Spot and stalk spring black bear

[RiverOtter]

While hiking can be productive for bears, you want to hike the best areas. When hitting a new area, use the heat of day to drive grassy roads looking for concentrations of poo piles and lush grass/clover. Once a good area is found, wait till late afternoon, get the wind in your face and slink in. The wind nearly always switches direction in the evening, so keep that in mind and hunt accordingly.

[Wild one]

You can find good black bear numbers most places in the spring. That said if you target the areas with less pressure the bears are less spooky and higher odds of a bigger bear. Personally I would drive right past Boston bar because that is the spot most hunters from region2 go yes there is bears but the hunting is not that great. I have hunted spring bear in all the common recommended locations and out side of Van island most I would not hunt again. I can tell you this the farther away you get from higher populations of people the better the bear hunting and the dumber the bears. Northern region 3 North is good

If I had to choose anytime in the spring it would be mid to late May. Timing combined with hunting the correct elevation for fresh new growth is the key. Target areas near water and places with green feed but grass only 4-8 inch tall is best. Find the poop and you find the bears they are habitual and return to same areas to feed. Deactivated/Washed out roads with grassy landings are great. If you you must walk in better.Yes evening is best but in good areas you can hunt all day. Both bears I helped with last spring were mid day.

what is your goal big, colour phase, or just meat?

[Wild one]

How many days are you going for?

[scotty30-06]

All good points....no bears in Chilliwack or Harrison...dont waste time...yup stay right out of chilliwack or Harrison if you want bear;p

[Wild one]

All good points....no bears in Chilliwack or Harrison...dont waste time...yup stay right out of chilliwack or Harrison if you want bear;p

There are Bears in those areas but lots of places that are 100% better. Used to hunt both areas killed Bears in both as well

all the trash dumped in chilliwack these days I would rather not eat those Bears anyway lol

[Bonz]

lol, i was told that to last spring from my group..i go out first day..5 bear

[Wild one]

lol, i was told that to last spring from my group..i go out first day..5 bear

5 Bears is a slow day

[Grasp]

Thanks for all the feedback Wild One. I was thinking of 1-2 single day scouting trips and then maybe a three day hunting trip and I could do my travel on either end to get three full hunign days. I have a one year old at home so my wife supports me getting out but I get to have more trips per year if I keep them a little shorter. My primary goal is just a successful hunt with good meat, hence why i am trying to stick to the alpine. Trying to stay away from the fishy bear. That being said I would LOVE to make a nice rug so a big or colour phase bear would be phenomenal as well. I love a good drive so region 3 north sounds doable.

[Bonz]

5 Bears is a slow day

is it for 3 hours of a trip? oh. lol

[Wild one]

Alpine is too high for a spring hunt but fall is a good option. Easy to avoid fishy bear in the spring just stay off the ocean. In the spring they focuse mostly on veg.

Spring melt will play a big roll on how good the hunting is. Early springs are the worst in my opinion. My findings are some bear's wake up early but for the most part most still wake up around the same time every year. If it greens up early I find the bear's are spread out do to the amount of food avialible. Late melt the food is limited and they have less options. Makes it easier to target them since the bear's will consintrate on the limited feed.

Newer growth provides the best quality food. For this reason I focuse on the elevation where the leaves on the trees are still buds or just opened combined with new grass. Combined this with locations near water(creek, river, swamp, lake don't matter) and good cover and odds are you will find bear's. In dry areas a creek drainage can make a huge difference.

Don't get caught up on clear cuts but don't ignore them. Sometimes a grassy stretch of road will hold more bear's than all the clear cuts in the area. Small feeding areas where bear's can quickly reach cover can be really good.

Late May into June is the rut and just like other animals this gets the males covering ground.

Road hunt for a day or 2 to figure out where they are. If you spook a bear on feed really high odds it will be back. Maybe be it only 10 min but most likely the next day at the worst. If it was me I would combined my scouting and hunting days into 1 trip. Things change week to week with spring bear

Watch for grizz and be 100% it's a black seen grizz in strange places

Will PM you a few recommend MU's and an idea on what you can expect for quality and odds of a colour phase