Do bears come back to an area after shot at?

[packgoatguy]

My apologies if this has been discussed before.

My son shot at but missed at his first bear yesterday... he is normally a very good shot, but I think his nerves got the better of him.

The bear didn't seem to react to the sound of the shot (suppressed) but ran away from the puff of dirt from the bullet impact next to it.

How likely is it that this particular bear would come back to the same spot/area (no bait, just one of a few snow-free areas) over the next week or two? Is he likely to avoid the area after being shot at? Are black bear boars "territorial" and stay in a home turf area? or do they just roam from one food source to the next? In this particular area of Idaho, there is still plenty of snow... several feet in most spots, and the spot the bear was in was one of only a few we found snow free nearby. However, I suspect that within the next week or so, a lot more ground nearby will be snow free with warmer temps on the forecast.

My son is wondering if it is worth trying this spot again (it's not easy to get to) or should we find "greener pastures"?

 

[MHWASH]

My son missed a boar on the first day of our hunt a couple of years ago. We waited 2 days and back, this time he made a great shot on the bear. Although it's possible this was a different boar, it sure looked like the same one. In my opinion, as long as the food source doesn't change the bear will still be there. BTW, he wasn't shooting suppressed, but the creek may have obscured the gun shot.

 

[MillenialHunter]

Probably not quite the same situation, but my buddy got excited and missed a bear with an unsuppressed 338 lapua at 125 yards at a bait and it came back 15 minutes later.

 

[GoatPackr]

Yes they'll come back. Maybe hrs or the next day.

Kris

 

[Bubblehide]

Bears are where the food is. If there is better food, easier food to access, that is where they will be. As food supply changes, they move. With that said, they will also move ifvthey feel pressured. I would not expect an incident like the OP describes to be perceived as enough pressure to result in it moving. As food supply changes, from my experience, it appears to take less for a bear to move on to a new/growing food supply, as an item comes into season.

 

[roosiebull]

My apologies if this has been discussed before.

My son shot at but missed at his first bear yesterday... he is normally a very good shot, but I think his nerves got the better of him.

The bear didn't seem to react to the sound of the shot (suppressed) but ran away from the puff of dirt from the bullet impact next to it.

How likely is it that this particular bear would come back to the same spot/area over the next week or two? Is he likely to avoid the area after being shot at? Are black bear boars "territorial" and stay in a home turf area? or do they just roam from one food source to the next? In this particular area of Idaho, there is still plenty of snow... several feet in most spots, and the spot the bear was in was one of only a few we found snow free nearby. However, I suspect that within the next week or so, a lot more ground nearby will be snow free with warmer temps on the forecast.

My son is wondering if it is worth trying this spot again (it's not easy to get to) or should we find "greener pastures"?

I would say he will be back, I have seen a few come back out minutes after being shot at, of all the critters, I would say they are least effected by getting shot at

 

[Chuckybmd]

They’ll definitely come back. Especially over bait.

 

[crrakcrrak]

They do, May take some days but they can't say not to a good bait.

 

[7mm-08]

I don't believe that bear has vacated the area (unless he got a nose fully of human sent). Like others have said, go right back in there and keep hunting for him.