If you are looking for a great success rate, Hyde County in North Carolina has it! It contains alot of low grounds, and thick terrain, they mostly still hunt, and if the bears arent moving well they use dogs. I hunt about an hour from there & just yesterday I had a 450 lb+ sow & 3 cubs under my stand. I know last year there was a 700 lb + bear killed just down the road.

All the places you named off offer good black bear hunting.

Montana. A friend of mine lives out there and his son hunts the way you want to. He shot a 250 pounder out there last year.

ive also been looking. i went to maine last year, that hunt was over bait. montana seems to have high sucess rates, resonable prices, and color phase bears.

Look for atomikall's post he's looking for hunters to come to Ontario

i will be huntin pennsylvania bear in the morning!

Most hunts for bear in Ontario are over bait. At least that is what I have been told.

Howdy,
Ithought Ontario bear hunts had to be over (baits) only not stalking.

I am a bear hunter also ,in all the time I've been hunting I've only come across
2 bear in the open,in 40 years of hunting.The black bear is a very secretive animal which hang in thick under growth. Good luck in 2005.

When you say POW is over crowded/overhunted do you mean Prince of Whales, AK? If so I would have to respectfully disagree to some extent. I just harvested a very nice black bear just over 7 ft. in length that was an est. 450lbs. Not bad for spring bear that just woke up and has not replenished his fat reserves. We averaged at least 7 bear a night in our bait, just about all of which would have would have gone at least 6 feet. To top it off, I saw neither hide nor hair of another hunter for the month and a half we hunted. In my opinion the area we hunted was niether over hunted nor over crowded. If you would like a quality trophy along with a high chance of success you really should look at POW island again, and good luck with your hunt.