Spring bear- what are they eating?

[Rob]

I have a friend who has a spring bear tag he is trying to fill.  What are Spring bear on the west side focusing on as a food source this time of year?  (other than peels)

[woodman]

I have posted pictures of them eating grasses on the site recently. I also have found them tearing into stumps that are crawling with ants and such. I also am putting a picture here of some scat and a bear track right along side of it. The scat has berries in it. This picture was taken a couple of days ago.

[headshot5]

Grasses, berries and trees.   In the lowlands (costal) the salmonberries are ripening fast.  Otherwise they are eating grasses, trees.   Of course fawns and elk calves are getting hit pretty hard right now I imagine. 

[h20hunter]

PM sent Rob....also, I've been seeing some salmon berries begin to look good as well as heard reports of bears going for more protien...tearing up stumps and what not. Some of the most sign I've personally seen is off the roads and into the timber where the bears are using the trails to go from area to area looking for food. If I was hunting I'd be looking for nice areas then bushwhacking a bit into the brush and super slow hunting the game trails.

[Rob]

Great info guys, I will pass this on.

H2O, thanks for the PM!

[sled]

  I Have Recently Seen Some Poo.  Looks Like Mainly Grass, Trees, And Have Seen Salmon Berry Bushes Picked Clean.

[billythekidrock]

One year in mid June I found a bear track on the edge of a logging road and followed it into the brush, taking pictures of everything it ate or encountered during it's meanderings. This was in the Capitol State Forest at 850 feet of elevation.

Here are some of the items it was feeding on.

Black Berry


Salmon Berry


Devils Club Seeds


Bear Poop w/ Salmon Berry & Devils Club


Torn Logs / Grubs & Bugs


Bee's Nest


Salal Buds


Currant?


Flower


Wild Rose


Blue Huckleberry


Red Huckleberry

[billythekidrock]

These pics were taken at about 650 feet in the Capitol State Forest in early June of 2011.

These beds were within 40 yards of a grass patch.


Bear eaten grass.

[sled]

  Stomach contents From My Bear This Year.  Grass, And cambium Layer.

[billythekidrock]

Mid June 2009 at 800 feet. These poo piles were found next to a bear bed on the edge of a clear cut.

Bear poo with fawn hoof.


Bear poo with fawn skull plate.

[billythekidrock]

Spring bear guts from Capitol Forest end of May.

Cambium and grass.


Grass and flaggy.



Skagit spring bear mid May.

Grass and Salmon Berry blossoms.

[Rob]

Wow!  That's the best data set of spring bear food I have come across.  Thanks much!