Feedback from guys who know what they are doing :)

[Heetor]

Hey guys, I was hoping to to get some feedback from the experts on bear calling, and bear hunting in general.  I moved to Whatcom country last summer from Tennessee, so I am pretty new to the area and bear hunting.  Though I am really getting passionate about it as this is a very challenging hunt.

I have shot a couple of bears over the years up in northern Canada, where I go on a moose hunting trip every year, but those were more target of opportunity kills when I stumbled across one.  I have quite a bit of experience hunting moose, deer, elk and hogs, but bear is new to me, I had never set out to go bear hunting specifically before last year.  I spent a lot of time studying bear calling, reading posts on the site and info online, watching youtube videos on calling techniques, and scouting likely spots within a hour of my house, (based on the little I had learnt).  I made it out for bear a total of 6 day trips last year, had a great time getting beat up by the terrain, but no shots fired.

Had a really nice bear at 650 yards once, but couldn't get any closer to him, and spotted two feeding in a valley on another trip.  I think I may have almost called one in last year as there was a lot of thrashing in the bush about 50 yards behind me after I had been calling for about 15 minutes, but never got a look at whatever it was.  I guess not bad for a first year at bear hunting, I had some action on about 3 out of 6 trips, but sure would like to pull a trigger.  I did get 2 deer, a moose and a hog last year, so it was a good season overall but would have been better with a bear .

I have been back at the research and scouting trips through the summer this year, and have what I think is a nice spot ready to go, (this is the valley where I saw bears last year in the late fall).  I have found a trail where I only have a 1 mile hike into the valley from where I can park my truck, previously my trail  was a couple of miles over the mountain, so making 3-4 trips to pack a bear out would have been a tough job.

Been out two Saturdays this month, and tomorrow will be my third.  It has been so awful hot and dusty up there and the flies have been just miserable the first two trips, but I got a little action the first time out.  I was about halfway to my spot, (1/2 a mile from truck in heavy bush pretty high up), I stopped for a 1/2 hour to do some calling overlooking  a little clearing maybe 300 yards wide and 100 yards deep.  Not sure why, just looked like a good spot and I needed to rest.  I put my back against the hill, it was steep and my spot had a good view of the clearing as I called.  Second series of calls I heard a grunt behind me and I spun around to see a black bear looking at me 20 yards up the hill, (I was looking down), my spinning around  spooked him and he tore into the bush, never even got my rifle up to my shoulder.  Kind of gangly long legged looking bear, so not a trophy but not a cub. 

A good experience as it confirmed there is at least one bear in the area I am hunting them, (I have found a lot of chewed up trees and stumps, but they look older, not much scat), and whatever inept calling I was trying did get him interested.  My second trip I didn't see anything.

Ok if you are still reading now for the pointers I was hoping I could get some feedback on.

Calling tips
I have been using a primos fawn call through the entire season, but I have heard/read that it might be a better idea to use a fawn call in the early season when there are actually fawns, and a jack rabbit or elk call later in the season.  Though I am not sure about the elk call as we don't have elk in the area I hunt.  I also have an Alpha Dogg electronic call from Primos for coyote hunting in the off season, there are a lot of fawn calls and every other animal call for coyotes, I am wondering is this might work for a bear.

   - Any thoughts around best time of year to use different animal calls?  Fawn in early season/Jack rabbit in fall?
   - Anybody ever try an electronic call for bear, if so what sounds seem to work well?
   - Cadence, I call for 15, quiet for ten call for 15 etc.  Does this make any sense, just something i have been doing after watching some videos, but other videos say call for a half hour at least.


Location and time of year
I am sure this is a matter of opinion, but hunting on public land there are always a couple of other trucks around.  One of the reasons I go to my valley is that it is tough to get into, I have never seen another hunter heading that far back off of the road, but both trips out this year I have seen trucks parked by the trail that goes down to the river.  This has me thinking that early season, (I found my spot late summer last year so I never started going up high until mid-september), people seem to be hunting the bears down by the river, not sure if this is low country hunting or hunting the river specifically.  I have never seen any bears in the low country, but it has me wondering with the fish activity in the late summer early fall, or possibly the heat, are the bears down there.

    - Any thoughts about hunting the rivers or low country in the heat of summer or when there is spawning going on?  Seems obvious, but I have never seen anything down low and it gets crowded with other hunters so I would like to avoid it if I can.
    -  All of the sign seems old where I am hunting (up high), ripped stumps and scratched up trees, and not much scat.  It really seems to be telling me that the bears are not in the area this time of year, but I saw one two weeks ago up high and coming down to me, and I saw a few bears in my late fall trips in the area last year.  From what I understand bears are pretty territorial, i.e. they don't go miles from their haunts to get into the low county at a certain times of the year.  Am I on the wrong track here?
   -  Really I am wondering if I should join the crowd around the river this time of year or keep hoofing up my mountain, could be guys are down there because it is such a easy hike down the hill

Learning a little form someone with more experience 
Maybe it is just me as I usually hunt alone as I can make less noise and it is easier to plan, but it sure would be nice to tag along with someone who knows what they are doing.  If anybody is up for a trip in the Whatcom county area let me know if you want to head out together.  I would gladly drive, buy gas and shoot second to be able to learn a little from some guys that have more experience with these north west bears.  Anyway PM me if you are up for it.

[furiouzgeorge]

Great questions! I look forward to the responses as I'm curious about some of the same stuff.

[shorthair15]

hopefully bearman ric or saylean will chime in. they do alot of calling for bears and are very good callers.  hopefully they chime in soon to answer your questions .good luck with the calling .i do alot of bear callling but i dont consider my self a expert. if you want some good bear calls contact bear man ric i have 4 of his calls they work good. more then a few members on this website have calls from bear man ric. check his website or give him a call.

[grizzlyadams]

    - Any thoughts about hunting the rivers or low country in the heat of summer or when there is spawning going on? 

Stay away from the fish and skunk cabbage eating bears down low. Stick with the high country berry eating bears. The meat is 100 times better. At least to me....

[BOWHUNTER45]

Good area ...lots of bear !

[saylean]

First off, check out callingbears.com.

Now for your questions, and take it with a grain of salt, as I am no expert and bears teach me things everytime I go out.

1. Calling tips: Time of year, what call?
Well, whats going on in the woods that time of year? In the spring, calves and fawns are being born....try that and see what responds. If you do several sets without results, switch it up with something new, like jack rabbit, or even coyote pup distress. In the fall, try an older sounding distress, like a deer is caught by yotes, or make just generally hurt....
Also, always remember, just because you dont see anything ( or even hear it) doesnt mean something didnt respond.
Last time I went out, I called in a yote and bear, both of which crossed the road 75 yards behind me to the left...only reason I knew I called them in was their tracks and scat in my footprints.

Electric calls:
I have used them, never had much luck...I am definelty more of a hand caller.

Cadence:

Very often, bears will only move in, WHILE you are calling. You stop calling, they pause, you start up, they start walking....I have noticed this several times and it has been confirmed by several veteran bear hunters. I have had 4 bears that I know of, stalking to under 40 yards, some as close as 15 yards, do this very behavior...3 of the 4 I never saw, but my brother was watching them come in on me. Bears can take an hour or more to come in. If I dont get much action after 45 or 55 min...I usually stop and just sit quietly for another 15 min or so...sometimes things come in after the ruckous has stopped.

Location/time of year: FIND FOOD SOURCES, FIND BEARS. Number 1 rule. If it is hot out, check creek bottoms, brushy cool draws etc. I prefer not to even hunt when it is hot out...but rather wait till dusk when bears come out to feed. Around here, for me, mid to late sept is the golden hour for bears and berries. Dont get discouraged by others in the area, just keep plugging away and find some spots by using your legs.
Also, one of my honey holes, hunters blow by all the time....on their way up to the hills...they never stop to consider, hey, all this brush and trees and water and cover is a perfect spot! Look for spots that have food, cover, water and little pressure and you should be good.

Bears will travel where they need to, to get food. However, you could find them in the same areas year after year, if they find a nice berry patch they like to frequent. We all have our fav restaurants right?

Best of luck....read up on the bear forum posts, stories, how to's, etc...get out and hunt, make mistakes and learn that bears can melt away into the brush as quick as a deer. They are an awesome animal.

[CAMPMEAT]

The call sound I have had the best luck with was a cub bawling. I just call and call and call more until I turn blue in the face. Then I call more. The few bears I've called in were in mid morning 9 ish to noon. But then I go home because I already called one in. I've used RRcalls, Primos Little Dawg and Randy Andersons, Tweety. I've had good luck with all 3.

[WA hunter14]

how important is scent and cammo when calling bears? i went out twice a few weeks ago(when i was calling there it was very hot like 90s) in a area where i have found fresh scat for years and found it again this trip(first time i have hunted it though,normally i hunt less promising areas), tons of clawed up trees a dead moose tracks in the mud. but i make six stands and did a few amount of glassing and no bears? this has happened to me the past few years, i go out alot every year waste tons of gas and time and never see a bear? i use premos lil dog hand call and a foxpro on fawn distress, coyote pup, snowshoe, jackrabbit,(i try not to use the e caller too much because i feel its too quite) pretty much everything, i wear camo pants and jacket camo hat(i do not wear cammo over my face like i do when i coyote hunt). but i havent been watching the wind much untill recently, i call in areas where you can see between 40and 75 yards. i dont wear scent killer. can anyone tell me what im doing wrong? is it just the scent thing? if so what do i do to best control scent?

[rebal69972]

Taged

[billythekidrock]

I used a Burnham Bros C-3 Long Range call for many years and more than half the bears I have called have come to that call. But I found that I could buy 3 of the same calls and each would sound different. If the sound is not right then I am not confident. Now I am buying new reeds for those calls as well as making my own calls with the sound that I want. Don't get me wrong, I think that bears will come in to any distress sound, but I have a sound and style I am confident with. Being confident is key when calling any animal. If you are not confident with the situation you will be less likely to stick with it or be ready when necessary.

If cold calling, call for a minimum of one hour, two are better. If you can see the bear and it does not respond to the call, try to get closer and try again only harder and louder.

I start out with a low cottontail distress tone and cadence. I will call for 30-60 seconds and pause for 10-20 seconds to listen. I will repeat this sequence for about a half hour, rapidly bringing the volume up to a loud squall.

I feel the key is to sound as lost/scared/hurt as possible and then sound like an animal is being torn apart. Emotion is key. You need to convey the pain and distress that prey do when being attacked. My stands usually last one hour minimum and one time as long as 4 hours.

[CAMPMEAT]

I never have used camo or scent. Levis and hickory shirts is what is use........ ...

[Heetor]

Guys this is great stuff, exactly the kind of pointers/discussion I was hoping for

I went out this Saturday and headed up the mountain, tried two clearings on top with my Alpha Dogg E call.  Didn't have nay luck up there, it was really hot and I was drenched in sweat all afternoon/evening, then I headed down in the dark.  Didn't see any bear, but did have some coyotes come in at dusk.  There seemed to have been bear in the one spot during the week, there were two freshly ripped apart stumps that I don't think looked that way last saturday.  Some old scat, but nothing looked new or moist.

Worked the fawn in distress call for an hour, tried jack rabbit in distress for an hour, then tried rodent for an hour, in both spots.  The rodent brought a hawk and some crows in, and the fawn brought the coyotes in, but no bears. 

Interesting comment on cammo and scent control, I'm used to still hunting Turkey and Whitetail in the south, so we are pretty obsessive about scent control and cammo.  I have seen whitetails sniffing me down wind at over 100 yards before, and turkey spotting me and taking off at 50 when I was so still I was scared to blink, so I may be a little too paranoid for bear.  I use scent away every couple of hours form head to toe, red fox urine on my boot soles before moving around, cammo from head to toe including face net, (when I am sitting, I hate that face net).  Sounds like it may be a little overkill, but better safe than sorry when you are trying to figure out a new critter.

Anyway good pointers on this stuff, thinking about how tough the heat was on me I can only imagine the bears in their fur coats.  I think I am going to try a new spot for a few weeks to take some pressure of of the mountain top for a while, maybe until it cools down a little.   I have what might be a promising spot I scouted last year, but haven't been in there since, It is about half way up the mountain, back in the bush a 1/4 mile, off of an overgrown logging trail.  Very shady and cool, and there was a large stream running through a clearing, (or was int he fall when it was rainy), and some heavy thick bush off of the trail.  The clearing is about 70 yards wide so there should be some room to setup, not sure about food sources though, I wasn't looking for the right things when I was in there last year.

As far as experiences with the E call, not much to be learnt on one trip, but I didn't have any bear action on it, possibly I was keeping the volume a little low.  I cranked it right up to give it a try near the end of the afternoon, and thats when I had the birds and coyotes, not sure if it was from getting the call loud or because it was starting to get dark and they were more active.  I think you have to get it loud, but those things give you an awful headache when they are blaring `

Anyway I am off to the Peninsula for opening weekend of archery deer, then off to the Southern coast the next weekend for archery elk, so it is going to be a few weeks before I can get back to the business of this madness called bear hunting   I am thinking next trip out the focus will be on scouting for some cooler thick spots back in the bush instead of the older logged out clearings in the heat of the sun.  Having a bit of a better understanding of what to look for with respect to food sources will help, and I am going to play with both my jack rabbit and fawn mouth calls, as well as my E call, maybe I will try a set with the bear cub distress call, I didn't realize that bears could be cannibals

[jgoetz]

While I am new at this one thing I learned this weekend....  even if you can't find berries around the bears sure can.  I have been hunting the same general area all season and have not seen very many berries.  But all the scat I am finding is telling me a different stroy.

[Bofire]

Bear noses are supurb but they can't see for crap.  Calls work, electronic and mouth.
Bear tastes like what it eats.
Carl

[jrebel]

Need to follow and read when I have more time..Tagged