My inspiration for writing this is the lack of information out there regarding fall black bear. I suspect its because it is in the great shadow of hunting ungulates! For some reason I love black bear hunting and I love black bears, dont know why and dont know where it started, I just do. I am a midwestern hunter that has done a few western trips. I exclusively hunt public land out west and aside from 40 acres of ag field here in MN I hunt public lands. I am very familiar with countering human pressure and using to my benefit. Ill tell you this, my hunting prep is better than my actual skill at hunting 
. Keep in mind I AM A COMPLETE NEWBIE WHEN IT COMES TO WESTERN BLACK BEAR HUNTING!!! I don't know what I am doing for the most part and have relied on what information and people are out there to guide me. This is just regurgitated information and none of it is my own experience, I just love researching hunts and looking over maps and imagining myself sitting on that way point of a glassing area.
So, here we go:
I will not go into what unit or state to hunt, there is so much information out there on public land percentages, draw odds, harvest reports that you can figure that out for yourself.
Bears in the fall will be prepping to go into hibernation, so they will be eating a ton of food that is higher in carbs aka Hyperphagia. Things like berries, nuts and bugs. People say they can feed up to 20 hours a day. Just remember that says "up to." If the food is plentiful and requires little expense of energy to get, expect it to be less than 20 hours, but they will still be much more active.
I am not familiar with Colorado or what plant bearing fruits are available in September. So, I checked Colorado fish and wildlife's descriptions of bear and found the specific names of fruits and nuts they will be eating: chokecherry, service berry and acorns From here I researched the food source specifically. I want to know where that stuff is growing because that is the only thing the bear cares about at this time. Now I know where that food grows, I still wont mark on my map good spots to hunt because they aren't good spots yet. I will keep what I've learned in the back of my mind when looking at general areas, but no way points yet.
I am now looking for water in areas that might have food as well. Each puddle gets a waypoint. The reason is for every pin I drop on these I have maybe a 10% chance that water will be there in september, so i have to be prepared to move on from an area that has a ton of food, but no water nearby. Also, quality food producing plants may be growing near the expired water. You can go out expecting that water will be there because you saw it on google earth, but you will be disappointed. After finding as much water as I possibly can I zoom out a bit from my map and find the highest concentrations. This tells me where the majority of the water is.
I will then key in on this area and start looking for glassing areas and access points. I plan areas based on many factors, some of the biggest factors are: food, water, access, terrain, pressure and blowdowns. With ONX and Good earth you can see blowdowns, I avoid walking through these at all costs, I am all about working hard to achieve a goal, but going through a bad blowdown area is near suicide. Access I look at as both good an bad, too good and it is going to be pressured. I want it just hard enough to avoid the majority of hunters. It is unrealistic to expect zero pressure.
Now I really pick apart the areas. I am looking for areas that can accommodate hot days in September. The hotter a bear is means they will have a greater need for water, so I fully expect bears to be in areas with good shade and cover during the hottest parts of the day and maybe even all day. The foods described above are in less abundance on the high elevation spruce stands because less sunlight is let in from the bows. Gambel Oak AKA oak brush on the other hand not only provides shade, but the possibility of acorns as well. I do my best to find areas with these because of the multipurpose. Berries also require a significant amount of sunlight and they will need moisture and often grow in drainages. Drainages themselves can provide a shelter from the sun as well, so I am looking for a brushed up drainage. This time of year most quality vegetation should be growing on the north or west facing slopes. Many bear find themselves in Aspen stands because there is just enough light let through to grow quality vegetation and food sources.
So, here is another botanical conundrum I found myself in. Where am I going to find aspens? It just so happens there has been a ton of research done on forest service lands. Some great biologists are kind enough to give us maps depicting where what types of trees are growing in colorado. If you havent noticed ONX shows you county lines which are very light shaded dotted lines. I use these are a reference point as to where the typical growth of certain vegitation is because the biologists who create the map have the county lines on their maps. This allows me to narrow an area down to the vegetation available. (use line distance tool to extend county lines in case it is hard to judge) I used this tactic when going through Montana's game density map as well for elk and mule deer.
So, I can break this down finally into what I am looking for: Food, water, shaded, low pressure, low energy exertion for the bear, north or west facing slopes, drainages, aspens and reasonable for me to access. I will now establish what look to be good glassing areas overlooking water, food, or both. After dropping pins in an area of about 5 square miles depending on terrain and accessibility I will drop a pin of where an ideal camp location is. I drop the pin for camp specifically because I have to find an area under 8k elevation to sleep. This should lower my chances of elevation sickness. Some areas I have selected I cant camp around because that specific elevation isnt available. To me this is a good thing to know prior to getting there, so I can plan to be up earlier or know that some travel by vehicle may be required. I will now take advantage of ONX shape function under tools. I will create a shape around groups of my waypoints and create my own hunting units per say. This makes it more manageable and allows me to create a plan and priority list. I may wait on some areas due to the elevation until I am more acclimated, others I may only go to if the weather is cooler or hotter.
I am one of those that asked the question, "but what elevation?" truth be told there is no answer for this in my search. The reason is, the foods grow from 4.5-9k in elevation and there can be water at every elevation, so it is hard to say what elevation they will be at. Some things may impact the elevation they will tend to be around during the hunting season such as: how wet or dry it is, if there is was a frost that killed the fruit/nut crop, how hot it is, where the pressure is or wild fires. There are too many variables at play to predict it. I think we are all mind geared toward elk hunting and thinking that elevation is the great factor. With bear its food and water.
Like I said before I am a complete novice at this and the odds are better that I wont shoot a bear, but I can educate myself to increase my success. I have by no means hit every bit of research I have done, but I think it gives you a good idea how to research any hunt. Don't limit yourself only to researching the animal or good hunt areas. Think about food, water, people and anything else that would impact their location and research that as well. For example: I am praying that the bears will be lower in elevation because I know most elk hunters will be up high this will reduce the amount of pressure that the bears will experience.
Keep in mind that so much will change when I actually get there. Some areas may be better than I thought and other may be complete junk. There is so much I dont know until I get there, but at least I know more now which will make it easier when I get there. I will continue to research and learn until I am actually done with the hunt.
I hope some of you newbies found this helpful and if not it was a good refresher for me on what I learned. Thank you for reading!
. Keep in mind I AM A COMPLETE NEWBIE WHEN IT COMES TO WESTERN BLACK BEAR HUNTING!!! I don't know what I am doing for the most part and have relied on what information and people are out there to guide me. This is just regurgitated information and none of it is my own experience, I just love researching hunts and looking over maps and imagining myself sitting on that way point of a glassing area. So, here we go:
I will not go into what unit or state to hunt, there is so much information out there on public land percentages, draw odds, harvest reports that you can figure that out for yourself.
Bears in the fall will be prepping to go into hibernation, so they will be eating a ton of food that is higher in carbs aka Hyperphagia. Things like berries, nuts and bugs. People say they can feed up to 20 hours a day. Just remember that says "up to." If the food is plentiful and requires little expense of energy to get, expect it to be less than 20 hours, but they will still be much more active.
I am not familiar with Colorado or what plant bearing fruits are available in September. So, I checked Colorado fish and wildlife's descriptions of bear and found the specific names of fruits and nuts they will be eating: chokecherry, service berry and acorns From here I researched the food source specifically. I want to know where that stuff is growing because that is the only thing the bear cares about at this time. Now I know where that food grows, I still wont mark on my map good spots to hunt because they aren't good spots yet. I will keep what I've learned in the back of my mind when looking at general areas, but no way points yet.
I am now looking for water in areas that might have food as well. Each puddle gets a waypoint. The reason is for every pin I drop on these I have maybe a 10% chance that water will be there in september, so i have to be prepared to move on from an area that has a ton of food, but no water nearby. Also, quality food producing plants may be growing near the expired water. You can go out expecting that water will be there because you saw it on google earth, but you will be disappointed. After finding as much water as I possibly can I zoom out a bit from my map and find the highest concentrations. This tells me where the majority of the water is.
I will then key in on this area and start looking for glassing areas and access points. I plan areas based on many factors, some of the biggest factors are: food, water, access, terrain, pressure and blowdowns. With ONX and Good earth you can see blowdowns, I avoid walking through these at all costs, I am all about working hard to achieve a goal, but going through a bad blowdown area is near suicide. Access I look at as both good an bad, too good and it is going to be pressured. I want it just hard enough to avoid the majority of hunters. It is unrealistic to expect zero pressure.
Now I really pick apart the areas. I am looking for areas that can accommodate hot days in September. The hotter a bear is means they will have a greater need for water, so I fully expect bears to be in areas with good shade and cover during the hottest parts of the day and maybe even all day. The foods described above are in less abundance on the high elevation spruce stands because less sunlight is let in from the bows. Gambel Oak AKA oak brush on the other hand not only provides shade, but the possibility of acorns as well. I do my best to find areas with these because of the multipurpose. Berries also require a significant amount of sunlight and they will need moisture and often grow in drainages. Drainages themselves can provide a shelter from the sun as well, so I am looking for a brushed up drainage. This time of year most quality vegetation should be growing on the north or west facing slopes. Many bear find themselves in Aspen stands because there is just enough light let through to grow quality vegetation and food sources.
So, here is another botanical conundrum I found myself in. Where am I going to find aspens? It just so happens there has been a ton of research done on forest service lands. Some great biologists are kind enough to give us maps depicting where what types of trees are growing in colorado. If you havent noticed ONX shows you county lines which are very light shaded dotted lines. I use these are a reference point as to where the typical growth of certain vegitation is because the biologists who create the map have the county lines on their maps. This allows me to narrow an area down to the vegetation available. (use line distance tool to extend county lines in case it is hard to judge) I used this tactic when going through Montana's game density map as well for elk and mule deer.
So, I can break this down finally into what I am looking for: Food, water, shaded, low pressure, low energy exertion for the bear, north or west facing slopes, drainages, aspens and reasonable for me to access. I will now establish what look to be good glassing areas overlooking water, food, or both. After dropping pins in an area of about 5 square miles depending on terrain and accessibility I will drop a pin of where an ideal camp location is. I drop the pin for camp specifically because I have to find an area under 8k elevation to sleep. This should lower my chances of elevation sickness. Some areas I have selected I cant camp around because that specific elevation isnt available. To me this is a good thing to know prior to getting there, so I can plan to be up earlier or know that some travel by vehicle may be required. I will now take advantage of ONX shape function under tools. I will create a shape around groups of my waypoints and create my own hunting units per say. This makes it more manageable and allows me to create a plan and priority list. I may wait on some areas due to the elevation until I am more acclimated, others I may only go to if the weather is cooler or hotter.
I am one of those that asked the question, "but what elevation?" truth be told there is no answer for this in my search. The reason is, the foods grow from 4.5-9k in elevation and there can be water at every elevation, so it is hard to say what elevation they will be at. Some things may impact the elevation they will tend to be around during the hunting season such as: how wet or dry it is, if there is was a frost that killed the fruit/nut crop, how hot it is, where the pressure is or wild fires. There are too many variables at play to predict it. I think we are all mind geared toward elk hunting and thinking that elevation is the great factor. With bear its food and water.
Like I said before I am a complete novice at this and the odds are better that I wont shoot a bear, but I can educate myself to increase my success. I have by no means hit every bit of research I have done, but I think it gives you a good idea how to research any hunt. Don't limit yourself only to researching the animal or good hunt areas. Think about food, water, people and anything else that would impact their location and research that as well. For example: I am praying that the bears will be lower in elevation because I know most elk hunters will be up high this will reduce the amount of pressure that the bears will experience.
Keep in mind that so much will change when I actually get there. Some areas may be better than I thought and other may be complete junk. There is so much I dont know until I get there, but at least I know more now which will make it easier when I get there. I will continue to research and learn until I am actually done with the hunt.
I hope some of you newbies found this helpful and if not it was a good refresher for me on what I learned. Thank you for reading!
