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Bear hunting is a physically demanding activity, especially removing a harvested bear from the woods. Pre-hunt planning is very important to a profitable and rewarding bear hunting experience.  
  
Prehunt Planning  
Lengthy before harvesting a bear, the hunter must decide how the meat will be processed and how the hide will be used. Hunters should arrange to have assist available for all aspects of handling a harvested bear and have plans made ahead of time to make sure that the meat and hide are properly processed.  
  
Bears have a tremendous amount of fat and a thick hide that provide great insulation. Both the meat and the hide can spoil quickly especially at temperatures above freezing. A dead bear could be massive and cumbersome. Skinning, processing and transporting a bear are troublesome tasks and may be unimaginable without assistance.  
  
Consequently, it is imperative that the hide be removed as quickly as doable to stop meat spoilage. In temperatures above freezing, if there may be going to be a delay in getting your harvested bear to a cooler, you should consider quartering it to permit the heavier parts to chill more quickly. Before taking your bear out from the place it is killed, pack bags of ice within the body cavity or around the quarters.   
  
  
Know Your Capabilities  
To assist ensure the future of bear hunting, and all hunting, it is incredibly essential to instill respect for the outdoors and settle forable hunting ethics for all hunters. Making a clean kill as humanely as possible is a fundamental component of ethical hunting. Incorrect shot placement on a black bear can lead to unnecessary struggling, wounding, and failure to retrieve the animal.  
  
Making a clean kill ought to be the top priority for hunters who determine to shoot a bear. An animal that's harvested humanely shows more character in a hunter than just a lucky shot. Particularly if you're taking a youth or apprentice hunter bear hunting, help it be a positive experience by emphasizing ethics and making a clean kill.  
  
To be ethical, all hunters need to be proficient with their firearm or bow, understand their personal efficient range, and have an understanding of primary bear anatomy for shot placement. This will help lead to a quick and effective kill and reduce the chance for wounding the bear.  
  
Planning Your Shot  
The next are some general ideas to help ensure appropriate shot placement:  
  
Hunters must understand that bears are constructed in a different way than deer and different big game animals. The chest of a bear is compressed compared to that of a deer when looking at it from the side.  
If you make a poor shot, a wounded bear can run for considerable distances before dying. Heavy bones, hides, and fats layers may stop quick-clotting blood from dripping and leaving a very good trail, making an injured bear hard to track.  
Know your capabilities and know your shot!  
A bear's most vital space is an eight" circle behind the entrance shoulder.  
The perfect shot opportunity is a broadside shot or "quartering away" for penetration into the vital organs.  
To take your shot, wait for the bear to step forward with the near side leg exposing the guts/lung area.  
Photographs directly in the shoulder bone should not recommended. Bears have huge, muscular shoulders and heavy bones. A hunter who shoots ahead of the front shoulder may miss or injure the animal.  
A head shot just isn't advisable since a bear skull may be very dense. The blunt, rounded shape can cause bullets or arrows to glance off or turn out to be lodged within the skull without penetrating.  
Frontal photographs or photographs from directly overhead (like may happen from a tree stand) should not beneficial because they offer little opportunity for penetration of the vital organs (especially with archery equipment).  
NEVER take a shot you are unsure of, at a bear that's not clearly seen, or one that is positioned in such a way that you just cannot cleanly hit the vital area.  
  
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