The 1 Thing You Learned- Bear Hunting

[Munkish]

You can't shoot a bear if you won't buy a tag. I went with my brother-in-law in Alaska but I didn't buy a tag since neither of us had been before. He is a resident so it was cheap for him. In one day we saw 17 black bears. We stalked up on the biggest one I've ever seen. And he missed an easy shot. Lesson learned. I'll buy a tag next time...

 

[Gold54bs]

Been hunting bears back country spot and stalk 5 years now and killed 5 bears so far, best thing I learned is bring snacks and good glass and pick it over and over on the south slopes. Follow snow levels and you will find bears


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[Gold54bs]

Keep a eye open in the green open parks as well afternoons and evenings are the best time to catch them moving around

 

[craveman85]

I learned that e scouting using multiple sources still leaves a lot of uncertainty of the ground cover. While onx and Google earth might show what looks like some nice open hillsides they can often be grown over thick with trees.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I learned that e scouting using multiple sources still leaves a lot of uncertainty of the ground cover. While onx and Google earth might show what looks like some nice open hillsides they can often be grown over thick with trees.

Haha bears more than anything else. I’ll have 10 spots pre scouted expecting 2-3 to be viable. Especially when factoring in snow levels.

 

[Jon Boy]

I focus on areas with riparian creek bottoms. Swampier the better. I've spent all too much time glassing beautiful south facing slopes with out ever seeing bears. Finally covered enough country over the years to see a handful of bears. I started piecing the pieces of the puzzle together and realizing where I was seeing bears on these south facing slopes was mostly related to an adjacent to riparian creek bottom.

The other thing I've come to find was those bears eat all damn day but only feed up out of those creek bottoms in the evenings. When you generally see them. I've had terrific success still hunting up these creek bottoms in the morning and early afternoon.

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[craveman85]

Haha bears more than anything else. I’ll have 10 spots pre scouted expecting 2-3 to be viable. Especially when factoring in snow levels.

I don't think I had that high a percentage of viable spots. Was a major learning experience driving about 2400 miles to find nothing looks like I thought it did.

 

[Dust1n]

the places we found the most bears were beside some sort of water source. I harvest this AB Bear along side a hill with a small creek running beside it.

 

[frozentexan]

I've been on three spot and stalk archery hunts in New York . Every time I'm amazed at how much movement i can get away with as long as I'm downwind. Don't be scared to be aggressive in going after them.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Hey Roksliders! I’m back with another installment of the “1 Thing” theme, this time focused on the rapidly expanding popularity of Bear Hunting. I think most of us make a mistake over and over again. We go on a hunt, but don’t make the effort to think critically about 1 thing we learned and will do different next time.

Think about it, how often do magazines write about a hunt, but fail to single out an action item to change in the future? Just 1 thing, maybe something you learned about elk behavior, your rifle setup, clothing, or camping system. We can consume all the information we want, but if we don’t change anything, did it really do us any good? I’d like to continue the series of discussions to get us in the habit of reviewing our hunt, and share highlights about the 1 thing we learned on a particular topic. To start, 1 thing I learned is about Bear Hunting.

In the Pacific Northwest we have plenty of black bears, but I learned the hard way just how fleeting opportunities can be. After days of glassing old clearcuts, I finally saw a black mass amble out of the creek bottom. By the time I finally unscrewed my spotting scope mount from the window and got my rifle rest ready, it had made its way behind some trees and was gone forever. As a quadriplegic my hands don’t work great so this gear transition took longer than it would for an able-bodied person, but I think we’ve all missed out by not being quick enough before. Now I'm going to use the new Spartan Pro Clamp so switching between optics and my rifle takes just two seconds. In the future I’m going to make a much greater effort to be able to switch between glassing and a rifle ready shooting position as fast as possible!

So what is the 1 thing you have learned about Bear Hunting?


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Find the freshest sign you can and then find the largest quantity of food available within that area and glass until your eyes bleed. Oh and don't hike away from it until dark thirty.

 

[Tahoenorth]

Play the wind and look for cut-offs

 

[Pdzoller]

Cubs aren’t always right there with the sow.

I came across a really large blond last year. My wife and I watched her for at least a half hour while she fed along a creek bottom. I thought she was a boar and wanted to try taking her with my pistol. I was within 30 yards when I heard her cubs start calling her. I quickly realized I was between them. My wind was blowing towards the cubs and I was able to sneak back out without any trouble. Would’ve felt awful if I killed her.

 

[CORam]

I've always wondered how long one should watch a bear before determining that it does not have cubs. Sounds like it could take a while to be sure.

 

[craveman85]

I've always wondered how long one should watch a bear before determining that it does not have cubs. Sounds like it could take a while to be sure.

I watched one for half an hour never seeing cubs. Then made a 1.5 hour hike to get into position and then after about 10 minutes of waiting for a shot I saw a cub mosey on over to her. So at least 3-5 business days just to be safe.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

We've got bear season coming up again! How about we revive this thread? We shared so much valuable information, and I'd love to fire it up again. What is one thing you've learned in the last year?

PS- if you haven't seen this crazy scary bear hunting video from Stuck N The Rut, it will get your blood pumping!

 

[DawnPatrol]

After much reflection on several black bears killed (including a couple sketchy recoveries and one lost animal) by me and my friends in the past few years, what I’ve learned/decided is: I will get close and take a good first shot.

The folks in that video might have saved themselves some trouble if they had done that.

 

[duckhuntr]

Great thread, Thanks to all sharing. Looking forward to my first bear hunts this year in SW WA.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

After much reflection on several black bears killed (including a couple sketchy recoveries and one lost animal) by me and my friends in the past few years, what I’ve learned/decided is: I will get close and take a good first shot.

The folks in that video might have saved themselves some trouble if they had done that.

You're right, I wouldn't want to shoot a bear at long range unless there was a lot of open ground where I could see what happens to it afterwards. Not really interested in chasing something wounded into thick country

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Great thread, Thanks to all sharing. Looking forward to my first bear hunts this year in SW WA.

are you going to try glassing clear cuts?

 

[duckhuntr]

are you going to try glassing clear cuts?

I don't know what I'm going to try yet, lol, but yes likely lots of glassing for starters. Possibly do some calling as last ditch effort. I'm really hoping to connect with a bow, but may resort to a rifle by season end. I'll gladly take any advice you can give though.

I may even make a quick run over to Idaho this spring just to try it out, so all this information is gold to me.