Oregon Fall Bear

[Zane503]

I’ve hunted spring bear in Ne Oregon imnaha unit and seen tons of bears. But have never hunted fall bear. Just this year Odfw extended fall bear in the east side of the state to the end of the year. Are bears out still in late October, November and early December? Is their activity toward end of year and hibernation weather dependant? Pic Is from a spring hunt in same unit. Thanks in advance for any info

 

[HuntWyld]

Black bears in Oregon don’t hibernate but rather “den” in the colder months which is more of a state of low activity but will still come out on nice days to feed. So yes bears are very much out and about during the fall and into early winter you can cut there tracks in heavy snow even. Follow there food source In the fall. Late summer early fall will be blackberries and then into huckleberry season up in the higher country, this time of year they are hitting the acorns and the manzanita berries hard. They will also be busting up logs and grubbing pretty heavy in the fall trying to pack on the calories for the winter.

 

[Zane503]

Black bears in Oregon don’t hibernate but rather “den” in the colder months which is more of a state of low activity but will still come out on nice days to feed. So yes bears are very much out and about during the fall and into early winter you can cut there tracks in heavy snow even. Follow there food source In the fall. Late summer early fall will be blackberries and then into huckleberry season up in the higher country, this time of year they are hitting the acorns and the manzanita berries hard. They will also be busting up logs and grubbing pretty heavy in the fall trying to pack on the calories for the winter.

Thank you Huntwyld for the great information. Much appreciated!

 

[HuntWyld]

No problem, good luck out there.

 

[Oregon]

Black bears in Oregon don’t hibernate but rather “den” in the colder months which is more of a state of low activity but will still come out on nice days to feed. So yes bears are very much out and about during the fall and into early winter you can cut there tracks in heavy snow even. Follow there food source In the fall. Late summer early fall will be blackberries and then into huckleberry season up in the higher country, this time of year they are hitting the acorns and the manzanita berries hard. They will also be busting up logs and grubbing pretty heavy in the fall trying to pack on the calories for the winter.

Interesting. Since he said Imnaha, and Eastern Or.
A bear would have a super hard time making a living in the Imnaha after Thanksgiving. That’s 7000’ elevation and Hells canyon.
Oregon bears are like any bears that live where 8’ snow is normal.
I defer though. I could be way way wrong! I did try and Turkey hunt the Imnaha this year on May 17th. The 5’ snowdrifts at 6000’ kept me accessing many areas.

 

[Zane503]

Interesting. Since he said Imnaha, and Eastern Or.
A bear would have a super hard time making a living in the Imnaha after Thanksgiving. That’s 7000’ elevation and Hells canyon.
Oregon bears are like any bears that live where 8’ snow is normal.
I defer though. I could be way way wrong! I did try and Turkey hunt the Imnaha this year on May 17th. The 5’ snowdrifts at 6000’ kept me accessing many areas.

Definitely a lot of snow during the winter in many parts of that unit. I would think at those elevations they would be tucked away in a den. But again I don’t know for certain. There are areas that are 4-5k in elevation closer to the imnaha river. Seems like every year I see more turkeys out there.

 

[HuntWyld]

Agreed I think at those elevations and snow depths bears will definitely den up more consistently than in southwest Oregon where I’m from. However it is pretty common knowledge and very accessible information from biologist research that black bears do not “hibernate”

 

[Baddog]

I saw a bear a couple days after new years in central Oregon before and have seen tracks in late December and late February. So I kinda think depending on elevation/snow depth they don’t really “hibernate”. I’m sure somewhere where they get multiple feet of snow they do.

 

[Bcreek86]

I’ve hunted spring bear in Ne Oregon imnaha unit and seen tons of bears. But have never hunted fall bear. Just this year Odfw extended fall bear in the east side of the state to the end of the year. Are bears out still in late October, November and early December? Is their activity toward end of year and hibernation weather dependant? Pic Is from a spring hunt in same unit. Thanks in advance for any info

Absolutely we kill bears all the way into the first week of December granted the weather patterns. Snow up high is good in November and December! It just pushes the bears into the canyons and creek bottoms. Snow concentrates them. And if the sun is out and there forage out they will be out until winter really hits but I’ve cut fresh bear tracks cat hunting in January in eastern Oregon.

 

[Shadow0311]

First year bear hunting. Bought a tag because I had a juvenile in my back yard that didn’t seem scared of anything but the 45/70. But now I have a tag and the bear hasn’t been back. Any good areas to go in southern Oregon, around grants pass area.