Calling for black bears

[jpuckett]

Me and my dad have black bear tags to fill along with our muley tags for second rifle season in Colorado. I have never hunted black bears. Do most of you bring predator calls? I would think it being a cold weather hunt the predator call should be pretty lethal. Would y'all use phelps? Or what call?


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[chindits]

I tried it once. I would elk hunt in the a.m. and then as the sun warmed up that canyon I would set up by the creek and do some predator calls. There was bear scat all over the bottom of that canyon. What I found was that being stationary and as I warmed up in the sun, I would fall asleep. So I figured it wasn't a good idea to try to call in bears when I couldn't stay awake. So I went back to elk hunting all day and bedding down mid day like an elk when it became to warm to stay awake. No need to call bears when you are sleeping. Heck with them bears.

 

[ReddingArcher]

I know some guys swear by it but I haven't had much luck with it. I have had bears inside 100 yards and called at them with a fawn in distress call and rabbit in distress call and they just looked at me and kept right on walking. A guy I work with called in two within a few hundred yards of each other and him and his buddy killed both of them. I guess its situational, if a bear is in close and wants a rabbit or fawn they would come in. I am going to try a bear cub in distress this year, I've heard its deadly in the early part of the season here. We'll see.

 

[elkbowkevin]

Sit back against a tree, open up that sammich you brought with you,, sit it out in front of you, cross legged and slowly softly chant:

OMmmmmmm Saammmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich,,, OMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Saaaaaammmmmmmiiiiiich, over and over, pausing every couple minutes to look around.

Wont be long till yogi will be coming looking for that sammich in the pick-a-nic basket.


Really though. fawn in distress or even a lost soft of calf elk call will work. Ive called them in using one of those grey folded over plastic elk calls with the rubber band. Using a low drawn out kind of Whaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh, Ill breath in a normal breath, then use nearly my entire breath blowing out through the call. I didnt make it that higher pitchto low pitch cow kind of call, just a long lazy wwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

Few years back I called in a 150# ish younger black bear 4 times over 45 min using that type of call. I was sitting in my tree stand and he was looking all over trying to find that sound. Coulda shot him a dozen times under 30 yards but I was hunting elk not bear.

 

[jtw]

I've called in a few bears. The most important thing is finding a good spot that has very fresh sign then calling your butt off for longer than you think you'll need to. Im talking 30 mins at least. Ive had the best luck with sitting the caller back 20 yards or so. Bears tend to stop a distance from the call. If one guys is sitting next to the one calling it may be the difference between a shot opp. Also I hunt in the thick western washington rain forests so visibility is different.

 

[jtw]

Also, Ive had the best luck with a cheap deer call doing fawn distress. Rodent calls brought in coyotes and vultures but never bears. I also wouldnt hunt bear if I can hunt deer. Ive call does and one immature buck using fawn distress but usually bucks dont come running towards it.

 

[Saylean]

I always bring a predator call with me deer hunting (or bear). Colder weather will help. It is not uncommon to call in deer with the call too, fyi. You are just learning how to call, get a closed reed mouth call, easy to use and cheap.

 

[Bar]

Calling definitely works, but not every bear will come to them. Predator calls are ok and I try them sometimes, but a fawn or calf call work better for me. What I do is use a fawn call for 15-20 min. Then I add a coyote howl and other sounds excted coyotes make. What i'm trying to do is let the bear think a coyote is beating it to the meal. If you do fool a bear like this the bear will throw caution to the wind and come charging in ready for a meal and fight. It's not for the weak kneed, so be ready to shoot fast. I use a muzzleloader, so I get one shot to get it right.

You also have another option in Colorado that's legal. After you shoot a deer you can use the gut pile to bait for a bear. As long as you use it at the kill. You can't move it.

 

[5shot]

I had a video on bear calling, and the main point of the vid was that you had to call constantly. Even a bear that was showing interest would stop coming the second the calling stopped. He only called to bears he had actually spotted near by. As others have said, you have to call where there is fresh sign. I don't think blind calling is going to be productive.

 

[Saylean]

Don't dismiss cold calling into areas. You never know what might be lurking out there.

 

[Saylean]

Was cold calling into a creek bed with brush over in eastern wa this past week, while elk hunting was slow. Called for about 45 minutes, was surprised nothing showed up, but it wasn't the first time that has happened. The place looked like it would hold bear. I stop and begin walking out....round the bend in the loggin road about 10 minutes after I stopped calling,

COLOR PHASE walking up the hill from me...no shot I had my bow...he was walking away. So he was either coming in, or was watching me and left once I started to walk out, or was just passing through> However, I tend to believe I just stopped calling too early...

oh the pain!