ve been riding on horses, snapping branches, chatting with each other at regular volume, following dogs who are bellowing at the top of their lungs and now that we\u2019re getting close to the bear, we have to only whisper. The dogs are barking at a bear in a tree above them, but every time we were getting close, Don and Riley would remind me to be quiet. For some reason, this habit was hard for me to adopt, but I quickly found out why it was so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How
Idaho terrain is so steep that a bear can be 80′ up a tree but straight across from you on a nearby slope.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We came down from the ridge and into the draw where the dogs were baying, and we could see the tree, another large ponderosa. On the slope, we were at the same height as the bear and I was still leading my horse. When the bear looked out at us, I could see that this was a much bigger and older bear than the previous two. There were gray eyebrows in the rich black fur and a whole lot more mass. The bear watched me and my horse curiously but didn\u2019t seem to mind our presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I paused my horse to look at the bear a moment, the dogs saw me and started coming up the hill toward me. As soon as the dogs\u2019 attention was on me, the bear started looking for an opportunity to come down. I yelled at the dogs, \u201cStay there!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The instant my voice came out of my mouth, that bear practically jumped down the tree. As long as I was quiet, the bear was content to watch me, but when she heard my voice everything changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she hit the ground, the dogs immediately dove onto her and attacked. There was a ball of black fur mixed with patches of white and brown as the rumble rolled down the hill. Then they bumped into another large tree and the bear was up it like a shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was feeling both extremely foolish and lucky beyond what I deserved. Don had told me several times to keep quiet near the bears, and now I\u2019d seen the consequence. I felt like such a fool. I was so lucky the dogs had kept on her until they hit that next tree. Humbled, I lead my horse down to where Don was waiting with his horses. While he leashed the dogs at the bottom of the tree, I started looking for a place to take a shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Rifle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As if hunting with hounds and horses wasn\u2019t enough adventure, I was planning to use an air rifle to kill this bear. The rules regarding what weapons can be used to take big game<\/a> in Idaho were recently amended to include big bore airguns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How
This .50 caliber airgun is a bit more powerful than a Red Rider. Photo: Riley Baxter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are a few specific requirements for airguns used to hunt big game:<\/p>\n\n\n\n