Best time of day

[TrkyBob53]

Never hunted bear before.  I have seen them in the fall deer hunting and in the spring turkey hunting.  Is morning till mid day about it?  Or do you stay out all day checking clear cuts?  Trying to plan a trip.  Thinking bear in the morning and turkey in the afternoon. 

[JM]

What unit did you draw?

[xXLojackXx]

What unit did you draw?

Aren't they all open statewide?? 

[billythekidrock]

Never hunted bear before.  I have seen them in the fall deer hunting and in the spring turkey hunting.  Is morning till mid day about it?  Or do you stay out all day checking clear cuts?  Trying to plan a trip.  Thinking bear in the morning and turkey in the afternoon. 

If I was bear hunting I would probably not actively hunt turkeys. Think ROI and think effort versus reward. If I was going to turkey hunt it would be mid day and bear hunting mornings and evenings.

I would hunt all times of the day and wouldn't spend a lot of time hunting clear cuts. Bears will feed off and on all day at this time of year and often won't feed far from their bed. A good food source will often have more than one bear actively using it.

[Ccortez]

For spring stay away from clear cuts and I've seen more bear between 9-3

[TrkyBob53]

Never hunted bear before.  I have seen them in the fall deer hunting and in the spring turkey hunting.  Is morning till mid day about it?  Or do you stay out all day checking clear cuts?  Trying to plan a trip.  Thinking bear in the morning and turkey in the afternoon. 

If I was bear hunting I would probably not actively hunt turkeys. Think ROI and think effort versus reward. If I was going to turkey hunt it would be mid day and bear hunting mornings and evenings.

I would hunt all times of the day and wouldn't spend a lot of time hunting clear cuts. Bears will feed off and on all day at this time of year and often won't feed far from their bed. A good food source will often have more than one bear actively using it.

that's the kind of info I was looking for. My son and I drew Douglas 108.  We won't be hunting turkeys when trying to find a bear.  Thanks for the info.

[RadSav]

Between my wife's spring bear draw and my own last year we saw far more bear in the evening than in the morning.  However, I did shoot my bear in the morning.  That has not held true for everyone I talked to up there, but it did for us.

I saw far more turkeys in the morning hours.  But we heard them gobbling all day in the thicker brush.

[sled]

Never hunted bear before.  I have seen them in the fall deer hunting and in the spring turkey hunting.  Is morning till mid day about it?  Or do you stay out all day checking clear cuts?  Trying to plan a trip.  Thinking bear in the morning and turkey in the afternoon. 

If I was bear hunting I would probably not actively hunt turkeys. Think ROI and think effort versus reward. If I was going to turkey hunt it would be mid day and bear hunting mornings and evenings.

I would hunt all times of the day and wouldn't spend a lot of time hunting clear cuts. Bears will feed off and on all day at this time of year and often won't feed far from their bed. A good food source will often have more than one bear actively using it.

  What Would Be The Better Option Rather Than Clearcuts?

[Ccortez]

Never hunted bear before.  I have seen them in the fall deer hunting and in the spring turkey hunting.  Is morning till mid day about it?  Or do you stay out all day checking clear cuts?  Trying to plan a trip.  Thinking bear in the morning and turkey in the afternoon. 

If I was bear hunting I would probably not actively hunt turkeys. Think ROI and think effort versus reward. If I was going to turkey hunt it would be mid day and bear hunting mornings and evenings.

I would hunt all times of the day and wouldn't spend a lot of time hunting clear cuts. Bears will feed off and on all day at this time of year and often won't feed far from their bed. A good food source will often have more than one bear actively using it.

  What Would Be The Better Option Rather Than Clearcuts?

I didn't know he was talking about the east side I've never hunted bears on that side but on the west side best option is to find swampy areas and trees that are about 20yrs old. Also older roads that don't get much/no traffic on it that has a lot of grass on it as well.

[Turner89]

Never hunted bear before.  I have seen them in the fall deer hunting and in the spring turkey hunting.  Is morning till mid day about it?  Or do you stay out all day checking clear cuts?  Trying to plan a trip.  Thinking bear in the morning and turkey in the afternoon. 

If I was bear hunting I would probably not actively hunt turkeys. Think ROI and think effort versus reward. If I was going to turkey hunt it would be mid day and bear hunting mornings and evenings.

I would hunt all times of the day and wouldn't spend a lot of time hunting clear cuts. Bears will feed off and on all day at this time of year and often won't feed far from their bed. A good food source will often have more than one bear actively using it.

  What Would Be The Better Option Rather Than Clearcuts?

I didn't know he was talking about the east side I've never hunted bears on that side but on the west side best option is to find swampy areas and trees that are about 20yrs old. Also older roads that don't get much/no traffic on it that has a lot of grass on it as well.

[Expedition Scout]

Hunted all my bear on the east side and have shot every one between 10 am and 2 pm.

[jackmaster]

6pm to dark, or first thing in the morning, hope we get to see some pics prety soon, good luck

[arees]

Just to be the exception that proves the rule, I shot my west side bear in the middle of the day and he was standing in the middle of a recent clear cut.  I don't know about other bears, but that one did not understand the correct schedule.

[billythekidrock]

Just to be the exception that proves the rule, I shot my west side bear in the middle of the day and he was standing in the middle of a recent clear cut.  I don't know about other bears, but that one did not understand the correct schedule.

Was it spring season? If so, was it closer to opening day or the end of the season?

[arees]

Just to be the exception that proves the rule, I shot my west side bear in the middle of the day and he was standing in the middle of a recent clear cut.  I don't know about other bears, but that one did not understand the correct schedule.

Was it spring season? If so, was it closer to opening day or the end of the season?

It was May 17. That year I only saw one bear before that even with putting in lots of time. Suddenly on the 17th the bears were everywhere.

I think I spooked our local bear out of the brush near our archery range last night. I never caught sight of him, but I think it was the bear from the sound of him bulldozing through the brush. It was something large, moving fast and breaking brush.  The local deer just watch me shoot.

[Girl Gone Hunting]

Between my wife's spring bear draw and my own last year we saw far more bear in the evening than in the morning.  However, I did shoot my bear in the morning.  That has not held true for everyone I talked to up there, but it did for us.

I saw far more turkeys in the morning hours.  But we heard them gobbling all day in the thicker brush.

I agree with RadSav. I hunt the eastern part of the state and definitely have seen far more bear activity in the evening. My last bear was shot just before dark....he first came out onto the ridge I saw him on 45-60 minutes before dark (so it was a race to get to him before it got too dark). I have taken a total of three bears, two of which were in the evening. The other was at about 11:00 am-ish (two of these bears were Idaho).

I have sat out glassing ALL day many times and although I have seen a few bears at all times of the day, by far the majority have been in the evening. On warmer days, I wouldn't expect them to be out and about much during the heat of the day.

[lablover]

I shot my bear at 9am. Last year while helping my hunting partner and his wife with their tags, I saw far more bear at first light than any other time. They were following the sun down to the bottom of the draws to the shade. That being said we did see animals moving all day. Don't completely ignore the clear cuts all together, keep your options open.