E-Scouting Bears

[SirSpencer]

I'm starting the planning for a spring bear hunt here in MT (my first bear hunt) and am doing some E-scouting of areas and realized I don't think I have a solid idea of what kinds of terrain / features to be looking for. I saw a couple while scouting / hunting elk last year so I have an idea of where to start looking but I'm more curious about if I'm looking for green slopes on aerial footage, do benches matter, access to streams / rivers that kind of stuff.

Or is spring bear mostly a boots on the ground "look for the food" thing and e scouting isn't quite as helpful as with deer/elk?

 

[DocV]

I am going to cavaet this by saying I have not hunted spring bear, but I am gearing up for my first this year. This video helped me

 

[SirSpencer]

Thanks! Don't know how I missed finding this on youtube.

 

[Cameron.25]

I attempted to e scout for my first bear hunt last year in hells canyon and didn't do as well with it as i do with deer and elk lol. They were generally cruising when i did find them too. I couldn't get in there early when they're aren't so mobile due to the snowpack, did one trip in mid april and another in mid may through end of the season. I did find plenty of bears randomly while glassing areas with green up like south slopes. Never been in your unit but if its like the snake unit, id definitely be ready to glass your eyeballs off and take some longer shots if you wanna increase your chances

 

[DocV]

I attempted to e scout for my first bear hunt last year in hells canyon and didn't do as well with it as i do with deer and elk lol. They were generally cruising when i did find them too. I couldn't get in there early when they're aren't so mobile due to the snowpack, did one trip in mid april and another in mid may through end of the season. I did find plenty of bears randomly while glassing areas with green up like south slopes. Never been in your unit but if its like the snake unit, id definitely be ready to glass your eyeballs off and take some longer shots if you wanna increase your chances

I appreciate your insight. Having scouted hells canyon before I think there’s some cross over with Western MT. I have a SW Idaho tag for bear, and I was offered a loaner .338 ultra mag for spring bear. It will extend my range (325yards with a .308) to 400 yards. Do you think that’s valuable? I feel comfortable with both ranges but I feel like the 75 yard difference is stalk-able

 

[Cameron.25]

Yeah id say the longer that you could confidently shoot the better in that country lol. 400 should be do able tho same with 325 so id say either caliber. I also have a 308, just got a 6.5 prc in hopes of being able to shoot to 500-600 in the future

 

[SirSpencer]

coincidently Mark Livesay just posted on his instragram that he did a pod cast on E scouting for Spring Bears. Haven't listened yet but I'll probably check it out this weekend.

Mark Livesay on Instagram: "In this Publicly Challenged Podcast episode Lucas and I spent time discussing my second favorite hunting pursuit! I love hunting spring bears and I utilize several of the same E-Scouting tools to find these spring bruins.

117 likes, 8 comments - Mark Livesay (@treeline_pursuits) on Instagram: "In this Publicly Challenged Podcast episode Lucas and I spent time discussing my second favorite ..."

www.instagram.com

 

[SirSpencer]

coincidently Mark Livesay just posted on his instragram that he did a pod cast on E scouting for Spring Bears. Haven't listened yet but I'll probably check it out this weekend.

Mark Livesay on Instagram: "In this Publicly Challenged Podcast episode Lucas and I spent time discussing my second favorite hunting pursuit! I love hunting spring bears and I utilize several of the same E-Scouting tools to find these spring bruins.

117 likes, 8 comments - Mark Livesay (@treeline_pursuits) on Instagram: "In this Publicly Challenged Podcast episode Lucas and I spent time discussing my second favorite ..."

www.instagram.com

Finally listened to the podcast, he had some pretty cool ideas but was mostly hyping up his bear course he will be putting out in the near future. Big tip was a way to add live snow level data into google earth, I've been playing with that and it's pretty cool.

 

[PablitoPescador]

Which podcast was he on?

 

[Cameron.25]

Publicly challenged

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

Do you know approximately when you'll be going? That will effect where to look for them. Look for south facing slopes with exposure to sun though, if you can find a south facing burn and hunt the green up in May that will significantly increase your odds.

 

[MBubley]

I know its not e scouting specific but as far as once your out, Bear shit in spring is slick and greasy as hell something i didnt know tell i went on first scout, goodluck with your hunt

 

[archp625]

Finally listened to the podcast, he had some pretty cool ideas but was mostly hyping up his bear course he will be putting out in the near future. Big tip was a way to add live snow level data into google earth, I've been playing with that and it's pretty cool.

I was pumped for it as well to find out is was basically an infomercial for an upcoming course.

 

[SirSpencer]

I was pumped for it as well to find out is was basically an infomercial for an upcoming course.

Yeah, he dropped some advice in there but like most conversational podcasts it wasn’t laid out in a step by step how to.

I’ve been doing his tree line academy and I think it’s worth the money. Simply for just the how to utilize Gaia and google earth.


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[SirSpencer]

Do you know approximately when you'll be going? That will effect where to look for them. Look for south facing slopes with exposure to sun though, if you can find a south facing burn and hunt the green up in May that will significantly increase your odds.

Thanks for the tips. I am planning on going out in may.


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[BackcountryBloodline]

Thanks for the tips. I am planning on going out in may.


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May here is prime time, I love the first 2 weeks of May for the fact that they're more condensed and the fur is generally still in excellent condition. YMMV in MT, I have no personal experience there but if you really want to geek out then see if there is a Montana bear hunting page on facebook or search your local hunting forums for successful bear hunts and I bet you'll see a pattern of when the spring harvests start to roll in and when they begin to slow down for the season.

 

[PablitoPescador]

Yes it is "boots on ground," and, terrain is critical. Every hill or mountain has a north, south, east, and west slope. And in any given area there are multitudes of food sources, but you could spend the entire season searching every mountain slope , or food source in any given area, and never sight a bear. The solution for most bear hunters, especially inexperienced bear hunters is the "more is better approach" or spot, and stalk. The "reasoning" is "cover enough ground, and you increase your chances for success." But bears live in forested, mountainous terrain, and prefer the safety, and cover of forested areas, not open slopes. Searching for them with a spot, and stalk method is overwhelmingly ineffective. The success rate in Montana, and Idaho ( if you exclude baiters, and hound hunters) is about 5%, which clearly confirms it. The spot, and stalk method will give you an overwhelming probability of about 95% of not filling your tag or even seeing a black bear for that matter. Those who do sight bears by this method are familiar with the terrain they hunt, and/or get lucky. It is to your benefit to focus your attention, and efforts on areas that bears frequent such as streams, creeks, rivers, swamps, and lakeshores as well. Bears use water courses as travel corridors, for water as well, and for food sources found in, and around them. Bears are always found close to water, and frequently bed down close to such areas. Water courses are necessities for black bears which are far less common, and substantially easier to locate. Hunting spring bears in late afternoon, and evening when they're most active in the spring, will dramatically increase your chances for success. Your best approach is to seek bears in their home territory, the types of terrain that they frequent daily or almost daily. Your spring black bear hunting should be focused on hunting black bears in close proximity to water during late afternoon, and evening hours, if you wish to dramatically increase your chances or probabilities for success......

Not sure I follow your logic. Yes bears live near water but during the spring runoff months there’s not a single drainage that doesn’t have water flowing down it. In my mind water courses are very common (at least in Montana) and don’t narrow things down for you at all. What I will give you is that the bottoms of the drainages (near water) are the first to green up. That’s where I see most of my bears early season and as things start to green up in the higher elevations the bears follow it.

I’m not sure what you’re getting at with saying that spot and stalk is ineffective. In Montana it is the only method of take unless you consider calling a separate method. Your method sounds like spot and stalk to me, but maybe I’m missing something?

 

[NorthernHunter]

Thank you for your comment. As I stated, streams, creeks, rivers, lakeshores. Runoff is not a permanent water source. And it is not a geographical feature. The water sources I mentioned are the types of terrain where bears can be consistently located, and they are considerably less common than mountain slopes or hillsides (north, west, south, or east). Food sources can be found just about anywhere later in the season, though less so earlier. Some bears actually starve for lack of food earlier in the season according to IDF&G. Bears don't spend much time eating grass, which has little nutritive value. And bears use water courses as travel corridors as well. Spot and stalk hunting is ineffective. Why would anyone glass open hillsides searching for an animal which frequents, and spends its' entire life in forested, mountainous terrain? But it is not the only method of hunting bears in Idaho or Montana. And as I stated, it is ineffective. With a success rate of 5%, it cannot be called, by any stretch of the imagination or logic, effective. It is best to hunt bears in areas which they frequent, and avoid the much less effective methods of hunting them in areas where they are harder to locate, and can be found far less frequently...

I don't want to start an argument with you. Try not to take this poorly. You seem to dislike the industry standard way of hunting spring bear. That in itself is fine. This site doesn't work by having people go into forums and bash everything people are saying without offering an alternative at the very least. Why don't you give the OP your opinion of what you look for when e-scouting and how you take that information and beat the 5% odds that you keep mentioning.

 

[GKWMontana]

I am having a hard time following where your going?

 

[NorthernHunter]

Thank you for your comment. The information provided is factual. Please feel free to research success rates for Montana as well as Idaho (don't neglect to make allowances for success rates in Idaho due to baiting, and hounds). My recommendations were provided to help inexperienced hunters succeed at tagging a bear or bears (if they've chosen to hunt Idaho) and substantially increase their odds for success. Never have utilized "the industry standard" to take the 26 or 27 bears I've killed to date or help locate the estimated several hundred bears I've viewed while pursuing spring or even fall black bears (though I no longer hunt the fall season). The choice my good man, is entirely up to them..

I'm not saying your not good at finding spring bears. I'm saying that simply telling someone "find water and there will be bears" isn't useful. What was different about the water sources that held bears? Do you find small ponds and swamps better, or larger creeks and rivers. If your as skilled as you make it sound provide something of value.