bear question....and story!

[HuntingFanatic]

When do cubs leave their mother? I am going out for bear \ deer this week and this was just one of those questions I had. I do not want to shoot a bear with cubs...but can see a scenario where I would not have alot of time to make a shot. Just curious???help!

[PWN Kurt]

Sometimes after 1 year, sometimes after 2.

You just need to keep an eye or ear open for 2nd or 3rd bears in the area.  If you see or hear multiple bears, likely its the mother with cubs.  Most of the time you hear them before you see them.  Cubs can be invisable in shrubs and tall grass.

You should have more time to make the decision on the shot if you're in a stand or on a perch.  If you don't have enought time to evaluate the target, don't shoot.

Good luck, and let us know how you do!

Kurt

[billythekidrock]

From my experience it is about the middle of the second year. I have actually watched a sow run off it's young and then make a hasty retreat. So if a sow had a cub from this year then she would still have it unless it died. If you happen to kill a sow with a cub this late in the year there is a great chance it will survive.

[HuntingFanatic]

Thanks. This was just one of those questions that run through my head as I try to sleep. Im never a shoot first check second kind of hunter. I will be walking some over grown roads.....so Ill be sure to keep my ears alert for dem little buggers!

[HuntingFanatic]

OK heres the story. Really want to get a blacktail AND a black bear. So......of work at 130 pull up to the gate at 350. I have been in this area a few times but really wanted to explore a certain road. First half hour Im not speed walking...but Im not excatly crawling at a hunting pace either. This road goes through a couple of old clearcuts. Pretty overgrown. This summer I was pretty sure there was some new logging a ways down the road so I wanted to check it out. I had been creeping along for about 40 minutes.....when all of a sudden....theres a bear 110 yards away!

My mind is racing.......first thing I thought was ....oh *censored*! Then I was looking\listening for cubs.....then oh *censored*! Then I thought about how everyone says bears are tough to field judge. I concluded that this was a good sized bear.....brownish color too! I couldnt believe the length of its legs! I decided to shoot. And so I did!

He was broadside maybe angled a little towards me.....BOOM!(5:10 PM)

He sits back and spins away from me......angling off the road in the direction he was headed. I saw him for maybe 15 yards before the slight bend in the road blocked me from seeing him. I heard two distinct loud crashes. Then silence.......

Fudge.....I was so jacked up! My gut feeling is that I yanked it high left. I sit down,  have a smoke and calm myself down. I was able to see where he spun on the road and by 2 or 3 steps he was off the road. And the trail lost! I looked for blood.....found none on the road at all and where he went off the road I couldnt find any either. I rubbed so many damned red leaves! Every other leaf was colored so it looked like it had blood on it! I go back through the sequence again. Where I shot from, where he was when I shot, and where I last saw him. I was able to find where he headed. About 40 minutes had past I decided to poke my head in just to see. I quickly decided that IM NOT GOING IN THERE! I am meeting my dad first thing and going to see what we can find.....if anything.

Having a restless night for sure!

[saylean]

Good luck on the search. Do some circles around where ya shot...careful in the brush..he may have just ran a little into cover and piled up (due to only hearing a few crashes). Bears are tough to find blood on.

The bear I shot last year, took 2 of us three hours to find, it was only about 30 yards in the brush from where I hit it...no blood until we got just about on top of it and she was hit in the heart with a .300 wsm. Also, use your nose...lots of times you can smell em (in the thick stuff) before you ever see em.

Good luck man!

[Mama Bear]

did you and your dad find anything?

[HuntingFanatic]

Well.We spent all morning working our way around steep, dark and thick stuff. We were able to find his path. But after covering every nook and cranny thats all we were able to find .....his tracks going deeper and higher. About 20 yards up from the road ontop of the steep enbankment there was a large path of rotten logs covered in moss. He went right through them. Im thinking that answered the question about the silence.

This was my first bear encounter and I learned alot from it. My gut says I sailed it over his back. Im happy because I felt I did all I could to recover this bear IF it was hit. Im pissed because I rushed the shot. I am really happy that I am expanding my hunting.......22 years of hunting deer and nothing else. No more! Im hooked!

[saylean]

Thanks for the effort put forth. Better luck on your next.

I know what ya mean about expanding hunting...I just got into bear hunting 3 years ago...and love it!

Yotes are also a recent addiction....

[billythekidrock]

I started bear hunting because I could take the family camping in the nice weather of August. It has expanded my time in the woods which has allowed me to enjoy more of the wildlife and scenery of WA. It started a passion that will not go away.

[deaddog]

Thanks for the effort put forth. Better luck on your next.

I know what ya mean about expanding hunting...I just got into bear hunting 3 years ago...and love it!

Yotes are also a recent addiction....

dog hunting sucks ,i would just stay away from that

[billythekidrock]

Thanks for the effort put forth. Better luck on your next.

I know what ya mean about expanding hunting...I just got into bear hunting 3 years ago...and love it!

Yotes are also a recent addiction....

dog hunting sucks ,i would just stay away from that

Yes, that can be a down right sickness.