region 3, nahatlach, east anderson, kwoiek. Drove all over, hiked all over and only saw a few piles of poop
Pack your stuff caddisguy... tomorrow will bring you energy and luck!
Stay up late watching Netflix, sleep in and rest up for next weekend
Member
region 3, nahatlach, east anderson, kwoiek. Drove all over, hiked all over and only saw a few piles of poop
HuntingBC Champ
Originally Posted by caddisguy
Will be making my first attempt this weekend but buddy has been out
He is a rookie and was in the Skagit this weekend but did not hunt last hours of light. I all ready laughed at him for missing best part of the day. He seen some sign but no bears.
The one thing he found was sad someone left some cans of salmon with holes in them in 1 location. Someone is resorting to baiting by the looks of it. No need to break the rules just give it sometime and they will be more bears out.
To any rookies getting frustrated relax the good bear hunting will be starting soon
Senior Member
That is too funny, those cans were there 2 weeks ago also. I know exactly where you mean in the Skagit. Going to check my cam there tomorrow as I have a day off tomorrow.
HuntingBC Champ
I see a lot of bears in the evening as well, about an hour before sunset or very shortly after sunset. No shortage of morning or afternoon bears though. I think there just aren't enough out to make stumbling across one probable, or tracking one down simple. I'll be heading out next weekend too. Definitely early for optimal hunting, but decent chance I would imagine. If nothing next weekend, I should still be able to get out a couple times mid May to mid June at which point pretty much anywhere in Region 2 is crawling with bears and it's a gimme.
Weird about the cans of salmon. I'm surprised they would leave the evidence and an opportunity for another hunter to inadvertently catch a bear out in the open. Was it out in the open or tucked away somewhere? Hunting setup or trailcam? Did he take them out? Though I don't blame him if he didn't (wouldn't want to smell those or get pulled over with them)
HuntingBC Champ
There is no bears in their move on stop looking. My wife too a nice chocolate out of there a few years back
Honestly don't hunt there much anymore it is becoming too busy with people in general. Bears are still around just on the skittish side these days. Seen a few shady things in this area over the last 7 years
I would rather burn some extra fuel and head farther out these days less people and more bears. Only hunt local early in the spring or when I only have an afternoon now.
HuntingBC Champ
The Skagit is really a last 4 hours of light hunt only 1 bear out of my group has come out of that area in the last 15 years earlier in the day. Yes you can see the odd one earlier in the day but I will no longer waste my time early in the Skagit anymore.
As for the cans all I know he was pissed to see them it was a fast phone call
HuntingBC Champ
My experience has been opposite, whether it's the Skagit, Jones Lake, South Cariboo, Vernon, etc. Though I have only ever seen a few significant bears in the Skagit, one was on the upper river. It was a hot summer day around noon. It was a tank, standing on all fours a few steps behind me while I was crouched down on the ground. It looked more like 2 tons from my standpoint, but in reality it was 400lbs easy. It waddled away, awkwardly, belly practically dragging. Saw another last Spring in another drainage during the afternoon. There was also a pretty respectable sow and a couple cubs one morning in August right around the 26 mile bridge.
The ones I have seen in the evening and closer to roads were mostly <200 lbs. Almost shot one last year... initially I was going to give him a pass, but he came up really close (7 yards) and looked really tastey so I gave in. Factory Winchester 30-06 round misfired and I watched my freezer contents-to-be run way.
It might depend where you hunt, whether it's an open space, near a road, river banks, timber, etc. Whenever I see a larger bear it's in thick stuff near a river or creek and nowhere near a road. I hardly ever see people hunt where I see big bears hang out. That said, I don't blame them.There are way too many ticks in there and it's hard to judge a bear and look for cubs--passed on one because of this--under those circumstances. I don't think a bear can live to be very big in the Skagit if it hangs out in the open or near roads.True that there is better bear hunting in less than an hour of highway regardless of which highway you choose and you can find one without getting yourself bloody and covered in ticks
Cool thing about the Skagit though is that as busy as the roads may be, I rarely ever find a sign of a human being more than 1km off any road or trail.
Last edited by caddisguy; 04-27-2015 at 10:22 AM.
Junior Member
I hunt the Skagit every so often and I always see some cracked out looking people either living or driving up that road right when it gets dark,mind you there is tonnes of normal folks enjoying the woods but it makes you wonder what the "others" are up to out there.
HuntingBC Champ
I'm on out skirts Kamloops (barnhartvale) and I'm already having probs with a 4 year old blackie tumbling the garbage cans for bout 2 weeks now,,,,,and I've been spotting them all round in every direction of Kamloops,,,sooo yes they are definatly out and about
Aim small,,miss small
HuntingBC Champ
Been hearing reports of sketchy business ranging from unattended vehicles/equipment getting shot to bears getting baited. More shot signs, garbage, crt's, mattresses and stuff lately too. Kind of going the way of Sylvestor. I wouldn't be surprised to see a no discharge within 400M law for the entire road and/or the gravel pits being off limits... i believe those are leased as it is.
So far nobody has ever messed with my stuff out there, but we did come back to the jeep once to find a guy and his gf looked like they were up to no good and they were very drunk, so drunk it turned out he actually wet himself while he was driving and they broke the muffler trying to drive down the side trail. Guy actually ran up to us "cool is that like a machine gun and reached for my rifle". My friend just about bear sprayed him. Sad part is they actually had an infant in the car. Ran into one of the park attendants later and told them about it.
That said, nothing wrong with driving there as it's getting dark though! When I head out hunting/camping/fishing anywhere I usually head out in the evening. I get out of the office around 5, home around 6-6:30, an hour for packing the jeep and last minute stuff... puts me on dirt road around 8:45pm. I'll be setting up camp with aid of headlights too which might look like pit lamping
Last edited by caddisguy; 04-30-2015 at 05:59 PM.
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