Failed/Discouraged Hunters Seeking Help

[WelderGuy]

For the areas you are mentioning,,ie-Lyton etc, I would hunt spring bear in early May into the 2nd week. glass the grassy south facing slopes. I am farther north (100 Mile) and I find the end of May here is really getting late in te game as there is green stuff everywhere. Its much easier if the grass in only on the slopes or the edges of the roads. then the bears need to come to it. They are easier to find etc. By the 2nd week of une here, lots of them hae rubbed hides too.

[Merino]

But I get how hard it can be for a newb from the LM.
Even those that have plenty of deer hunting how to knowledge, can really struggle finding a new and productive area without either local intel, it tons of time and money.
Never forget that, don’t beat yourself up on that, and find the beauty in the nature you find yourself in while hunting.

Definitely agree. The time commitment needed to travel out of the city combined with hunting in an area you're not local to is quite challenging.

Most importantly, don’t forget to have as many laughs as you can with either your friends or family!!!!
Those moments go way beyond the hunt/kill and are what you truly remember as you age.
Best of luck and I hope you get a few pm’s to help you get into a better hunting zone.

We always have tons of laughs and a great time - lots of memories built over the last 4 years that's for sure.

There is a ridiculous amount of posts on here asking for help but I must say that yours was actually very thought out and well written. That is probably why there have been better and more responses, so good on you. My opinion is that if you are seeing bear scat that is even a week old, you are doing just fine in looking for an area. Bears are not hard to find overall. Glassing cut blocks is my preferred method. As for deer, if you are seeing does, there will be bucks. Be patient, wait, pay attention to what info the does might let slip with their body language. As for time of year to get your first buck, IMO is an easy one, get out there when the season first opens. Good luck

Thanks, I didn't expect such a large response so it's been hard to keep up with replies. We've spent days glassing a cut block with sign only for nothing to show up. How do you determine how long to spend on a single block and when to move on?


@HappyJack @wideopenthrottle @Bugle M In @Ron.C
Regarding the wind, could you elaborate on exactly how to "manage" it? We find it will suddenly switch when navigating through timber and blow out the area we were trying to hunt towards.

Why would only one in your group have a bear tag?

We figured as rookie hunters we likely wouldn't be harvesting more than 1 animal on a trip (assuming we even get lucky enough) so our plan is to have 1 tag while the other 2 support the holder.

Dustin Roe has a great podcast on how to prepare. It is very thorough.
If I find it I will send it to you. Preparation is the key.

Thanks I will PM you

Invest in trail cameras, they are an amazing tool and great hobby. It will get you into the field in the spring. They are doing a lot of your work in determining if an area will be worth investing in come fall. Scouting in the spring, before things start greening up, trails will declare themselves more readily. Droppings are easier to see.

I'd like to setup trail cams but this isn't really feasible for us at the moment. Regarding travel routes, I thought deer wouldn't be in the same areas in the spring vs the fall. This might be region dependent but don't they have different ranges throughout the year?


Again, thanks all for the replies. I've received some PMs that I need to reply to as well so thank you to those that have reached out!

[HappyJack]

When the wind is shifting lots get up in a tree, self climber or ladder stand and let the game come to you. A lot of times if I am just wandering around to see what I see [still hunting] and the wind changes direction so do I always try to keep the wind in my face or across my direction of travel.

[Bugle M In]

Swirling wind makes hunting and success hard period!
However, there will often times be a general direction the wind moves out in the open.
That can change from day to day or hour to hour, but most days it will travel one way.
In timber and gullies it can move differently.
Tou just have to work around which might mean long walks around the area you want before you enter it.
Wind often travels downhill during early morning and then again at night, but warming thermals will carry wind uphill during daytime.
Not to be confused with the daily wind direction, but a big factor.
Swirly winds usually happen during the day, but not as often at first light or before nightfall.
If you have a hotspot to hunt, and wind is swirling, best to leave that area until those times.
You can’t change, can’t fight it, just accept it and work around.
Topography with gullies and hills play factors.
A creek going downhill as you walk by often sucks your scent downhill even if the real wind is going uphill.
Experience and analyzing you hunts continuously is the only way to get real experience.
It comes with time, if you allow yourself time to think about it.
Its not a race up the hill to your prey.
Its how you move and access the area that is the most important.
Even when entering a blind.

[brian]

Topography even on a small scale causes winds to swirl. Get to the windward side of the topography and the winds will usually be stable. Swirling winds doesn’t mean your hunt is over. It lowers your chance of success, but swirling winds can screw up the animals noses too. If winds are too swirly then I either abandon the area or I still hunt.

We always have tons of laughs and a great time - lots of memories built over the last 4 years that's for sure.

Sounds like you’re having some very successful hunts.

[Deer_Slayer]

For bears the secret is dandelions! Find some nice green grassy areas with fresh dandelions. Bears will be there. Mind you. I have only once seen a bear (sow with 2 cubs) since I moved to lower mainland and that was in Whipsaw area. I never see bear scat when out hunting. When I lived in Golden BC I would see bear scat everywhere and bears galore. I think the bears are getting wiped out close to lower mainland. There are too many of those gall bladder, paw seekers out hunting now. You can bet they are hungry for bear parts.

[Bugle M In]

A couple of seasons ago, up in the EK, it seemed like every corner we ran into a bear.
Lots of young ones.
Then this past season, nothing but still a bit of sign around.
Typically, 1 bear sighting per week, a loner or sow and cubs.
Fuess it’s kind of like the deer rut.
Hit it right, and the deer almost run right into you.
Miss it by a day or 2, and you have to dig for them.

[caddisguy]

Wow I'm blown away by all the responses from everyone, thanks everyone for taking the time to share.


@caddisguy
Would you recommend sticking with R2 for spring bear? Are bear numbers pretty high this close to the city? Typically only one of us in the group has a tag so we do need to stick together which is why we opt to sit and glass instead of trying to bush-whack as a group. Thanks for the advice on feeding locations, that seems relevant regardless of where you hunt.

That's what we do, stay in R2. I'm not sure R3 or R8 really offer much more opportunities. Maybe less skittish bears, but R2 has no shortage of bears. Though if you like road trips, R1 and R5 are off the charts.

We're 8 for 9 on R2 bears since we started hunting them and that is only due to an awkward timed misfire on a bear only a few yards away in our first year.

Possibly we might come up empty this Spring too, reason being we didn't start until late in the season and we've been learning a new area. Still passed on one bear at 15 yards a couple weeks back, accidentally walked into one at 6-7 yards on Friday and had the excitement of one charging me a few times and pursuing me a good while on Sunday (if you ever want a wild ride, if you hear a bear 10-15 yards away but it's too thick to see anything, blow the snot out of a blade of grass making a wounded rabbit sound)

If you're bored, check out the "honey hole" thread I posted up about this new area we're poking around in. Should serve as a pretty good blueprint for keying in on bear pockets along with videos to show what's lurking around here in R2.

For what it's worth, I've only ever seen a few bears in R2 while driving and when I do they are running for the next time zone. Walking not uncommon to see 3 or 4 a day. Not sure if you're driving, sitting in a truck or walking but it is worth noting that hunting bears from trucks or quads isn't effective in R2. It's not impossible but you could probably drive 100km every weekend for a decade and not get a chance. It's thick terrain and they're conditioned differently than more open + less populated areas.

If one considers the huntable land in Region 2 vs area that is actually hunted, I think it's safe to say most of R2 is actually some of the most under hunted areas in North America.

Regarding hunting as a group of 3 due to one tag in the group, seems like an easy fix there just get the other two to order tags and split up a little bit. Bears especially black bears shy from crowds and 3 is definitely a crowd if you decide to hunt the thick stuff in R2, it usually goes down at 20 yards or less but tough to get 3 peeps within 20 yards of a bear in R2

[swantonbomb]

Your situation sounds similar to mine. Self taught and no hunting heritage in the family. Sometimes it feels like you can do everything right and still not connect. When you figure it out let me know lol

[Bugle M In]

Your situation sounds similar to mine. Self taught and no hunting heritage in the family. Sometimes it feels like you can do everything right and still not connect. When you figure it out let me know lol

My dad and his brother came here from Germany and along with a few other expatriates, they all really enjoyed hunting and went weekly.
No one taught them, and yes they struggled at times but always had a good time.
I sum up there successes back then due more to the fact there was way more game vs how they hunted.
My dad I think transitioned the most thru greater efforts and longer hikes then the rest.
But having someone who has had a family background of hunting is most certainly a huge benefit.
My x father in law grew up in Lumby, and he had a couple of generations before him who hunted.
It shows as that clan had many bucks in the record books.
Bring they were local was a leg up.
Buy after hunting with him just once, I saw the difference in approach, and with that, I noticed a huge upswing in what I saw and my success.