Abandon hunting an area if there is no fresh sign?

[dboone3]

I went out hunting for black bear for the first time today. I found 4 separate piles of scat, but it was all fairly old and dry. I found no fresh sign whatsoever. Does the lack of fresh sign mean the bears have likely moved out of the area and that I should focus my hunting somewhere else?

I'm in Western WA and this hunt maxed out at ~1k feet of elevation. I was listening to a podcast that suggested hunting at 3k feet - just checking in here to see the community's consensus.

 

[Trapline]

They follow the food, what food source was around? Any berries or mast? Was it ripe, ripening, or gone already. Any freshly chewed or dug out stumps or logs around? What was the color of the exposed wood? Any rocks flipped over recently in the rock piles?

 

[TaperPin]

Bears are ruled by their stomach - if food sources are better at a different elevation that’s where they will be.

Also, bear trails can be travel routes between areas and in that case every track is a one way trip to somewhere else, so even fresh scat doesn’t mean he will return anytime soon.

Keep sharp - on my first bear hunt we didn’t know what we were doing and yet a bear stepped out 175 yards away.

 

[todd238]

I went out hunting for black bear for the first time today. I found 4 separate piles of scat, but it was all fairly old and dry. I found no fresh sign whatsoever. Does the lack of fresh sign mean the bears have likely moved out of the area and that I should focus my hunting somewhere else?

I'm in Western WA and this hunt maxed out at ~1k feet of elevation. I was listening to a podcast that suggested hunting at 3k feet - just checking in here to see the community's consensus.

I don’t think lack of fresh sign means much. I’ve found animals around after not seeing any sign.

 

[dboone3]

Bears are ruled by their stomach - if food sources are better at a different elevation that’s where they will be.

Also, bear trails can be travel routes between areas and in that case every track is a one way trip to somewhere else, so even fresh scat doesn’t mean he will return anytime soon.

Keep sharp - on my first bear hunt we didn’t know what we were doing and yet a bear stepped out 175 yards away.

Gotcha. So unless there is a lot of scat, it doesn't really mean anything.

The area I'm hunting is really thick. Do you think still hunting is the only option in an area like that? I could get to a few vantage points, but they really only let me see ~300 yards and looked down on the logging road. It's not like the expansive spot and stalks you get in some mountainous areas.

 

[dboone3]

They follow the food, what food source was around? Any berries or mast? Was it ripe, ripening, or gone already. Any freshly chewed or dug out stumps or logs around? What was the color of the exposed wood? Any rocks flipped over recently in the rock piles?

There were some berries. I saw one area with a berry bush that looked like all the grass around it had been stomped down, but the scat over there was old.

Some berries were under ripe, lack of sunlight under the canopy.

I guess I'm mostly trying to figure out what to do once I identify the sign. Do I find the food and a place to sit nearby for hours on end hoping one comes by? It's really thick in the area I'm in, so spot and stalk doesn't really work.

 

[ianpadron]

Western WA is 3-4 weeks ahead of the berry crop last year.

If I was still hunting there, I'd START at 3-4k and work up from there.

Stuff down low is toasted already.

 

[stanginthe11s]

how old was the scat? what was the bear eating? what's the nearest water source? what trees are in the area, fruit or nut bearing? from this you can get an idea of where the bear may go next or if you're in a travel spot. sign or lack of doesnt always mean anything. I have a spot that consistently produces bear yet I rarely find sign, it is simply a travel area to get to the lake.

 

[TaperPin]

Gotcha. So unless there is a lot of scat, it doesn't really mean anything.

That‘s not quite what I was trying to convey. You might have a lot of fresh poop and it’s not a bear that hangs out there. There may be very little poop, but a number of bears that just haven’t pooped where you are looking.

Bear can walk around somewhat like cows in a pasture, or fish in a fish tank, and graze here, graze there, eat the best berries off this bush, move to the next bush, walk down the hill, walk to the next berry patch they were at last week, walk up the hill, etc. Like a dog they enjoy laying around in the heat of a warm day, are more active during the day if it’s mild, but they don’t sleep inside at room temperature so think in terms of an outside dog, or stray dog. They stay out of the open in heavy downpours, and get out and start moving when a long downpour clears up.

Scat in the sun can dry quickly and look older than it is, likewise scat in regular misty rain can look much fresher than it really is.

It’s really hard to comment on specific areas without seeing it and being familiar with local bear habits. If you have a 300 yard view of what would be an easy travel route and food sources around I bet there are more bears there than meets the eye and watching it isn’t a bad idea. Watch the wind, get there early and stay late, stay alert, hunt carefully if you get bored and move.

Well used game trails following creeks or even dry creek beds, with 50 yards of visibility, on north or east sides of a mountain are cooler during the day and where I seem to bump into most bears during the day. Literally sitting 40 yards off one of these trails ready to shoot quickly is a productive way to hunt for an average bear minding his own business - the boredom would kill me though.

There‘s a lot that can be learned by just observing feeding and bedding areas, where they travel, etc. - once you can imagine a bears daily routine in an area it makes figuring out a hunting strategy much easier. Also keep in mind any big game is much much more mobil than a human - they can move away from hunting pressure easily, and walking a number of miles in a day doesn‘t break a sweat.

The same game trails have been used for 100 generations of bears - these are the bear’s sidewalks and a logging road can be used, but only if it’s going where the bear is interested in. If there’s any regular traffic on a road, there are probably parallel game trails if it’s going the same direction. Understanding the local game trails is good for any kind of hunting.

 

[dboone3]

how old was the scat? what was the bear eating? what's the nearest water source? what trees are in the area, fruit or nut bearing? from this you can get an idea of where the bear may go next or if you're in a travel spot. sign or lack of doesnt always mean anything. I have a spot that consistently produces bear yet I rarely find sign, it is simply a travel area to get to the lake.

I'm not good at gauging the age. I found the attached all in one area. The grassy stuff is clearly very old and the seedy stuff looks fresher on the surface, but was very crunchy once stepping on it.

There's a creek that runs through this area and a couple small lakes. In Western WA I'm mostly focused on berries over fruit/nut bearing trees.

 

[dboone3]

It’s really hard to comment on specific areas without seeing it and being familiar with local bear habits. If you have a 300 yard view of what would be an easy travel route and food sources around I bet there are more bears there than meets the eye and watching it isn’t a bad idea. Watch the wind, get there early and stay late, stay alert, hunt carefully if you get bored and move. Well used game trails following creeks or even dry creek beds, with 50 yards of viability, on north or east sides of a mountain are cooler during the day and where I seem to bump into most bears during the day. Literally sitting 40 yards off one of these trails ready to shoot quickly is a productive way to hunt for an average bear minding his own business - the boredom would kill me though.

Thanks! Battling boredom is definitely something I struggled with just sitting on one spot. This is the view I had. Right where the roads join is a berry bush, but when I looked down in there I found no sign. The grass isn't paved down or anything, so it didn't look very active bear activity wise.

 

[TaperPin]

Thanks! Battling boredom is definitely something I struggled with just sitting on one spot. This is the view I had. Right where the roads join is a berry bush, but when I looked down in there I found no sign. The grass isn't paved down or anything, so it didn't look very active bear activity wise.

View attachment 585112

That’s a more well used road than I was imagining. Unless it’s locked off to all motorized traffic and gets little foot traffic, bears will use other game trails.

I‘m not good hunting clear cuts, but if you can get away from the gravel road it’s a good thing. People may see bears regularly here, but the young teenage bears seem to be the most clueless and most exposed to people.

There will be well established game trails between clear cuts, and paralleling creek bottoms - if I couldn’t spot and stalk I’d get on these cooler game trails and force myself to slowly still hunt for 10 minutes then sit for 10 minutes, rinse and repeat. I guarantee that’s not the most productive way to hunt it. I hate to say any more since local knowledge of how to hunt this is what you really need.

 

[dboone3]

That’s a more well used road than I was imagining. Unless it’s locked off to all motorized traffic and gets little foot traffic, bears will use other game trails.

I‘m not good hunting clear cuts, but if you can get away from the gravel road it’s a good thing. People may see bears regularly here, but the young teenage bears seem to be the most clueless and most exposed to people.

There will be well established game trails between clear cuts, and paralleling creek bottoms - if I couldn’t spot and stalk I’d get on these cooler game trails and force myself to slowly still hunt for 10 minutes then sit for 10 minutes, rinse and repeat. I guarantee that’s not the most productive way to hunt it. I hate to say any more since local knowledge of how to hunt this is what you really need.

It is closed to motorized traffic, outside of active logging, which there doesn't seem to be much going on right now. All hikers/hunters accessing the area are likely to come up this road though.

I think what I'm gathering from you is that the next time I'm out I will focus more on water sources. Thanks for all your advice!

 

[TaperPin]

It is closed to motorized traffic, outside of active logging, which there doesn't seem to be much going on right now. All hikers/hunters accessing the area are likely to come up this road though.

I think what I'm gathering from you is that the next time I'm out I will focus more on water sources. Thanks for all your advice!

It’s not the water so much - but the creeks and dry creek beds are low and cool. A great bear trail I ran across was 25 yards from the densely vegetated creek bottom and followed it for miles.

Best of luck!

 

[stanginthe11s]

ok, fist let me say that although you may be concerned with berries, the bear only cares about food. you have to think about what phase your crops are in currently for the area. if berries came in early, they will have been hit hard by all animals and the bear will go into search mode for remaining berries. if you know a spot that may hold a large number of berries then you can look there. bear will also be looking for nut trees that are starting to drop and will climb up for an afternoon snack. also, think about houses in the area. garbage is a food source, so they will hit homes at night and head back up at first light. bear don't really care about how much a road is used, if it provides an easy walk to where they're going, they will use it.
as for water, beside the fact they need to drink, they do like water. I have watched plenty of bear go for a swim to cool off. if there is fish, even better. lakes and rivers are where I usually start early in the season as that usually gives them everything they need. work these areas just before light and before dark, then you can work timber mid-day as you may catch one napping. remember to look up lol.
like taperpin says, local knowledge is best, but for the most part all bear do the same things. just think like starving lost hunter lol. as for that spot, unless you find more than one bush with berries, the bear are not likely there. I would sit on that spot for maybe 2 hrs from just before sun up.

 

[Maineiac]

Great advice on here. I hunt western Oregon and have found that I kill bears after finding scat or track and sometime I kill them when I haven’t noticed any. Food and water seem the most important. I like hunting cuts with berries that has timber and a creek running on a border of it. Away from roads is nice but not a requirement, I killed one two nights ago in a spot as described above, only 75 yards from a road. Easiest pack out ever!

 

[StuckoYota99]

When you're looking for different spots don't get analysis paralysis. Keep moving until you find bears. Once you're on them study the area and find out "why" they are there.

Don't sleep in or go home early.

Use satellite imaging to find south facing clear cuts with timber on the edges and a water source nearby.

Pnwild has a few good podcasts and videos on Washington bear hunting.

 

[mulyguy101]

Bears are like teenage boys. All they care about is food and ladies during the rut.

 

[TheGDog]

If you get in there fairly early... like when their might still be dew on the grasses on days after nights with some humidity... that can be a dead give-away too seeing where they tromped thru the grass. Makes it easy to tell when ones have been thru their recently, since obviously the dew will evaporate as the sun rises during the day.

Dunno about your area, but in SoCal... the Choke Cherries are ripening pretty soon, you'll see scats with Mounds of them in it, since they just woof down those berries whole. They taste great, but have little flesh on them, so they just woof down a bunch of them and they poop out large mounds with the very large pits they have (Hence their name "Choke" cherries)

Also... in the heat of summer... places where like steep slopes meet up with flat bottoms that are water-ways when not in summer... the soil right there at the edge of the slope can receive draining bits of dew that can make the sand damp and cool to lay on, like among the saplings at the edge where the flat meets the steep. So sometimes you'll jump one that was snoozing in there in the mid-day heat. Nestled in an opening among the saplings.

Out here since it's hot.... if you can get in there early and post-up on a sit... they'll make the trip to a nearby place where they can submerge in water to bath and cool-off and get water in their fur before the day heats up more. Pick a sit spot looking upon either that water location, or, a trail leading to that nice deeper bathing location where the water has nice softer sand at the bottom, doesn't have algae, doesn't have uncomfortable rocks on the bottom.

Sit someplace where your wind doesn't blow across that trail line or the water, and wait.. at least until I dunno maybe 9:30a-10a tops. Then try looking for those napping places that are nice and cool. Out here in the heat.. seems like you only see them early morning, or when sun-down is approaching.

Another potential area to checkout is places where a buncha acorn producing oaks of various species might drop their acorns onto slope... and like they all fall down the slope onto a bottom part that's flat for easy pickin's for them to just saunter up to and find a whole bunch of them clustered at the bottom. Such as where roads butt-up against a slope like that with some various oaks/scrub-oaks on it.

And.. when legal shooting light ends... like if on the hike-out you have to pass-by that nice bathing location.. don't be surprised if you jump one that was in that water! That sound can startle ya big time! HaHA!