Im at 7 Massachusetts bears myself. I also called one in that my buddy shot so that could be 8 if I wanted to count it. All of them were either called, stalked, or tree stand sitting.
I called one in last year that my buddy shot! He went from 90 yards to 20 feet in the blink of an eye! Awesome stuff!
Bear cub in distress is what I use when calling.
My suggestions, walk the edges of corn fields really slow, listening for "crunching", that'll be the bears eating the cobs. If you hear snapping that's the bears snapping the stalks to get the cobs! If you hear a bunch of snapping at once that's a bear rolling in the corn to take down a bunch of stalks at once! Lazy efficiency!!
If corn isn't an option any berry patch will work also. Wild raspberries, blueberries or even an apple orchard.
If you don't see or hear anything but see other signs (scat, prints, or throw up) then sit and call.
I told my buddy we will call each spot we planned on hitting for 25 minutes. We seen the bear at the 24 minute mark! So calling for longer is something I will be doing from here on out. We normally separate and walk the opposite edge of the Fields and meet in the middle. If nothing is seen or heard we find a spot to sit and call. The corn field was cut where I called in the bear last year so we sat in the wood about 100 yards from the field. So if you come to a cut corn field don't get discouraged. They will still be in the general area. Ive seen them wide open in cut corn fields before aswell.
Nothing more intimidating out here in New England then trailing a wounded bear, especially in a thick corn field or dark woods. Some people may call me a "pu$$y" (my father jokes) and I'm ok with that, but I like to hunt bears with a partner when calling. Tree stands and spot and stalk I hunt alone. Maybe someday when both my balls drop I'll call alone but not likely. Lol
A bears fur soaks up a lot of blood so trailing one can be difficult. They don't always do a "death moan" either.
If you get lucky enough to pull the trigger and the blood trail just disappears, look up!! This happened about 5 years ago. My father hit a bear and couldn't find it. He backed out and came to where I was hunting and asked for help. We went back looked and looked and looked. We were just about to give up and I don't know why but my dad looked up where the blood ended and sure as $hit, there was the bear, dead in the tree.
I wish you luck, it's fun, its intimidating, and it's a blast.
