basics on bears

[chrismcd]

I've been out and about now for 4 long days in the last couple weeks with out any sight of a bear. I've seen a couple piles of crap on the road and on a deactivated road
So my questions arehow long should I spend glassing an area before moving on. Do I have better chances walking logging/deactivated roads or should I drive too cut the travel time between spots. Should I spend time watching valley bottoms right now or will the be on the higher cut blocks as well( one's with some green of course).

Any other tips you got as well would be awesome. Thanks.

[monasheemountainman]

I like getting up high and glassing long distances. north facing slopes and roads with lots of growth on the sides are great. if you see a lot of poop then you know its a good spot

[rides bike to work]

I just learned a few interesting things from average hunter I put them to test and all where true.

early may the boars are down by water creeks rivers where the first green grass is.They don't move far in a day if there's poop there's probably a bear in the area and he won't move off far.
the sows with cubs are up higher avoiding the boars because the boars will kill the cubs to put the sow back into heat.
late may early June the boars are cruising the higher roads looking for a sow to mate.

I just spent two days and saw ten bears all of them on roads that parallel creeks rivers. We only saw one sow with cub in the higher elevation.

[303savage]

Some times I think bears can read your mind. If I'm just out getting firewood or looking for a new place to fish or just out looking around,I see a few.
If I go out with a gun I don' see any. :-)

[caddisguy]

I'm still pretty new to hunting and I've tried a lot of different methods persuing bears. As it turns out the same method has worked two years in a row. Where I hunt is pretty thick, so places you can glass 100-200M are few and far between.

I look for an area--usually a small clearing with some grass--with at least a few fresh piles fairly close to each other. I find that I can make my rounds between these areas all day and see nothing, but if I sit down for an hour or two, the bear will show up. My theory is that the bear has busted me by scent and sound and lays low in the thick stuff. The reality is that though my scent is in his house, he doesn't know I'm still there sitting by his refridgerator... so to him, maybe I'm there... maybe I'm not, but the fact I haven't made a noise in an hour or two makes him think it's probably safe to come out for a snack.

That said, when I have bears come out this way, it's usually after I've been working the area--back and forth between feeding spots--on foot for a day or two. By sitting still for an extended time, I'm often breaking my own pattern which these bears might have been relying on. Many blackbears are fairly easy to hunt, but most aren't stupid. They do try to avoid humans for the most part and their sense of smell and hearing are very effective tools.

[caddisguy]

^^^ that said, if I hunted more open areas I would probably be hiking into the wind glassing all day and then doing a stalk. Sitting in a small clearing can be a little boring but hearing something in the brush and having a bear come out 15-20 yards away is exciting... things happen pretty fast!!

[blackwater moose]

if you see fresh bear scat, you know that they are around. have patience, there is set time on how long it take to take down an animal. glass, walk and have patience.

[elch jager]

Perhaps try having the bears come to you. An effective technique is to smear bacon grease in your hair and all over your face. You can then take a stroll through a likely area with sign as described above... After an hour, if you don't have 3 or 4 followers to chose from, lie down for a nice nap and try again in a couple more hours. You can also try this from a tree stand and have your wife/child/partner do the leg work if you aren't up to the exciting part.

[duckhunter1488]

:lol:
Be patient, scope out steep south facing slopes, and glass glass glass....and when you start gettin burnt out for the day in the early evening and youre just about to head home, stay an hour extra and the bears start to come out for the evening.