The burn

Checked out a new area with my son this weekend for yet another poke around for a spring burger bear. I had found this south facing burn the fall before last (my first hunting trip ever) but hadn't been back to explore it more thoroughly since then.

https://i.imgur.com/yGYCObH.jpg?1

Hiked up Saturday morning, made lunch and set up camp. Poked around the immediate vicinity and couldn't believe how much sign there was from what I'm assuming is moose, significantly bigger pellets and piles than I've ever seen in Roosevelt elk country. Lots of fresh bear sign around as well...the burn has grown in a bit since I was last there but we poked through some of the game trails and clearings trying to find the chewed up grass while listening to the grouse drumming and keeping our eyes open for sheds and morels.


https://i.imgur.com/LVoS05u.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/ZqS1dvi.jpg?3

https://i.imgur.com/3Z9k1H0.jpg?3




Didn't bump any bears in the evening and the kid is letting me know it's about time for dinner. Oops, dad forgot the spoons! No problem, put my bushcraft skills to work and carve one right? Must have sharpened my knife a bit too well before we left and sliced open my thumb, I guess hunger got the best of me. Was cute seeing my son sprint to my backpack to get the first aid kit but then not know what to do with it...luckily it wasn't a bad cut but I'll have to go over some basics with him in case I ever can't handle something myself.


https://i.imgur.com/41XgQ3k.jpg

As soon as the moon came out I realized I had never checked the schedule for that, it was as full as it gets and illuminated the burn like a spotlight. Did see some reports of bears hitting the ground this weekend so it definitely isn't the end all be all but I've never had much luck seeing game during full moons. Anybody ever set up camp on what feels like flat ground, then go to bed and realize it's a bit more sloped than you thought? Was definitely an interesting night sliding around on our tyvek ground sheet. I wondered if we might get a curious visitor sniffing around our tent at some point, if we did I slept right through it though and woke up at 5:15 to a mosquito buzzing in my ear. Slapped him away and thought about going back to sleep but curiosity killed the cat...or hopefully the bear!


https://i.imgur.com/k0AW99V.jpg



Decided to go for a poke up the hill now that the wind was in my favor. I don't have any real training whatsoever in mountain hunting, I'm a first generation hunter with fairly little experience in general so almost everything I encounter out there is a new puzzle to put together. Following the game trails I found what looked like a bed from whatever is leaving those massive piles of pellets, I'm leaning more and more towards moose the more sign I see and every white log with burn streaks on it is tricking my eyes into thinking they see a shed paddle.


https://i.imgur.com/QenmStR.jpg


No such luck on that front, starting to get hungry though and didn't bring any water with me so back to the tent to make breakfast and roust the kiddo. While packing up the tent I noticed that somehow we had multiple large sparks pop all the way over to the tent and burn a few holes in our sylnylon tarp. That always sucks but nothing a few patches can't fix. Packed up our gear and decided to head up to the top of the burn, loop around and hunt our way down. There's an old overgrown fire road that parallels the burn, we followed that up and began seeing more and more bear sign. The grass on the sides of the roads was all nipped away and it looked like they were feeding along the trails coming out of the burn and onto the road, most of the grass inside the burn was untouched though. I had assumed that would be a buffet for them and they would prefer areas with a bit of cover as opposed to roads that would surely see more human activity but maybe the grass on the roads gets more moisture or something?


https://i.imgur.com/9JlH6xo.jpg



Counted a dozen fairly fresh piles of scat (all grass, my son likes breaking them apart) in the 1km of road paralleling that burn, and probably 30 of those big piles...one spot had 5 piles within 10 yards.


https://i.imgur.com/XaMqO2U.jpg



At the very top we stopped for lunch, we had been keeping our eyes open for morels the whole time we were in the burn but hadn't spotted any. While I was making lunch I happened to look down and there was a single morel sticking out of the leaves on the side of the road. Blake was thrilled about that, I've never tried a morel and needless to say neither has he, knowing where we were headed and that they commonly grow in burns though I had showed him a video about them and he was excited to harvest and eat it.


https://i.imgur.com/U1R09Xj.jpg?1

Now he was excited again, I know he enjoys hunting with me but I also know it's tough hunting with a dad that doesn't have the most experience, the best gear, the most productive spots, and the list goes on. He got to see me shoot a bear with my bow from 40 yards (him 20 from me, me 20 from the bear) our first year hunting together but really hasn't seen all that much else as far as big game goes aside from a herd of cow elk and a few mulies here and there. Not for lack of trying though, not too sure if I just have a talent for picking the worst times to go, the worst places or a combination of both but we've been getting out as much as possible, the sign is always there and he's getting very good at moving slowly and quietly. Hopefully one day I'll have things dialed in and have some honey holes of my own, maybe that's just the "when I grow up" of hunting though...a constant work in progress. I certainly love that boy to the moon and back for sticking it out with me, he really is the best hunting partner I could ask for.


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Didn't find any more morels on the way down, not a critter to be seen either aside from a pair of squirrels that chased each other right past Blake. Lots more knowledge of the area gained though and we set up a trail cam in that burn so should have some cool videos to watch in the future assuming it doesn't walk off. Will definitely be back sooner than later trying to restock on burger before bear season ends, anybody have any insight on when morel season starts to die down? Would love to find some more of those, I cooked it up with garlic butter and it sure was a tasty morsel...Blake loved it but said he can't tell his mom that since he generally doesn't like mushrooms and if she finds out he liked that one then she'll probably make him eat civilian mushrooms from the store all the time :lol: Pretty long winded write up for an "unsuccessful hunt" (they're all successful in my opinion) but I know some of you have been following along on the journey since day one and figured I was about due for an update, hopefully my next one contains a photo of a restocked freezer. Oh ya, and the joke was on me...those spoons were hiding in his backpack the whole time, turned mine inside out but never thought to check his.

Awesome write up! I love the night time picture. Yes, moose for sure (the poop) 100%

It looks like you found a good spot. Best looking area out of all the pics so far. Decent grass in the pictures and you mentioned it's getting hit.

Go pound that. Poke in and out of spots that look like feeding places. Even if it's only once place, just walk in to check on it every so often. If you can find two or three places, alternate and play the wind best you can. You're going to see a bear there, guaranteed... just wish I was seeing a little more grass or some dandelions but it's thick steep country, so it's not going to serve you everything on a silver platter. You can work with what I am seeing though, I promise you that. Is there a drainage around there still running or that was running recently? It might not be a honey hole (it could be?) but it should be productive. I think you are starting to see what an area should look like because the pictures are starting to look more and more promising as time goes on. You'll dial in some honey holes soon.

Little man is growing up... still needs the naps I see... he'll grow out of it in a few more years, but then back into it when he's around 35 LOL.

Funny about the spoons.

Very KOOL ! Love the Little GUY ! Keep it up there GOOD Dad ! :D RJ

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Originally Posted by caddisguy

Awesome write up! I love the night time picture. Yes, moose for sure (the poop) 100%

It looks like you found a good spot. Best looking area out of all the pics so far. Decent grass in the pictures and you mentioned it's getting hit.

Go pound that. Poke in and out of spots that look like feeding places. Even if it's only once place, just walk in to check on it every so often. If you can find two or three places, alternate and play the wind best you can. You're going to see a bear there, guaranteed... just wish I was seeing a little more grass or some dandelions but it's thick steep country, so it's not going to serve you everything on a silver platter. You can work with what I am seeing though, I promise you that. Is there a drainage around there still running or that was running recently? It might not be a honey hole (it could be?) but it should be productive. I think you are starting to see what an area should look like because the pictures are starting to look more and more promising as time goes on. You'll dial in some honey holes soon.

Little man is growing up... still needs the naps I see... he'll grow out of it in a few more years, but then back into it when he's around 35 LOL.

Funny about the spoons.

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Ya it's twice as long of a drive to this spot so no day trips to this one but we'll definitely invest a couple weekends into this spot before season closes and keep an eye on it in the future. I did find a feeding area in our day trip spot and plan on using that tactic there for sure, will definitely employ it next time we're up here as well. Suppose I walk through their feeding area, how long do you figure the scent generally keeps them from hitting it again? Day trip area gets loads of human activity, this place didn't have one truck or quad go up the road the whole time we were there though and I didn't see one boot track...pretty good for may long weekend, it's really overgrown though and some people don't like those backcountry pinstripes on their new trucks. Was amazing how far away we could hear vehicles from though, we heard every truck pass by down in the valley from a ways off, I know some people are successful at road hunting but they must only be shooting the critters that go deaf cracking antlers and boxing each others ears.

Great story and pics, thats an experience you and your hunting buddy wont forget!

Grasshopper is getting an early ,he wil be a one fine hunter

Love it! Thanks for sharing

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Originally Posted by 45freezer

Suppose I walk through their feeding area, how long do you figure the scent generally keeps them from hitting it again?

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Every bear is different. If it's a viable area, there will be at least a few bears, so my answer is this...

5 minutes

Sure some huge old boars lived to be huge old boars because they knew better, but on average bears just equate humans as other bears, err on the side of caution and give a little space, take turns in small feeding pockets.

There was a time I would just sit in one spot (and I still do once in a while) for hours on end. Eventually their hunger would get the better of them and would even walk up from down wind. I figured they misjudged scent and didn't know if I was there (scent I left behind) vs "am" there (scent I am giving off) ... but I realized most bears didn't want to enter the feeding area because they could tell I was there... like I am bogarting the good grass.

Over time, I started realizing I saw 5x as many bears just walking in and out of the spots on average every couple hours but sometimes every half an hour. In 2017 I realized just how quickly it happens too... I walked out of a spot after sitting for a couple hours, heard a snap, walked back in and tagged a pretty nice boar.

This took me from seeing maybe 1 bear over a weekend to seeing at least a few each day. Example last weekend (before the long one) my brother walked into a spot in the morning and saw nothing, sat around and came out. Went back in at around 4PM, we spooked multiple bears (chaos, bears running around, one huffing at us from the safety just inside the treeline) ... went and sat in the same feeding area my brother was in that morning, wind swirling everywhere... we hung out for 30 mins or so because I wanted to give the bear that was huffing at us time to chill out) ... went back to camp and sat for 30 mins then went back out. Spooked a bear from pretty much where we were sitting 30 minutes before that ran for cover. It was funny... my brother went to go look for it and the bear ran up the mossy knoll right above him... starring down checking him out. I watched the situation unfold a bit before I shout "hey man, check it out" and point at the bear... at which point the bear made an exit.

You probably wont shoot a 500lb 7ft monster where your boots were a little while ago, but you can certainly shoot a 200-300 boar where your boots were as little as 15-30 minutes ago. I've done it over and over.

Your non-day-trip spot sounds a lot better. Some human traffic is fine. Bears still live in those areas and know how to deal with that stuff. They usually just hear a vehicle, duck in the bush then come back out when it passes (funny I do the same thing) I prefer hearing vehicles in the distance though and only seeing the odd one.

Another thing worth noting is that when bears detect you or even if you scare the crap out of them, they usually don't go for. They hide and wait for your to pass. I can only recall a couple bears out of dozens of such encounters that ran for the next time zone... on average, 15 yards into the nearest cover and most of the time they will come back out in short order.

The other thing worth mentioning is that in that kind of terrain if you're poking in and out of feeding spots it's going to happen pretty fast... every step is a different view and 10-15 yard windows open up each step. If the wind is right and the bear is focused on munching you'll get time to evaluate the situation and draw back... it will probably be close up but still take your time... if it's meant to be great and if not then it's a cool story too.

Good story, that looks like a great time! I can't wait to do this with my kids. How old is your son? My 4 year old woke up on Sunday and asked if we could go bear hunting, which was a big step for him; he's been terrified of the thought of bears up until now. We just drove around some back roads looking for any animals to see until he fell asleep. Didn't see any bears with him, but went for a bike ride at home in the evening and had one walk right up the trail within 15 yards. Go figure.

Great Share. Awesome time with your little fella.
Thanks for posting

If a couple areas somewhat near each other have sign, I just keep rotating through them until they come out. Especially early season. Buddy and I lucked out and found an area most would pass up but we usually get a couple there every Easter weekend by rotating through. Gets disheartening at times, but they always pop out for a feed eventually. Some big guys have been out as early as 9-10 in the morning early on in the season. I always seem to see bears within a km or so of running water but I'm still new to this. Can't wait to get my son out! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing, it’s a great story. I wish you and your son great success this season.
CranePete

Great story man, thanks !!

Awesome story. It's not always about harvesting an animal. Cherish the memories!

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Originally Posted by caddisguy

Your non-day-trip spot sounds a lot better. Some human traffic is fine. Bears still live in those areas and know how to deal with that stuff. They usually just hear a vehicle, duck in the bush then come back out when it passes (funny I do the same thing) I prefer hearing vehicles in the distance though and only seeing the odd one.

Another thing worth noting is that when bears detect you or even if you scare the crap out of them, they usually don't go for. They hide and wait for your to pass. I can only recall a couple bears out of dozens of such encounters that ran for the next time zone... on average, 15 yards into the nearest cover and most of the time they will come back out in short order.

The other thing worth mentioning is that in that kind of terrain if you're poking in and out of feeding spots it's going to happen pretty fast... every step is a different view and 10-15 yard windows open up each step. If the wind is right and the bear is focused on munching you'll get time to evaluate the situation and draw back... it will probably be close up but still take your time... if it's meant to be great and if not then it's a cool story too.

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Good to know. I think I've definitely blown it by moving along too quickly after spooking one. What do you think about the diameter of that log? There was bigger piles than that for sure but I've heard the diameter is a more telltale sign. Also found one of those broken saplings you talked about, was broken off at about 6' at some of the fur in the sap was blonde, almost white. There are definitely griz in the area, think it could be BB fur that got bleached from the sun or more likely griz? Height of the break in the sapling had me thinking griz but I'll have to let the trail cam gather some intel for me. That burn is full of blueberries in late summer/early fall so I think whatever bears are there now will be there for the next while.

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Originally Posted by grantk

Good story, that looks like a great time! I can't wait to do this with my kids. How old is your son? My 4 year old woke up on Sunday and asked if we could go bear hunting, which was a big step for him; he's been terrified of the thought of bears up until now. We just drove around some back roads looking for any animals to see until he fell asleep. Didn't see any bears with him, but went for a bike ride at home in the evening and had one walk right up the trail within 15 yards. Go figure.

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He'll be 10 in August, he's been coming out with me since he was 7 though. Awesome that your boy is showing interest so early, just keep it light at first, keep him fed and gradually get him more and more active!

Any time spent with your kid is time well spent and even better when it’s outdoors

Log doesn't seem particularly big. I don't think you can ever tell if a mediocre poop came from a big bear or a small bear. At least with any certainty. If I see tiny ones I think cubs and if I see ones with the width getting close to the size of a can, I can't help but start to think it came from a big guy. I wouldn't put too much thought into it. The main thing is you're seeing a lot of them and there will be lots more you're not seeing.

Saplings broken off at 6 feet could be big or small. Bears will pull them down, straddle them and rough them up in all sorts of ways. The part that would be the most telling is the part that is broken. If it's a small healthy tree and the part broken off is thick, you know it took some power. Anyway, you at least know the bear has the stones to be openly advertising his intent to service the ladies at a rough bar.

As for the color of the hair as mentioned they will straddle and rub themselves all over these. The hair is probably going to be either from the face or more likely the underside. A lot of blackies rock white or blonde patches / crests on their chest. Could be any color of bear.

If there are blueberries there in the fall, sounds like a good place to hit in the fall. What matters now is if there's good feed now. If there's decent grass, clover, dandelions, bug infested stumps/lots they'll be hanging out. With the freshly broken off saplings, I think they'll be hanging around. :)

Oh and if you spook a bear, mind the wind. Pretend to leave in whatever direction the wind was more favorable. You can wait for it to come back out (best if the bear didn't have purpose like feeding and just wanted to cross the road / trail) or you can actually leave for a bit (15-20 mins) and walk back in (might be better if you think he wants to hang out and feed).

Good stuff and congrats.
Thanks for the time to share.

Love it! Thanks for sharing!

great story and thanks for sharing it...I too love that tent/night sky photo..a real beauty...my trick for hunting is that I always count my steps..er.. actually paces (every 2nd step) and force myself to stop and do a complete look around...really good areas might mean slowing down to 1, 2 or 3 paces...areas with longer views and less noisey I might go 5 to 15 paces.....30 is my max even when walking to or from a spot on a road even when dark...I have snuck up on several bobcats and bears that did not know I was there as well as a cougar with this stalking method. I watched that cougar perched on a rock with his back to me for about 5 minutes then let out a cough......he looked so pissed that I was able to sneak up on him like that...heheheh

Great story. I really like that you found that fire road with no quadders on it. Looks like a great area overall.

Great to have family along. My wife liked to come and camp out and tend the fire but wasn't into the hunting bit even though she has killed a deer and numerous domestic animals in her time. Her back can't take sleeping in the "cramper' any more though; my truck canopy.

My daughter came on numerous hunting trips with me and was present for a bear kill when she was a teenager. They are both skilled home butchers too.

Great story, thanks for sharing. Love the fact that your son is tagging along and getting into it. I'm in that phase (late teens) where my boys would sooner be chasing girls than bears and I really miss those hunts.

Pay close attention to what Caddis says, that guy has hunted a bear or two.

Awesome story and pictures. You are a hell of a good dad.

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Originally Posted by caddisguy

Log doesn't seem particularly big. I don't think you can ever tell if a mediocre poop came from a big bear or a small bear. At least with any certainty. If I see tiny ones I think cubs and if I see ones with the width getting close to the size of a can, I can't help but start to think it came from a big guy. I wouldn't put too much thought into it. The main thing is you're seeing a lot of them and there will be lots more you're not seeing.

Saplings broken off at 6 feet could be big or small. Bears will pull them down, straddle them and rough them up in all sorts of ways. The part that would be the most telling is the part that is broken. If it's a small healthy tree and the part broken off is thick, you know it took some power. Anyway, you at least know the bear has the stones to be openly advertising his intent to service the ladies at a rough bar.

As for the color of the hair as mentioned they will straddle and rub themselves all over these. The hair is probably going to be either from the face or more likely the underside. A lot of blackies rock white or blonde patches / crests on their chest. Could be any color of bear.

If there are blueberries there in the fall, sounds like a good place to hit in the fall. What matters now is if there's good feed now. If there's decent grass, clover, dandelions, bug infested stumps/lots they'll be hanging out. With the freshly broken off saplings, I think they'll be hanging around. :)

Oh and if you spook a bear, mind the wind. Pretend to leave in whatever direction the wind was more favorable. You can wait for it to come back out (best if the bear didn't have purpose like feeding and just wanted to cross the road / trail) or you can actually leave for a bit (15-20 mins) and walk back in (might be better if you think he wants to hang out and feed).

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I was actually thinking the fur looked more like chest blaze fur than sun bleached fur, most of the videos I had seen of bears rubbing on trees have been just using it like a back scratcher though so wondered if they did rub their chest at all too. It was a good sized tree though, about 4-5" across. Didn't look freshly broken, lots of fur in the sap though, some black, some white and some brown/blonde so probably multiple bears hitting it.

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Originally Posted by albravo2

Great story, thanks for sharing. Love the fact that your son is tagging along and getting into it. I'm in that phase (late teens) where my boys would sooner be chasing girls than bears and I really miss those hunts.

Pay close attention to what Caddis says, that guy has hunted a bear or two.

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Definitely enjoying it while I can, I know priorities can change quick! Caddis has been my go to bear expert and has provided me lots of invaluable info over the last couple years, very appreciative for all the dumb rookie questions he's answered, insight he's given me about the spots I hunt and what to be on the lookout for.

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Originally Posted by Ron.C

Awesome story and pictures. You are a hell of a good dad.

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Thank you sir, means a lot!

Thanks for sharing, that is awesome, well done! Great write up and pics - inspiring! My daughter just turned 6 and she already wants to come out, has helped me scout and spot tracks in the snow last winter. What a wonderful time to share with your son, great job!

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Originally Posted by 45freezer

I was actually thinking the fur looked more like chest blaze fur than sun bleached fur, most of the videos I had seen of bears rubbing on trees have been just using it like a back scratcher though so wondered if they did rub their chest at all too. It was a good sized tree though, about 4-5" across. Didn't look freshly broken, lots of fur in the sap though, some black, some white and some brown/blonde so probably multiple bears hitting it.

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Just to give an idea what is going on... I don't think I have any videos of my own but found some others on YouTube. Look for the broken ones though when you're out vs looking for hair on every sapling. There's something magic about the broken ones. I don't know what it means. I speculate it's when you have multiple boars competing they get a bit aggressive with the on the scent markers and saplings get hurt. The aggressive bear started breaking saplings all round my immediate camp and places I'd walk through. It was annoying because I knew it would tip off other hunters, so I'd cut off the broken part and toss them, but that only seemed to escalate things.

And you're 100% right that multiple bears hit the same ones year after year.

Anyway, these are a good watch... straddle marking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBF__dHACu8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If3VX-J0Sjk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AmTy2I1goM

Grizz breaking a small tree... not sure if it is for marking reasons or not:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwY5Pzrlsew

Unrelated, but here's a bear taking a tree down for different reasons (presumably bugs) impressive and fun to watch. I don't think this is the first go at falling big timber LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUHPx_cFKOc

Very good writeup and pics, not a failed hunt by any means....yes that pellet poop was moose, I'm guessing from over the winter, they like to hang out on roads/paths over the winter lined with alder - food and easier travel...beware of false morel mushrooms ok, though if you google them you can usually tell the difference...

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Originally Posted by caddisguy

Just to give an idea what is going on... I don't think I have any videos of my own but found some others on YouTube. Look for the broken ones though when you're out vs looking for hair on every sapling. There's something magic about the broken ones. I don't know what it means. I speculate it's when you have multiple boars competing they get a bit aggressive with the on the scent markers and saplings get hurt. The aggressive bear started breaking saplings all round my immediate camp and places I'd walk through. It was annoying because I knew it would tip off other hunters, so I'd cut off the broken part and toss them, but that only seemed to escalate things.

And you're 100% right that multiple bears hit the same ones year after year.

Anyway, these are a good watch... straddle marking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBF__dHACu8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If3VX-J0Sjk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AmTy2I1goM

Grizz breaking a small tree... not sure if it is for marking reasons or not:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwY5Pzrlsew

Unrelated, but here's a bear taking a tree down for different reasons (presumably bugs) impressive and fun to watch. I don't think this is the first go at falling big timber LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUHPx_cFKOc

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Ya looking at those videos I would put my money on a griz snapping this tree, I'm probably wrong for referring to it as a sapling, wasn't quite as big as the one the griz in that video broke but closer to that size than any of the little Christmas trees...snapped off at just under 6ft. Definitely saw some jet black fur in the sap and some of it was totally white like a BB chest blaze, not sure if grizzlies get those as well but I can't recall ever seeing one that had a white patch in photos. Would have been cool to put a cam up there but I had only packed one in and figured I would get more info throwing it up on the other game trails since the bears use those too. Will post a photo when I get home later but there was a mulie rub right there that I'm assuming was made this year, all the branches below the rub had live pine needles on them and all the branches above it were dead. Is it possible for trees to live indefinitely below the bark damage or does it usually kill the entire tree within the year?

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Originally Posted by HarryToolips

Very good writeup and pics, not a failed hunt by any means....yes that pellet poop was moose, I'm guessing from over the winter, they like to hang out on roads/paths over the winter lined with alder - food and easier travel...beware of false morel mushrooms ok, though if you google them you can usually tell the difference...

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I know it's hard to say but how far away do you think they might be in October? Higher elevation? Lower? Don't know a whole lot about moose but that's a long term goal for sure, was always my uncle's game of choice and his stories about hunting big bulls and the racks I saw in his garage were a large part of my inspiration as a child to get out there and experience the process of hunting myself. Unfortunately his hunting days are long over so I'm stuck carving my own path.

Yes my son went to cut it in half right away to make sure it was the real deal, I could see the stem was hollow as soon as he harvested it though so I was still able to get an intact trophy photo haha. I'm assuming the black is because it's a bit old? Wasn't dried out or mushy at all... would definitely like to time it better next year though now that I have a better idea where to look. Was growing out of the leaves on the side of the road, would that maybe be a better place to focus on than inside the burn itself or was that maybe more just luck? I was reading that mulies eat morels and there was definitely sign from them up there but all in the burn, none on the roads. I'm sure bears would eat them as well?