Looking at doing a complete diy black bear hunt (archery) in the BWCA in 2024. Not looking for specific areas where people have gone, but looking for what made the difference between success and defeat:

-What are some must-have equipment or gear?
-Honey burns? What did you use?
-Cooler size?
-Amount of dry ice?
-Tree stand?
-How far from camp would you walk to hunt (I believe it's minimum 150 yds)?
-What are you looking for when scouting?

For reference, have done several BWCA trips ranging from being boated in all the way to some pretty gritty trips. Thanks in advance!

I’ll let you know how much of this works later this fall. So far, my partner and I are 0 for 2 on BWCA bear hunts.

1. Put aside as much time as you can. We’re convinced our chance of success has been hurt by having to cut trips short because of weather.
2. Have a plan for holding onto your meat. ;-)
Bear fence specs
3. I rely on this for scent dispersal, using sardine oil, ground anise and Jägermeister:
ScentBlaster
4. My partner uses a homegrown burn recipe. The current version features “corn syrup, raspberry candy oil and anise extract. Mixed in a 4oz. Nalgene bottle. Added a clump of crisco first to avoid sticking. Burned low and slow for 15 minutes, boiled nicely and never browned, poured out clean and the residue dissolves in water!”
5. I use a tree stand. My partner hunts from the ground.
6. We go in October to avoid crowds and heat. I’ve brought blocks of frozen water in a top-grade 58-quart cooler plus a DIY cooler made from a Rubbermaid tote. It was 82° when I launched last Sept. 30, and it snowed on us on the way out.
7. We both use traditional bows, in the low to mid-50 range.

If you can get to any of the 3D shoots in the Duluth area, let me know by email. I would enjoy shooting and chewing this over with you. Including if wheels are involved. :-)

Duplicate post.

Thanks for the reply! How long of a trip have you guys gone on/planned?

LUKE35: "Thanks for the reply! How long of a trip have you guys gone on/planned? "

We usually plan for a week. I would gladly schedule ten days for this if I could. It takes time to draw a bear in without a bait site. The weather has driven us off Isabella once and Seagull once. A certain coronavirus did in a third planned hunt.

I just thought of something else. I plan to use a predator call in addition to the attractants this fall. If you do, be ready - they’re known to come in hot on a call, but it has to be nearly constant to hold their attention:

Tips for predator calling bear