Hunting bears with hounds

Dec25-Bear1 — Getting a bear treed is one piece of the bear-hunting puzzle, but it doesn’t guarantee a successful hunt.

Bear hunting is a long-held tradition in eastern NC

Bear hunting with hounds is a long-held tradition in eastern North Carolina, and the Temple family and their hounds are known as some of the best.

“The Temple family’s hunting tradition in the swamps of eastern North Carolina go back more than 130 years,” said Chris Douglas of Carolina ALL OUT.

Douglas has hunted with the family numerous times over the past several years, and it’s something he always looks forward to. A few years ago while hunting with the Temples, Douglas killed a trophy bear that weighed more than 600 pounds. The bear’s skull landed him in the Boone and Crockett Club.

Once a bear is harvested, a cone is placed over its head to help drag it out.

As much as he enjoyed that hunt, he enjoys getting involved in the background details of the bear hunts just as much.

“The Temples are always in some stage of breeding, raising and training hounds,” Douglas said.

To outsiders, bear hunting looks easy when watching these hounds. But the amount of work that goes into getting the dogs trained and ready isn’t lost on Douglas.

Mountain music

“The more experienced hounds pick up the track and get the bear on the move,” he said. “The younger dogs hear the chase and make short work to get with the pack to pressure the bear up a tree.”

The hounds do their share of barking on the run, but things get really exciting, Douglas said, when those barks turn into a collective roar. That’s the sign that the hounds have the bear bayed.

“That cry of the hounds is like mountain music. It’s what we all love as houndsmen,” he said.

Once the dogs have the bear bayed up a tree, it’s time for the hunters to catch up, which usually involves a long walk through some tough terrain.

This print is a sure sign of bear activity.

And when the hunters catch up, the first part of the hunt is basically over, usually. Now it’s time to pull the dogs back and take a shot at the bear. With good aim, one shot is usually all it takes to kill the bear. And then the work begins again to get the bear out of the woods and to process the animal.

One part of bear hunting that is often misunderstood is that bear meat is some of the best-tasting wild game meat on the planet. Many folks believe bear hunting is just to kill a big animal and get it mounted, but that’s not the case at all. The food provided from a harvested bear is a great addition to the freezer and table.

Excellent table fare

“Bears provide some of the best-tasting meals you’ll ever have,” Douglas said.

Another misconception is that all bear hunters do is turn the dogs loose and wait for them to run the bear to them. That’s false on both counts.

First, hunters must find a fresh, likely bear trail. One of the best ways to do that is to find a stream or canal of water that has a fallen tree or logs crossing it, something that bears can use to move from one side to the other without getting into the water.

“If you see something like that, you definitely need to check it out, because a bear would much rather cross without getting wet. They will use what they can find to cross the water, just like people will,” he said.”

Josh Lawler and Chris Douglas share hard-earned smiles after a bear hunt.

Wade Temple said it also pays off to simply look for bear tracks in areas they are known to frequent, especially after some rain. And when you find a track, that’s a great place to let the dogs loose.

Temple watches the dogs’ location on an electronic device that’s linked to each collar.

“We can tell by the way they’re barking if they’ve picked the scent up. And when they do, we’ll send some more puppies in with them,” Temple said.

Once a bear is treed, the hunters face another challenge. The dogs must be corralled and led a short distance away, then tied off. Othewise, when the bear is shot and falls, it could seriously injure the dogs.

Not a sure thing

“With a bear in the tree, the dogs get tied back, and this is often how the hunt ends. But not always,” said Douglas. “This is not a sure thing. Once we get the dogs tied back, the bear could take a fast run down the tree, and he’s gone. The chase is back on again.”

On the good days, the bear stays put.

“When they’re comfortable up there,” he said, “they’ll stay, you can make a quick, clean kill, it’s over, and you can move on.”

It wasn’t so easy when Josh Lawler joined Douglas and the Temples to harvest a black bear.

Bear hunting is a team effort among people and dogs.

Lawler is usually the one behind the camera for the Carolina ALL OUT TV show, but on this hunt, Douglas was running the camera so Lawler could experience the hunt first hand.

And once a bear was treed and the dogs were tied back on this hunt, the bear decided to scurry down the tree.

A new chase

“When the dogs get tied back and the bear feels like it can make it, they’ll do it,” Lawler said. “We’ve seen it many times.”

Temple said it’s all a part of the hunt.

“When he’s in a tree and you think it’s a sure thing, ain’t nothing guaranteed when it comes to hunting,” he said.

If the bear runs, it’s time to release the dogs again.

In the case of Lawler’s hunt, the bear didn’t run too far before climbing another tree. And this time it stayed put.

Lawler dispatched the bear with one shot from his .30-30.

He said the hunt was an experience he’ll never forget, and that’s the same sentiment shared by others that have been lucky enough to hunt with the Temple family.