Predator calls for Bears? Try it this spring? Let us know?

[emerson]

Spring bear often gives lots of opportunity on easy/small bears to experiment with calling. I try it out and post back. Please post your experience.

[Elkhound]

I have had quite a few bears come in to investigate a fawn bleat.....they dont come a running but sure as hell makes them curious to take a look

[adriaticum]

I have had quite a few bears come in to investigate a fawn bleat.....they dont come a running but sure as hell makes them curious to take a look

I just bought a predator call from a fellow on here and I will definitely try it.

[240gordy]

predator calls work great.. i love using them... Had a awesome experience two years ago.. buddy was whaling on the call and a big boar came crashing and banging down from above us in the thick timber.... scary experience but fricken awesome!!! shot in the chest at 40 yards. very cool adrenaline rush

[rcar]

I have tried several different calls in the spring with no success. I have considered that I am a bit early and the bears are still focusing on grass....or maybe I just suck at calling. I will be giving it a go again this year though.

[Firstblood]

I did quite a bit of calling during last springs season. i had lots of success on bears of all sizes, smaller ones come in hard and fast the bigger ones come in slow. i called in a bunch just blind calling as you would for yotes, but for big bears you have to spot them first for decent chance of getting them to come. and it takes a lot of calling to keep a big bear interested, as in non stop, but i bagged mine at 5 yards last year. makes for quite the experience.

[Derp]

I'll be doing this type of hunting this spring to keep things interesting.

[Fella]

I had a boar who was running away turn tail and come back. Just stood there staring at 30 yards.
My buddy did the same with the bear he shot. Bear was taking off, and he called it back and shot it.

[hare_assassin]

Interesting thread. Any details about the specific calls being used would be very helpful.

[Fella]

I have a flambeau mad jack. It's super loud, and can either be blasted on to sound like a rabbit or a more soft breath makes it sound like a bleat. It's not fancy but it seems to work

[Tenacious Billy]

The Deer Talk "Deer Stopper" seems to really get their attention. I've had bears come in on a string more than once using this call.....

During the rut the boars seem to get really aggressive and I've seen them approach to within a few yards even with a vehicle in the background.

[hare_assassin]

I have a flambeau mad jack. It's super loud, and can either be blasted on to sound like a rabbit or a more soft breath makes it sound like a bleat. It's not fancy but it seems to work


The Deer Talk "Deer Stopper" seems to really get their attention. I've had bears come in on a string more than once using this call.....

During the rut the boars seem to get really aggressive and I've seen them approach to within a few yards even with a vehicle in the background.

Thanks guys. I'll check 'em out.

[steel_ram]

As a last resort we've used a very sad balling cub kind of call. Usually it does nothing for a bear heading in the opposite direction but once in a while it's scary how it will turn a big boar.

[ThinAir]

Ya pred calls can work great. Anything that makes a sound like something is having a really bad day will work:)
It seems a guy will try a few setups and the bears won't care, then you'll try it and have one run in like he's late for dinner!:)

[BigfishCanada]

OK this is dejavu, thought i told this story once before. A few years back I went out early sept. I saw a Blackie 1000 yards off and recently I had practiced my own rabbit distress call in the hopes i could call in some yotes. Anyways, i did a few rabbit distress calls and this black bear at maybe over 1000 yards does a 360 and head down starts running my way.... i was like holly crap its coming up hear. I did not want to shoot a bear that day, and so had no intention of lock and loading. Anyways i watch this bear continue on up the hill circling the long way around rather than through the field, and now im thinking, great this thing is coming right at me, it was like he knew exact spot i was in, now its 300 yards and coming in fast when my brother yells behind you, as i turn there a cinnamon is coming down directly at me and at 10 yards im locked screaming at it to back off which it did one second before me shooting, at this time i cant see the black so i booker upto my quad and just as i give it gas on my quad it barrels through the bush at me and i take off.

True story, rabbit distress, and i wont do that again, ill have a fox pro out in the field so the bears don't think im food. By the way, my brother thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen, but i thought it was brutal and i don't intend to call , unless its a device 100 yards from me

[steel_ram]

Can get pretty tense when your bow hunting no where near your vehicle.

[skuntor]

Haha! Awesome^^
I've heard it's not something you want to do alone. Ask David Carradine. Oh wait that was similar yet very different...

[Krico]

Sometimes bears pay no attention at all, and sometimes they come in on a string.

I am am very careful using predator calls now after almost getting chewed by a grizzly one time. Shot it at under 10 yards coming in fast. Not something I ever want to experience again.

[Fella]

Ya I won't call unless I have someone watching my back. I've read stories of guys down south calling for bear and having a cougar show up behind them. Not something I'm keen on doing by myself.

[HarryToolips]

Man can't wait to try a rabbit in distress call..do it with a couple guys to have a 360 view sounds like a good idea...

[two-feet]

Yup im going to try it this year too. The area I will be hunting holds grizz and wolves as well so will have a friend with a 12ga along for sure. Just wish it would quit snowing...

[Mr. Dean]

The bear I have hung in my living room came over 100 yards to the call of a baby elk distress.
Calls work and I always have it with me when hunting bear.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1010156_edited-3.JPG

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSC_0008_edited-4.JPG

[Billyisgr8]

I wonder if when calling in a bear, does mom usually wait for her cubs to follow, or would they be a long ways off behind her as she is charging in for a meal 50 yards away?

[Mr. Dean]

I wonder if when calling in a bear, does mom usually wait for her cubs to follow, or would they be a long ways off behind her as she is charging in for a meal 50 yards away?

That's why it's a good practice to select males.
And a call works in this regard to keep 'em around to judge what is what.

[adriaticum]

The bear I have hung in my living room came over 100 yards to the call of a baby elk distress.
Calls work and I always have it with me when hunting bear.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1010156_edited-3.JPG

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSC_0008_edited-4.JPG

Very nice bear mr. Dean!

[Mr. Dean]

Very nice bear mr. Dean!

F'er was a Meat Head and missed book by a 1/16th of an inch. : (
Gorgeous coat though. :smile:


http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSC_0006_edited-2a.JPG

[TyTy]

ive used my "deer talk" call, or a blade of grass or flagging ribbon to squel on. takes two hands to do, but it works well. had many bears and even deer charge into it. almost got attacked by a doe, lol.

two things ive noticed with calling.

- i believe some bears (mature) are educated to calls, and wont come in,

- if they dont charge straight in, they will usually circle and come in from down wind.

[russm]

Very nice bear mr. Dean!

Thats the same colour scheme I want for my wall hanger, I like the dark coat/brown snout look, the white in the chest is a bonus, I want one like that or a cinnamon one.

[waserwolf]

Sightly unrelated but......while bow hunting last December had a Cougar come in to my ground stand. I was using Fawn Bleets on my True Talker. Cougar came into 9 yards, didnt even know I was there at first, then looked at me rather confused. I told her to get outta here, she calmy walked away. My father in law is a retired CO and judging by the pics he figured it was a young female. Very exciting!!

[jtred]

I plan on having a couple of calls in my pack, fawn bleat, cow elk, and rabbit in distress. I'll most likely use them when I've already spotted a bear either to bring him in closer or to try and keep him around. I also want to be able to see the effect the call is having so I can experiment a bit, see what works. Not sure if I'll do any cold calling as the areas I hunt have lots of grizzly as well. I'm fairly new to bear hunting as last spring was the first time in almost thirty years I had a bear tag in my pocket. Only made it out a couple of times and didn't see a single bear, lots of sign just no bear. It's funny really when I'm after turkey I see bear, when I'm looking for deer I see bear, same for elk, but actually looking for a bear I see everything except bear. Reading other posts and talking to other hunters I may have handicapped myself as I really only hunt the mornings ever. I don't like the idea of possibly having to leave an animal overnight so usually I'm done hunting by 1-2pm unless I'm camped somewhere near. I like having lots of time to find, dress, and retrieve my game in the daylight.

[hunter fisher]

used a cow elk call a couple years ago while hunting elk (duh) and watched a sow and her cubs stroll right in. they f'ed off pretty fast when they saw me though!

[Mr. Dean]

Thats the same colour scheme I want for my wall hanger, I like the dark coat/brown snout look, the white in the chest is a bonus, I want one like that or a cinnamon one.

I visited that bear twice, before shooting him on my 3rd visit.

- The 1st day I spotted it walking a logging spur and viewed for an hour, judging it through my spotting scope.
- The second day I wanted a closer look, so I waited from my vantage point (2k away) and when I found him, I put a stalk on.

That was the day when I used my distress call.

I stalked to within 12 feet of him not fully realising that I was gonna step on him as I poked over a berm; he bolted for the jungle. By the time I got my call out he covered a lot of ground and was going, going, going,,,,, all but gone! I squealed on it (call) long and hard and to my surprise, the ******* froze in his tracks right at the timbers edge, well over 100 yards away.

In the bears plain view, I called to my wife to join me and was able to *squeak* him in to 35 yards were he got all pissy, ripping and tossing vegetation, snapping his yap, hair standing straight up and just looking 'tough'. If the weather wasn't so shitty (Read; COLD AND POURING OUT) and nearing last light, he woulda been dead, right then and right there. Once he relaxed a bit, we headed back to camp.

The day after was MUCH more nicer out. I found the bear like I did the day before and put a stalk on.
I shot him from 65 yards without him knowing that I was even there while he fed on a clover patch. (Clover is bear magnet material IMO.)

The day was just starting to cool off from a nice warm, sunny spring day... I think it was around 2 PM and this WAS my 1st bear hunt. :wink:

[jtred]

And just to add I am really looking forward to my first stalk on a bear where I am actually hunting him with a rifle and not just a camera. Good luck to all the spring bear hunters out there. Got my license and tag along with my LEH cards on Saturday and will probably go out for an early spring hunt in the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area next weekend. I realize it's probably too early but that area is well known for early bears.

[Fred1]

Yup...distressed rabbit call drives the blackies nuts! Squeal the chit out of that thing and it stops them on the spot and keeps them interested, brings them right in too. Got a lot of calling and practice in last fall. Im sold on it! Going to try it with the Grizz this year.

[boxhitch]

Mr. Dean , that sounds like a great time and for your first !
I've stopped a BBear with a squeal on a grass blade between the thumbs , and a GBear with a long squeal on a cow elk call . They didn't come any closer though , might have if we gave them time , but they died too soon.

[Mr. Dean]

Mr. Dean , that sounds like a great time and for your first !
I've stopped a BBear with a squeal on a grass blade between the thumbs , and a GBear with a long squeal on a cow elk call . They didn't come any closer though , might have if we gave them time , but they died too soon.

That hunt hooked me.
We spent 10 days in unfamiliar territory and physically seen 54 bears.

Played the call on several of those and all except for one, stopped dead.

[Mr. Dean]

Another one that worked w/ a call, the following year/spring.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/1024_1_Mr_Dean_web.jpg


Didn't kill him, let it walk...
I took this at about 30 yards away and got pretty much the same reactions as to the bear I talked about earlier.

Except this one actually did do a bit of a bluff charge.

[Riverbc]

Has anyone been successful with pred calls for bears on the Island?

[Fella]

Mr. Dean that bear looks like a hog! I would have had a hard time letting that one go.

[ratherbefishin]

I might have this wrong-but it raises an interesting question on legalities of using an automatic caller-perfectly legal for coyotes and wolves-but NOT for game animals.SO-if you are in the field-using an automatic caller,and a bear comes in-can you LEGALLY shoot it?

[Mr. Dean]

Has anyone been successful with pred calls for bears on the Island?

The bears that I'm talking about in this thread are north island critters.

[Fella]

The regs forbid e callers for bears. You can only use them for dogs, cats and some bird species.

[Mr. Dean]

Mr. Dean that bear looks like a hog! I would have had a hard time letting that one go.

It was a hard decision.
But there was another one that I was hunting and thought it to be, *better*.

Came home empty handed; the other bear beat me.
Had my chance on the last day of the hunt but I woulda needed a helicopter to get it out.


But he also locked up when I blasted on my call.
He'd take a step, I'd squeak one out.... and he'd literally freeze with whatever feet were in mid air - Like a statue.

step/squeak - FREEZE.
step/squeak - FREEZE.
step/squeak - FREEZE.
But I couldn't convince him to climb up and outta the shithole he was in.

Went back the following year in hopes of finding him a gain but nadda.

[ratherbefishin]

''you can only use e-callers for dogs''-precisely-so my question is-if you were using an e-caller for LEGAL calling -and a bear came in-can you be charged?who makes the ''call''?

[Fella]

Personally I'd say let it walk. Would you shoot if he was eating the bait pile you left for deer? Seems like a recipe for a fine from a CO if you did shoot.

[Billyisgr8]

So if you came upon an animal carcass that obviously had been eaten by bears, bear sign all around, are you commiting an offence for knowing that there was a carcass in a location and using that scent downwind to your advantage?

[Ambush]

So if you came upon an animal carcass that obviously had been eaten by bears, bear sign all around, are you commiting an offence for knowing that there was a carcass in a location and using that scent downwind to your advantage?

Oh BOY, here we go now!

[leadpillproductions]

I walked into my deer bait a few years back , and there was a pig of a bear on it but as I understand that's a no go so didn't shoot it . Wished I could have killed he was hard on deer bait and was a real wall hanger.

[ratherbefishin]

when it comes to shooting a bear on a carcass,it comes down to whether you knew it was there or not,if you did,then its baiting,if you didn't,its not.But who makes the call?same goes for calling with an E-CALLER -who decides whether or not the bear came in to the call?

[boxhitch]

You and your conscious for the most part. Then what is witnessed by others plays in . And then if some authority gets involved he/she makes a best judgement on what they find and what is said.
You make a decision and live with the consequences , good or bad

[ratherbefishin]

since I do not own or use an E-Caller,its a pretty accademic subject for me,but I do have a preditor call and I do hunt spring bears,so it would be interesting to see if a bear or cat came in.But it does raise an interesting legal point because e-callers are perfectly legal ,just not for bears,which could conceivably come in,but then again its not conclusive ,because as was stated, bears do not neccesarily come to a call,manual or e -caller.

Therefore it becomes a question of whether its legal to take a bear if you had an E-CALLER in your possession when you shot the bear-I'm not venturing an opinion either way ,I don't know the answer.

[hare_assassin]

Well, my daughter gave me a Primos "Raspy Coaxer" for my birthday. Next step is to convince my best hunting buddy to join me in search of a black bear.

Really eager, but adequately cautious due to reading this thread! Thanks to all.

[swampthing]

I have had success using a call. A good use for this is while road hunting. If you jump and spook a bear that runs off, you drive away whatever direction gives you the wind advantage, walk back in and call to bring the bear back out. I once called a grizz in from close to a km away. He even swam a river to come in.

[Wackman]

Well, my daughter gave me a Primos "Raspy Coaxer" for my birthday. Next step is to convince my best hunting buddy to join me in search of a black bear.

Really eager, but adequately cautious due to reading this thread! Thanks to all.
Let me know if you need company, going for spring blacks in the next couple weeks :-)

[Huevos]

I called in a few bears last year, just fooling around with bears that we're sows, or small boars. I could get the sows to run to the call, but never had a single boar come in close. Some sows would push the cubs up a tree before coming, others would bring them with them. It seemed dependant on age of the cubs. I called one sow out of the truck window. She bluff charged to 10 feet.... Made me scramble for the keys! One of my buddies asked me what I would do if one of the sows never stopped. I told him that I had a gun.... I would shoot him in the leg and run!

[hare_assassin]

Let me know if you need company, going for spring blacks in the next couple weeks :-)

Thanks for the offer. I've got 3 more weekends of hare hunting and then switching to blacks.

[Fella]

So, anyone use one with success this spring? Any observations?

Last weekend we used the call on 6 different bears. One of them stopped running and turned around for a minute, 4 of them didn't seem to like it much, and the one I shot seemed to be interested, though he didn't actually come to it, just kept turning around and listening. It gave me enough time to close to within 100 yards and shoot him.

[hare_assassin]

I still haven't been out yet.

Congrats on the bear!

[Robinhood]

I shot a bear a few weeks ago that came in quickly to the predator call. I sat down for 5 min and blew on the call maybe 5 times in 5 minutes when the bruin came out of a creek bottom right in front of me to investigate. It was pretty cool to see. I've called in the past but never had it pay off so quickly before.

[caddisguy]

I shot a bear a few weeks ago that came in quickly to the predator call. I sat down for 5 min and blew on the call maybe 5 times in 5 minutes when the bruin came out of a creek bottom right in front of me to investigate. It was pretty cool to see. I've called in the past but never had it pay off so quickly before.

I had one in a creek come a little closer after an ester-doe can call that I tried out of desperation, but it wouldn't come all the way out of the thick stuff and strike a pose for me. I had been fully busted after losing wind advantage.