Help with getting 1st big game animal

[Lukebc86]

This is my 2nd year hunting, and I've been doing well with getting grouse. But still trying to get my 1st big game animal.
I'm heading upto and around Vernon for 3 days next weekend, and was wondering if anybody had any advice for spring black bear?
Thanks

[moosinaround]

I typed into the seach bar, "black bear", and it come up with a pile of threads covering this topic. Make sure you have some type of cooler lined up, its gonna be hot!

[HarryToolips]

I'd start with looking in the search bar on the home page of this site, type in 'spring black bear hunting ', read some of the threads, then you report back to us with what areas you should be targeting, and what strategies you should be using, and we'll go from there...

[moosinaround]

I'd start with looking in the search bar on the home page of this site, type in 'spring black bear hunting ', read some of the threads, then you report back to us with what areas you should be targeting, and what strategies you should be using, and we'll go from there...
Hahaha, great minds think alike? moosin

[todbartell]

Cruise around looking for areas with good greenup and bear shit. Approach these areas in the last few hours of the day with the wind in your advantage.

[RyoTHC]

Go high. Greenup has moved a long way already and the bears have spread thin around here.
drive to the top of 97c or more east if you prefer and start going up.. virtually no bear movement before 7-8pm this last week.

[Lukebc86]

I should have just searched for that in the beginning.
Newish to the site and i didn't even think of doing that.
But i searched, looks like i need to find south facing slopes, deactivated spur roads that has green up. And other sign, scat tracks etc.

[RyoTHC]

I should have just searched for that in the beginning.
Newish to the site and i didn't even think of doing that.
But i searched, looks like i need to find south facing slopes, deactivated spur roads that has green up. And other sign, scat tracks etc.

honestly I’d be starting to peruse north facing slopes at this point, as we move later into may and with the unseasonably hot weather they are likely looking for a cool refuge where they can also get their fill.


check out the bear derby thread as well, that way you know all the requirements and when you find your bear you can make an entry for a chance to win.

[caddisguy]

honestly I’d be starting to peruse north facing slopes at this point, as we move later into may and with the unseasonably hot weather they are likely looking for a cool refuge where they can also get their fill.


check out the bear derby thread as well, that way you know all the requirements and when you find your bear you can make an entry for a chance to win.

Place I checked out a couple weeks back, west facing, very little grass, a few hits here and there checked back this weeks. Same grass dang near going to seed and most of the dandelions already went to seed. More hits on the grass and some 3-5 day old scat. That's about it. I wasn't really hunting, more so just camping with a rifle and messing around with ham radio stuff. Tough to hunt East Harrison on the weekends and get away from the crowds. Even if you do the bass from this rave parties will vibrate your grey matter all evening. night through first light 10km as the crow flies :D

You're right, bears are no longer consolidated on small pockets of first grass. That came and went fast. First grass was late showing 300-600KM only a week or two ago and on now yogi has more munchies 800-1000M on east and north facing slopes than they did south and west just a week or two ago.

Only advice I can give for this thread now is unless you are seeing a fair bit of nipped grass that isn't too brown (more than 2mm brown edge is old news) on the edge it was ripped off or finding fresh green scat, don't focus there if you're keen on bears, move along until you find fresh hit grass, fresh scat, fresh tracks and fresh mauled stumps. If you find that, creep around on foot and poke in and out of all the places you can find good grass within a few km of that.

I'm living through you guys this year. If this advice even in part helps someone tag a bear that's good enough for me this year.

[HarryToolips]

Hahaha, great minds think alike? moosin

Lol definitely....

[HarryToolips]

honestly I’d be starting to peruse north facing slopes at this point, as we move later into may and with the unseasonably hot weather they are likely looking for a cool refuge where they can also get their fill.


check out the bear derby thread as well, that way you know all the requirements and when you find your bear you can make an entry for a chance to win.

This is good advice...

I'd still focus on roadsides etc that hold plenty of dandelion and clover...

Lol I saw a real nice one yesterday at about 900m elevation only, but I couldn't shoot it cause I promised the wife I wouldn't shoot one this weekend, mothers day camping trip..

[caddisguy]

Some pics from our camp trip this week. Will spare the scat pics :) Grass is more important anyway, spring bears give away more of their story in the grass tips than they do in deposits. That said a huge stinky green pile gets me excited <--- Full disclosure I only wrote that on the grounds it might become a tagline, but it's still true. A black colored deposit doesn't mean much. Could a few days or even a week old, weeks or months if dry. If you find a pocket with grass hits, some with 2mm brown, some with 1mm brown or white, some with no brown or white line, you KNOW a bear has been in that same spot consistently every day for at least 3 days so you're likely set for a run in. Hope that makes sense. Just make a point of looking up once in a while reading sign. Close encounters 5 yards or less are sometimes awkward.

I'll add this time of spring from now until season closes, look for fresh broken over saplings... you'll most likely find fur on where it's snapped. This is a boars version of an online dating profile. You know there is a boar in the area and he will be back.

https://i.imgur.com/D0yf4ME.jpg

^^^^ This patch seems to be a favorite of a small bear judging the the tracks. Some nice fresh hits within 24 hours, probably less than 12 even

https://i.imgur.com/o7j35qn.jpg

^^^ These hits look 3 days or older

https://i.imgur.com/Zq0FzmC.jpg

^^^ 24-36 hours

[caddisguy]

Here's a pic of a broken over sapling I was mentioning. If you look likely you can see the hair on it. It wasn't there the day before. I'd been hitting the same feeding pocket two days prior and only seeing a sow and a couple cubs. Wake up the next morning, saw the sapling (actually smelled it before I saw it) ... went in, sat and waited an hour... meh, nothing, was Mother's day actually so figured I should head home. I go to walk out of the feeding pocket, hear stick snap, creep back into the feeding pocket and there he was.

https://i.imgur.com/WVOhqbo.jpg

^^^ equivalent of online dating profile for spring boars. If you find a fresh one, game on.

Note it for future years as well and keep an eye on them just looking for fresh fur that wasn't there the day or week prior. I found other bears will re-mark the same ones.

Edit: Just dug up a pic of that same sapling getting marked a year later from a brown phase bear... just stuff to keep an eye out for... hope this all helps OP or anyone. The quicker you can pick things out on a quick glance survey of an area, the faster you can narrow down your areas of focus so you're only spending time on productive areas vs spending a bunch of time in areas that are not particularly (if at all) viable. Start with the grass and go from there.

https://i.imgur.com/fowrL6d.jpg

[Lukebc86]

Thanks for all the advice and info, seems like i need to do a bit of driving. Then some walking which i prefer to do anyway, once i come across some decent sign.
I'll be stopping at an area on the way to vernon that i saw some sign last year. There's some nice overgrown roads which lead to some pockets of open grassy areas in between some thicker timber.
Hopefully i bump into something

[Lukebc86]

Thanks for all that information and photos. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for these signs aswell.
Thanks again, appreciate you replying with these references

[caddisguy]

Thanks for all the advice and info, seems like i need to do a bit of driving. Then some walking which i prefer to do anyway, once i come across some decent sign.
I'll be stopping at an area on the way to vernon that i saw some sign last year. There's some nice overgrown roads which lead to some pockets of open grassy areas in between some thicker timber.
Hopefully i bump into something

Sounds like an excellent place to start looking. Bears do like to eat in privacy. Overgrown roads that lead to grassy pockets are ideal. If you find sign in a few of those, then poke in and out of them with the wind in your face you're playing to win. I hope the thread keeps going here and that you'll send an update with what you find.

[Lukebc86]

I'll give it my best shot, I'll be out thursday to sunday. So that gives me a good amount of time to try and find something.
I'll definitely post an update with what i find.
Thanks again

[caddisguy]

Last couple tid bits I got if I can butt in one more time is that if you have a few pockets in close proximity, poke in and out of them just enough for a good look and listen. If nothing, onto the next and keep cycling. Even if it's the same spot, poking in and out has always turned out better for me than sitting and waiting. I think to an extent bears tolerate in and out despite human scent because you're doing it like they do, in and out for a fill. To an extent, if you're in and out they get comfortable.

I used to go for sits, hours long and wait, then started to find if I just leave and come back an hour later, bear is feeding. I think often they're close by just waiting their turn. You leave, they come, you come back, surprise!

Other than that, you probably know already, but figure out the thermals... in general breeze is downhill evening until it starts to get warm in the morning. Obviously there's all sorts of terrain and regular wind, could be doing something different in 50 yards, but just mental note it all on the first day, probably the same deal most days. It's not always a deal breaker though, don't think if the wind is bad game over. One of my best came up from down wind 20 yards or so while smoking a cigarette (me not the bear) ... try your best with the wind but don't write off anything, depends on terrain it could be doing something different in 50 yards, just try to note everything for future perfection in your areas.

Spot and stalk is another thing. If you have a good proven area and you can see for a few kms and glass, stalk on close enough for your shooting comfort, that works for many. Haven't tried it myself, usually in the thick stuff over here.

[mike31154]

My stomping grounds, among others like region 3 & 4 bordering the North/East Okanagan. Extensive web of FSRs to explore all of which potentially hold bruins. I've personally spotted them up on the Aberdeen Plateau cruising King Ed FSR, closer to Oyama but that was years ago. That road gets busy on weekends. If you care to venture a little further, head past Cherryville on Hwy 6 up to the Monashee Pass area. I've spotted a couple young ones scampering across a cut-block above Keefer Lake. Again that was some years ago. Typically less pressure there than plateaus around Vernon. There will still be snow at that altitude, especially North facing slopes. Keefer FSR is ploughed year 'round so you'll make it up there no problem. Lots of spurs off that to explore. I had to change my plans for launching my newly built canoe last year 'cause I was stopped by snow. Had to launch in creek & paddle up to my favourite alpine lake. Photo 7 June 2022. Melting faster this year I reckon with this early heat wave.

https://blz04pap003files.storage.live.com/y4mpy0_CSM0ZNFAji0UIXzu6mPwSxDUwIYX__I6xtYETSvAwpS LdgPaygp7hE-gImD8Hx9GoJZm8IVj0f4QTHINO4Iv2sFBUInbBGjXBqK1AkIad 6ti3hwkidV3-PzcOFMTjyply4rAXWTpKvQVWnrAKf7msDOleir0Nc_qpS2e6_E ?width=1024&height=640&cropmode=none

[Lukebc86]

Last couple tid bits I got if I can butt in one more time is that if you have a few pockets in close proximity, poke in and out of them just enough for a good look and listen. If nothing, onto the next and keep cycling. Even if it's the same spot, poking in and out has always turned out better for me than sitting and waiting. I think to an extent bears tolerate in and out despite human scent because you're doing it like they do, in and out for a fill. To an extent, if you're in and out they get comfortable.

I used to go for sits, hours long and wait, then started to find if I just leave and come back an hour later, bear is feeding. I think often they're close by just waiting their turn. You leave, they come, you come back, surprise!

Other than that, you probably know already, but figure out the thermals... in general breeze is downhill evening until it starts to get warm in the morning. Obviously there's all sorts of terrain and regular wind, could be doing something different in 50 yards, but just mental note it all on the first day, probably the same deal most days. It's not always a deal breaker though, don't think if the wind is bad game over. One of my best came up from down wind 20 yards or so while smoking a cigarette (me not the bear) ... try your best with the wind but don't write off anything, depends on terrain it could be doing something different in 50 yards, just try to note everything for future perfection in your areas.

Spot and stalk is another thing. If you have a good proven area and you can see for a few kms and glass, stalk on close enough for your shooting comfort, that works for many. Haven't tried it myself, usually in the thick stuff over here.

Oh your not butting in at all, i appreciate all the tips/advice that has been posted on this thread.
I honestly never even thought about grass, I'm always just looking for scat or tracks,so I'll be keeping all this in mind when i head out on Thursday, perhaps take some screenshots as a quick reminder.
Another area I've been to has some large cutblocks dotted around, so I'll have a poke in there and do some glassing.

The area with the cutblocks is at a much higher elevation, last year around the same time i encountered a fair bit of snow

[Lukebc86]

My stomping grounds, among others like region 3 & 4 bordering the North/East Okanagan. Extensive web of FSRs to explore all of which potentially hold bruins. I've personally spotted them up on the Aberdeen Plateau cruising King Ed FSR, closer to Oyama but that was years ago. That road gets busy on weekends. If you care to venture a little further, head past Cherryville on Hwy 6 up to the Monashee Pass area. I've spotted a couple young ones scampering across a cut-block above Keefer Lake. Again that was some years ago. Typically less pressure there than plateaus around Vernon. There will still be snow at that altitude, especially North facing slopes. Keefer FSR is ploughed year 'round so you'll make it up there no problem. Lots of spurs off that to explore. I had to change my plans for launching my newly built canoe last year 'cause I was stopped by snow. Had to launch in creek & paddle up to my favourite alpine lake. Photo 7 June 2022. Melting faster this year I reckon with this early heat wave.

https://blz04pap003files.storage.live.com/y4mpy0_CSM0ZNFAji0UIXzu6mPwSxDUwIYX__I6xtYETSvAwpS LdgPaygp7hE-gImD8Hx9GoJZm8IVj0f4QTHINO4Iv2sFBUInbBGjXBqK1AkIad 6ti3hwkidV3-PzcOFMTjyply4rAXWTpKvQVWnrAKf7msDOleir0Nc_qpS2e6_E ?width=1024&height=640&cropmode=none

Thanks for the information, i might have a poke around there aswell, I'm always up for trying some new areas.

[Lukebc86]

My stomping grounds, among others like region 3 & 4 bordering the North/East Okanagan. Extensive web of FSRs to explore all of which potentially hold bruins. I've personally spotted them up on the Aberdeen Plateau cruising King Ed FSR, closer to Oyama but that was years ago. That road gets busy on weekends. If you care to venture a little further, head past Cherryville on Hwy 6 up to the Monashee Pass area. I've spotted a couple young ones scampering across a cut-block above Keefer Lake. Again that was some years ago. Typically less pressure there than plateaus around Vernon. There will still be snow at that altitude, especially North facing slopes. Keefer FSR is ploughed year 'round so you'll make it up there no problem. Lots of spurs off that to explore. I had to change my plans for launching my newly built canoe last year 'cause I was stopped by snow. Had to launch in creek & paddle up to my favourite alpine lake. Photo 7 June 2022. Melting faster this year I reckon with this early heat wave.

https://blz04pap003files.storage.live.com/y4mpy0_CSM0ZNFAji0UIXzu6mPwSxDUwIYX__I6xtYETSvAwpS LdgPaygp7hE-gImD8Hx9GoJZm8IVj0f4QTHINO4Iv2sFBUInbBGjXBqK1AkIad 6ti3hwkidV3-PzcOFMTjyply4rAXWTpKvQVWnrAKf7msDOleir0Nc_qpS2e6_E ?width=1024&height=640&cropmode=none

Thanks for that information, I'll most likely check those areas out. You never know right.
Last spring season i went upto Elkhart, looks like a nice area but we ran into quite a bit of snow

[mike31154]

Thanks for that information, I'll most likely check those areas out. You never know right.
Last spring season i went upto Elkhart, looks like a nice area but we ran into quite a bit of snow

Vernon to turn off on Keefer Lake FSR is just under an hour. There is a resort at Keefer Lake, around Km13. I generally turn left just before the resort & explore from there. If you don't want to drive quite that far there's another major FSR on the right at a lower altitude, don't recall the name but it's quite obvious when you pass it.

[Lukebc86]

Vernon to turn off on Keefer Lake FSR is just under an hour. There is a resort at Keefer Lake, around Km13. I generally turn left just before the resort & explore from there. If you don't want to drive quite that far there's another major FSR on the right at a lower altitude, don't recall the name but it's quite obvious when you pass it.

Yeah i had a quick look on google earth, doesn't seem that far to go. Be nice to explore some new country that i haven't been to yet.
Thanks

[HarryToolips]

Hey OP I'll send ya a PM.....

Oh and, when your heart is racing a 100 miles an hour when ya see one, take a deep breath, watch it for a bit and confirm there's no cubs: not only is shooting one with cubs illegal, it would be a terrible feeling... I've passed on quite a few bears because I couldn't confirm they didn't have cubs, or I waited long enough watching that the wind shifted or whatever and they took off - still better than shooting one with cubs.. the boars typically have wider craniums and bigger stovepipe front legs, the sows typically have wider back end in proportion to their body size.. but it can still be hard to judge sometimes... everybody feel free to add further tips to differentiate between the sexes..

[caddisguy]

Hey OP I'll send ya a PM.....

Oh and, when your heart is racing a 100 miles an hour when ya see one, take a deep breath, watch it for a bit and confirm there's no cubs: not only is shooting one with cubs illegal, it would be a terrible feeling... I've passed on quite a few bears because I couldn't confirm they didn't have cubs, or I waited long enough watching that the wind shifted or whatever and they took off - still better than shooting one with cubs.. the boars typically have wider craniums and bigger stovepipe front legs, the sows typically have wider back end in proportion to their body size.. but it can still be hard to judge sometimes... everybody feel free to add further tips to differentiate between the sexes..

Yeah good call on that. I found sows move differently too. With the larger rear and smaller front side while feeding, it often looks like watching a lopsided slinky at play. Mature boars often move with purpose and just walk in like they own the joint... crash crash snap crash snap, right out into the open, munch munch munch.

Much as I don't like saying it, your gut will tell you quite a bit as well. I watched a bear feed for 2 consecutive evenings, probably 4-5 hours total. I was confident it was a sow... but is it alone? I eventually did catch some glimpses of a couple football sized black fur balls messing about, probably 15-20 yards deep into the brush. It was only a few glimpses here and there after 4-5 hours of staring. Would it have been legal if I had taken the sow? Given the wording "accompanied by", maybe? But would I have felt like trash and considered giving up hunting? Probably. Definitely take your time and there is something about listening to your gut much as I don't like indefinitive things like that.

If I would define it, a bear that feeds in less optimal places it could be feeding, sticking closer to cover (20-30 yards) starts getting suspicious. Dang another 10-15 yards out is a way better bounty of feed? Like HT said, one can potentially pass up boars by being cautious... I probably pass on 80% for one reason or another (not the ideal shot, too hot out and too much uphill retrieval, etc) and it can be hard to tell... but 8 out of 8 bears I have harvested have all been boars, so there must be methods to my madness. I just wish I could articulate it better.

Just tracked down the video of that sow... here it is. Shaky video, sorry for that. I'd been watching for a couple hours about 100 yards away through the binos, but it was getting dark, had to walk passed the momma there and figured I'd film. No zoom here. I'm about 10-15 yards from her and I know there are a couple cubs 15 yards or so back in the brush there and my hands were covered in mosquitos. Not many people are dumb enough to stop to film in such scenarios but I am


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyYNRM51S90

It was actually the next day after I filmed that, boar snapped the sapling in the picture a few posts ago. Harvested that boar and it was a fine one. No doubt would have killed those cubs. Funny enough half way through processing said boar she was clacking her jaws at me maybe 40 yards away. I was just shouting stuff like "hey there calm down little lady, did ya a solid, happy mothers day". I think that's the only time "telling" a female being to "calm down" worked out well for anybody :D It's bad mojo in most cases, but jaw clacking is just "your too close, making me nervous", hollaring back anything just says "yeah i hear you. im doing my thing, dont care about you, get used to me eh, we'll keep this distance"

[britman101]

My advice to you is to get the bear if possible as early in the day if possible. And if not to have a base camp set up so that you can skin and process the bear in a timely manner. With temperatures being abnormally warm in BC, getting the game skinned and cooled will be a priority. Also here is a decent article on how to field dress a black bear after it has been harvested.

https://www.drnordbergondeerhunting.com/hypertext/Articles/Field_Dress_a_Bear.html

[Lukebc86]

Thanks for the pm Harry, appreciate that.
I've had a couple of encounters with deer, that your adrenaline just spikes and want to shoot as they we're bucks. But one i bumped and was running so didn't want to take that shot! And the other was in any whitetail buck season, but 4 point muley season in September. That one i watched for about 10 minutes as it stood facing me in some thick bush was a 2 point, but my gut was telling me it was a muley so not legal. Finally it bolted, put glass on it when it finally stopped.... was a whitetail! But i was happy with myself that i didn't pull the trigger.
So i pretty much like to go with the gut feeling, even though you might not want to right.

I would honestly hate myself if i shot a sow, then cubs popped out. Can imagine that would be a terrible feeling!

I joined a live webinar couple of weeks ago, that hunters for B.C put on. Was a 2 hour slideshow and discussion on field judging the sexes on Black bears. Most likely watch some of that again tonight.
Ive read numerous books, listened to countless hours of podcasts on the subject. Obviously I'm not going to be a bear field judging pro, but i feel it's give me a good idea of what to look for when trying to determine the sex of a bear.

From all that info that I've digested, boars walk like they own the place, ears are smaller and appear more button like on the side of there heads. Can have a crease in there forehead and there chest hair seems to hang further down to the ground. Plus what you guys mentioned, and obviously more.

As for sows, they seem to walk a little more cautious, looking around more and there ears appear on top of there head and also bigger.
There butt seems to be more rounded, like they resemble a pear shape ��
An interesting point i heard was sows can have a ruffled patch of hair on the top of there neck where the shoulders meet almost looks like feathers, they described it as if they have had a bad haircut! If that makes any sense.

Pretty cool video there, and yeah i don't i would be recording in that situation haha!
A couple of years ago i was driving down an FSR up by Williams lake and had a bear run out in front of the truck across the road and upto in the verge.
I stopped to just get a look at it, turns out it was a sow with 2 cubs up in a tree behind her, she huffed a little bit at me which was interesting to see. But i left pretty quickly after that, i didn't want to piss her off anymore!

[Lukebc86]

My advice to you is to get the bear if possible as early in the day if possible. And if not to have a base camp set up so that you can skin and process the bear in a timely manner. With temperatures being abnormally warm in BC, getting the game skinned and cooled will be a priority. Also here is a decent article on how to field dress a black bear after it has been harvested.

https://www.drnordbergondeerhunting.com/hypertext/Articles/Field_Dress_a_Bear.html

Thanks for posting that article, I'll check that out later today.
I've watched a few videos on how to field dress a bear, but more the info the better right.
I have some coolers that I'm going to start pre cooling tomorrow, when I'm out there I'll have to remind myself of the current temperatures as to either take the shot ot wait

[Lukebc86]

So little update, 1st area on the way to Vernon.
Found some sign, but not enough to warrant me sticking around for to long.
2nd area i found some very old scat, but nothing real fresh.

3rd area this morning, found a nice series of medium ish size cutblocks. Road is de activated at top, with the road winding round the cut block.
Road from top to bottom has plenty of clover and the cut block some nice patches of green.
Found 7 fresh green scat piles about the size of dinner plates along the top of the road.
Question is.... should i set up tonight just outside but in view of that cutblock and wait for yogi to pop out?
This is the only real idea i can think of

[Imdone]

With the fresh pudd, it's there somewhere likely bedded in a cool location.
Best chances will be late afternoon evening, or early morning. But it can happen at any time.
Being a new Bear hunter, be sure to view the Bear for a good while, you don't want to rush your first and possibly not notice a cub or three.
You only want to harvest a lone Bear, and Boar if possible.
Take your time. Don't rush it. Be sure of your first shot, Bear are tough and a follow up is not a bad thing. Being your first big game animal, bears can be a challenge to dress. Get help if you can. In these high temps you'll need to be prepared to cool it asap.
Good luck to you.
Be sure to use wind in your favour or you will be wasting your time.

[HarryToolips]

Yeah good call on that. I found sows move differently too. With the larger rear and smaller front side while feeding, it often looks like watching a lopsided slinky at play. Mature boars often move with purpose and just walk in like they own the joint... crash crash snap crash snap, right out into the open, munch munch munch.

Much as I don't like saying it, your gut will tell you quite a bit as well. I watched a bear feed for 2 consecutive evenings, probably 4-5 hours total. I was confident it was a sow... but is it alone? I eventually did catch some glimpses of a couple football sized black fur balls messing about, probably 15-20 yards deep into the brush. It was only a few glimpses here and there after 4-5 hours of staring. Would it have been legal if I had taken the sow? Given the wording "accompanied by", maybe? But would I have felt like trash and considered giving up hunting? Probably. Definitely take your time and there is something about listening to your gut much as I don't like indefinitive things like that.

If I would define it, a bear that feeds in less optimal places it could be feeding, sticking closer to cover (20-30 yards) starts getting suspicious. Dang another 10-15 yards out is a way better bounty of feed? Like HT said, one can potentially pass up boars by being cautious... I probably pass on 80% for one reason or another (not the ideal shot, too hot out and too much uphill retrieval, etc) and it can be hard to tell... but 8 out of 8 bears I have harvested have all been boars, so there must be methods to my madness. I just wish I could articulate it better.

Just tracked down the video of that sow... here it is. Shaky video, sorry for that. I'd been watching for a couple hours about 100 yards away through the binos, but it was getting dark, had to walk passed the momma there and figured I'd film. No zoom here. I'm about 10-15 yards from her and I know there are a couple cubs 15 yards or so back in the brush there and my hands were covered in mosquitos. Not many people are dumb enough to stop to film in such scenarios but I am


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyYNRM51S90

It was actually the next day after I filmed that, boar snapped the sapling in the picture a few posts ago. Harvested that boar and it was a fine one. No doubt would have killed those cubs. Funny enough half way through processing said boar she was clacking her jaws at me maybe 40 yards away. I was just shouting stuff like "hey there calm down little lady, did ya a solid, happy mothers day". I think that's the only time "telling" a female being to "calm down" worked out well for anybody :D It's bad mojo in most cases, but jaw clacking is just "your too close, making me nervous", hollaring back anything just says "yeah i hear you. im doing my thing, dont care about you, get used to me eh, we'll keep this distance"

Great vid, and very good points as well... ya when they do that weird nervous jaw popping sound it's weird... oh and one thing I've read, though haven't spent enough time watching a sow with cubs is, they say she'll be looking around more often than a bear without..

[HarryToolips]

Thanks for the pm Harry, appreciate that.
I've had a couple of encounters with deer, that your adrenaline just spikes and want to shoot as they we're bucks. But one i bumped and was running so didn't want to take that shot! And the other was in any whitetail buck season, but 4 point muley season in September. That one i watched for about 10 minutes as it stood facing me in some thick bush was a 2 point, but my gut was telling me it was a muley so not legal. Finally it bolted, put glass on it when it finally stopped.... was a whitetail! But i was happy with myself that i didn't pull the trigger.
So i pretty much like to go with the gut feeling, even though you might not want to right.

I would honestly hate myself if i shot a sow, then cubs popped out. Can imagine that would be a terrible feeling!

I joined a live webinar couple of weeks ago, that hunters for B.C put on. Was a 2 hour slideshow and discussion on field judging the sexes on Black bears. Most likely watch some of that again tonight.
Ive read numerous books, listened to countless hours of podcasts on the subject. Obviously I'm not going to be a bear field judging pro, but i feel it's give me a good idea of what to look for when trying to determine the sex of a bear.

From all that info that I've digested, boars walk like they own the place, ears are smaller and appear more button like on the side of there heads. Can have a crease in there forehead and there chest hair seems to hang further down to the ground. Plus what you guys mentioned, and obviously more.

As for sows, they seem to walk a little more cautious, looking around more and there ears appear on top of there head and also bigger.
There butt seems to be more rounded, like they resemble a pear shape ��
An interesting point i heard was sows can have a ruffled patch of hair on the top of there neck where the shoulders meet almost looks like feathers, they described it as if they have had a bad haircut! If that makes any sense.

Pretty cool video there, and yeah i don't i would be recording in that situation haha!
A couple of years ago i was driving down an FSR up by Williams lake and had a bear run out in front of the truck across the road and upto in the verge.
I stopped to just get a look at it, turns out it was a sow with 2 cubs up in a tree behind her, she huffed a little bit at me which was interesting to see. But i left pretty quickly after that, i didn't want to piss her off anymore!

You're welcome, and you're an ethical hunter by the sound of it, good on ya for passing on that buck..

[HarryToolips]

So little update, 1st area on the way to Vernon.
Found some sign, but not enough to warrant me sticking around for to long.
2nd area i found some very old scat, but nothing real fresh.

3rd area this morning, found a nice series of medium ish size cutblocks. Road is de activated at top, with the road winding round the cut block.
Road from top to bottom has plenty of clover and the cut block some nice patches of green.
Found 7 fresh green scat piles about the size of dinner plates along the top of the road.
Question is.... should i set up tonight just outside but in view of that cutblock and wait for yogi to pop out?
This is the only real idea i can think of

Your strategy sounds good to me, if it's a deactivated road, then all the better, I find busy FSRs they'll get scared off, but then return eventually.. cover that ground with your binos a plenty..

[Lukebc86]

Thanks for the quick replys guys.
I'll be heading out shortly for a sit and some glassing

[caddisguy]

So little update, 1st area on the way to Vernon.
Found some sign, but not enough to warrant me sticking around for to long.
2nd area i found some very old scat, but nothing real fresh.

3rd area this morning, found a nice series of medium ish size cutblocks. Road is de activated at top, with the road winding round the cut block.
Road from top to bottom has plenty of clover and the cut block some nice patches of green.
Found 7 fresh green scat piles about the size of dinner plates along the top of the road.
Question is.... should i set up tonight just outside but in view of that cutblock and wait for yogi to pop out?
This is the only real idea i can think of

That sounds just about perfect... road deactivated at top and then some good cover. And those big green scats confirm.

I can't see the area, so I can't say what the best approach is (ie: sit and glass, vs poke in and out) ... is the area big enough you would need to glass to see bears? (just trying to get an idea how big and open the area is)

If you can figure out where they are actually feeding (nipped grass, dandelions, etc) that would narrow down the area to focus on.

When I find places where it is obvious bears feed, I really like to sneak into those areas and if I don't see a bear, sneak back out and try again an hour later, rinse and repeater. I find I bump into way more bears that way. But that's just me and the areas I hunt. Every person and every place is different.

Great job so for though, you narrowed down your area of focus to one that is quite viable. Now with the tricky part out of the way, it's a matter of luck and time.

Try to pay attention too what the thermals do in that area. Generally the "wind" (thermals) start going up an a couple hours after dawn and a couple hours before dusk, but there are all sorts of variables in different terrain... if you can figure that out and mental note it, it might help you figure out good times and approaches for sneaking in.

[Lukebc86]

Well, i got back yesterday from my 1st proper bear hunt. As in actually focusing and going for a spring bear, not just having a tag in my pocket. Was staying at a buddies place who is in Vernon. He's been hunting for a while now but mainly deer, not Bear. So perhaps more of a proper bear hunt for both of us for the 1st time.

I was thinking of sitting in the cut and waiting for something to come out and have a nose around, feed etc. As in my last post. Spoke to my buddy on his thoughts.
And we decided to go upto where all the sign was, where the road was de activated.

We sat for a while, nothing was happening. Curiosity got the better of us.
We crossed the road where it had been de activated. And walked up the road, with our* heads on a swivel. Well at least i thought mine was. Wind was in our faces constantly reminding myself....check the wind, walk slow and be quiet,
just slowly looking around looking down for sign.
Out of nowhere, buddy goe's bear, bear, bear! I'm looking around can't see it! Finally....i saw it! There was a bear to my right in the thick shit!
Only about 30 yards away, don't know how i didn't see it. I tried to get a good look at it but, by the time i did, it bolts about 100 yards over to the right uphill slightly but stops. Buddy starts wailing on a predator call....it stops! I push around and in a little, super thick bush with some openings but could hardly see it. Still wailing on the call, i continue to push round to get sight on it. Eventually when i do see it it just bolts outta there. Perhaps finally winded me. But was incredibly fun for a 1st time. And when it did kinda present a broadside shot, it was around 300 yards away. Not comfortable shooting at that distance. But was awesome!

So we regroup, decide to walk a little further up. Notice the road was super wet/moist with clover everywhere. Suddenly about 400 yards away another bear, head down just munching away on the clover. Again lucky with the wind in our faces... we decide to close the distance.
Hugging the rock face to stay out of sight, crossing a couple of creeks. Then eventually belly crawling into about 70 yards.
We watched it for about 15 minutes eating and working it's way closer to us.
But it was on the smaller side and we we're pretty sure it was a small sow. Thinner legs, bigger ass and the ruffed feathered neck. Also had more of a feminine face to it.
So he hit a predator call to get it's attention, bear looked up, and just took off down the slope and into the timber.

So we head back, couple of burgers and beers. And try to figure something out for tomorrow.

Following day, went and poked around some other spots. found sign no bears.
Decided to go back to this spot, have a sit and some lunch in the truck.
Was starting to get warm, it was around 28 degrees. So decided to leave and come back when it cooled down.
But not even a minute into our drive for a new spot somehow i spotted a black blob near a tree (normally a stump ) ��
There's a bear, so we watch it for a bit. There's no other bears/cubs around so it was alone, looked more butch aswell.

This bear was only about 50 yards away at most, didn't seem to care about us at all.
So after watching it for a little bit. Decided it was a boar, so we slowly went round to the side for a broadside shot, took a knee...deep breath and counted to 3 and slowly pulled the trigger! (We decided to both shoot it just incase) Bear just dropped in its tracks off the back side of this stump.
Very grateful to my buddy, who took the short amount of time, but seemed like a lifetime to calm me down, move the truck and make sure everything was good.... Rifle on safe and i was ok.

So we went slowly to check it out, gave it a poke with the barrel of my rifle and it was done.
Straight, heart shot and a decent exit hole is what we found, it didn't even go 5 yards. Just fell off the back of the stump.

But what with the weather getting hotter, we didn't want to waste anytime with pictures.
But with it laid out on the tarp it was roughly just over 5 foot long i would say.
We just had to get in there and get it skinned and gutted on a tarp i had.
Which was quite an experience for me as I've never done that, But it went well. And again the patience my buddy had with me to point me in the right direction on skinning and how to gut it the best way possible. Honestly would have been a tough one to deal with for a 1st time solo.

But it didn't spoil and i wasn't put off at all either by the process. I got in there with my hands removing the guts etc.
Got it into my cooler with ice, back to his place and got it ground up, wrapped and in the freezer the same night. Was a long day,but an amazing one I'll never forget!

We had a rough guess at age, at around maybe 4 years old.
Showed the head, teeth to a few family members who hunt and guessed it to be around 4/5 years old. (Not sure if this helps but the teeth we're about 2 inches long)
So not a monster but it was a boar not a young sow. So I'm super happy with it and our judement on it.


All in all, was a great trip. Learned so much from you guys on what to do, and not what to do. What to look for and just to get out there and explore. And also from my buddy, the patience, the awareness and reaction of me shooting my 1st big game animal. And in general just being a solid dude!

I'm extremely tired and a little sore,from the hiking and long days.
but wouldn't change it for the world!
Time to search for a bigger boar in the fall, along with perhaps a deer if I'm lucky.

Time to enjoy some bear meat!!
(I'll try to add some pictures of what i found from the trip)

Thanks again to everyone who commented on this thread, hope it can help another newbie bear hunter in the future.

[savage10]

Awesome story man congrats on the first bear!

[HarryToolips]

That's awesome Luke congrats! Look forward to the pics and, don't forget to enter it in the contest...

Cheers

[Lukebc86]

Thanks, story kinda went on and on hopefully i didn't make anyone bored haha!
I'll have to log on through my laptop tomorrow and upload some pics. Didn't get any of the bear as a whole, as the temps we're getting into the high 20's and was super paranoid about it going sour.
But got a good pic of the head. And various sign i found.
So I'll post those pics tomorrow
I'm officially hooked on bear hunting

[caddisguy]

Thanks, story kinda went on and on hopefully i didn't make anyone bored haha!
I'll have to log on through my laptop tomorrow and upload some pics. Didn't get any of the bear as a whole, as the temps we're getting into the high 20's and was super paranoid about it going sour.
But got a good pic of the head. And various sign i found.
So I'll post those pics tomorrow
I'm officially hooked on bear hunting

Not at all! That was a great write-up Luke.

I was just thinking "Hmmmm.... I wonder how that hunt turned out, dude was seeing green piles, I'd be surprised if he didn't get one!"

Came on here just to track down the thread and happy to have a nice story to read while sipping some coffee.

Well done!

[bottles]

Congrats. Looking forward to some pics.

[Lukebc86]

Thanks guys. Saw 4 in total got busted by 2, 1 was way to small and i was sure it was a sow. But got the other.
I haven't got alot of pics.
Was very hot, and kinda just got into the process of getting him cleaned up and cooled down.
Not the biggest, but my local taxidermist says he looks to be around 4 to 5 years old.
Anyways I'm over the moon that i got one

[wideopenthrottle]

great job....super hunt by the sounds of it....it is a bonus to get game when you have a great hunt like that...glad to hear the work part is so enjoyable for you ...im sure you learned a bit about butchering too...even when you grind it all...

[fearnodeer]

Wow what an exciting hunt you had, I am sure this is the first of many to come for you, congrats and enjoy.