Bear hunt Region 2 & 3

[Jass]

First time bear hunter, want to contribute for predator control, I have been out to Boston bar 3 times so far, haven't seen a bear yet, Can someone point me out in the right direction some good areas to check out for bears.
Thank you.

[ElectricDyck]

There out there now, gotta explore, find the poop, hunt the green, wet areas with green even better, put in time, be concious of wind when you walk, its a long day, last few hours is usually best but not always, they re out all day. Find the fresh poop and theres a bear nearby. Find an area that isnt travelled, find an undisturbed bear with his head down feeding.

[HarryToolips]

There out there now, gotta explore, find the poop, hunt the green, wet areas with green even better, put in time, be concious of wind when you walk, its a long day, last few hours is usually best but not always, they re out all day. Find the fresh poop and theres a bear nearby. Find an area that isnt travelled, find an undisturbed bear with his head down feeding.

What he said...to elaborate further, they will follow the green up that continues up in elevation...they really love dandelions and clover in the green...

[Bubbacanuck]

If there are driveable roads, bears will be pressured and much harder to find.

Get away from the roads and your odds of success will increase dramatically.

[andrew5]

i've cut both tags already this year, and feel like this is the year if really figured it out and put it all together. here are some of my thoughts, coming from someone that's been obsessed with Spring bear and just now feeling like i have it dialed in:

don't drive around in your truck all day hoping to bump one. yes it works, but you will 100% be bumping animals and not even know it. Personal example: I was driving in to a road that I wanted to walk. I was getting close to the area that I wanted to park and start walking. I park off the side of the FSR and get out to stretch my legs. before i can even grab my gear, i hear a huffing noise and look to see a bear running up the embankment. I had no idea he was there, and wouldn't have known if i kept driving. the next week, I park way back of my target area and end up cutting a tag on my biggest bear ever, simply by walking in, instead of driving.

hunt for sign, don't look for bears. find the poop first. if it's black and shiny / moist, the bear is there. if it looks like big scat, back out and wait for the last two hours. your best luck will come in the last four hours, and the odds of seeing a bear only go up as you approach last light.

don't forget to look for munched on grass, especially early in the season. I cut my first tag April 14th this year. that's really early. I find that bears aren't really pooping too much early on, as their system gets going. they're also not on the move too much yet. you will notice munched on grass though. if the tips have 3+mm of brown on them, that means the bear ate if a few days ago. if it's green right to the end, that means fresher sign.

if you see one pile of scat on a road with nothing else, that's good but likely from a bear on the move. if you see scat every 25 - 100 M with varying signs of freshness, that means the bear is coming back to that stretch of road. if you're hunting for a few days in that area, you can flatten out the existing scat, so you will be able to see if any new scat appears, and where. if you walk into a meadow / clearing, you are hoping to see poop everywhere. that means he's hitting that feeding area repeatedly. back out and wait for the evening to sit. sit as far back as you can observe the feeding area, making sure to check your wind. the bear will likely enter downwind. you want to be back of where he will come in.

deactivated roads are way better than active ones. look for little spurs off the FSR's and walk them.

after missing opportunities on several animals (bear and deer), I got a shooting stick (bipod). I love it and have made perfect shots on several animals now. they double as a walking stick when you are going across creeks or up and down steep hills. you have a perfect rest everywhere you go. I feel that it allows you to make higher percentage shots way faster. no more looking around for rests. no need to take a knee or shoot prone. increaed odds if you only have a few seconds to make a good shot, and don't want to risk shooting off hand.

the warmer it gets, the more they are going to want to stick to water. walking alongside creeks with good feed paid off for me twice this year, and I saw seven bears in total doing this. I was spending a lot of time glassing open hillsides last year, but the spring was really hot. lesson learned. think like a bear. if its scorching out, you probably wouldn't want to be climing up a steep cut block in 30 degrees with a black fur coat on, when you could stay in the shade with food, cover and water readily available.

e scout. its such a valuable tool. pick an area you want to go, then identify 5-7 spots to check out. you'll likely find that 2-4 of them pan out and the others are no good or no accessible, but this is how you build up areas.

once you find good spots, focus on those first, while having backup areas to check out as well. don't leave fish to find fish.

like it was said above, focus on food density, as well as early growth. there is more energy packed in the new, fresh growth versus the two foot tall mature grass. the bears would prefer the nutritional density of the new growth.

make sure the bear is in a recoverable area before you shoot. bears don't really leave the best blood trails, and can go a long ways with marginal shots.

That's all for now. hope this helps.

[Jass]

Thank you for such detailed information, I appreciate that you guys took time to answer, I will head out this weekend again and be more on foot, It will be overcast does that affect bear movement and what elevation to target in spring lower elevations since more grass grows there first?

[andrew5]

i think you would be good anywhere up to 1,000M elevation now out in the open. in the shade, lower down as less sunlight gets in. shady days are fine. it might make them more active mid day, as it won't be piping hot. that's also good if / when you get one down, as it won't be as hot for the meat, and all the hard work processing.

[boilerroom]

i've cut both tags already this year, and feel like this is the year if really figured it out and put it all together. here are some of my thoughts, coming from someone that's been obsessed with Spring bear and just now feeling like i have it dialed in:

don't drive around in your truck all day hoping to bump one. yes it works, but you will 100% be bumping animals and not even know it. Personal example: I was driving in to a road that I wanted to walk. I was getting close to the area that I wanted to park and start walking. I park off the side of the FSR and get out to stretch my legs. before i can even grab my gear, i hear a huffing noise and look to see a bear running up the embankment. I had no idea he was there, and wouldn't have known if i kept driving. the next week, I park way back of my target area and end up cutting a tag on my biggest bear ever, simply by walking in, instead of driving.

hunt for sign, don't look for bears. find the poop first. if it's black and shiny / moist, the bear is there. if it looks like big scat, back out and wait for the last two hours. your best luck will come in the last four hours, and the odds of seeing a bear only go up as you approach last light.

don't forget to look for munched on grass, especially early in the season. I cut my first tag April 14th this year. that's really early. I find that bears aren't really pooping too much early on, as their system gets going. they're also not on the move too much yet. you will notice munched on grass though. if the tips have 3+mm of brown on them, that means the bear ate if a few days ago. if it's green right to the end, that means fresher sign.

if you see one pile of scat on a road with nothing else, that's good but likely from a bear on the move. if you see scat every 25 - 100 M with varying signs of freshness, that means the bear is coming back to that stretch of road. if you're hunting for a few days in that area, you can flatten out the existing scat, so you will be able to see if any new scat appears, and where. if you walk into a meadow / clearing, you are hoping to see poop everywhere. that means he's hitting that feeding area repeatedly. back out and wait for the evening to sit. sit as far back as you can observe the feeding area, making sure to check your wind. the bear will likely enter downwind. you want to be back of where he will come in.

deactivated roads are way better than active ones. look for little spurs off the FSR's and walk them.

after missing opportunities on several animals (bear and deer), I got a shooting stick (bipod). I love it and have made perfect shots on several animals now. they double as a walking stick when you are going across creeks or up and down steep hills. you have a perfect rest everywhere you go. I feel that it allows you to make higher percentage shots way faster. no more looking around for rests. no need to take a knee or shoot prone. increaed odds if you only have a few seconds to make a good shot, and don't want to risk shooting off hand.

the warmer it gets, the more they are going to want to stick to water. walking alongside creeks with good feed paid off for me twice this year, and I saw seven bears in total doing this. I was spending a lot of time glassing open hillsides last year, but the spring was really hot. lesson learned. think like a bear. if its scorching out, you probably wouldn't want to be climing up a steep cut block in 30 degrees with a black fur coat on, when you could stay in the shade with food, cover and water readily available.

e scout. its such a valuable tool. pick an area you want to go, then identify 5-7 spots to check out. you'll likely find that 2-4 of them pan out and the others are no good or no accessible, but this is how you build up areas.

once you find good spots, focus on those first, while having backup areas to check out as well. don't leave fish to find fish.

like it was said above, focus on food density, as well as early growth. there is more energy packed in the new, fresh growth versus the two foot tall mature grass. the bears would prefer the nutritional density of the new growth.

make sure the bear is in a recoverable area before you shoot. bears don't really leave the best blood trails, and can go a long ways with marginal shots.

That's all for now. hope this helps.

This is great info! thanks very much for taking the time to help out.