Yeah that's probably the most popular. It's pretty dang thick up here in NW MT. We walk a lot of old logging roads. Find areas with fresh sign and hang out in that area. We can't bait or use electronic calls, but I know guys have decent success calling later in the season. But, yes, mostly glassing clear cuts to spot and stalk.
a couple more things... evenings are more consistent for seeing bear (though they can be out any time of course) evenings are most reliable... fall bear not so, but spring it is.
evening have been far more reliable for me historically in the spring.... or as soon as it quits raining and gets nice.... when that happens, and it's 2pm, 2pm will be the best time period that day if it rained for 6+hrs leading up to that.
early season I will be covering ground and scouting green up.... bear only care about one thing early in the season, and that's food. bear are grazers, so looking for the most lush food is how to find bear (primarily grass early on, transitioning to grass and dandelion)
i'll be walking grassy roads, and creek bottoms, as well as chutes and south facing clear cuts. they don't mind near vertical terrain, and they aren't likely going to be in spots with a lot of human traffic.... isolated food sources with good feed is what i'm looking for.
remember, spring bear scat looks much different than that of a fall bear, looks more like horse poop than fall bear (i'm sure you can find pics online if you don't know what it looks like)
bear are the least tolerant to human scent, so keep that in mind if you find a nice vantage point to glass from..... I like walking bottoms too to find track and sign, but don't do a lot of that if you do find sign, or you'll run them out of there.
I plan to do some calling early too, especially in those thick areas you find sign but can't get a vantage point. another good aspect of calling early is the likelihood of calling in a lion.... multi tasking
I have called in a few bear with lion vocals on accident, so I will basically treat calling setups like i'm hunting lions.
as we get in the 3rd-4th week of april, i'll start focusing more on clear cuts (south facing will have the best feed) by that time the grass in the cuts will be getting lush, and dandelion will as well. what i'm looking for as textbook habitat is a cut with no road in the bottom preferably, south facing, and one border of mature timber, and a vantage that keeps your wind out of there.
if you find good sign, but can't get good wind, don't waste your time.... maybe you can get in a spot with good wind an call him out.
if it's not obviously a big boar, don't get too yippy on the gun, watch for awhile, I have seen those little cubs disappear for long periods of time while watching a sow. I just won't shoot a bear if there is any question.... that would take the fun out of the season for me.
lots of ways to skin this cat, but basically cover ground, find the best habitat you can find, pay attention to wind, and get behind the glass. the stuff you see glassing in the spring makes it a very fun time to be in the woods..... the woods are alive in the spring. good time to scout deer and elk too (at least around here) our bucks and bulls don't travel far throughout the year, and when they are growing antler, they are very visible, so it's pretty easy to find some big critters that time of year.
Awesome info. Thanks!early season I will be covering ground and scouting green up.... bear only care about one thing early in the season, and that's food. bear are grazers, so looking for the most lush food is how to find bear (primarily grass early on, transitioning to grass and dandelion)
i'll be walking grassy roads, and creek bottoms, as well as chutes and south facing clear cuts. they don't mind near vertical terrain, and they aren't likely going to be in spots with a lot of human traffic.... isolated food sources with good feed is what i'm looking for.
remember, spring bear scat looks much different than that of a fall bear, looks more like horse poop than fall bear (i'm sure you can find pics online if you don't know what it looks like)
bear are the least tolerant to human scent, so keep that in mind if you find a nice vantage point to glass from..... I like walking bottoms too to find track and sign, but don't do a lot of that if you do find sign, or you'll run them out of there.
I plan to do some calling early too, especially in those thick areas you find sign but can't get a vantage point. another good aspect of calling early is the likelihood of calling in a lion.... multi tasking
I have called in a few bear with lion vocals on accident, so I will basically treat calling setups like i'm hunting lions.
as we get in the 3rd-4th week of april, i'll start focusing more on clear cuts (south facing will have the best feed) by that time the grass in the cuts will be getting lush, and dandelion will as well. what i'm looking for as textbook habitat is a cut with no road in the bottom preferably, south facing, and one border of mature timber, and a vantage that keeps your wind out of there.
if you find good sign, but can't get good wind, don't waste your time.... maybe you can get in a spot with good wind an call him out.
if it's not obviously a big boar, don't get too yippy on the gun, watch for awhile, I have seen those little cubs disappear for long periods of time while watching a sow. I just won't shoot a bear if there is any question.... that would take the fun out of the season for me.
lots of ways to skin this cat, but basically cover ground, find the best habitat you can find, pay attention to wind, and get behind the glass. the stuff you see glassing in the spring makes it a very fun time to be in the woods..... the woods are alive in the spring. good time to scout deer and elk too (at least around here) our bucks and bulls don't travel far throughout the year, and when they are growing antler, they are very visible, so it's pretty easy to find some big critters that time of year.
I have been back a couple times and not seen him again, he may still be coming out daily, but maybe not where I can see from cross canyon. the wind forces me to stay on that side to spot him (then I could make a stalk)
