Question about spring black bear season

[cgizen]

My first winter deer season consisted of both successes and failures. I was successful in that I had great experiences with my family as we are taking up hunting as a family. I feel I was successful in refining my tracking abilities and I'm getting a hang of what I am doing out there. The time spent in the woods was so great it all trumps the failures. The failure was that I was not able to harvest anything for the freezer.

Now for the question I had, since I have not yet had a successful hunt, I was wondering if anyone feels that predator hunting for me might be a little early? Any tips or suggestions or criticism is appreciated.

[coach]

Not sure what your question is? Are you talking spring bear or more typical predator hunting such as coyotes?

[cgizen]

Sorry coach, ya spring bear

[coach]

You definitely should make an effort at a spring bear. There's tons in our area and you'll learn a ton about prospective deer areas while you hunt them. The learning curve on bears is steep - particularly when it comes to field judging them. There are several good threads here that will get you started. Bear hunting also differs from deer hunting in that you need to really take your time to make sure there are no cubs around. You will have lots of chances while you are out there. Don't pull the trigger before you've completely assessed the situation.

[cgizen]

Thanks for the insight Coach. I am shooting 270 right now, I am looking at another purchase soon, thinking 410 for grouse next winter. Is a 270 adequate for black bear or should I hold off on the 410 and pick up another rifle in a larger caliber for spring. Thanks for the help.

[coach]

A .270 is more than adequate. It's a great caliber! Unless you are hunting grizzly or bison you don't need anything more.

[monasheemountainman]

270 will be just fine! Coach is bang on, take your time before shooting the first bear you see..spring bear hunting is very fun! You see so many animals coming out of the winter doldrums enjoy your time out there and make sure there's no fuzzy little followers before you shoot!

[Mulehahn]

A .270 is more than enough for black bear (in fact, a .270 is an excellent caliber for most animals in BC). However, I would recommend a premium bullet. This has nothing to do with the capabilities of the .270, however, as it would be your first big game animal excitement and nerves come into play and it is a little more insurance should you hit bone or the animal moves unexpectedly. Please don't take this is a slight. I have seen seasoned hunters some down with "buck fever," and people right out of their CORE as calm as a monk. But it is good to have insurance.

[coach]

Good point, Mulehahn. TSX, TTSX, accubond are pretty good choices..

[ru rancher]

my first big game animal was a bear they are a very enjoyable hunt and i would highly recomend it but deffinatly take the time and read up on judging bears because it can be hard. 270 will be plenty iv saw a bear drop from a 243 with a shot behind the shoulder.... dont ask me how but its the truth. the bear was lieing down and we figured it was a miss! lol

[cgizen]

Thanks a lot for the tips. I am definitely going to do my research on bears before I head out. Mulehahn's suggestion about premium ammo is a good point for sure, I will be sure to pick up some good stuff for the hunt. Talking about getting the "fever", when I was out deer hunting I think I unfortunately saw what I think may of been the signs of someone falling victim to buck fever. I was up a fsr quite a ways, had stopped along the road with a cut block on on side and dense brush on the other side. We had stopped for lunch there at the truck, the whole time only saw one other truck drive by. We finished lunch and went for a walk up the cut block, could tell it would be a good area to glass from down into the brush on the other side that had a bunch of small clearings. On the way up the block we came across a set of tracks that seemed very fresh so we decided to follow them for a bit. They led back down to the road which I had parked on but about 300 yards down from where I parked. Right along the road side we saw a pretty decent amount of blood with the tracks. At this point we still have not seen or heard anyone else in the area other than the one truck that was leaving when we came in. I had a weird feeling about it, especially being right on the road side like that. My son and I decided to slowly follow the blood for a little bit and see if we came across the animal or at least signs of the person that took it. We never came across the animal or a single human track. I am new to this but what I am thinking is someone saw a muley buck on the side of the road got buck fever and didn't count the points right, shot, then realized they screwed up. What would you guys of done in that situation? Was I right in trying to see where the animal went or should I of just ignored it. My instinct was to follow very slowly and see, since I had been in the area for a good hour or so already at this point and there was no gun shots heard or people seen.

[coach]

You did the right thing. You could have found a dead deer that didn't meet the season's antler point restrictions or a legal animal that a hunter failed to recover or a predator kill. You might have even tracked down a wounded, but still alive, buck. Hard to speculate without more details. If you find something that indicates illegal activity went on you should call RAPP. A friend of mine helped the local CO track down a hunter that shot and left a 3 point MD during 4 point season. It started with the discovery of the dead buck with a bullet hole in it.

[r106]

My first big game animal taken was a black bear. I highly suggest going for it.

[avadad]

Spring bear hunting is great! .270 a great caliber. You might want to find an other hunter in your area that you can hunt with to assist you once you get an animal on the ground. Good luck. I'll say this, the last bear I ate was really tasty. Much like beef in my opinion. One other thing about bears…avoid "dump/garbage" bears and bears that have been eating salmon.

[boxhitch]

My first winter deer season consisted of both successes and failures. I was successful in that I had great experiences with my family as we are taking up hunting as a family. I feel I was successful in refining my tracking abilities and I'm getting a hang of what I am doing out there. The time spent in the woods was so great it all trumps the failures. The failure was that I was not able to harvest anything for the freezer. .Don't put too much weight on the down side , it sounds like you had a good start and the family too. Taking home the meat is only a small part of hunting. Some guys get stressed about having to kill something , imo that leads to poor choices .
Good on you for the tracking and taking up the blood trail. Another good exercise, and an important skill. Better to think the scenario was totally legit than anything underhanded.

Spring bear is another good opportunity to get outdoors . Not sure of the age of your family but it is a great time to watch things come alive after winter. Lots of visibility before trees and plants leaf out so makes for some good chances to observe critters .
Then there is the bear too . Great for honing skills , down to cleaning and carving if you want. What happens with the end result is up to you , just comply with the regulations , it doesn't have to be consumed , using as lesson material is not wasting imo. Besides , again imo , thats why there are two tags available , double the practice. :)

Re the guns , the .270 is just fine for what you need. Premium bullets can be expensive to practice shooting with , so shooting a heavy-for-caliber cheap bullet is a very common practice. Far more hunters use these than premium bullets.
On the shotgun , a 410 has its limits , maybe consider a versatile 20 gauge if a 12 is too large.

[bc_buckshot]

If your asking if its too early for you right now i would say ya your a little early until april 1st. But besides that sounds like you have the fire power for bears. A little tip and dont tell people okay. I was told by one bear i saw 2 weeks ago that its gonna be early for them this year. That they are too warm to sleep so keep that in mind. Find a place that has water and plenty of open slashes or clear cuts with grass or buttercups and you should be fine

[Blainer]

And make sure you get that LEH doe draw in.
You should have no issue finding a doe and filling the freezer.

[coach]

A little tip and don't tell people.. I was told by one bear i saw 2 weeks ago that its gonna be early for them this year. That they are too warm to sleep so keep that in mind.

You spoke with a talking bear? Cool.. Any pics or video? :-D

[bc_buckshot]

You spoke with a talking bear? Cool.. Any pics or video? :-D

Sorry coach, i was asked by the bear to keep it on the "DL"......

[rides bike to work]

Bear showed on my trail cam last week on video mode said the same thing to warm to sleep

[TheProvider]

Bears are great. Yes field judging them can be hard but bears are plentiful and you'll get lots of practise. Great way to practise your stalking skills specially keeping down wind. If a bear see's you and spooks, normally they wont go to far. But a bears sense of smell is 7x that of a blood hound. Game over if it smells you.

Spring bears will be feeding heavily. More often than not they are not in a hurry as they are filling their bellies. Buck fever will happen. Take your time and enjoy the moment and calm down. No need to shoot the bear as soon as you see it with your heart pumping. Normally you will calm down within a couple minutes of getting into s good shooting position.

Bears are mighty tasty as well

[cgizen]

If your asking if its too early for you right now i would say ya your a little early until april 1st.

Lol, I guess I wasn't very clear with the way I wrote my post. I was referring to being to early in the terms of lack of experience actually harvesting an animal. I have put a fair amount of time in out in the bush, just have not yet harvested anything.

[cgizen]

And make sure you get that LEH doe draw in.
You should have no issue finding a doe and filling the freezer.

Thanks for that tip, when do they start the new year leh draws. I think I read its sometime in February but not to sure.

[cgizen]

Thanks for all the advice from everyone, its very helpful. :-D

[coach]

Sorry coach, i was asked by the bear to keep it on the "DL"......

LMAO! Probably best not to tell too many people about talking bears anyway. The antis are already too busy convincing people that animals have human traits..:-D


Thanks for all the advice from everyone, its very helpful. :-D

If you need help closer to the season, send me a pm. I'll give you a few spots to check out. There's usually an extra seat in my truck for a new guy looking to get started..

[bc_buckshot]

Lol, I guess I wasn't very clear with the way I wrote my post. I was referring to being to early in the terms of lack of experience actually harvesting an animal. I have put a fair amount of time in out in the bush, just have not yet harvested anything.

i know what you were saying... No such thing as lack of experiance when you havent harvest anything. More so " lack of luck" and time. Soon or later when you least expect it you will bag something. And its a true fact. In the mean time get out and just enjoy whenever you can. Biggest problem is what pose you wanna do when you bring it to the taxidermy

[cgizen]

If you need help closer to the season, send me a pm. I'll give you a few spots to check out. There's usually an extra seat in my truck for a new guy looking to get started..

The tips on spots to check out would be great!! I appreciate the offer to tag along as well, I may take you up on that as long as your sure I wouldn't be imposing.

[cgizen]

Biggest problem is what pose you wanna do when you bring it to the taxidermy

Lol, ya I could imagine. If I get a bear the wife has already said she wants a rug mount so that would be the first mount for bear. :-D

[Blainer]

Thanks for that tip, when do they start the new year leh draws. I think I read its sometime in February but not to sure.Plenty of time
Then generally have to be submitted by mid June.
They will come on-line first in Spring

[Pioneerman]

Should be a decent spring for bears, not as tough of a winter in most places, especially on the island. Bears didn't get much down time and lots of areas for them to feed steady , so they might have even better hides from not being rubbed as much in their winter sleep and also lot more time to keep eating and fattening up. I am getting excited already !! :-D

[Rhyno]

As other have said spring bear is the perfect first animal! My wife's first big game was a black bear a few years ago. Lots of opportunities, plenty of time to confirm no cubs are around and no need to rush the shot. I think we watched her bear for 1/2 an hour before she felt comfortable enough to pull the trigger!

Look for to reading your success story in a few months.

[HarryToolips]

My first winter deer season consisted of both successes and failures. I was successful in that I had great experiences with my family as we are taking up hunting as a family. I feel I was successful in refining my tracking abilities and I'm getting a hang of what I am doing out there. The time spent in the woods was so great it all trumps the failures. The failure was that I was not able to harvest anything for the freezer.

Now for the question I had, since I have not yet had a successful hunt, I was wondering if anyone feels that predator hunting for me might be a little early? Any tips or suggestions or criticism is appreciated.
LOL anytime you get to get out in the bush, especially hunting, is a success.. I find spring bears are really docile in the spring, you shouldn't have a prob if ya follow the tips previously mentioned.. alot of old stumps look like bears so keep a keen eye out..

[Foxton Gundogs]

my first big game animal was a bear they are a very enjoyable hunt and i would highly recomend it but deffinatly take the time and read up on judging bears because it can be hard. 270 will be plenty iv saw a bear drop from a 243 with a shot behind the shoulder.... dont ask me how but its the truth. the bear was lieing down and we figured it was a miss! lol

I've seen a number of bears taken with 243s and 6mms, would it be my choice of a bear gun NO, would I take a bear with 243 if the right one offered it's self up IN A MINUTE. A 270 is more than "good enuff" :-D

[REMINGTON JIM]

I've seen a number of bears taken with 243s and 6mms, would it be my choice of a bear gun NO, would I take a bear with 243 if the right one offered it's self up IN A MINUTE. A 270 is more than "good enuff" :-D


X2 Bigger is always better if you can shoot it GOOD ! :-D JMO RJ