Hot weather and Black Bears

[Hugh Mann]

It's gotten pretty hot since my last outing for bears, and since I'm still fairly new to tracking them down, can anyone tell me how a hot spring changes their behaviour, if at all?

Best I could find reading on my own was mostly inconclusive, leaning towards no, but I would think a large animal with dark fur would overheat pretty quickly.

[Husky7mm]

Seen bears out in the middle of the day +33, they were in the shade side of a pipeline just pigging out on grass. I don’t think it matters that much. Best part of the day for black bears is the last few hours of the day. Had great success on a hot day right before a storm roles in. AC/DC thunder struck on the radio for the win as the storm builds and the big boars are roaming...... right about this time of year.

[Wild one]

Was hunting last few days them mid day 26C - 28C and seen plenty of bears. The trick is shady areas with food near water. It is very common for bears to go for a drink mid day. The bears are out there no matter how hot it is you just need to go where they are

[Rayne]

Ya what wildone said. Find the shady areas or a creek and hunt around it they will be there just get above it and glass.

[BCHUNTER21]

last year i think i saw 16 or 17 bears in an afternoon. it was 30+

[Firstblood]

Bears are concentrated on new food/the first green food early on in the season. Once it heats up and the sun is out the bears will spread out depending on the elevation because food sources spread out. They are still eating their hearts out, just gotta find good poop, bears wont be far away. They will move slightly more towards water and morning/evening if its suuuuuper hot but bears are lazy, they arent sunrise sunset critters, they dont have to worry about predators looking for them as prey. Every where is a bit different based on elevation, Lat/Long sun/wind, mosquitos....maybe not the mossies but Ive seen bears every day in the last two weeks, all through out the day.

[boxhitch]

Seen bears out in the middle of the day +33, they were in the shade side of a pipeline just pigging out on grass. I don’t think it matters that much. Best part of the day for black bears is the last few hours of the day. Had great success on a hot day right before a storm roles in. AC/DC thunder struck on the radio for the win as the storm builds and the big boars are roaming...... right about this time of year.yee haw bang!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Ao-iNPPUc

[Liptugger]

Maybe I read this wrong, but it seams to me that Hugh Mann was asking about keeping the meat from spoiling and such. I cart a cooler full of frozen water bottles along to cool the meat, also great if there is a cold small stream to dump the bear in and get the temp down fast before cutting it up. Most of my hunting is less than an hour to hour and a half from home so this has worked well for me. Had on nice bear I had to let walk one fall because I was too far from the truck to deal with it timely.

[Hugh Mann]

Maybe I read this wrong, but it seams to me that Hugh Mann was asking about keeping the meat from spoiling and such. I cart a cooler full of frozen water bottles along to cool the meat, also great if there is a cold small stream to dump the bear in and get the temp down fast before cutting it up. Most of my hunting is less than an hour to hour and a half from home so this has worked well for me. Had on nice bear I had to let walk one fall because I was too far from the truck to deal with it timely.

I was actually asking about their behaviour and patterns, however that is also a concern. Thanks for the tip.

[caddisguy]

Bear behavior would be the same as your behavior if you were wearing a couple winter jackets but still want to munch bugs and grass and have naps. If you think like the bear you will find the bear :)

[04FX4]

I have yet to see one myself.lots of sign but no bear.��

[whitlers]

I bumped a small black bear maybe 4.5'er out of his bed up on a grassy plateau today. Was about noon and 28* and he was bedded under a tree in 3' grass. Scared the shit out of me when he popped up 10 yards away and gave me a huff.

In my limited black bear hunting experience I would say I typically see less bears on a super hot day then on a cooler overcast day.

[caddisguy]

I haven't looked at other forecasts, but this week (Wednesday to Sunday) looks EPIC for Region 2 bear hunting Wednesday to Saturday. For anyone who was holding off for "peak time", this is it. This is your chance. Make the most of it. Closest thing you can get to a gimme and it will be cool enough that meat care shouldn't be too hard. Pretty much a gimme for bear shooting... get the meat in a cooler then enjoy the rest of the night by a camp fire and maybe indulge in a beverage... have a great night sleep and take it home to the freezer or butcher.

The days that are threatening a few mm of rain are probably the best for day trippers. It's just going to be light stuff off and on, but I have always found that is gold. Though Wednesday through Saturday all look pretty good, Wednesday AND Saturday look the best. Looks like the kind of days you could pull a full shift, 5am-10pm if you have the energy in you, and every minute holds high potential for productivity.

This is your bear traffic and weather report. More at 11 !

[r106]

All the bears I've shot until today have been end of may from 1pm-4pm. Just took a smaller bear 4.5ft'er today at about 2:50-3 m ish. Temp over the years were anywhere from 22°-30°. Today might have been a touch cooler with the wind blowing. Dont normally take smaller bears but it was one of my last days i had out and the wife wants some smokeys.. happy wife, happy life

My experience is bears are like lazy teenagers. They like to sleep in and when they wake up at noon they go strait for the fridge. There only interested in sleep, food, girls and once in awhile they like to get a little rowdy when a smaller bears around.