Last weekend I went hiking/camping into some alpine with the intention of scouting for deer and black bear. It was an 8 km hike, 1/3 of it being on a blocked off logging road and the rest bushwhacking and following a game trail up into the alpine. On the way in I noticed Black huckleberries appearing at around 1450 m then there were literally fields of them either side of the road climbing towards 1650 m elevation at which point they got thinner with the occasional ripe blueberries as well. Along the road and on the game trail heading up through the thick stuff there was no shortage of fresh and old sign; deer, moose, wolf and lots of different bear tracks, especially easy to see where the bears had walked down the soft slopes either side of the road. Up in the Alpine there was some sign around the small lake I checked out but minimal compared to down lower.
In the few days we were camped I didn’t see a single deer or black bear, the only animals glassed up was a Sow Grizz and adult cub 1.5 km away traversing the top of the opposite mountain that turned tail back the way they came when they got a whiff of our scent.
I guess the deer weren’t up eating the grass in the alpine because they had so many pockets of meadows and clear cuts down lower. Obviously the black bears weren’t anywhere to be seen because all of the best feed was down at 1600 m.
On the drive out we bumped a small black bear that ran across the road.
My question is regarding tactics for hunting this kind of area this time of year and predator calling bears. Since there was so much bear sign in the area but it’s obviously impossible to spot bears without walking through random thick bush in hopes of bumping a bear, I was thinking it could be a good idea to try a fawn in distress call to bring them in if they are around. Would it be a good idea to walk up into the back of one of the old cut blocks down the road or a walkable drainage in a cut block with my back to a slope with no brush behind me for a good vantage point and back protection? I could call along the game trail or on the road heading in amongst the berries but I think that isn’t safe since a predator could get really close without seeing it first, especially since it’s grizzly country as well.
I’m assuming that morning and afternoon is the best time to see and call bears especially in the heat of September but is it still worth calling during the day to kill time? Oh and say I want to call in a cut block is it a good idea to park my truck far away and walk to where I want to call instead of parking close on the road or are bears not too fussed about parked vehicles?
It was a 2 hour drive along fsr’s to get to the spot with many more turnoffs and roads to explore, would it be worth driving along the roads at dawn/dusk and maybe during the day glassing drainages that should hold berries at the same elevation I found them, then moving into stalk or call the bears closer when spotted?
Attached is some photos including some bear scat that I assume is full of grass that’s been washed by rain, at first I thought it could be hair/bone fragments.
thanks
Last edited by down_under; 08-30-2024 at 10:44 PM.
I shot a griz while calling moose with a calf call. Several times I have had griz come into the cow call as well. I imagine a fawn distress call should work, just watch out for the "G" bears.
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I shot a griz while calling moose with a calf call. Several times I have had griz come into the cow call as well. I imagine a fawn distress call should work, just watch out for the "G" bears.
mm
Yeah, definitely gonna have to be on the lookout for Grizz.
I think you are on the right track. Fall bear hunting can be a bit of an opportunistic thing as there are so many more spread out food sources than in the spring- plus spring is bear mating season so boars are on the move.
But if you have identified a good food source and see lots of bear sign, then bears are in the area. They just may be hiding from the heat in the daylight hours.
So calling them might pay off as even an overheated sleepy bear may be tempted by a nice easy protein snack. I would try to get a little elevated up a hill over the berry patch if possible. Good luck, and be sure to report back!
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I think you are on the right track. Fall bear hunting can be a bit of an opportunistic thing as there are so many more spread out food sources than in the spring- plus spring is bear mating season so boars are on the move.
But if you have identified a good food source and see lots of bear sign, then bears are in the area. They just may be hiding from the heat in the daylight hours.
So calling them might pay off as even an overheated sleepy bear may be tempted by a nice easy protein snack. I would try to get a little elevated up a hill over the berry patch if possible. Good luck, and be sure to report back!
So I’ve got something to report back on!! Headed out to the same spot on Sunday… I would’ve headed out Saturday night to be there for Sunday morning opener but had to pick up my new Tikka 30-06 and run some other errands late Saturday night. So we left Sunday morning, got out there at 10 and spent half the day sighting in the gun and doing a bunch of target practice.
When we were out there last weekend as I said there was tons of sign from all different animals and this weekend the place was packed with people from the start of the fsr all the way out back to where I scouted and I didn’t see a single soul last time so that was a bit disconcerting. When we got close to the spot there was a bunch of hunters on dirt bikes parked up on the side of the road then when we were heading up the skinny road that led to the spot for an afternoon hunt, 5-6 guys on quad bikes were leaving lol. So I said bugger that and parked up back down the road in the middle of a big cut block that was a good spot for a morning glass over some other cut blocks. We went for an afternoon glass/still hunt to the top of the cut block and didn’t see anything so we sat on a log on a bit of a rise with a good view all around and I started calling… called for a good hour or more but a bunch of times guys on dirt bikes zipped around us and above us so I only kept to it to get some practice in.
This morning I woke up before sunup with the plan to glass the cut blocks opposite to us then head down to the spot with all the sign to go for a still hunt and call before it heated up to much. I glassed for a short time not seeing anything and had the feeling I should’ve been walking down the road at dark to hunt the area in prime time so we quickly packed up and headed down to the spot, parked the truck halfway along the road instead of driving right up to where the road was impassable for trucks incase we spooked anything.
Walking in the wind was perfect, blowing nice and light and in my face. Well…while we were walking nice and slow along the road taking care to not make any noise a fella on a dirt bike came riding around us, I’m sure he didn’t think we looked very happy lol. It was surprising to me that people would bother riding their quads or bikes up there for a day hunt unless they were getting closer to hike into the alpine because the road is a dead end and on the ride in you would most likely spook anything on the road with the noise too quick for a shot and give your wind up to any animals in the area. Anyways..I thought the hunt was as good as over then and was thinking why the guy didn’t turn around and try somewhere else like I did the previous afternoon when I seen the guys on quads…but still I thought we may as well persevere to not waste a weekends effort so we hiked a while longer along the road then jumped off it to hike into a few clearings near a creek that I found on iHunter, also another 3 people come past on dirt bikes after the first guy 😂.
Anyways we crossed the creek and actually found a well used moose game trail leading to the largest clearing that looked like it had been harvested a long time ago with lots of regrowth, I set up in the middle with my partner nervously watching my back bear spray and bear banger in hand 😂, and called for the next 30-35 minutes doing mostly fawn in distress with the occasional high pitched jack rabbit. To be honest after seeing the dirt bikes come through and still hearing them the whole time, I was giving it a good go but deep down I wasn’t optimistic at calling anything in and it was getting a lot sunnier as well. After that I decided to go explore the moose trail in hopes of still hunting something along the way. The trail went for a short while back across the creek at another point and into a small meadow sort of between two creeks with a line of trees and creek on the right side and a bit of a longer field of vision on the left but not ideal. I was suggesting we head back to the truck but my partner said it looked like a bear-y sort of area and that we should call a bit longer, so we stood in the middle of 3 Christmas tree sized pine trees and I let it rip for another 20-30 minutes, it was getting quite hot and sunny now and in between calling sequences we were talking about heading back a few times lol.
Now here comes the action!! Oddly enough this all happened the one time my partner was taking a video of me blowing on the call (she actually got my eyes opening wide when I seen the bear on video). I was scanning one way while she was looking the same way because she was taking the video then I turned back to the right and locked eye to eye with a tank of a black bear boar at 5 metres, he was coming across the wind at a steady pace with his head turned to the side looking/smelling for the fawn, perfectly broadside. This was the first big bear we had both seen up close and especially this close! So needless to say my heart was racing, I raised up the rifle as quick as I could but the bear was so close it spooked, huffed at us then meandered off. I blew on the call to see if it would come back in but it was too late. We were kicking ourselves that the one time we were not perfectly focused, this happened. It would’ve been an awesome first black bear for me and so much meat! It sucked not getting the bear and had I seen it come in it would have been a perfect point blank range broadside shot. It was an awesome experience and pretty cool that after only calling all up 2 hours of so over two days that I called in a bear and a nice one.
Some lessons I’ve learned from this experience is that while calling you need to be scanning really thoroughly the whole time and if there are two of you then no diverting attention away from the task at hand and keep at it, I was blowing on the call for 30 mins not far from where the bear come in and was about to chuck it in when I tried again for another 30 so an hour all up, chances are that bear could’ve been coming from a ways away and the first sequence is what got him interested. Bears are quiet!! We didn’t hear/see this big fella until the last second. I was expecting to here lots of crashing through the brush on his way in although I was blowing hard on the call when he was in front of me, I guess bears come in quiet because they don’t want to blow there chance of spooking the prey or a bigger bear moving in, and definitely need to get to locations that you want to call at first light to make the most of the cooler temperatures and bear movement.
Definitely got me jacked up for this hunting season! Anyone think it would be a good idea to go back to the same area in a week or two and expect to possibly encounter the same boar since there is a lot of berries around? Or maybe he got too spooked and will be wised up on fawn in distress looking like hunters for a while lol.
So I’ve got something to report back on!! Headed out to the same spot on Sunday… I would’ve headed out Saturday night to be there for Sunday morning opener but had to pick up my new Tikka 30-06 and run some other errands late Saturday night. So we left Sunday morning, got out there at 10 and spent half the day sighting in the gun and doing a bunch of target practice.
When we were out there last weekend as I said there was tons of sign from all different animals and this weekend the place was packed with people from the start of the fsr all the way out back to where I scouted and I didn’t see a single soul last time so that was a bit disconcerting. When we got close to the spot there was a bunch of hunters on dirt bikes parked up on the side of the road then when we were heading up the skinny road that led to the spot for an afternoon hunt, 5-6 guys on quad bikes were leaving lol. So I said bugger that and parked up back down the road in the middle of a big cut block that was a good spot for a morning glass over some other cut blocks. We went for an afternoon glass/still hunt to the top of the cut block and didn’t see anything so we sat on a log on a bit of a rise with a good view all around and I started calling… called for a good hour or more but a bunch of times guys on dirt bikes zipped around us and above us so I only kept to it to get some practice in.
This morning I woke up before sunup with the plan to glass the cut blocks opposite to us then head down to the spot with all the sign to go for a still hunt and call before it heated up to much. I glassed for a short time not seeing anything and had the feeling I should’ve been walking down the road at dark to hunt the area in prime time so we quickly packed up and headed down to the spot, parked the truck halfway along the road instead of driving right up to where the road was impassable for trucks incase we spooked anything.
Walking in the wind was perfect, blowing nice and light and in my face. Well…while we were walking nice and slow along the road taking care to not make any noise a fella on a dirt bike came riding around us, I’m sure he didn’t think we looked very happy lol. It was surprising to me that people would bother riding their quads or bikes up there for a day hunt unless they were getting closer to hike into the alpine because the road is a dead end and on the ride in you would most likely spook anything on the road with the noise too quick for a shot and give your wind up to any animals in the area. Anyways..I thought the hunt was as good as over then and was thinking why the guy didn’t turn around and try somewhere else like I did the previous afternoon when I seen the guys on quads…but still I thought we may as well persevere to not waste a weekends effort so we hiked a while longer along the road then jumped off it to hike into a few clearings near a creek that I found on iHunter, also another 3 people come past on dirt bikes after the first guy .
Anyways we crossed the creek and actually found a well used moose game trail leading to the largest clearing that looked like it had been harvested a long time ago with lots of regrowth, I set up in the middle with my partner nervously watching my back bear spray and bear banger in hand , and called for the next 30-35 minutes doing mostly fawn in distress with the occasional high pitched jack rabbit. To be honest after seeing the dirt bikes come through and still hearing them the whole time, I was giving it a good go but deep down I wasn’t optimistic at calling anything in and it was getting a lot sunnier as well. After that I decided to go explore the moose trail in hopes of still hunting something along the way. The trail went for a short while back across the creek at another point and into a small meadow sort of between two creeks with a line of trees and creek on the right side and a bit of a longer field of vision on the left but not ideal. I was suggesting we head back to the truck but my partner said it looked like a bear-y sort of area and that we should call a bit longer, so we stood in the middle of 3 Christmas tree sized pine trees and I let it rip for another 20-30 minutes, it was getting quite hot and sunny now and in between calling sequences we were talking about heading back a few times lol.
Now here comes the action!! Oddly enough this all happened the one time my partner was taking a video of me blowing on the call (she actually got my eyes opening wide when I seen the bear on video). I was scanning one way while she was looking the same way because she was taking the video then I turned back to the right and locked eye to eye with a tank of a black bear boar at 5 metres, he was coming across the wind at a steady pace with his head turned to the side looking/smelling for the fawn, perfectly broadside. This was the first big bear we had both seen up close and especially this close! So needless to say my heart was racing, I raised up the rifle as quick as I could but the bear was so close it spooked, huffed at us then meandered off. I blew on the call to see if it would come back in but it was too late. We were kicking ourselves that the one time we were not perfectly focused, this happened. It would’ve been an awesome first black bear for me and so much meat! It sucked not getting the bear and had I seen it come in it would have been a perfect point blank range broadside shot. It was an awesome experience and pretty cool that after only calling all up 2 hours of so over two days that I called in a bear and a nice one.
Some lessons I’ve learned from this experience is that while calling you need to be scanning really thoroughly the whole time and if there are two of you then no diverting attention away from the task at hand and keep at it, I was blowing on the call for 30 mins not far from where the bear come in and was about to chuck it in when I tried again for another 30 so an hour all up, chances are that bear could’ve been coming from a ways away and the first sequence is what got him interested. Bears are quiet!! We didn’t hear/see this big fella until the last second. I was expecting to here lots of crashing through the brush on his way in although I was blowing hard on the call when he was in front of me, I guess bears come in quiet because they don’t want to blow there chance of spooking the prey or a bigger bear moving in, and definitely need to get to locations that you want to call at first light to make the most of the cooler temperatures and bear movement.
Definitely got me jacked up for this hunting season! Anyone think it would be a good idea to go back to the same area in a week or two and expect to possibly encounter the same boar since there is a lot of berries around? Or maybe he got too spooked and will be wised up on fawn in distress looking like hunters for a while lol.
Digging the story / write-up there. Thanks for sharing the excitement.
If you're set on going after a fall bear it wouldn't hurt to go back. Not sure the elevation or anything and how the berries will be doing there in a week or two from now.
Like Gate said... fall bears can be a bit more of an opportunistic venture. I've taken lots of Spring bear but never a fall bear. I have seen a few though, just never a decent opportunity and never bothered to really put in an effort. For sure it can be done if you're keen on it. I just find bears are easy pickins in the Spring and I try not to let them distract me from deer in the fall.
Digging the story / write-up there. Thanks for sharing the excitement.
If you're set on going after a fall bear it wouldn't hurt to go back. Not sure the elevation or anything and how the berries will be doing there in a week or two from now.
Like Gate said... fall bears can be a bit more of an opportunistic venture. I've taken lots of Spring bear but never a fall bear. I have seen a few though, just never a decent opportunity and never bothered to really put in an effort. For sure it can be done if you're keen on it. I just find bears are easy pickins in the Spring and I try not to let them distract me from deer in the fall.
The Ripe Huckleberries were definitely looking a bit shrivelled this time because of the warm weather. Any idea when the berry crop usually finishes? I think this spot had lots of sign and definitely bears after seeing this fella because the cut blocks and even similar areas on the map nearby were void of bushes with fruit on them. Lots of stunted/dried out looking plants from the warm summer I guess.
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