Spring Black Bear

[MichelD]

This'll be my fourty-first year bear hunting. The first one hit the dirt in 1976.

My only regret is that I only hunted in the fall at the time. I thought spring hunting was just too strange to contemplate. Too bad too, because I lived on northern Vancouver Island and hardly anyone was hunting them then. I was considered somewhat of a weirdo by quite a few people. I always waited until fall because knew I could find one on the river bank. And yes, they tasted fine. They were full of berries in October and just starting to look for fish. The bear patties along the river were 100 percent salal berry-based.

[caddisguy]

Make sure your rifle works 100% reliably.

I had a rifle that would only misfire 0.5% of the time, but when it did, it was always within 10 yards of a bear.

Great tips about south facing hills greening up. Every bear from every mountain on either side of the valley will be condensing into those few little patches of green. Late April to May long is best IMHO... after that, they spread out with the food.

Find the poop and hunt over the poop. We see most bears in the morning and evening... I'd say 40% morning and 60% evening. I usually just sit quietly in the bears kitchen. Even with the wind the wrong way, some decent (OK by my standards) bears will walk out. I don't think they can tell the difference between "someone is there" or "someone was there" especially if you were stomping around all day and stop to sit and wait in the evening.

Use your nose too. Bears smell kind of like hippies... skunky and not bathed. I have busted bears by scent before sight or sound in many cases.

Watch out for ticks. And don't be afraid to hunt around in the timber during the afternoon. Some hunters opt to nap but on a hot day you can bump bump them from their beds in the shade near creeks, along shadey boulders or any place you would consider snoozing if you were wearing 3 winter jackets, no sweat glands and didn't want to get shot

[RiverOtter]

Good post Caddis, looking forward to reading more of you and CaddisGirls' spring bear pursuits this season.

[pg83]

Use your nose too. Bears smell kind of like hippies... skunky and not bathed.

Hah! Thanks for the chuckle.

[srupp]

Hmmm strange..grizzly in the AM black bears PM.when not guiding I don't even look for them till 4 pm.best day for me over 4 decades is Mother's day..i usually hunt south slopes for grizzly..cut blocks for black bears or along quiet remote forestry rds..i usually spot and stalk black bears..so spotting scope is used..grizzlies I usually set up on a slide so binos work just fine.
I too have smelled bears before I have seen them.find water patches with good greenery..bears will be there..don't pay too much attention to bear scat..unless it to tuck some toilet paper amongst the heap..giggles for the next viewer..lol
Cheers
Steven

[BCLongshot]

Hmmm strange..grizzly in the AM black bears PM.when not guiding I don't even look for them till 4 pm.best day for me over 4 decades is Mother's day..i usually hunt south slopes for grizzly..cut blocks for black bears or along quiet remote forestry rds..i usually spot and stalk black bears..so spotting scope is used..grizzlies I usually set up on a slide so binos work just fine.
I too have smelled bears before I have seen them.find water patches with good greenery..bears will be there..don't pay too much attention to bear scat..unless it to tuck some toilet paper amongst the heap..giggles for the next viewer..lol
Cheers
Steven

Exactly and well said...

[caddisguy]

Lol I thought of doing the TP thing before.

For black bears I have heard some guys say they see more in the morning than evening. I guess it depends where you are.

Hanging around turds has worked well for us. I am talking a lot of scat though... you know bears are frequent and you notice fresh piles and think "dang just missed him" ... I can judge by scats how many are around, who is who, who is there most and when, etc.

Nipped grass too... you can tell if grass has been munched on and roughly when and if they are coming back to it.

That is my experience with Region 2 spring black bears. Higher up the Coq or east to Boston Bar I can see how covering area and glassing a mile with the spotting scope is the way to go. We like hunting the jungle, still hunting or just sitting around waiting for stuff to go down at 10 yards... absolutely love it... creeping around applying blacktail tactics to bears... huge rush and great eats.

[srupp]

Hmmm i try and get up on top of a hill..or vantage..here in the Cariboo you can glass..5..6 logging cut blocks..once spotted and evaluated" I can sneak in for a shot if warranted..best day ever was with my twin brother..from dawn to dusk we saw 40 black bear.over the entire Cunningham pass rd.i have a broken whistle I am going to place in a large grizzly pile..lol
When guiding for black bears we do hunt early..but its more to give the clients the feeling of value..when working for Betty.not many blacks I can recall harvested in..am..however most grizzlies were on the ground by 10 am.As for black bears vast majority were taken in the last legal hour before dark.the biggest closer to last 15 minutes..why they grew that big?
2 bears..one blond with brown leggings.and one brown were harvested after lunch but before 4 pm.
Gerries"Farrah Fawcett black bear was shot late in the day..still one of the most amazing black bears I have seen in my life..
Lok for quiet locations with few disturbances...bears do not like interruptions when dining...look at the furthest place along the treeline so they can just pull a Houdini "and...poof.gone.
Steven

[dru88]

Anyone know if there is any good spring black bear hunting around Princeton or Tulameen area ?

[Wild one]

Anyone know if there is any good spring black bear hunting around Princeton or Tulameen area ?

You will find bears in both areas but that can be said for most of BC

Something to think about most lower mainland hunters hunt black bear from Lytton south for hwy 1 and Merrit south for hwy 5. You can find black bear in these areas but found it only gets better if you go farther north.

Any locations you see commonly posted on open forum see pressure and most are well known. Going to areas beyond the towns I mentioned can be well worth it. I would recommend taking a few days for a trip a little farther out around mid May