Camo for hunting bear over bait?

[Badland]

Feels sorta silly but cannot find much online. When I ask others I know I get answers ranging from “you should be camo’d up from head to toe” to “nah you could wear whatever just be still”

Bringing the wife with and we have been hunting a lot over the years in solids, grays and olive type colors for mainly deer when she is along. This may be my only bear hunt for a while or ever so don’t wanna make any silly mistakes is all. We just realized she has no real early season camo wear if it’s 70-80+ so may make a trip to the store but if not needed she does have other early season gear in gray she loves so that’s another issue haha.

Thanks

 

[Grassymike]

My take is bears know you are there. They have extremely good sense of smell and generally circle the bait site/hang up 50-100 yards out to scent check. Their cravings for the bait will win out eventually for a lot of bears. Pretty sure any clothes you wear camo or not will work, just sit still and be quiet. Enjoy the show and wait for a big one...

 

[Badland]

I was observing one bear hunt but it was more let’s all camo up or he’ll see us type hunt.

 

[danhuntingmi]

I would personally spend the $20-40 and buy camouflage. It seems that most high profile bear hunters wear camo over bait...though they might be sponsored. Also, I know someone who had a bear come in and stare at him and move out without giving him a shot.

I do agree with grassy Mike that they generally know you're around or maybe around the bait unlike with other hunting situations. Biologists have found that bears often share surplus food and bears often lay up within 100 yds or so of their favorite food sources when possible. In my personal opinion (fwiw), we are exploiting this aspect of bear psychology when we bait. They expect us to be in the area but they still want to 'share' our extra food. But they don't necessarily expect us to be 15 yds away up a tree. The more we conceal our specific whereabouts maybe the better.

 

[Thegman]

My experience is camo won't hurt, obviously, but as long as you're not moving, probably not a big deal either way. We seem to have been equally successful regardless of clothing color over the years.

The closer you are to the bait, like bow hunting, it may be more important, IDK. If you’re rifle hunting and 50+ yards out, being still is more important I think, than what you're wearing.

I'm not sure what your bait setup is, but we now use branches/camo cloth placed in front of us. That probably helps more than anything, especially masking any movement, and makes the clothing choice a moot point.

 

[saskhunter]

Movement and scent is what you should be most concerned about. I killed my last bear wearing solids and plaid, from the ground at 50 yards, no blind.

 

[Ron.C]

I think camo can help disguise some movement in some situations but like said above movement and wind are far more important.

I shoot bears every year from the ground (most are under 20 yards) and the key is moving when their head is down feeding or the are facing away from you.

I find with bears, once they are on food especially early in the spring, they hit it hard and are not as poppy (suddenly looking up ) like a deer or generally as skittish unless a bigger bear is near.

Anyhow, beyond marketing hype, I don't think camo brand/pattern makes one bit of difference as long as it doesn't have a stark contrast with your environment and is made from quiet fabrics.

enjoy, good luck

 

[ledflight]

I have heard a bear seeing you up a tree might think you're another bear that is tree'd out of fear. So you're not a threat.
Based on how good their smell is that could make sense.

 

[danhuntingmi]

I have heard a bear seeing you up a tree might think you're another bear that is tree'd out of fear. So you're not a threat.
Based on how good their smell is that could make sense.

It seems to me any thought or reaction on part of the bear is technically possible.

This tale, however, seems based partly on the idea that bears don't see well. They actually do see well. They, like humans, just aren't very alert since they aren't a typical prey species. But I don't believe they would mistake a discernable human for a bear.

Even if you were mistaken for a bear up a tree this might make the bear uneasy as well. Sow bears have been well documented to give the boys a hard time. Even the big boys might let her have her way with a food source in hopes of getting in her (figurative) britches come spring.

If it were me, I'd try to hide my presence instead following woods tales or trying trick or play games with the bear. Whether it be a mixture of camo, distance, concealment, or careful movement like everyone has mentioned. But I'm sure people have made a lot of crazy ideas work.

 

[ledflight]

It seems to me any thought or reaction on part of the bear is technically possible.

This tale, however, seems based partly on the idea that bears don't see well. They actually do see well. They, like humans, just aren't very alert since they aren't a typical prey species. But I don't believe they would mistake a discernable human for a bear.

Even if you were mistaken for a bear up a tree this might make the bear uneasy as well. Sow bears have been well documented to give the boys a hard time. Even the big boys might let her have her way with a food source in hopes of getting in her (figurative) britches come spring.

If it were me, I'd try to hide my presence instead following woods tales or trying trick or play games with the bear. Whether it be a mixture of camo, distance, concealment, or careful movement like everyone has mentioned. But I'm sure people have made a lot of crazy ideas work.

Yes, I am aware the legend is bears don't see well but the evidence is they do. I think they just trust their nose over their eyes.
I have heard a few bear encounter stories where the bear sees the human and doesn't run off until it has confirmed the human is human via scent. I haven't seen that but I have a paltry number of bear encounters!

 

[Badland]

Haha first 5 days were rough. Saw a bear first few hours but I guessed around 120lbs and passed, not expecting a monster but figured it was early and it looked like the size of my lab.

Fast forward and didn’t see any bears for 4 days. I spent 35 hours in the stand, going midday because some bears had hits prior to evening.

But my wife understood what I meant by mindless sits on hunting. Most of her limited stand experience previous always had action from bucks over 130” for whatever reason. Of course on a bear hunt two bucks came out before dark under our stand both over 120” and one at least 135” night one. But she then sat next couple days staring at logs n’ trail mix with me until she went back to work.

Guy baiting for me was awesome and I am returning this weekend free of charge.

We did get her full camo for all temps and are glad we did. Ranged from 55-88 so far