bear scouting in squamish on weekend

[olympia]

i went scouting for black bear yesterday, i realize the chances for harvesting one were low because its a zoo on the long weekends, i first headed up mamquam fsr and went almost up to the snow line to check things out, on the way we saw a cougar and what i think might have been a grizz but he ran off so fast i couldnt tell. Im wondering why I didnt see any scat at all from top to bottom. I also went into the ashlu valley and went up a dirt road past the campers and dirt bikers where we knew people wouldnt be called cloudburst mountain, again no scat no prints no nothing. Whats going on here? I should have at least seen scat. I was born and raised in Squish and I remember bears were everywhere by now, as children we used to chase them with our dogs , I was talking to a local there and he said by now he should have had them coming into his yard and pooping everywhere but has not seen anything. What do you guys think is going on?

[adriaticum]

Squamish has grown rapidly for the past 5-10 years. That might be pushing bears away.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry is up there camping every weekend.

[chinookkiller]

its a heavey hunting pressure area and i think had been over harvest.

[davet]

your lucky you saw a cougar.

[longstonec]

I work near Pilchuck lake and had one black blubber bear bounding blissfully by my bumper into the berry bush ... and somebody dropped a big bear butt bomb in the middle of the road just past the nunnery in the last day or so. So they do exist...

[TheProvider]

I woukdvsay over harvest. Plenty of bears taken every year. The wise old bears staff away from the roads

[proguide66]

'If anything' its due to education . Studies have proven that human predation on blacktail deer in reg2 does NOT have a direct effect on deer numbers. I would imagine the same would be for black bears..pretty tough to 'shoot out' a jungle. As with all game , education due to predation is enough to keep bears educated enough to avoid roads ect where they have seen their relatives get wacked or maybe even get preyed on ( unsuccessfully) themselves. It may be hard for some to picture or believe , but its easily proven. You can go to Whistler village in the summer and see a piss load of bears walking around....then go hit the nearest mainline 15 min away and see zero...and if you do , its doin mach5 in the opposite direction of you. Myself and the local bear outfitter up here have taken note that 'some' areas we used to see a 'guaranteed' number of bears each go , seem to hold nothing now..but lets face it , you keep hammering on your 'go to' spots or 'typical' spots you 'easily' see bears , the bears catch on and avoid them. The bears are still there !!! they are just 'wising up'. Ive found over the years that the #1 best time to catch a BIG boar seems to be the last week of May , first week of June. The big boars are full rut then. After June 15 ( up here) seems bears are everywhere....prob cause no ones trying to skin their ass!!! lol and they know it. side note , I have seen maybe 3 piles bear shit this spring ( not really looking yet) and seen about 10 bears.( again , not really looking yet).

[sneg]

agree . it is not what used to be. i do not waste time for bears there anymore

[TheProvider]

Steve beat me too it. The rut is gonna heat up real soon and that will help. Theyve also logged a s#it load on the mailine of the mamquam. Got to get off the main roads. If you like hunting cuts they have to be a few years old so theres browse in it for the bears. I havent been out yet. Probably will start this weekend

[albravo2]

i've seen a few already this spring, but before the season opened. mainly ashlu and squamish river. only one i've seen since season opened was a small cinnamon yearling on the indian lands.

[slyfox]

Saw 2 up there on the long week end.

[rcar]

You should have headed to your new Cariboo area. Was up for a few days and saw lots of scat and sign. Hunting was tough because of the weather but after a week, went home with a nice chocolate. Have a good partner to thank.

[870]

If there's one thing I've learnt it's that it's worth driving or hiking in extra hour to get off the beaten path. When I started hunting I thought that I could get an easy bear in squampton but no sucess. But if you drive 3-4 hours out of vancouver there are bear everywhere and few guys out hunting them.

[RB2]

Had one in my driveway 2 nights a go. Put 2 holes from its teeth right through my " bear proof" garbage can and almost did bust the lid off. It did get some garbage out. Also saw a monster Downtown on the way home from work at 1 am.

[bcshadow]

I agree too, but have tried further up in the Pemberton area and seen quite a few there. Good road on left, 1/2 mile before Pemberton town.