What are you seeing?

[roosiebull]

For those out there chasing fall bear, what are you seeing for food sources and activity?

My wife and I went out Friday evening, going in blind not knowing what to expect at all.

It’s going to be an interesting fall bear season on the central coast, very very little food around as of now

No berries are ripe in quantity, and some will not be at all. Elderberries didn’t fruit at all… zero fruit on most, very little on some. Chitums are still pretty far from ripe, and it’s going to be a weak crop… blackberries are still a way off being ripe, many are still in flower, but looks like it will be a good food source in a month

Huckleberry is looking weak as well, not ripe, very little fruit.

Salal berries are not ripe, and fairly weak production, but they will be in the salal a little in a couple weeks when most ripen.

Pretty odd fall bear scenario this year, hoping to make it down to my house on the south coast next weekend and week prior to archery season, I assume it will be better down there.

Friday night we saw no bear or bear sign, Saturday evening I decided to go to a spot I used to fall bear hunt a lot, it’s a skunk cabbage swamp, and with very little berries, skunk cabbage makes sense, and we came very close to getting my wife a bear killed, it ended up never stopping long enough and walked right to us and it disappeared in a draw in front of us about 80yds, and of course, the wind started getting weird as it cooled off and that bear got lucky and caught a little whiff of us.

Skunk cabbage is what I will be focusing on locally until things change, it’s about the only food available in quantity right now

What are you guys seeing regionally so far? Figuring out the little food puzzle is my favorite part of fall bear hunting. I’m curious if other regions are similar, and berry crops are pretty late, and low yield in general

Same plan this weekend, hunt Friday and Saturday evenings, and fish the mornings.

 

[just.mark]

On the Washington coast, everything feels behind due to the long rainy season. As you mentioned no berries and I haven't seen any sign yet indicating that they are traveling. I'm thinking they are going to be down in the draws and swamps and we have to go in after them.

 

[Mtaylor]

I went out a week ago in the blues. Thimble berries were on, not a lot of huckleberries yet. Above 5200 ft the berries were sparse and really behind. I’m guessing berries will be better towards the end of the month. Covered a lot of country didn’t see any bear sign.

 

[BryanL]

Went into the coastal range from the Willamette Valley side. In the willamette valley, blackberries are behind but ripening. In the coast range, the thimble berries were in a horrible state. Blackberries were rock hard and green. I have no idea what primary food sources bears are working right now. Saw some torn up stumps that were clear bear sign, but not enough to sustain a bear for long….

 

[DakotaBPNW]

Seen some up in the cascades this weekend, thimbleberries were nice and ripe up high.

 

[PablitoPescador]

Hunting NE WA Thursday-Sunday. Couldn’t figure the bears out and left feeling kind of perplexed. We hunted everything from 3k-6k. Found huckleberries and thimble berries everywhere we went but didn’t see a single bear or even any fresh scat

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Doing a great quick day trip in a unit that closes tomorrow.

Seen two bear this morning and passed on them due to their size.

They aren’t cooperating. Seen fresh sign with only grass. Seen fresh sign with only juniper berries. Seen fresh sign with only manzanita berries. So it’s a crap shoot (pun intended) on if and where I’ll find a shooter.

Beats my day job.

 

[roosiebull]

Went into the coastal range from the Willamette Valley side. In the willamette valley, blackberries are behind but ripening. In the coast range, the thimble berries were in a horrible state. Blackberries were rock hard and green. I have no idea what primary food sources bears are working right now. Saw some torn up stumps that were clear bear sign, but not enough to sustain a bear for long….

I think it’s a good year to be close to skunk cabbage, they are hitting it well and combine that with being close to blackberries because some are ripening and bear are eating them, but can’t make a living off them yet…

Chitums are weak this year too, and not ripe, elderberry is nonexistent, they flat out didn’t fruit this year which is odd

Don’t believe those who say skunk cabbage bear are not good eating, they are very good, it’s a wives tale

 

[roosiebull]

Had a cool encounter a few days ago, my wife and I

Went to go scout food sources in an area i like to hunt bear, same story, not much for ripe berries, but some sign around blackberries

We were walking the long way out around 8pm, heard some crashing in the timber right above us, and could tell it was a bear right away

He was moving slowly, but I knew it had winded us but couldn’t pinpoint us… it got silent

I knew there was a little skid road just up the way, so we snuck over there and started paying attention when we got where I thought it was… I heard a little shuffle in the thick salmonberry and we snuck up a little more, and he knew we were there and started huffing at us… I told my wife to be ready to grab the rifle if we had a shot, but I kept it in hand to make sure he didn’t get aggressive, we were now inside 20yds

Heard him start moving again, towards us! I had the rifle up with no intention to shoot unless it was for safety reasons, and he came up the bank and came into the open, still huffing but all we had was a frontal shot, and I didn’t want my wife taking that shot regardless of range… I don’t like it for bear personally… not that it’s not effective, I just prefer to see the full anatomy of a bear for shot placement

This bear was a very solid boar, probably just over 250lbs (legit, not hunting show 250#) not a huge bear, but big enough to tell it was a boar, and not a small one… respectable, and awesome for my wife’s first

I told my wife to be ready and I charged the bear and he went straight up a tree about 10’ and I told my wife to come over and shoot this bear… there was some miscommunication and she thought I said we aren’t shooting this bear, so I’m wondering why she’s not hurrying to me, so I turned and repeated myself, as soon as she started my way, the bear bailed and disappeared back into the dense salmonberry… dammit! So close

It was a great encounter regardless, and we did go bear hunting and find a good bear well within range, and I have never ran a bear up a tree… small victories, but a memorable afternoon anyhow, and I was stoked my wife got to experience that.

Same story with that bear, making a living on skunk cabbage and supplementing his diet with slow ripening blackberries

 

[BryanL]

I think it’s a good year to be close to skunk cabbage, they are hitting it well and combine that with being close to blackberries because some are ripening and bear are eating them, but can’t make a living off them yet…

Chitums are weak this year too, and not ripe, elderberry is nonexistent, they flat out didn’t fruit this year which is odd

Don’t believe those who say skunk cabbage bear are not good eating, they are very good, it’s a wives tale

Thanks for that tip Roosie. I’m going to try an entirely new area in a heavily logged coast range unit to see what I can see. I don’t have good intel on skunk cabbage spots on public land or timber access lands that aren’t heavily traveled (e.g. a swampy logging lake on the side of the road). I’ll have to expand my search a little more or start glassing south slopes to see if those berries are any riper.

 

[kingfisherfleshy]

Hunting over bait in Wisconsin this year...some food sources have been good here though and the bears that were coming to bait started getting weird about three weeks ago.

Not sure if that is corn coming in, or other berries or fruit. I know that I have been using our groundfall apples at my bait site, and have video of bears eating it - but also know that of all the food I've put out since April that apples are the only thing that they have left behind. Not sure why.

Do bears actually eat skunk cabbage? I live on the edge of a swamp and had a few bear videos from the back yard in early spring...since then we have corn in the back twenty and now wondering if I shouldnt just drop some bait back there to make sure...especially with the corn being up now.

 

[Venom One]

For those out there chasing fall bear, what are you seeing for food sources and activity?

My wife and I went out Friday evening, going in blind not knowing what to expect at all.

It’s going to be an interesting fall bear season on the central coast, very very little food around as of now

No berries are ripe in quantity, and some will not be at all. Elderberries didn’t fruit at all… zero fruit on most, very little on some. Chitums are still pretty far from ripe, and it’s going to be a weak crop… blackberries are still a way off being ripe, many are still in flower, but looks like it will be a good food source in a month

Huckleberry is looking weak as well, not ripe, very little fruit.

Salal berries are not ripe, and fairly weak production, but they will be in the salal a little in a couple weeks when most ripen.

Pretty odd fall bear scenario this year, hoping to make it down to my house on the south coast next weekend and week prior to archery season, I assume it will be better down there.

Friday night we saw no bear or bear sign, Saturday evening I decided to go to a spot I used to fall bear hunt a lot, it’s a skunk cabbage swamp, and with very little berries, skunk cabbage makes sense, and we came very close to getting my wife a bear killed, it ended up never stopping long enough and walked right to us and it disappeared in a draw in front of us about 80yds, and of course, the wind started getting weird as it cooled off and that bear got lucky and caught a little whiff of us.

Skunk cabbage is what I will be focusing on locally until things change, it’s about the only food available in quantity right now

What are you guys seeing regionally so far? Figuring out the little food puzzle is my favorite part of fall bear hunting. I’m curious if other regions are similar, and berry crops are pretty late, and low yield in general

Same plan this weekend, hunt Friday and Saturday evenings, and fish the mornings.

Yeah, I'm seeing the same thing, Mike. I don't typically hunt bear, but the previous 2 seasons I saw so much bear sign I decided to hunt them this year. Unfortunately, it's been pretty bleak. Berries are scarce and scat is very minimal from what I'm seeing. I saw a little guy last week, and yesterday I saw a very fresh, berry-fill scat, but that's it. Maybe it'll get better later in the season???

 

[roosiebull]

Hunting over bait in Wisconsin this year...some food sources have been good here though and the bears that were coming to bait started getting weird about three weeks ago.

Not sure if that is corn coming in, or other berries or fruit. I know that I have been using our groundfall apples at my bait site, and have video of bears eating it - but also know that of all the food I've put out since April that apples are the only thing that they have left behind. Not sure why.

Do bears actually eat skunk cabbage? I live on the edge of a swamp and had a few bear videos from the back yard in early spring...since then we have corn in the back twenty and now wondering if I shouldnt just drop some bait back there to make sure...especially with the corn being up now.

They mow skunk cabbage down at times, not very much in the spring, but late summer/early fall, they hammer it.

If elk haven’t taken down the skunk cabbage by now, there are probably bear eating it… elk seem to start eating it earlier than bear. The biggest problem hunting bear in the skunk cabbage is skunk cabbage only grows in bottoms, and it’s really tough to find bottoms with good enough wind to hunt bear… their noses are just too good… elk, it’s usually not a huge issue, bear, one little pause or swirl in the wind, and you are busted… I have killed bear eating skunk cabbage, but it’s usually when you hear one crashing around in the swamp, make a move, and things happen fast, so less exposure.

My biggest scoring bear was eating skunk cabbage, I was elk hunting, and I had just made a play on a group of elk and the bull was not with them so I was walking back out, heard crashing in the swamp, thought it was the bull I was after, and saw it was yogi… snuck down to him and zipped an arrow through him… he was considerate enough to sprint about 50 yds through the swamp and die on the edge of dry ground, haha

I have also set up on swamps several times with a ton of bear sign and see nothing, and a couple sits completely stopped bear activity in that whole bottom, thinking I had the wind good enough

That’s why ideally, I want to be close to one of those bottoms, but not in it, I’ll look for the best biomass of ripe berries in the area and set up there, and at least hear them in the swamp if they don’t expose themselves… big bear are loud creatures, I use that to my advantage

 

[roosiebull]

I killed a bear last night, there was zero fat on him… I have never seen a coastal spring bear that lean, let alone a fall bear… saw 2 bear in that area yesterday, thought it was the same bear, but the one I killed was not the same bear I had seen in the morning… I will tell more of the story later, but I think it’s going to be pretty good hunting when there are mass blackberries that are ripe, they are in need of calories this year

 

[DakotaBPNW]

I killed a bear last night, there was zero fat on him… I have never seen a coastal spring bear that lean, let alone a fall bear… saw 2 bear in that area yesterday, thought it was the same bear, but the one I killed was not the same bear I had seen in the morning… I will tell more of the story later, but I think it’s going to be pretty good hunting when there are mass blackberries that are ripe, they are in need of calories this year

Nice! I’ll be over on the coastal range this weekend poking around.

 

[Pdzoller]

I just spent a couple weeks over east. I was hoping to get some action on the cherries and huckleberries but they just aren’t producing yet or as well as last year. I found two cow carcasses that were being snacked on and rolled on but didn’t want anything to do with that. I spotted one large boar eating dogwood berries on my last night there but couldn’t get a shot. Lots of sign around the dogwoods. I also got a chance to stalk a good size blonde sow with hopes of taking her with my pistol. When I got within 30 yards I could hear that she had small cubs so I snuck out. Super fun stalk though.

 

[roosiebull]

Things have changed pretty dramatically as of recent, bear have recently become a “nuisance” haha

I obviously understand what I’m seeing is regional, but if I was bear Hunting right now, it would be best case scenario… we don’t have a really big biomass of bear where I’m at (way more at my actual home town) but it’s feeling like there are a ton of bear lately, not looking for them but seeing them everywhere.

The other night I was trying to sort out some elk sign, right before dark thought I had them coming out of the brush, and out pops a chocolate bear about 25 yds in front of me… always like seeing bear, but that bear hung me up for the last bit of daylight.

Next morning, looking for those same elk, again, thought I guessed right as darkness turns to light, I hear the elk crashing around directly below me… after a bit, I’m wondering why I can’t see any of them, and out walks a very nice boat from behind a blackberry patch… dang it! (I did end up locating those elk shortly after)

The next day, different area completely, I find a cow and calf early, no other sign, no elk, so I’m on the on the move… finally I hear some elk feeding below me, then I get suspicious when I cannot put eyes on them right below me… of course, another really nice boar… back on the move

Loop around to the next zone I want to check, and again, hear something crashing around, not wanting to waste time I give it a little groan on the bugle tube, and I’m completely ignored… no reaction or pause, but I hang out for a bit wanting to see the source of noise… of course, another bear, and this is the first one I have seen this year that resembles a fall bear, big, heavy, fat boar, the only bear I have seen this year that would for sure hit that 300#… a couple others should have, but bear around here are extremely skinny this year, the one I killed was the skinniest bear I have seen in Oregon, spring bear included… he had far less fat on him than a coastal blacktail buck… looked like an early spring bear in Alaska… that’s how most look, even big mature boars, long bodied, big blocky head, short snout, big crease down the middle of the head, but zero fat makes them look long legged… certainly a weird fall for bear, but blackberries are ripening, and are the only food source besides skunk cabbage, is making them pretty easy to find right now, and it’s going to stay good for awhile… there are going to be a pile of bear killed by rifle deer hunters this year, food is late, and they are going to be out a lot, because they are way behind on calories… would be a very fun time to target bear, but being skinny, they are pretty tough to judge, their head and length are the 2 things to look at.

 

[BryanL]

Things have changed pretty dramatically as of recent, bear have recently become a “nuisance” haha

I obviously understand what I’m seeing is regional, but if I was bear Hunting right now, it would be best case scenario… we don’t have a really big biomass of bear where I’m at (way more at my actual home town) but it’s feeling like there are a ton of bear lately, not looking for them but seeing them everywhere.

The other night I was trying to sort out some elk sign, right before dark thought I had them coming out of the brush, and out pops a chocolate bear about 25 yds in front of me… always like seeing bear, but that bear hung me up for the last bit of daylight.

Next morning, looking for those same elk, again, thought I guessed right as darkness turns to light, I hear the elk crashing around directly below me… after a bit, I’m wondering why I can’t see any of them, and out walks a very nice boat from behind a blackberry patch… dang it! (I did end up locating those elk shortly after)

The next day, different area completely, I find a cow and calf early, no other sign, no elk, so I’m on the on the move… finally I hear some elk feeding below me, then I get suspicious when I cannot put eyes on them right below me… of course, another really nice boar… back on the move

Loop around to the next zone I want to check, and again, hear something crashing around, not wanting to waste time I give it a little groan on the bugle tube, and I’m completely ignored… no reaction or pause, but I hang out for a bit wanting to see the source of noise… of course, another bear, and this is the first one I have seen this year that resembles a fall bear, big, heavy, fat boar, the only bear I have seen this year that would for sure hit that 300#… a couple others should have, but bear around here are extremely skinny this year, the one I killed was the skinniest bear I have seen in Oregon, spring bear included… he had far less fat on him than a coastal blacktail buck… looked like an early spring bear in Alaska… that’s how most look, even big mature boars, long bodied, big blocky head, short snout, big crease down the middle of the head, but zero fat makes them look long legged… certainly a weird fall for bear, but blackberries are ripening, and are the only food source besides skunk cabbage, is making them pretty easy to find right now, and it’s going to stay good for awhile… there are going to be a pile of bear killed by rifle deer hunters this year, food is late, and they are going to be out a lot, because they are way behind on calories… would be a very fun time to target bear, but being skinny, they are pretty tough to judge, their head and length are the 2 things to look at.

This is great intel roosie! I think I’m just not doing it right…. Haven’t seen squat over in the Alsea Unit (literally one spot had scat). I think I need to refine my approach a little more. I’m going to try glassing more/longer and making sure I’m out until last light (or first light). Been taking my 5 yo along and he’s pretty good in the woods, but I still need to locate better areas. Congrats on seeing some bears and elk!

 

[roosiebull]

… saw 2 bear in that area yesterday, thought it was the same bear, but the one I killed was not the same bear I had seen in the morning… I will tell more of the story later

How it went down, and confirming lessons I have learned, and the consequences of not living my own advice…

That morning I decided to make a big climb to locate a herd of elk that had been pretty heavily pressured, I got to the top, then made a big loop to the west, and on my way out, about 10am, I’m rounding the top I stop to glass for a minute and hear a big branch break in the timber across from me in the timber, then again… the second time I thought it sounded too loud to be elk, and kept hearing it, then a big pretty boar comes out of the timber and started working up the timber edge… I have decent wind, so I start moving to cut him off, he’s a really good bear, probably the biggest I had seen to that point spring and fall.. he gets behind a wall of salmonberry, but he’s a big loud animal, so it’s easy to keep track of, and he just beats me to the spot I was trying to get, he was now sub 40 yds, but he made it through the opening, and he was out of sight again

I quickly snuck back to make another attempt, and quickly went up and around to get ahead of him and keeping the wind good… I don’t get ahead of him (he was on a mission to go somewhere) and I’m even with him, and trying to clear the ridge so I can see him, he must have heard me, because he started huffing at me… he’s now close, probably 25yds, but my only chance is him being aggressive and confronting the animal that won’t leave him alone (me)

He stayed stationary for a good 5 minutes just huffing at me, nothing I could do, I was in the sun, he was in the shade, so trying to sneak closer to get a visual wasn’t possible, I was pinned down… he finally lost interest in me, and back to where he was going, he moved out and I had no other reasonable play… close

That afternoon I was all over, walked out 4 different areas looking for elk sign and was getting skunked… now it’s late and don’t have time to really make another move, so I decided to go back to where I was that morning, glass from the bottom, and see if I could line up some elk to hunt the next morning.

As soon as I come into view of the cut, I see a bear feeding down the cut, down didn’t even glass him, knew it was the bear from that morning, and I wanted to kill that bear… I’m going through my options, he’s 450yds up a wide open cut, and the second half of the stalk would be bad wind… there is no way to realistically kill this bear with my bow in the amount of daylight I have.

I get kind of a crazy idea, I’m not very far in here, it’s not very far to my house, do I have enough light to haul ass out of here, go home and grab a rifle? I’m going to try…

I get around the corner out of sight and run out of there, hop in my pickup, haul ass home, trade the bow for a rifle and hurry back… I had a plan to get within range, thinking if I climb up to this little landing, should be around 300yds… I get up there, sneak around the corner and the bear was surprisingly right in front of me… this might work

I find a place to set up, chamber a round, get a quick range (just over 200yds, haha) get behind the gun, and as it comes out of the brush, it’s broadside, I take the shot and he runs down the hill towards me, I saw it all in the scope, and when the bear started running my way I had that first thought… that’s not the bear from this morning….

It didn’t make it far, rolled down a ways and moaned out… success.. my excitement was a little clouded by concern of shooting a bear that I wouldn’t have shot, I had done nothing to confirm it was the bear I thought it was, everything was hurried and urgent…

I make my way over to the bear, and confirm my suspicions, not the same bear, it’s a boar, but certainly not the one I had watched that morning… the clues were there, I just didn’t take the time to recognize them… the bear that morning sounded like an elephant walking around, never heard anything while looking at the bear I shot that was feeding through very thick and loud stuff, I just made a quick assumption and didn’t double check to make sure, it would have taken 30 seconds of scrutiny and I wouldn’t have burned my tag.

Hopefully nobody takes that wrong, I have zero issues with people killing small/average size bear… I personally don’t want to shoot small bear for a few reasons, but in the fall, my reason for not wanting to kill a small bear is the amount of meat you get from a small bear vs big, the recovery on bear is not fluid with size, the percentage of trimmed meat on a small bear is very low… a big boar, the percentage of trimmed meat is probably 3x that of a small bear… the best way to learn that lesson is experience, but I’m not exaggerating.. it’s a huge difference… the % recovery on a big boar is much higher than the % recovery on a small or average sized bear… my biggest disappointment is that I know better, and ignored my own advice due to assumption… luckily the consequences were small, less meat than I planned on, used my tag, and a little humility not practicing what I preach.

Still a very cool impromptu hunt that worked out, and I have some bear meat to can… I just wish I would have walked away and came back the next evening with my wife and let her kill that bear, but it could work out well when she kills a big one, and shows me up, which will not be that difficult to accomplish

 

[roosiebull]

This is great intel roosie! I think I’m just not doing it right…. Haven’t seen squat over in the Alsea Unit (literally one spot had scat). I think I need to refine my approach a little more. I’m going to try glassing more/longer and making sure I’m out until last light (or first light). Been taking my 5 yo along and he’s pretty good in the woods, but I still need to locate better areas. Congrats on seeing some bears and elk!

Grown up cuts with lots of blackberries are what you want to look for, some of the bear I have recently seen are in that unit… bear don’t like human presence, especially if the main way in there is bad wind… of course there are archery hunters all over, but areas that aren’t getting their wind blown into the food source every time, there should be bear.

The really thick cuts, hang out and listen, I hear most bear before I see them, especially decent bear, they’re noisy creatures, but may have to hang out for a bit to hear them. Mornings are good this time of year too, daylight to 11 is a good time to be looking… good luck! Hopefully your little hunting buddy is with you when you do have a good encounter