Despite a healthy population of deer in my backyard woods, I was forced to hunt in our western most 2 counties as hunting is not yet allowed in other parts of MD. Also, MD does not allow baiting or scents of any kind. This really puts the bow hunter especially at a disadvantage.
I have never heard of someone in MD successfully harvesting a bear in MD with a traditional bow so I made it my quest. My 2 hunting partners were invited to join my hunt as sub-permittees.
We scouted 2 large public areas in Allegheny County and found some promising bear sign in one area in particular. I had no idea how much hunting pressure would be applied by the other 499 permit holders and their designees in the state. I also did not know if the wild grapes and berries we saw would still be a good food supply at that time of year.
The season runs for 4 weekdays and we were excited to set up camp and get to it. Filled with anticipation we set up my wall tent in the campground as the height of the fall colors provided the perfect backdrop. In addition, there was mild temperatures and a full moon. We were not sure if the latter would hinder our bear efforts.
The three of us hunted hard. We tried stand hunting, calling, and still hunting. There was little other hunter pressure......but little fresh bear sign and no sightings either. The DNR officer stopped by on day 3 to chat and told us one bear had been harvested in the area we were hunting. Also gave us a few places to hunt that had historic bear signings. We tried those places as well, but had no luck.
A double front moved in Wednesday and provided 24 hours and 4.5 inches of rain. Still we hunted hard between lulls in the rain.
Finally time ran out with no bears seen.
Still it was a great camp and good company. Maybe next time one of us draws a tag it will be different, but we can say we gave it our best try. The weapon made no difference this time.
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