Imagine a medium sized black bear working over the bait barrel less than 20 yards from your treestand.  The bear has no idea it is being watched and is very relaxed.  It lies flat on its belly, lapping up greased soaked oats.  Suddenly without warning, the bear jumps to its feet and stares into the swamp to the left of the bait site.  Moments later, a larger bear appears on the scene.  The medium bear takes off running, while the larger bear walks into the bait site.  This is a common scenario, shared by our hunters and can also be experienced by you. The most productive Esnagi Lake bear hunting tactic is baiting.  When hunting over baits (oats, molasses, meat scraps, dog food and spoiled fruit) hunters have the opportunity to see plenty of bears while sitting in stands.  Many hunters get to see multple bears interacting at the bait site and have the potential to bag a bragging sized bruin! The vast majority of bear hunting on Esnagi Lake, takes place in heavily forested, untouched wilderness.  Bait sites are set up in areas where bears feel comfortable and will move during daylight hours.  This typically means hunting in swampy areas,bogs, thick stands of spruce trees and hard to reach areas.  Since Esnagi is a remote lake, only accessible by train or plane, you will have no competition in the area you are hunting. Esnagi boasts a very healthy bear population, as well as some very big bears.  Every year hunters harvest bears that qualify for the Boone & Crocket and Pope & Young record books.  Such bears easily exceed 300 pounds in live body weight and stretch tape measures well beyond the 6 foot mark.  In fact, it seems to be an annual occurance for a few hunters to take bears in the 8 foot range that pull scales beyound 450 pounds! Late season hunts coincide with the black bear rut and can produce the biggest bears of the season. On Esnagi, bear hunters can use bows and arrows, crossbows, centrefire rifles, shotgun (but cannot use a shotgun smaller than 20 gauge when loaded with shot smaller than SG or No. 1 buck) or muzzleloaders.  Archery hunters must use a bow at a draw length of 27.6 inches or less and have a draw weight of at least 48.5 pounds.  Arrows must be at least 23.6 inches long and have a minimum 0.87 inch wide arrow head with at least 2 cutting edges that are sharp, unserrated, barbless, straight, and made of steel.  In terms of clothing, black bear hunters are required to wear hunter orange except when in a tree stand.  This exception is in place because, unlike deer and moose, black bears have colour vision. Legal hunting time in Ontario is from one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset.  Many bears are shot during the late day period.  Thus many hunters sit over their baits during the late afternoon and early evening.  In many cases, hunters then have the mornings and early afternoons to tag along and help on baiting runs or spend some time fishing. For bear hunt pricing please see the Bear hunt rates page.