Bear Hunting

Ol' KL · 04-13-2008, 08:14 PM

I've been hunting spring bears rather casually for a number of years now. I usually go a couple days a year. This year my brother-in-law is fired up to get one, so I'll probably put in more time. I have always hunted the coast range, but this year I will hunt the cascades in May. I've got a couple of questions for those with more experience.

What time of day is best? I've hands down seen the most between 10:00am and 2:00pm, but I've had people tell me the evening is the best. I've mostly hunted rainy days. Last saturday I saw 5 between 11:00-1:30.

Where do you see them? Of all the spring bears I've seen most have been in 10+ year old clear-cuts on rocky bluffs, or on grassy roads. They can be very difficult to kill. I see a lot of bears, but have few opportunities to kill them. Maybe I need to drop 10K on a .300RUM and some good optics?

Anyone killing them in younger clearcuts?

Thanks.

Joe · 04-13-2008, 08:37 PM

Well I am no expert by any means but based on the bears I see I'm gonna say that 10am-2pm is one of the best times with the other best time being 5:00pm till dark. All the other times of the day seem pretty good too though. I think they are gluttons and gorge themselves at least a couple times a day. I killed one at noon last year grazing in my pasture with a bunch of goat kids when I came home from springer fishing.

I only seem to see bears when it's raining if it is a fairly light/warm rain. Otherwise I don't bother. Maybe I have that part wrong?

This is really the first year I have taken bear hunting serious and I am having a great time. With the exception of blowing an opportunity at a PIG of a bear that is. I decided I should do my part and thin out the predator population by killing at least one bear every year and it turns out to be a lot more fun than work.

Ol' KL · 04-13-2008, 08:48 PM

Joe,

Springer fishing is the biggest enemy to my bear hunting. I used to have turkeys to squeeze in to, but the last few years I've lost a lot of interest in them. I still like to eat one now and then, but I don't go too far out of my way.

There's no shortage of bears. Good luck feedin' one a pill.

Fried Oyster · 04-13-2008, 10:38 PM

I will bear hunt this year.

Last year elk hunting, we saw so much bear sign in our elk's living room, we thought, why not?

I wasn't aware they're major predators, though. Do they thin the herds?

If so, hell yes, we're gonna get them out of our elks living room. One more excuse to hunt.

Oyster.

Joe · 04-14-2008, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fried Oyster

I wasn't aware they're major predators, though. Do they thin the herds?

In some areas at least they kill a lot of elk calves and I'm sure deer fawns.

Sometimes moose calves too.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDEW-nIg844

bo4elk · 04-14-2008, 10:22 PM

From my experience late morning (10ish) has been the best time.

Joe · 04-16-2008, 08:09 PM

7:55 PM tonight was a real good time to see a bear!

I was hunting up a creek bottom with my bow and I spotted a good size bear feeding up the draw about 60 yards. All I gotta do is slip up around a clump of trees and he is 20 yards. Popped out at 20 and no bear.....then I hear cracking in the clump of trees right next to me. I backed up a little and he is around 18 yards in limbs too thick to shoot until he winds me then he ran out to around 80 and turned to look back.

Bear was headed right to were I first spotted him from! ALl I had to do was wait but I of course I didn't know that. Bow hunting is always an adventure!

riverswild · 04-17-2008, 05:22 AM

Quote:

I only seem to see bears when it's raining if it is a fairly light/warm rain. Otherwise I don't bother. Maybe I have that part wrong?

I never see bears when it's raining, but then again I don't hunt bears when it rains. I always try to hit first and last light and sometimes I hunt in the middle of the day and at others I sleep in the middle of the day. 99% of my spring and fall bear hunting is done with calls.

baltz526 · 04-17-2008, 06:09 AM

if a bear is awake, it is eating or looking for something to eat. 9:00am to 4:00pm is my best time to see bears in the cascades. rain means fog and clouds in the higher elevations and very limited visability.

elkthumper · 04-17-2008, 03:31 PM

well, better get out quick, rains gonna drown out the good hunting for awhile.

Joe · 04-17-2008, 09:24 PM

Well I was hoping for a warm sunny day today but it didn't really pan out. Put some miles on the boots and all I saw was one small to medium bear about 8:00 tonight.

The rain and snow is starting to really annoy me! I have to start coaching Babe Ruth Baseball late next week and it looks like the rest of this 4 day weekend is wet.