Best Time of Day for Spring Bear?

[DarekG]

I've never really set out on a day-trip Spring bear hunt, and was wondering what the best time of day is for Black Bear activity?

From what I understand they're waking up and they're hungry. They're heading below the snowline into warmer altitudes for now seeking out food, does this make them fairly active throughout the day or do they tend to stick to morning/evening activity like other wildlife?

[mcmullmar]

I have herd that in the spring, the best time to see them is in the afternoon on a sunny slop. However, the 2 bear I have harvested over the last several years, have both been in the morning. I think if you find fresh scat, just hunt the area and you will find them.

[Pemby_mess]

Yeah the afternoon seems to be when they're most actively feeding in my experience, but seem quite generally diurnal in the spring.

[Steeleco]

They're hungry, if there's food and you find scat, find a good spot to sit and keep looking. For me time of day mean less with bear than other game. You may even try a rabbit call. My spring bear 2 years back came 400+ yards for bunny, he was sick of grass. Thankfully he did all the uphill work. 50 yards from the road make my bit easy.

[ratherbefishin]

Anytime ,but late afternoon seems best,but only look uphill....you don't even look downhill ....( you make that mistake just once)

[Fella]

Depends on how hot but if it’s not blazing hot then pretty much anytime afternoon-dark

[JIL_24/7]

I have watched more bears than I have shot. I have been spring bear hunting for the last four years, but I have only shot one bear because up until last year I wasn't sure if we would eat the meat so I passed on a number of them and instead spent many days observing and finding them. I'm with Fella. If it gets too hot they bed down. They don't seem to rise super early, but I have seen a ton of bears around 10:30-11:00. The nice cinnamon I shot last year was at 11:15 in mid June and it was mowing the grass like a lawn mower. Find scat. Follow scat. Shoot bear. Find scat. Follow scat. Sit. Wait. Shoot bear. Repeat.

[j270wsm]

I agree that mid afternoon to dark is the best. I also find they come out after it rains so don't dismiss days that are forecasting showers in the afternoon

[Krico]

Well I am going to contradict most guys, and this is based only on my own experiences.
I’ve seen way more bears, and especially more large bears, early. I’m not talking 6 or 7 am. I’m talking get up at 3am, and be hunting that first light at 4am, 5am etc depending what part of the season. Even more apparent with grizzlies, when we could hunt them.
Bears do not sleep in in my experience. It’s just that most people’s idea of early is not early enough.

[srupp]

Hmm thinking back over 40 years. .
First hour in morning for grizzlies. .
By far the last hour of light in the day.for black bears..
That low light final hour is golden..
Once they hit the skunk cabbage. .fiddleheads..then its food on time..less food more time needed..look for secluded remote quiet areas with green..watch wind AND thermals stay till black.
Good luck
Steven

[Wild one]

Last 2hrs of light is prime time

If hunting an area that is high people pressure and I am not talking just hunting I only hunt the last 5hrs of the day

In areas that are low traffic I go hunting once I finish breakfast and coffee as I see them most of the day. I do find black bears don’t move a lot first light so I am in no rush in the morning

Where you’re hunting dictates bear movement a lot in region 2 found many areas late afternoon was basically when you seen bears but Northern BC they are out all day

As for the heat thing mentioned I agree and disagree bears disappear during the heat of the day. If targeting large open areas in direct sun yes they bed down. But if you target shady smaller feeding areas near water they can be found

You really need to go out and figure out the bears in the area because lots of factors dictate movement

[ratherbefishin]

Bears are tough and they can run after a fatal shot,and they head for the thickest stuff they can find and generally downhill. The only shot I will take now is a broadside ,right on the point of the shoulder( not lungs) resulting in massive shock and with both shoulders out,they put their nose in the dirt ,maybe not dead but immobilized,preferably right on a logging road or on the bank above it.Sure saves a lot of tracking and dragging uphill.Dead bears are tough to drag, nothing to hang on to

[emerson]

Biggest black bear I shot was 04:45, just after first light. Really tapers off after 06:30 or so though. More activity 20:00 to dark though. They seem much less nervous and jumpy when it’s getting dark.

[~T-BONE~]

Right at sundown

[bigredchev]

Second week in May, I am on fishing the morning and hunting bears after lunch

[Ohwildwon]

Finally a good stretch of warm weather coming up, greening up and access is going to happen real fast now!

7-10 days from now will be game on big time!

Now is the time to make some serious plans for sure...

Good luck all, and have a great time to boot!:smile:

[caddisguy]

I like the last couple hours before dark. Anything after 4pm seems to be getting good. First light until 10am is decent too. I have never shot a bear outside of those hours, but I know guys who have dropped nice bears at 2pm. That's the crappy part about spring bear hunting. If you are determined, the shifts are long... 5am-9pm but mid May. I can justify an afternoon nap early season when it's slow when things pick up it's dawn until dusk.

[boxhitch]

the shifts are long... 5am-9pm by mid Maymid day sun can trigger a hatch in the shallows so i like the hunt-eat-fish/nap-hunt program

[dustycool]

Well I am going to contradict most guys, and this is based only on my own experiences.
I’ve seen way more bears, and especially more large bears, early. I’m not talking 6 or 7 am. I’m talking get up at 3am, and be hunting that first light at 4am, 5am etc depending what part of the season. Even more apparent with grizzlies, when we could hunt them.
Bears do not sleep in in my experience. It’s just that most people’s idea of early is not early enough.
I agree. I shot my first black bear at 5am. Especially as the days get hotter I have seen more bears early morning than later. Really handy to have the whole day to work with it too. But I see them all times of the day.

[srupp]

I agree. I shot my first black bear at 5am. Especially as the days get hotter I have seen more bears early morning than later. Really handy to have the whole day to work with it too. But I see them all times of the day.

Hmm yes bears can be shot at all hours....but best to concentrate on prime time.however if you have taken time off work..travelled for hours for a few days..definatley use your days up completely..however remember that special last 2 hours.
As for sleeping yes both G bears and black bears do sleep..quite soundly too..in thickets of alder..along streams..amongs the trees..ive even watched them sleeping on tall mounds of earth and even at the top of slash piles. .go figure..

Grizzly bears..both interior and coastal will at times dig out a depression in the soil along creeks, streams where the dirt is cool..then sink their belly into that freshly dug depression..it acts like a heat sink..drawing their body heat out..keeping them cool..presenting a real danger..they are now laying flat out in a hole..their body is not that high above the ground..humans can actually get pretty damn close without realizing. .seein a 400..500 pound bear..creek noises..wind in the trees may allow you to get way inside a grizzlies comfort zone..a few maulings and fatalities have occurred just because of this exact scenario..yes bears do sleep..
Srr
Cheers
Srupp

[tigrr]

Our group has shot black bears at 7am, 10 am, 2 pm, 4pm, and 8 pm. So I won't say there is a pattern to their eating program. I will say I bump into more from 4 pm on while trail riding. I have to find a new area due to the fact the wolves cleaned them out of my old stomping ground. Wolves killed the bears right in their dens.
Get out and look and you will see them. Only look during certain hours and you will only see them during certain hours.

[nicktrehearne]

Out of the dozens of bears I've been fortunate enough to shoot over the years, 10:45-11:45 seems to be my magic hour. There definitely seems to be more bears out during the last 2-3 hours of the day, but all of my biggest bears and the majority have been in that 1 hour window...

[Ron.C]

We hunt all day. Have shot bears at various times. But there's nothing like an evening hunt after a rain.

[FortBoy]

biggest bear taken at 5:05 am, also shot at 10am, 1pm, 7pm. where i go for bears, they seem to be out pretty consistently throughout the day. although i have noticed they seem to be more wary during the midday hours versus the early morning or late afternoon, just my experience.

[Wild one]

Overall the best time to hunt bears is when they are moving in the location you’re hunting lol

I have probably taken or been involved in a bear being taken at every possible daylight hr. I have also patterned big bears at all different hrs of the day. Late morning to dark has treated me best( or see enough to justify sleeping in lol) but everywhere has those times that are best

You really have to go out and learn the movements in your hunting area

[tikkahunter]

My bear hunting buddies and myself have shot bears at all times of the day. But like Ron.c said above, hard to beat an evening hunt after a long day of rain.

[HarryToolips]

Mid morning to late evening have been the most productive for me..