DNR consulting on a spring bear hunt in Nova Scotia

Al Muir sat watching a bear on a long, late September evening last fall.

Just about 23 metres away, he could hear the big animal snuffling at the ground.

“I figured I’d let it go and take my chances that I wouldn’t see the one I wanted all season,” remembered Muir.

Through the spring, summer and early fall, the 67-year-old had watched sows with cubs, juveniles and males on his hunting cameras on this Pictou County hill.

He got to recognize the different animals by size, the shades of brown on their faces, white chevrons on some of their chests and the scars on the ears of big, old males from past battles.

“But a camera sees different than you do with your eyes when you’re up close,” said Muir.

Then the big, old male he wanted came in to the bait pile.

Muir released the safety on his .308, took long deep breaths to slow his own heart and lungs and waited.

A half century of hunting has taught him patience – waiting for the right animal, the clean shot and the willingness to let it go if all the factors aren’t aligned for a quick kill.

When it turned broad side, he pulled the trigger.

A loud crack.

The bullet passed through both lungs.

The bear took a few steps and dropped.

He called his son to come help with the harvest.

“We’ve been advocating for a spring bear hunt for decades now,” said Muir, who serves as the president of the Nova Scotia Big Game Society.

“The population is very strong and in some areas has been growing for some time.”

The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables opened consultations last week on what would be this province’s first spring bear hunt. The pilot project season would be open May 20 to June 22.

There would be no hunting on Sundays.

The bag limit would remain at one bear per year per hunter – so if a hunter is successful in the spring season, they wouldn’t be eligible for the fall season.

It would only be open to Nova Scotia residents.

Difficult to estimate population

“Black bears are notoriously difficult to survey (for population estimates),” said Andrew Boyne, director of wildlife for the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.

“We’re left looking at indicators, like hunting effort, human interactions and other sources of information – they suggest the population in the long run is certainly increasing. More so last in the last five years.”

Between 500 and 700 bears on average are killed annually in the fall hunt.

Adding a spring hunt similar to ones held in every other province and territory with black bear populations, isn’t expected to significantly increase the number of bears killed because the bag limit per year is maintained.

The Department will collect feedback from an online survey and a decision will be made in March on whether to hold the spring hunt. 

Muir believes the growing population has been the result of gentler winters and fewer cutovers being sprayed and replanted in softwoods.

“You get all this new growth of pin cherries, raspberries and other low growth that is food for the bears,” said Muir.

He spends a lot more time watching wildlife than he actually does hunting them.

Beyond the handful of hunting cameras he sets up for black bears, he has a another dozen across northeastern Nova Scotia on Crown Land for deer.

‘Excellent table fare’

With plenty of available food and gentler winters, Muir said bears are coming out of their dens in the spring with good fat reserves. The meat seen on bears hunted in New Brunswick’s spring hunt is good.

Beyond that, where they’ve been dormant all winter and not running around as much, it is likely to be less tough.

That bear he shot last year fall weighed in at more than 193 kilograms.

After half a century of eating wild meat he processes himself, Muir has found the best treatment for an old bear is a dry rub of spices, followed by about two hours in the smoker and then slow cooking it for six hours.

“It comes out as excellent table fare,” said Muir.