A local taxidermist does some booking for hunting trips in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta. (Come to think of it, Alberta might be something else). Right now he's advertising spring black bear. This would be, I believe, shooting from a stand at a baited bear.
What are the tradeoffs in terms of the animal? Is it just that bears are most easily shot (this is probably dense woodland terrain) in the spring, when they're really, really hungry? Wouldn't bear be much fatter, and their pelts in much better shape, in the late fall or early winter?
Pelt quality concerns me a bit. One of the things I'd like to do with a bear is save his hide, not for a rug or throw or overcoat, but as a source of black bear fur for fly tying. There are a number of patterns of interest to trout and landlocked salmon anglers that traditionally are tied with black bear fur, and there are a couple of saltwater patterns that do well with it too. I'd want to shoot my bear when the pelt would be at its' best, and it seems to me that pelts are probably in their prime in the fall.
What say?
What are the tradeoffs in terms of the animal? Is it just that bears are most easily shot (this is probably dense woodland terrain) in the spring, when they're really, really hungry? Wouldn't bear be much fatter, and their pelts in much better shape, in the late fall or early winter?
Pelt quality concerns me a bit. One of the things I'd like to do with a bear is save his hide, not for a rug or throw or overcoat, but as a source of black bear fur for fly tying. There are a number of patterns of interest to trout and landlocked salmon anglers that traditionally are tied with black bear fur, and there are a couple of saltwater patterns that do well with it too. I'd want to shoot my bear when the pelt would be at its' best, and it seems to me that pelts are probably in their prime in the fall.
What say?