Cali bear rookie seeking advice

[fire arrow]

More fresh sign, nothing sighted. I'm about to "mistakenly" drop a bag of dog food with sardines in it.

 

[JNDEER]

i hunted lower elevation b zone in the oaks (few weeks ago). some sign, but nothing crazy. no bears sighted.

 

[Screamrider]

Bummer. I hope to get out in the next 2 weeks, not sure where exactly yet.

 

[AitchAr]

I hope to get out for a quick trip before the end of the season. At best it will be an overnighter, so I'll probably find a place in D3.

 

[ftballman125]

More fresh sign, nothing sighted. I'm about to "mistakenly" drop a bag of dog food with sardines in it.

Not to be too much of a stickler, but for those of us who also hunt Cali bear, don't bait. It's illegal, as you know, but even more so it makes it harder to get a bear for those who follow the rules and don't bait.

 

[Mckinnon]

Not to be too much of a stickler, but for those of us who also hunt Cali bear, don't bait. It's illegal, as you know, but even more so it makes it harder to get a bear for those who follow the rules and don't bait.

Pretty sure he is joking

 

[ftballman125]

Pretty sure he is joking

I thought that might be the case... I've come across a couple bait sites in some of the woods around here, always gets my goat, so sorry if I came across too sternly fire arrow.

 

[fire arrow]

Not to be too much of a stickler, but for those of us who also hunt Cali bear, don't bait. It's illegal, as you know, but even more so it makes it harder to get a bear for those who follow the rules and don't bait.

Go to the dictionary and look up sarcastic comment. A huge ticket and court dates is not worth a bear.

 

[ftballman125]

I thought that might be the case... I've come across a couple bait sites in some of the woods around here, always gets my goat, so sorry if I came across too sternly fire arrow.

See above. Can't always pick out sarcasm on the internet unfortunately...

 

[Screamrider]

Anyone have any luck around Tahoe NF recently? I'm hoping to get out for a last kick in the next couple days?

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

I went out last weekend in Mendocino. Saw sign at lower elevations but no bears..... Looks like I'm eating my bear tag this year

 

[Screamrider]

I went out last weekend in Mendocino. Saw sign at lower elevations but no bears..... Looks like I'm eating my bear tag this year

Same here. Time to shift effort to pigs I guess.

 

[Wapiti_Harvest]

Just a tip...You might want to try looking south instead of north, specically the Los Padres behind the lake (D-13). We see lots of bears behind the lake during the summer.. I haven't been up there recently, but with the warm weather we've been experiencing lately it might pay off. Good luck to you.

 

[shaun]

Bear closed last Sunday FYI. Was a screwy year for sure with the unseasonal weather

 

[fire arrow]

Ya I couldn't put my finger on what yogi was doing. My trailcams that I set up in areas that had sign had no pictures of bear. My area is really dependent on the berries to draw the bears to it. With the real hot weather early on fried most of the berries when they were young. There was only around 1000 bears taken too. Well below the quota. Hay fish and game people, O wait I mean Jerky Brown, how about a spring season. That would be nice, and a first.

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

how about a spring season. That would be nice, and a first.

I would love to see this happen!! BUT I doubt it ever will......

 

[tipsntails7]

I would love to see this happen!! BUT I doubt it ever will......

with the laws against running dogs i actually see this becoming a distinct possability.

 

[fire arrow]

I'm not sure who could even get that ball rolling. Maybe CBH???? With a huge drop in bears taken, and the population still climbing it would be great to see it.

 

[Beastmode]

I think it is a great option. A few more years of this and bears will soon become a nuisance just like they did in Oregon. Spring bear season will be here once the numbers create more of nuisance. On the bright side with high numbers bring a high success rate. Over time it will make it to where you see bear just about every outing.

 

[MattB]

I had a really interesting discussion with a Canadian outfitter on the hound ban and his long-term thoughts on what the population would do. Implicit in this is the fact that houndsmen primarily kill boars, which results in a skewing of the sex ratio (more sows, fewer boars). He recounted a story from a client of his who hunted brown bear in Russia, both in areas where they were hunted with regularity and an area that had not been hunted in many years. He said that in the area that was not hunted, they saw very few sows with cubs (implying the population having a more balanced sex ratio ratio resulted in more bear on bear predation/lower cub survival) and that the bears (sows especially) were much more aggressive. I am not sure how this will translate in black bears in CA, but we may see the population growth slow to stagnate over time and potentially more bear:human conflict but likely more big boars killed.

If we cannot get a spring season, how about a second bear tag for use in the current season?