Georgia Bear season (no hounds)

[Emily]

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It's a banner year for bears
By Sharon Hall
Published: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 11:27 AM EST
With the number of bear sightings in the local news this year, it should be no surprise that if you are a hunter looking for a bear, your chances of bringing home a trophy are better than ever in the north Georgia region-especially in Lumpkin, White or Union counties. That's the center of black bear habitat in the state, says Scott Frazier, wildlife biologist with the Department of Natural Resources.

“Publicly, there are an estimated 1,500 bears, but I think there are more. So we say 1,500 and trending upward,” Frazier says.

The number of bears has been trending upward since 1983, when a survey done by Wildlife Resources Division Game Management personnel showed 500 to 600 animals. One reason for the increase, says David Gregory, a bear project leader with Wildlife Resources Division, is a change in attitudes towards bears.

Before bear hunting became legal in Georgia, bears found by farmers in cornfields, around bee hives or just crossing the road were killed indiscriminately, and illegally. With fewer people farming for a living and the influx of residents from urban areas, bears have had an easier time surviving-and breeding. New residents are more likely to call DNR if they spot a bear around their home.

“We are covered up with nuisance bear calls,” says Joann Forrester, secretary for the DNR Gainesville office.

Hunting bear became legal in Georgia in 1979. In north Georgia, the season runs from early September to early October for archery, one week in October for primitive weapons and from mid-October to early December for firearms.

Hunters are allowed one bear per season, and the killing of females with subs or cubs under 75 pounds is prohibited.

The same license purchased to hunt deer or turkey-a big game license-entitles you to also hunt bear.

No dogs or bait are allowed in hunting bear.

About 300 bear are harvested annually in the 24 counties of the north and northwest Georgia area, Frazier says.

“Last year we had a record 314 bears harvested, and it looks like there will be more this year.”

Even though the number of bears have increased, bagging a bear is still a challenge. There are thousands of acres of bear habitat just in the Lumpkin-White-Union area. Simply wandering into the woods doesn't guarantee you will be able to shoot a bear. Scouting is the key to success, say those who consistently harvest bears, and that means being in the woods pretty much year-long.

Bear sign includes bear scat, or droppings, which look much like “cow flops” but contain easily identifiable food particles. Bears do not have a good digestive system, and it is usually easy to see bits of acorns, grapes, hickory nuts, blackgum berries, grain-even ants and yellow jackets-in bear scat.

Multiple piles in a confined area indicate repeated use of the space by bears.

Another sign to look for is signs of climbing in oak trees in the early fall. Bears often climb big oaks to fill up on acorns before the nuts fall.

Another key to success is to make sure you do all you can to eliminate human scent from yourself and your gear. Bears have very sensitive noses and do not like the smell of humans. Use unscented soaps, cover scents and pay close attention to wind direction.

High elevation areas are the best of hunting bear. That's their home territory, where the oak and hickory grow and the heavy cover provided by mountain laurel and rhododendron is available.

There are several Wildlife Management Areas where DNR personnel supervise bear hunts. But if you are hunting outside one of these areas, and your hunt is a successful one, your harvest must be registered at a WMA check station. Tagging bear kills is one way DNR keeps track of the number of bears in an area.

“We currently tag every individual dead bear in the state, including roadkill,” Frazier says. “When so few are harvested, we need the data on every individual we can get.”

When a bear is tagged, DNR weighs the bear to help them determine its overall health. They also extract a tooth, which gives them the age and reproductive history of a female.

“You can look at a tooth and tell how often a female has given birth, just like looking at tree rings because of the loss of calcium during pregnancy,” Frazier says.

Although bears are the largest land animals hunted in the state of Georgia, and they are “theoretically” dangerous, Frazier says, “there are no statistics I'm aware of that a hunter has been attacked by an injured bear. But I always tell people to give them the respect they're due. A bear can outrun a man. They are quite quick, and excellent climbers. People are no match for a bear.”