The Typical Bear Hunt With Hounds?

Every Hound Hunt Is Unique And Diverse Following Hounds Guarantees To Put You In Unique Situations On A Regular Basis.

- Bob Plott

Describing the typical bear hunt with hounds is almost impossible – especially to those who have never experienced it. Weather conditions, terrain, and the behavior of both bears and dogs are ever changing. No matter where you hunt, from the marshy, alligator infested swamplands of South Georgia and eastern North Carolina, to the arid high deserts out west, to the vast timberlands of New England, to the Canadian Rockies, to the deepest, darkest hollows of the southern Appalachians -- every bear hunter in the world swears that their respective hunting ground is the toughest around. And to be fair, they all DO offer their own unique set of challenges.

There is no way that I am about to get into that argument, nor do I intend to argue my preferred type of bear hound. As my last name would indicate, I am biased in that regard, and I gladly admit it. Nor –as I have said many times before –do I claim to be the end all expert on anything. I most certainly am not.

But for those of you that are new to the sport, or even those of you that are experts, the one thing we all have in common is our love of the chase, along with all of the hunting variables that sometimes make us feel like gluttons for punishment. Perhaps most of all, we enjoy telling stories about these experiences –good and bad – for decades.

Regardless of your preferred dog or hunting locale, and regardless of your skill sets, it is all these variables that make our sport so challenging, fun, and often frustrating. Case in point is a hunting trip I experienced in the Globe Valley of northwestern North Carolina in November 2009.