Are black bears still out and about?

[WWBC]

Is it too late in the season to target black bears? ( region 5)

Was thinking of going out and trying to call one in. When do they start denning up?
Any late season pointers?

thanks

[Huntingtyler123]

X2 I’m interested in what people have to say

[Wild one]

Black bear hunting sucks after mid October and your better off deer hunting but it’s not impossible

Personally May,June,August(where it’s open),and September are the months best for targeting black bear outside of those months you are better of hunting other species.

[Pioneerman]

Depends on where you are, Bears are active until snow starts staying and if there is food source for them, otherwise they start slowing down. I have hunted bears in December and seen tracks in snow in Jan and Feb. Just they do not have the same food sources when all berries are done. A lot of times if they do not kill or find an animal downed they might be eating and rooting around swampy places and tearing logs apart for grubs and stuff. If you are hunting and hang your game near camp you will see if they are active right away lol

[rocksteady]

Found fresh black bear tracks yesterday in the fresh snow south of Cranbrook

[hunterdon]

As noted above, it can vary according to region. I have seen several black bears out and about up until the first half of November. After this, it's pretty slim. Although, I have seen 3 in December (sometimes they have not had much luck finding a suitable den) and 1 in the middle of January. I'm sure this was a sleep walker. Sometimes they will break their winter sleep and walk outside the den for a very short session and then head back to sleep once again.

Of course I am talking about the interior of BC. Bears near the coast are likely to be out much later, I imagine.

[RackStar]

Bears very active still in PG

[Dour]

They are awake and getting big you still have time to get a greasy bustard.

[RyoTHC]

Bears still active in 3, personally stumbled upon 4 last week/end.

[srupp]

Hmmm bear activity has definitely slowed however they still are out...in region 5..lower elevations.
good luck.
Srupp

[Sharpish]

Saw the biggest bear of my life Dec 10 last year in port renfrew

[WWBC]

Thanks for the feed back.
Do they respond to calls in the fall like they do in spring? I agree deer are probably easier to come by but bear tastes better in my opinion.

Aside from rose rose hips what other late fall foods do bears target?
Thanks

[warnniklz]

Port Renfrew is very different to region 5.

However I do know people that have got legit 6 foot (nose to tail) in late November. Is it the rule? No... but it can happen

[HarryToolips]

^^^exactly...generally bears on the island will be out longer than bears in the interior, but there are definitely exceptions...what I've read is at the point where their calorie intake is less that their expenditure is where they look to start denning up..

[HarryToolips]

Thanks for the feed back.
Do they respond to calls in the fall like they do in spring? I agree deer are probably easier to come by but bear tastes better in my opinion.

Aside from rose rose hips what other late fall foods do bears target?
Thanks
Aside from other animals that they can prey on, I have both read and witnessed that besides rose hips, in the fall they also covet mountain ash and black huckleberry....what I have witnessed is for interior bears...

[monasheemountainman]

Best to target deer or whatever is open and have a bear tag in case imho

[monasheemountainman]

Berries are the place to be late summer when the fall season opens up. This time of year they are just eating what they can find befor hibernation. Lots of bears in residential neighbourhoods around here right now

[Wild one]

Rose hips are the best late season feed I have found in the interior. Once they start to shrivel the bears also loose interest. Find what elevation the rose hips are in the best condition and start covering ground looking for sign around powerlines and cuts.

I can’t think of a consistent food source worth targeting outside of rose hips in late fall in your area. Bears seem to be more optimistic with the other foods or I don’t know them.

Yes calling still works but I have never found blind calling that effective. I use it more so as a tool to draw in bears spotted in the distance. Even then some just ignore you

Good luck my best advice for future is fill both tags before October if you like bear meat lol

[caddisguy]

They are still very active in Region 2

[MRP]

Bears very active still in PG
Yup, wife says there was one in the yard yesterday

[scott h]

I ran into a nice one 3 days ago in region 4.

[Gateholio]

There is one creeping around my chicken coop....I was nice and only nailed him with some rubber balls from a shotgun to dissuade him, but apparently he is undeterred and the dogs are going nuts half the day.

Next time I see him he's getting a 129gr LRAB from a 6.5 Grendel....

[bcshadow]

One black bear spotted near Tunkwa Lake yesterday

[RiverOtter]

The bears I've encountered this late in the year(interior) have looked almost drunk. I'm thinking it's the transition stage to get ready for hibernation. At any rate, if you have a left over tag from spring, then try your luck in combination with deer. But unless you have a situation like Gates, where one is frequenting a certain location, I wouldn't spend money on a bear tag this time of year.

[Gateholio]

Yeah, i wouldn't buy a bear tag now either, but I have one left over from the spring. it's often good insurance to have one in case you have problems in camp with one, I suppose.

PG66 and I did have one creep up behind us while we were having lunch on the edge of a cliff in late November though. Sneaky little ******* was sizing us up. Possibly if there was only one of us things might have ended differently. We found his tracks in the snow and he was really just a few feet from us, must have been really sneaky because we didn't hear him at all.

[cstairs]

Still out in Fruitvale BC

[caddisguy]

Definitely still out in Region 2 (as usual... they're usually out until at least December)

We had a encounter reminiscent of "asshole bear" last night. Bear came up to caddisgirls side of the jeep (finally I catch a break LOL) and pushed in the soft plastic window by her head. It messed around pushing on the spare tire too. Glad it didn't climb up on the soft top. I turned on the jeep and it buggered off. I'll take the blame. We had a spent mountain house bag (breakfast skillet!) on her side, cooler with food in the back, as well as a couple empty red bull and bud light cans in a plastic bag hanging from the back (it poked around with that too) Normally we keep the cooler outside and garbage 20 yards away (if they're around I want to hear them screwing around before they get close)

Totally preventable and good reminder. Our mistake, 100%. Hopefully this didn't condition it in anyway and spooking it off was educational, but if I had a do-over this probably wouldn't have happened.

Glad the clocks went back an hour last night to equal out the lost sleep. caddisgirl was pretty pumped after that. I knew exactly how she felt. That adrenaline and no way to spend it. I don't think she got much sleep after that. Now that we're home she's passed out and sleeping like a log.

[skibum]

If you want to see one.... just don't go bear hunting with me.

I have seen one in the last 5 years, around this time last year a boar came in while I was just screwing around with my fawn distress call while eating lunch deer hunting.

Going that route next weekend.

[358mag]

Region 8 lots still out and about .

[bc8x8]

Saw three and a griz above Clearwater this weekend.