How Black Bear Pursuit’s Seth Watts Uses UTVs to Redefine Bear Hunting in California
True wilderness black bears don’t live in nice places. They live in dark hellholes, the sort of place that gives you nightmares, where the canyon walls are as steep as they come, rock slides are the norm, and where if you were out hunting and actually managed to harvest one, you’d be cursing the misfortune you’ve done to yourself. These aren’t your Lake Tahoe garbage bears. They’re wild, and they live in wild places.
And because of that, bear hunting isn’t the normal Type 2 hunting fun. It’s Type 2
2
.
But while swearing, cuts, scrapes, bruises, and bruised egos go hand-in-hand with backcountry black bear hunting, that’s also part of the allure when chasing them, and especially when you get to chase them in states like California, where the terrain is so widely diverse that you never know what you’re going to encounter. Mountains, forests, cliffs, and rutted-out trails or washes are all on the table, and you’ll quickly find that you’re replacing your truck’s suspension every year if you’ve gone as deep as you need to go to find these elusive animals. And trails can only get you so far, which is where
comes into play for bear hunter Seth Watts, who uses the machine to go deeper than just about everyone.
Watts has been hunting black bears in the state for almost a decade and has since filled a black bear tag each and every year since he started. The backcountry hunter started
to document his adventures, as well as showcase the need to manage these awesome animals and dispel a lot of myths surrounding them—yes, you can eat black bear, and it’s really tasty. In his pursuit, however, he’s come to understand what a lot of hunters have, too: Modern UTVs are indispensable tools for hunters.
A sentiment the author can
.
Photo by: Black Bear Pursuit
RideApart
: Talk to us about how you utilize your Kawasaki Ridge UTV.
Black Bear Pursuit
: Well, I’m pretty new to the side-by-side thing. I’ve used them in the past just with friends that have had them. Typically, I just used my Toyota Tacoma. But this year, since I’ve had it, one thing I’m realizing is once you have one, you kind of just can’t ever have one again. As far as places you can go, the time that you’re saving when you have one, as far as how fast you can move along, and the terrain that you can get through a lot quicker. They are time-saving, they’re comfortable, and it’s going to save me from having to rebuild the front end of my truck every other year.
RA
: Agreed. So black bear management practices are pretty big issues with California. How have you dealt with that in your comings and goings, and has anything changed in those practices in the last handful of years?
BBP
: So in recent yıllar, or since I’ve been bear hunting, we’ve lost the ability to manage black bear populations in California with the method of using hounds. They lost that in 2013 through legislation. So it was voted that you could no longer pursue bears with hounds. And then since that happened, the black bear population exploded in California. I believe it was around 30-35,000 bears back then. And now the population is, they say, between 65,000 and 80,000.
RA
: That’s quite a fair amount.
BBP
: To my knowledge, it’s the highest in the lower 48. No other state has even close to what California has. I think the second most populated state has maybe half of what California has. I’ve never used hounds, but I do archery, and I do rifle. It’re all spot-and-stalk or ambush style. Earlier this year, California approved a second bear tag for hunters, which was a step in the right direction.
So I run a lot of cameras, and that’s what I use my side-by-side for, to basically get as far as I can, setting up cameras, and getting to places that I need to be able to get to in a timely fashion.
RA
: How has it changed anything else in your harvesting practices, your hunting? Has it made it easier? What have been some issues with it too?
BBP
: Well, I haven’t run into any issues yet.
RA
: That’s probably good.
BBP
: I mean, things happen. So I would say that I hunt in some pretty remote areas. So getting access on roads that are typically not accessible with a truck, which I would do with my truck, but the Ridge just makes life easier. I’ve done it on motorcycles. I’ve done it on four-wheelers. I’ve done it in my truck. And pretty much how all of those compare to the side-by-side is your body is just not as beat up riding in a side-by-side.
The suspension in these rigs is far superior than what will be in a pickup truck or a quad, especially, or a dirt bike, which it just sucks the energy out of you riding a dirt bike or a quad. Whereas you jump in one of these and you’ve got air conditioning, you’ve got navigation, you’ve got a heater. I mean, it’s like driving a luxury truck really, but with far better suspension.
So most of my bears that I kill, they’re pretty remote as well. So I’m cutting them up and packing them out in a backpack. So it’s not like I can just take the side-by-side, drive up, toss it in the back, and head back to camp. But when you get back to the side-by-side, at least you’re going to be comfortable getting back to where you’re camping.
RA
: It’s “I’m going to go further and then I’m going to walk further.”
Photo by: Black Bear Pursuit
BBP
: Well, usually a mature buck and a big bear, they’re not going to live somewhere nice. They’re smart. They’re going to stay away from people as much as possible. So, getting to those areas, like some of the roads that I take, there are people that try to get up there in their truck. Every year I find a truck up there that somebody’s left. They’re never there because they’re out getting parts. I’ve seen them with blown-up rear ends, twisted drive lines, the wheel fell off, crazy stuff, to the point where you’re like, “What are you doing up here in that truck?”
But those are the kind of things that I’m looking forward to avoiding with the side-by-side. I can take my truck in so far with the trailer, dump it, and get on the side-by-side. And I know at least I have a truck that I’m going to be able to get home with. Why take my truck and beat it to death all year long scouting, then take it into where I’m going to hunt, beat it to death there, and then maybe not even be able to get home?
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