2024 California Bear

[TheYukiYama]

Went out for the weekend with the bow. Put a lot of miles on and did some glassing but wasn't super happy with the glassing locations I had e-scouted so mostly stayed on the move. No bears, and only saw 6 deer including one 160inch buck. Was very windy and even got some snow so thinking it's possible that it kept animals hunkered down? The trail camera pictures are encouraging as it let's me know there are indeed bear around, but as infrequently as any of the cameras do see them, it doesn't necessarily make me super excited to go sit near any of them... I've been planning on getting way back (4+ miles) and walking ridges and intermittently glassing opposing face and valley below. Have found I might have got a bit too ambitious and a lot of the glassing spots I had planned are too high and looking at terrain too far away to be very practical. Beginning to rethink my hunting strategy for the remainder of the season and instead do more sitting a bit closer to where I expect bears to potentially be. So curious what you guys do, how far from you are you typically glassing? Are you trying to glass from multiple spots per morning/evening, or just sitting and glassing from a single spot and seeing if anything moves through?

 

[Freezing Moon]

Went out for the weekend with the bow. Put a lot of miles on and did some glassing but wasn't super happy with the glassing locations I had e-scouted so mostly stayed on the move. No bears, and only saw 6 deer including one 160inch buck. Was very windy and even got some snow so thinking it's possible that it kept animals hunkered down? The trail camera pictures are encouraging as it let's me know there are indeed bear around, but as infrequently as any of the cameras do see them, it doesn't necessarily make me super excited to go sit near any of them... I've been planning on getting way back (4+ miles) and walking ridges and intermittently glassing opposing face and valley below. Have found I might have got a bit too ambitious and a lot of the glassing spots I had planned are too high and looking at terrain too far away to be very practical. Beginning to rethink my hunting strategy for the remainder of the season and instead do more sitting a bit closer to where I expect bears to potentially be. So curious what you guys do, how far from you are you typically glassing? Are you trying to glass from multiple spots per morning/evening, or just sitting and glassing from a single spot and seeing if anything moves through?

I've been wanting to post something about general scouting/glassing strategies but figured I'd reply here since I also hunt bears in CA. I'm still pretty new to the game so take everything with a grain of salt but hopefully this sparks more discussion.

It took me a while to really understand what kind of vantages make good glassing spots (and I'm still learning). Getting up high only to find out you're looking 1-2 miles out is definitely a problem. So is having too small a field of view. The first time I went hunting I was trying to glass the slope I was on...learning that you should be lining up to look at the opposite side of a canyon was a pretty basic but important unlock for me.

My ballpark distance is 300-1000 yards. This is without a spotting scope; I just carry 10x binos. I get way too antsy to sit and glass a whole day but I'll always make myself stay for the whole morning in case a deer/bear takes a water break at 1030. I like to still hunt during the middle of the day and I've turned up more animals that way than glassing (but that's probably because I suck at glassing).

Remember that both the sun direction and thermals reverse depending on morning/evening, so pick your spots accordingly. I like to have the sun behind me, but I also try to look onto north-facing slopes if I can.

 

[running&hunting]

Archery season starts in thirteen days, so lets get this thread started. My hunting partner and I set cameras in late May and both had our firstborns come into our lives within a week. After surviving the newborn stage we checked cameras yesterday and the bears....aren't a big fan of our trail cameras in their home. Five of the eight cameras had been messed with by bears and two were broken. One camera was ripped in half and the bear tried chewing on the batteries.

It's looking to be a promising opener. Post your pictures, videos, stories, and questions here for the 2024 California bear season. I'll start with some screenshots of our videos.

A big bear I've been trying to catch up with for years is still alive.

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Similar looking sow on the same balsamroot bush.View attachment 745507

Different sow with just one cub.

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Several bears hit this pond. The larger one is either a younger boar or older sow. Pond is now dry just like clockwork.

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Last but not least, we got our first bobcat on camera during the daytime.

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Man those are great photos! I live on the coast of central CA and I cannot even tell you how many bobcats I see around here. They are all over the trails behind our neighborhood, see them very regularly!

 

[running&hunting]

Do you usually leave cameras up over winter? I was trying to decide if I wanted to take them down after season or not and set them back up in spring. It takes about 22 boot miles to get them all so really considering leaving them out...

Lithium batteries always worked well for me in MT winters. A good size SD card or adjusting the setting to only take photos helps ensure you capture for the duration they are out.

 

[JohnnyB]

Ran into a few bears so far this archery season. Hoping to find this fella when rifle season starts up.

 

[running&hunting]

Went out for the weekend with the bow. Put a lot of miles on and did some glassing but wasn't super happy with the glassing locations I had e-scouted so mostly stayed on the move. No bears, and only saw 6 deer including one 160inch buck. Was very windy and even got some snow so thinking it's possible that it kept animals hunkered down? The trail camera pictures are encouraging as it let's me know there are indeed bear around, but as infrequently as any of the cameras do see them, it doesn't necessarily make me super excited to go sit near any of them... I've been planning on getting way back (4+ miles) and walking ridges and intermittently glassing opposing face and valley below. Have found I might have got a bit too ambitious and a lot of the glassing spots I had planned are too high and looking at terrain too far away to be very practical. Beginning to rethink my hunting strategy for the remainder of the season and instead do more sitting a bit closer to where I expect bears to potentially be. So curious what you guys do, how far from you are you typically glassing? Are you trying to glass from multiple spots per morning/evening, or just sitting and glassing from a single spot and seeing if anything moves through?

I have taken 3 bears spot and stalk and I will say it definitely depends on your knowledge of the location and the time you have available. If brand new area with multiple days it can be good to get as high with large a view as practical to see the area and as many animals as possible in the morning so you have all day to go get in position that evening or the next morning. If on a time crunch, try to be within reasonable striking distance of a location so you don't run out of shooting light if you have to leave the next day or get to work.

 

[running&hunting]

Ran into a few bears so far this archery season. Hoping to find this fella when rifle season starts up.

The shaded part looks like he has blonde on top!

 

[JohnnyB]

The shaded part looks like he has blonde on top!

Similar to this one...

 

[running&hunting]

Similar to this one...

Wow! I have not seen one quite like that in person. Best of luck, I hope you connect with the one your after. I would love to see the photos of hide if you do!

 

[running&hunting]

I've been wanting to post something about general scouting/glassing strategies but figured I'd reply here since I also hunt bears in CA. I'm still pretty new to the game so take everything with a grain of salt but hopefully this sparks more discussion.

It took me a while to really understand what kind of vantages make good glassing spots (and I'm still learning). Getting up high only to find out you're looking 1-2 miles out is definitely a problem. So is having too small a field of view. The first time I went hunting I was trying to glass the slope I was on...learning that you should be lining up to look at the opposite side of a canyon was a pretty basic but important unlock for me.

My ballpark distance is 300-1000 yards. This is without a spotting scope; I just carry 10x binos. I get way too antsy to sit and glass a whole day but I'll always make myself stay for the whole morning in case a deer/bear takes a water break at 1030. I like to still hunt during the middle of the day and I've turned up more animals that way than glassing (but that's probably because I suck at glassing).

Remember that both the sun direction and thermals reverse depending on morning/evening, so pick your spots accordingly. I like to have the sun behind me, but I also try to look onto north-facing slopes if I can.

What time of day do you target north facing slopes? All day or just midday?

 

[JNDEER]

Might want to check the regs for bear zones. I think most of A Zone South is closed to bear hunting except the southern end. (Map attached)

Sorry, I live in NorCal and never looked at southern A zone regs- but you are correct I should have specified the northern unit.

Big fella opening weekend