Maryland Black Bear Hunt - Public Land Success and Taste Review

On a quiet overcast Sunday in 2017, this epic journey began.  We packed up the wall tent and 3 trucks with gear, to camp at New Germany State Park.  We would be hunting public forest in Garrett County, Maryland.   The campground is located off a bustling main road that travels into the popular Deep Creek lake resort.  I’ve driven past this public land often and wondered about hunting there.  The terrain always looked interesting, your typical Appalachian mountain topography.  The leaves were already half down and falling.  There were lots of yellows and browns and not a particularly vibrant fall color year there.  

The campsite loop we were on was small but empty.  Only one other camper was at the only site with electric hookup all that week.  They were there for some fall biking  We were living in style with access to a bathhouse complete with hot shower and flush toilets!   

After unloading and setting up camp, we scouted out this long drainage Mike had a tip about.  He knows some folk with private deer camps at the top end of the drainage that reported seeing more bear than deer sign on their cameras. We planned to enter at the bottom end of the drainage because of the prevailing wind direction.  Then, a long hike would take us into the area after 3 or 4 miles.  Scouting told me things were crunchy and loud, so I decided to hunt with the rifle for at least the first day until things got wet and quiet. I would be using the WWII 8mm bolt action Mauser K98 with open sights.  I didn’t have a chance to sight in the scoped 7MM Mag that I got from dad for the hunt.  I had killed a deer once with the Mauser though.  

Monday morning arrived and we were in for a cloudy and breezy day.  The forecast was calling for some rain in the afternoon, continuing with a significant chance the next three days.  We were hoping to get in and shoot one while the weather was good…yeah right.  

The morning was pleasant as our hike took us up into the drainage.  I decided to break company midway through, and hike up the opposing mountain to run the ridge looking for sign.  I picked a bad spot to get higher in elevation.  The entire hillside was clogged with rhododendrons.  They are real thick shrubs with wide leaves growing downhill and making it very difficult to penetrate.  I was glad I did not wear my extra wool layer, as exertion started to overheat me quickly.  I had to crawl more than halfway on my hands and knees through deer tunnels in the bushes.  I finally got up top of the growth and found a logging road.  Two fat does spotted me moving and one snorted for about 15 minutes.   She would run ahead and keep only her head above the crest of the terrain.  Smart.  There was no sign up top.  After sitting a little on a thick finger that had a ton of deer sign and eating an apple, I headed down an open draw past some rock outcroppings and caves. Glassing the openings, I was hoping for a black face to appear.  No bear sign at all…no poop, no torn-up stumps, overturned rocks, and no tracks.  None of us saw anything but deer sign.  As I was waiting for the others, it started to rain pretty steady.  I hunkered down under my poncho… the rain was here.

 

We scouted out another spot in the evening, this time higher in elevation.  More rocks and a nice access road we can enter in on.  We were hoping things would look up.  The rain never really let up though, and by bedtime it was a full out torrential downpour.  We were very glad we had the wall tent.  The roaring of the rain even drowned out Brent’s snoring!  We were cozy and dry with the woodstove roaring steadily. 

By morning the rain had stopped and I decided I would hunt with the longbow and shoot one of those deer if I had the chance.  

As we were about to make a left into the parking area, a local whizzed up and made the right ahead of us into the trailhead parking area. Now,  I know we didn’t have the turn signal on yet, but c'mon!  Mike was HOT!  The other guy finally comes over and kindly asks us where we were planning on hunting.  He eventually says he is hunting the other side, where we had to park (the access road ran across the main road here).  Great! We took his side as planned, maybe he realized he zoomed in there ahead of us?  Over the course of the entire four day season, we only saw 4 or 5 other trucks hunting.  This seemed crazy as 1,500 tags were given out and most everyone hunts Garrett County during the bear season.  I suppose  most hunt private lands.

Anyway, we head back a few hundred yards and wait for daybreak.   The access road ran just inside of a steep rocky ridge on our left side, lots of boulders on the right side fading into Mt. Laurels eventually to some private property below.  I decided I would break off and start my hunt around those rocks. 

The other two continued down the road a bit.  After daylight began to filter through, I saw the typical Allegheny mountain terrain I was used to.  Thick mountain laurels with rocks and small trails dispersed between.  I snuck a little through the laurel and immediately saw a fresh bear poop!  OK, now we are talking!  If one comes out here it will likely be inside of 15 yards.  I was feeling glad I had the bow, and I slowly still hunted.  It was breezy and peaceful, great still hunting weather.  There was a lot of deer and buck sign also.  I was in the zone….  Then, BANG!!  Mike crackled over the radio “BEAR DOWN, BEAR DOWN, BEAR DOWN”.  

The large sow came up across the steep ridge and passed right between where Mike and Brent were.  It was about 50 yards from Mike and he didn’t hesitate.  He hauled up his new Tikka 30.06 and shot it through the shoulder. It dropped on the spot and flopped.  The bear had a metal ear tag #1075 and it was a nice sized bear!

Now, the work began.  Brent and I cut some small trees to use as poles so we could construct a litter with Brent’s jungle hammock and 550 cord.  It worked well, but was still slow going.  I quickly returned to the truck with the other’s packs and rifles, while they carried the bear about 10 yards at a time toward the access road.  From there, it would be two miles back to the truck. I dropped off the gear and came back to help carry, bringing them some water.  It went quicker with 3 people.  Still, he shot the bear at 7:30 AM and we didn’t get out to the truck until 11:15 AM.  

Brent and Mike took my truck to get it checked in while I cooked lunch…  Bear heart and eggs with home fried potatoes and onions.  We were starving, but the heart was excellent eating.  Better than deer heart, and we have eaten a lot of deer heart over the years.  At check in, they said she was a 5-year-old female that was tagged as a cub about 7 miles away from the kill area.  She was not lactating and had no signs of being with cubs.  She was missing an incisor tooth, but in general good health otherwise.  She dressed out at 193 pounds and they said it was the largest bear checked in to that point at that station.   They were really impressed it was taken from public land.

After lunch, I gave Mike my truck keys and he drove back to Frederick to find a taxidermist to skin the bear and deal with its really nice thick hide.  We were in a hurry so the hair did not slip.  Brent and I would hunt deer in the evening and keep camp until he returned Wednesday morning.  Unknown to us, Mike had a hard time finding a taxi to deal with it, so he ended up skinning it himself with some phone advice from a guy.

Brent and I went back to the scene of the crime to hunt deer that evening.  It was very windy.  I decided to play peek-a-boo over the rocky ridge by peering over the edge every 50 yards or so.  The second time I peeked, I saw a big hawk take off down below and I caught movement simultaneously to my right as a bedded doe saw the same thing.  She stood up with a yearling doe about 30 couple yards away.  I tried to creep closer, but lost her behind some big trunked trees.  I made it to the ridge, but I could not drop down to get closer.  The wind was blowing in her direction and the rocks were very loose going down.  I eventually saw that they both bedded down again.  I had to wait them out.  About 20 minutes later, She got up and started feeding slowly slightly away.  Oh well, now or never.  She was a big old doe and if she gave me a shot I would take it. Finally, she fed into an opening.  I drew and released but my arrow shanked left and struck one of those large trees before getting to her.  She blew out to the right and the yearling ran left closer to me.  That one was now about 25 yards downhill and broadside.  Oh well…  I drew another arrow and released and this time I saw the arrow flail sideways and I knew I hit this time.  It ran in a circle downhill and out of sight.  A couple minutes later, I see a deer about 60 yards away by a big log….no sign of being hit?  Not sure if that was the little one or another deer?  I was calling Brent on the radio to tell him what happened, when the big doe came back looking for the little one….it paused about 30 yds away and I shot again….  This time I hit another tree trunk about halfway between us…terrible shank…c’mon Greg Concentrate!  The doe took a bound and stopped in the open again…30 couple still.  I really bore down this time and I see the arrow arc right for the goodies!  It looks great!  Then the arrow smacks into an unseen 1 inch diameter branch and stops cold about 5 feet before the vitals…. That doe has a golden horse shoe! 

So now I am sitting there shaking with excitement and holding my last broadhead arrow against the bow.  Crazy! 

After a bit, I find the arrow laying on the leaves pointed back toward me.  Blood, but only on one side of the white shaft.  Some white hairs on the BH and the top of the fletch and nock area covered in blood and fat.  Crap…not looking good.  Started trailing dark red muscle blood.  Steady drips but nothing crazy except where it stood still occasionally.  Trailed it for about 200 yards…it doubles back twice…crosses the ridge once and blood shuts down as it crosses back a second time.  It is getting dark and I know the story.  Deer never bed.  When I saw the arrow go sideways it wasn’t a crappy release as I first thought, it was me hitting low on the brisket.  Glancing hit.  Deer will be fine.

Mike got back Wed. morning and we broke camp…headed back home to butcher the bear.  While it was being cut I smoked a side of the ribs, and had pots full of bear fat to render bear grease.  I collected the grease in mason jars and it smelled like bacon as it was on the grill stove.  The grease will make a good leather treatment for back quivers and boots as well as a super cooking oil.

Not having much experience with bear meat, we were happily surprised.  She had almost no odor.  Deer smell much worse while butchering.  The meat and fat is real squishy.  The burger was like twice ground mush coming out of the grinder.  The heart tasted better than deer.  The smoked ribs were real tasty and the fat tastes good unlike that chalky bitter deer fat.  The tenderloin I cooked was super!  Way better tasting meat than deer.  It is up there with elk, and a lot more tender then any undulate I have had.  A sweet mild flavor.  I have been told the bear's diet plays a major role i the quality of the meat. 

Mike donated me a back foot and I took the claws out.  Maybe some bling for my quiver or something.

Now that we got one with the gun, I think I’ll be concentrating on getting one with the bow if any of us draw another tag in the future.