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Lottery Zone 13 & 41 Black Bear Hunts
You must apply for a tag in April before May 1st to hunt in September.
Contact Jonny directly for zone & application information.
A semi-guided Minnesota fall black bear hunt with Outdoors with Jonny P is not your normal semi-guided baited bear hunt. Jonny switched up his operating procedures for the 2019 season. Outdoors with Jonny P is now offering a more exclusive hunt, limited number of hunters in camp per week and only hunting the peak of the season Sept 1st through Sept 21st. Focusing on only one or two small groups per week Jonny wants to make the entire experience as personable customized as possible. Jonny P is also offering customized hunts for youth or physically challenged hunters. Read through this page then contact Jonny P directly with any further questions.
How the bear hunt works step by step.
- First contact Jonny P directly via phone or email and discuss the hunt you or your group are looking for, your expectations and what YOU want to get from this hunt. At that time you and state licensed Master Outfitter Jonny P will decide the best situation for you and if a Minnesota black bear hunt with Jonny P is for you or your group. This is not a Canadian style hunt with multiple bear on each site or a guaranteed success. Outdoors with Jonny P offers a lower 48 baited bear hunt tailored for you. You as the hunter are often hunting one or two, maybe three, quality boar. Outdoors with Jonny P is a personalized small group outfitter that focuses quality verses quantity.
- Come April applications for the fall black bear hunt become available. Jonny outfits in zones 13 and 41 with a concentration on zone 13. Jonny will help you with your applications but cannot acquire the tags for you; it is a lottery tag for the zone hunts in northern Minnesota. Once your application is sent in you await the results that come out in May.
- If you are awarded a tag at that point Jonny P will personally set up the dates for your hunt and tailors the entire hunt for your specific needs.
- Baiting season often starts around the 15th of August. At that time Jonny P personally sets up all the baits, stands, blinds and routes for the fall hunt. Then tends those baits on a very specific schedule that has been devised from decades of his family offering black bear hunts. Jonny will also be emailing you the hunter trail camera pictures every couple days! You get to see the bear before you even go hunting.
- Hunting season starts September 1st, at that point the operation goes into daily routine. At 1 PM hunters meet at the bear center to go through trail camera pictures from the past 24 hours then Jonny and the hunters look at winds, bear behavior and other factors to put you onto the best possible opportunity for that day.
- You are led into your stand or blind for the evening hunt, if needed, by 3PM. Hunters returning to the same stand as before will go out on their own accord. Everything was set and made ready for you by Jonny P early that morning. All you have to do is go hunting.
- If a bear is harvested Jonny P himself is on scene as soon as possible to lead the tracking efforts and retrieval your Minnesota black bear. This includes field dressing and hauling what could be a 400lb bear back to camp
- If a bear is not harvested Jonny asks that you check in via cell phone or stopping at the bear center nightly so he can assure everybody is safely out of the woods.
- Once returning to the bear center after harvesting a bear Jonny has the equipment to do whatever you desire with your bear. Once the bear is registered over the phone he can freeze it whole for your taxidermist or game processor, this is included with the hunt. Another option is to skin and quarter your bear, then chill or freeze the meat and hide in his walk in freezer. Jonny will cape or rug skin your bear with paws and skull still attached for your taxidermist depending upon what you want.
- High fives and legendary stories of the hunt will be told. If you complete these 10 steps you have harvested a Minnesota black bear.
Requirements of a bear hunt with Outdoors with Jonny P
Archers will have to complete a shot competency test before being allowed to hunt with archery equipment. Each archer or crossbow hunter MUST put 3 arrows in a 6 inch circle at 30 yards from sitting position inside a set up blind, fully dressed in hunt gear. If this does not work you will be allowed to hunt with a firearm. All archery set ups will be a 20-35 yard shot. Years of high percentage bear sightings and low archery shot success rates have led to this test. Archery bear hunting is a challenge and much more difficult then many anticipate. Bear senses, intelligence and the complicity of making a archery shot put the odds in the bears favor. Jonny also recommends leaving the mechanical broadheads on the shelf. Fixed blades such as Muzzy, Monotech and other with a sturdy hard hitting blade are recommended.- ALL firearms will be test fired from a sitting position from a blind. Firearm hunters must also put multiple shots into a target. All weapons will be proven and inspected before the hunt.
- No Therma Cells and now no Ozonics. Past experiences have proven that these products do not fool a bear at all and negatively effect the hunt . If Jonny can smell them the bear can definitely smell them. Bug suits are the best bet.
- All sights should be illuminated, white paint or have some method of low light enhancement. Black bear in low light conditions under dense canopy is a challenge.
- ATV/side by sides are not required but recommended. With the start of the 2018 season we are spreading back out to our very remote bait sites, some of them 5-6 miles from the road. Jonny P will still have several walk in sites for those without ATVs but the ATV hunter will be able to get back into the far reaches of bear country.
- Cell phone curfew. All cell phones will have the notifications turned off, including vibration and put away 1 ½ hours before dark. Smart phones are dramatically affecting the hunt the last few years; don’t ruin your hunt with a text message, status update or snapchat.
- Any hunter breaking ANY game laws, bad behavior of any type or endangering others will be kicked out of camp immediately without refund. Jonny P runs hard but does not cross that line, period.
7 Consecutive days of hunting – $1,250 total cost.
50% ($625) down to reserve hunt
Must have a zone 13 or 41 tag in hand to reserve a hunt.
A Minnesota black bear hunt with Jonny P is a daily afternoon/evening hunt. Plan on making your trip a cast and blast trip. In the AM hours Jonny P is running through the woods locating the best bear opportunities for you. Plan on taking in some of the incredible fishing, not only on Upper Red Lake but surrounding lakes. Jonny will have the latest bite and locations ready for you.
Any questions or concerns about hunting black bear in northern Minnesota please email Jonny P at- outdoorswithjonnyp@gmail.com
I will be more than happy to answer any questions and there are no dumb questions when it comes to a guided bear hunt.