Your experience with hunting bears in heat

[Redemption]

Heading out for our bear hunt with 5 others on monday. Gonna top 30 degrees. It's usually 15 to 20 and I look forward to this hunt very much.

Not worried about meat spoilage as we can deal with cooling and storage, but what are you experiences with bears in this spring heat?

Cheers. Redemption.

[landphil]

The last hour of daylight is the most important, so be prepared for a late bedtime.:grin:

[Ron.C]

Have shot a number of bears on days in the high 20's. My second best was taken at about 11am on a really hot day. Watched him feed then climb up and sun on top a stump. I do think as things warm, the best spots in the heat are areas with some cover and water near by.

Have also watched boars chase sows in June on hot days.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

They will also use the early morning cool to feed

SSS

[ACB]

Have only had to worry about dealing with heat once, we got a bear late one evening around Gold River when it was quite warm. By the time we finish dealing with the bear that evening ( we did most of the work with flashlites). We didn't have enough ice to put him in a cooler but there was a logging road bridge on are way back to camp, we hung the bear parts off of the down water side of the bridge well above the water. We went back first thing in the next morning and checked it out and it was in great shape and cooled right down. Beside a creek in the shade works very well, the cool air moving with the creek. LOL

[Darksith]

Water and shade generally mean lush feed as well as cooler temps, focus on those areas as well as first and last hours of the day

[caddisguy]

Not a huge fan of hot days but that's mostly just due to my own discomfort. The bears are around and will be taking advantage of all grass and dandelions that will be popping up in this kind of weather.

Morning until around 11am and 3:30pm until dark has always been good to me. That said, can't rule out 11am - 3:30pm either but IF I want a break that's when I do it. It's a long shift this time of year on these hot days.

The good news is that it does look like it will still be cooling down a fair bit at night. My biggest concern taking a bear mid day in the heat is meat care / cooling and flies. Glad to hear you got that covered. Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

[MarkyMark]

I hunted bears on the tail end of that crazy heat wave a few years back when it was close to 40 during the day and still 25-30 overnight and we found a bear out feeding in the mid AM. I think they could be out anytime but its much more likely to be productive in the morning and especially evening. I would use my time in the long hot day to either trek around and find spots with sign and plan to return in the evening or hunt in some shady spots where the bears are more likely to be hiding out in the heat of the day. Maybe take a good nap as well, like CaddisGuy said its a long shift if you don’t take a break. Good luck!!

[browningboy]

The bugs will be brutal once you start processing, so extra care of flies on the meat!

[Downtown]

Have only had to worry about dealing with heat once, we got a bear late one evening around Gold River when it was quite warm. By the time we finish dealing with the bear that evening ( we did most of the work with flashlites). We didn't have enough ice to put him in a cooler but there was a logging road bridge on are way back to camp, we hung the bear parts off of the down water side of the bridge well above the water. We went back first thing in the next morning and checked it out and it was in great shape and cooled right down. Beside a creek in the shade works very well, the cool air moving with the creek. LOL

Neat Trick, thanks for sharing !

Cheers

[RyoTHC]

I’ve shot a large black bear in the middle of the afternoon on a sunny grassy hill 30+ C twice now. They mind ALOT less than we do it seems.

it will definitely make your first and last hour of the day ALOT more productive no doubt but anywhere anytime when it comes to bears in may.

[jezza]

Supposed to go to the North Island next weekend - is this the type of heat I should expect the bruins to start rubbing all their good fur off?