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Author Topic: Bear Advice......  (Read 2325 times)

Offline westside103147

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Bear Advice......
« on: August 04, 2015, 08:19:05 PM »
I've hunted hard for 3 seasons trying to connect with a bear. Unfounatly the area I've scouted during the off season is closed due to fire danger. So I'm back to hunting public land, I was wondering If any of you old salts have any advice to help me connect with a bear this season.

Thanks,

Westside

Offline Turner89

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Re: Bear Advice......
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2015, 08:38:49 PM »
I'm not an old salt yet :chuckle:, but I'll tell you what I do.
 I believe bears are everywhere......at least where I live. Go out find a clear cut that has some blackberries on it. Try to get one that's on the side of a hill, and stay on the high side, so you can see everything below. Get comfortable,  and wait. Keep your ears open, because most of the time ill hear them before I see them. They have woke me up from some awesome naps :chuckle:.....the main thing is patience.   I think they are by far the easiest big game animal to hunt.  Good luck.
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Offline tgomez

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Re: Bear Advice......
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2015, 10:27:24 PM »
Find berries and water sources in the same draws, hunt clear cuts and areas with slash piles and old stumps. Use your binoculars and as mentioned LISTEN carefully. Bears are noisy, and alot of the time squirrels will get loud and very vocal around a bear. Alot of the time you will see them raking berries with their pads and claws from a distance. It's like a giant sign waving back and forth saying here I am. When you see a bear, there is no question you will know immediately. That's when the adrenaline goes from 0 to 100 real quick. Keep the wind in your face and you can sneak into range pretty easily. Good luck on your hunt. :tup:
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Offline bankwalker

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Re: Bear Advice......
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2015, 01:10:16 AM »
I love to hunt steep terrain, either high elevation blueberrie patches around the olympic national park boundary. Or in the tree farms.

The high elevation blue berry patches are pretty self explanatory. Find the berry patches with good vantage point above them to watch. 

In the tree farms i find steep draws with clearcuts that have vantage points across a draw. I never ever hunt them from the same side. All of my spots are pretty good distance shots 300 yards to as far as I feel comfortable. Usually 650 yards +/-
I try to Find a 4 to 10 year old clear cut with salal throughout it (salal berries hold for a long time we'll into late October/early November) and other berries. It's easy to find clear cuts in steeper terrain that are still covered in salal...not sure why but the ones I hunt are blanketed with salal. Those berries really bring the bear in during October.

After I find the terrain I'm looking for, and the berry sources I'm looking for.
The 3rd thing and most important in my experience. I look for bear damage. Torn up stumps, rolled over logs, dug up roots, etc etc.
I look for old and recent damage.
It's my experience hunting these clear cuts That I've never seen a bear on a hillside with berries but without there being alot of damage aswell.
I've spent hours watching amazing hillsides with tons of berries and never seen a bear. But just a 1/4 mile away I'll see bear regularly on a hillside with very little berries and a decent amount of damage. (These 2 particular spots are on the same valley, on the same side of the valley, and I sit at the same spot to watch both clear cuts, then move to a shooting location)

As soon as I switched up and started hunting these types of areas I've had multipe opportunities the last 2 seasons. Missed a few short shots I'm not proud of...bought a new scope that was better setup for the terrain and distances I'm hunting. put in the trigger time last spring/summer and connected with my first bear last October with 100% confidence at the distance I shot.
Makes me less proud about those shots I missed the previous year that were half the distance lol :bash: 

Offline MountainWalk

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Re: Bear Advice......
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2015, 02:11:52 AM »
All that above is good solid advice, and I'll use them methods with some variances. But I've killed more than a few bears and all my big boars down in the crick bottoms.  Not all cricks lend themselves to easy huntin.
    On a map what I look for is a crick with a ton of fall at the head, but flattens out quick. And two opposing hillsides/ridges, both very steep. I like one solid wall opposing an irregular one with lots of fingers.
   Seems like to me this yields a crick bottom that's flattish, grassy,holds salmonberry and thimbleberries,  and lots of tall horsetails.   These places are pinched in and are bomb travel corridors. Should see trails shooting up both hills. Its nice and cool and airy, plenty o cover, but not exceedingly thick. Should see crushed down horsetails in plain to see trails. You can ambush em and be aware because they make a racket. Sometimes not!. ,


   Hope this helps some.
The way that you wander, is the way that you choose
The day that you tarry, is the day that you lose

Offline MountainWalk

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Re: Bear Advice......
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2015, 02:22:06 AM »
Another shot.
The way that you wander, is the way that you choose
The day that you tarry, is the day that you lose

Offline MountainWalk

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Re: Bear Advice......
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2015, 02:29:25 AM »
Lots of Times hangin out near a good used scratching tree.   Sometimes them grasses and such will hide even the biggest ba'r. So always be at port arms when your cruising.
The way that you wander, is the way that you choose
The day that you tarry, is the day that you lose

Offline bankwalker

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Re: Bear Advice......
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2015, 10:13:56 AM »
I know a few areas as you describe. I've never paid much attention to bear sign. I'll have to go on a few hikes soon and check them out

 


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