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Thread: Help with getting 1st big game animal

  1. #11
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    Quote Originally Posted by RyoTHC View Post
    honestly I’d be starting to peruse north facing slopes at this point, as we move later into may and with the unseasonably hot weather they are likely looking for a cool refuge where they can also get their fill.


    check out the bear derby thread as well, that way you know all the requirements and when you find your bear you can make an entry for a chance to win.
    This is good advice...

    I'd still focus on roadsides etc that hold plenty of dandelion and clover...

    Lol I saw a real nice one yesterday at about 900m elevation only, but I couldn't shoot it cause I promised the wife I wouldn't shoot one this weekend, mothers day camping trip..

  2. #12
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    Some pics from our camp trip this week. Will spare the scat pics Grass is more important anyway, spring bears give away more of their story in the grass tips than they do in deposits. That said a huge stinky green pile gets me excited <--- Full disclosure I only wrote that on the grounds it might become a tagline, but it's still true. A black colored deposit doesn't mean much. Could a few days or even a week old, weeks or months if dry. If you find a pocket with grass hits, some with 2mm brown, some with 1mm brown or white, some with no brown or white line, you KNOW a bear has been in that same spot consistently every day for at least 3 days so you're likely set for a run in. Hope that makes sense. Just make a point of looking up once in a while reading sign. Close encounters 5 yards or less are sometimes awkward.

    I'll add this time of spring from now until season closes, look for fresh broken over saplings... you'll most likely find fur on where it's snapped. This is a boars version of an online dating profile. You know there is a boar in the area and he will be back.



    ^^^^ This patch seems to be a favorite of a small bear judging the the tracks. Some nice fresh hits within 24 hours, probably less than 12 even



    ^^^ These hits look 3 days or older



    ^^^ 24-36 hours
    Last edited by caddisguy; 05-14-2023 at 08:16 PM.

  3. #13
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    Here's a pic of a broken over sapling I was mentioning. If you look likely you can see the hair on it. It wasn't there the day before. I'd been hitting the same feeding pocket two days prior and only seeing a sow and a couple cubs. Wake up the next morning, saw the sapling (actually smelled it before I saw it) ... went in, sat and waited an hour... meh, nothing, was Mother's day actually so figured I should head home. I go to walk out of the feeding pocket, hear stick snap, creep back into the feeding pocket and there he was.



    ^^^ equivalent of online dating profile for spring boars. If you find a fresh one, game on.

    Note it for future years as well and keep an eye on them just looking for fresh fur that wasn't there the day or week prior. I found other bears will re-mark the same ones.

    Edit: Just dug up a pic of that same sapling getting marked a year later from a brown phase bear... just stuff to keep an eye out for... hope this all helps OP or anyone. The quicker you can pick things out on a quick glance survey of an area, the faster you can narrow down your areas of focus so you're only spending time on productive areas vs spending a bunch of time in areas that are not particularly (if at all) viable. Start with the grass and go from there.

    Last edited by caddisguy; 05-14-2023 at 08:21 PM.

  4. #14
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    Thanks for all the advice and info, seems like i need to do a bit of driving. Then some walking which i prefer to do anyway, once i come across some decent sign.
    I'll be stopping at an area on the way to vernon that i saw some sign last year. There's some nice overgrown roads which lead to some pockets of open grassy areas in between some thicker timber.
    Hopefully i bump into something

  5. #15
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    Thanks for all that information and photos. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for these signs aswell.
    Thanks again, appreciate you replying with these references

  6. #16
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    Quote Originally Posted by Lukebc86 View Post
    Thanks for all the advice and info, seems like i need to do a bit of driving. Then some walking which i prefer to do anyway, once i come across some decent sign.
    I'll be stopping at an area on the way to vernon that i saw some sign last year. There's some nice overgrown roads which lead to some pockets of open grassy areas in between some thicker timber.
    Hopefully i bump into something
    Sounds like an excellent place to start looking. Bears do like to eat in privacy. Overgrown roads that lead to grassy pockets are ideal. If you find sign in a few of those, then poke in and out of them with the wind in your face you're playing to win. I hope the thread keeps going here and that you'll send an update with what you find.
    Last edited by caddisguy; 05-14-2023 at 11:18 PM.

  7. #17
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    I'll give it my best shot, I'll be out thursday to sunday. So that gives me a good amount of time to try and find something.
    I'll definitely post an update with what i find.
    Thanks again

  8. #18
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    Last couple tid bits I got if I can butt in one more time is that if you have a few pockets in close proximity, poke in and out of them just enough for a good look and listen. If nothing, onto the next and keep cycling. Even if it's the same spot, poking in and out has always turned out better for me than sitting and waiting. I think to an extent bears tolerate in and out despite human scent because you're doing it like they do, in and out for a fill. To an extent, if you're in and out they get comfortable.

    I used to go for sits, hours long and wait, then started to find if I just leave and come back an hour later, bear is feeding. I think often they're close by just waiting their turn. You leave, they come, you come back, surprise!

    Other than that, you probably know already, but figure out the thermals... in general breeze is downhill evening until it starts to get warm in the morning. Obviously there's all sorts of terrain and regular wind, could be doing something different in 50 yards, but just mental note it all on the first day, probably the same deal most days. It's not always a deal breaker though, don't think if the wind is bad game over. One of my best came up from down wind 20 yards or so while smoking a cigarette (me not the bear) ... try your best with the wind but don't write off anything, depends on terrain it could be doing something different in 50 yards, just try to note everything for future perfection in your areas.

    Spot and stalk is another thing. If you have a good proven area and you can see for a few kms and glass, stalk on close enough for your shooting comfort, that works for many. Haven't tried it myself, usually in the thick stuff over here.
    Last edited by caddisguy; 05-14-2023 at 11:56 PM.

  9. #19
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    Oct 2015
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    My stomping grounds, among others like region 3 & 4 bordering the North/East Okanagan. Extensive web of FSRs to explore all of which potentially hold bruins. I've personally spotted them up on the Aberdeen Plateau cruising King Ed FSR, closer to Oyama but that was years ago. That road gets busy on weekends. If you care to venture a little further, head past Cherryville on Hwy 6 up to the Monashee Pass area. I've spotted a couple young ones scampering across a cut-block above Keefer Lake. Again that was some years ago. Typically less pressure there than plateaus around Vernon. There will still be snow at that altitude, especially North facing slopes. Keefer FSR is ploughed year 'round so you'll make it up there no problem. Lots of spurs off that to explore. I had to change my plans for launching my newly built canoe last year 'cause I was stopped by snow. Had to launch in creek & paddle up to my favourite alpine lake. Photo 7 June 2022. Melting faster this year I reckon with this early heat wave.

    Last edited by mike31154; 05-15-2023 at 11:48 AM.

  10. #20
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    Aug 2020
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    Re: Help with getting 1st big game animal

    Quote Originally Posted by caddisguy View Post
    Last couple tid bits I got if I can butt in one more time is that if you have a few pockets in close proximity, poke in and out of them just enough for a good look and listen. If nothing, onto the next and keep cycling. Even if it's the same spot, poking in and out has always turned out better for me than sitting and waiting. I think to an extent bears tolerate in and out despite human scent because you're doing it like they do, in and out for a fill. To an extent, if you're in and out they get comfortable.

    I used to go for sits, hours long and wait, then started to find if I just leave and come back an hour later, bear is feeding. I think often they're close by just waiting their turn. You leave, they come, you come back, surprise!

    Other than that, you probably know already, but figure out the thermals... in general breeze is downhill evening until it starts to get warm in the morning. Obviously there's all sorts of terrain and regular wind, could be doing something different in 50 yards, but just mental note it all on the first day, probably the same deal most days. It's not always a deal breaker though, don't think if the wind is bad game over. One of my best came up from down wind 20 yards or so while smoking a cigarette (me not the bear) ... try your best with the wind but don't write off anything, depends on terrain it could be doing something different in 50 yards, just try to note everything for future perfection in your areas.

    Spot and stalk is another thing. If you have a good proven area and you can see for a few kms and glass, stalk on close enough for your shooting comfort, that works for many. Haven't tried it myself, usually in the thick stuff over here.
    Oh your not butting in at all, i appreciate all the tips/advice that has been posted on this thread.
    I honestly never even thought about grass, I'm always just looking for scat or tracks,so I'll be keeping all this in mind when i head out on Thursday, perhaps take some screenshots as a quick reminder.
    Another area I've been to has some large cutblocks dotted around, so I'll have a poke in there and do some glassing.

    The area with the cutblocks is at a much higher elevation, last year around the same time i encountered a fair bit of snow
    Last edited by Lukebc86; 05-15-2023 at 03:53 PM.

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