First time bear hunter... Looking for advice from the wise

[tyrant27]

Hey fella's,

So early this morning before dark, my friend and I got out to this spot in a clear cut to glass it for a while. Once it got light enough to see I found a herd of about 15 elk tromping around and some looked to be bedded down. After they left we went to go check the area they were at. On the way over I found some bear scat on the ground that looked to have a bunch of blackberry seeds in it. However, it seemed to be pretty old... Still pretty cool for me though. After searching some more we found some blackberry bushes and tons of fresh elk sign... Obviously haha. Well anyways, we started walking down dirt roads that didn't look to get much action on the human side.

As we were traveling down these roads we started running into lots of bear scat on the ground and right off the old dirt roads there was an abundance of blackberry bushes with ripe berries and other types of berries that I don't know the names of. Most of the bear scat was pretty old, a couple days, maybe weeks. Most of the scat we found had berry seeds and a few had fur in it. Then we came upon scat that looked pretty new! Still soft and everything.

After traveling the roads for a while, we started breaking brush. Of course here in western washington, it's damn near impossible to walk through that crap. Not to mention the TONS of noise you make. That being said we weren't finding any sign out in the brush. However we did jump that herd of elk we saw in morning. And they all came stampeding right in front of us. A pretty cool site to see.

So after a long day of hiking around we started our trek back. Taking the old dirt roads we came in on. As we were walking we came across new scat that we didn't see on the way in and it was fresh!

So here is were my question comes in. How do you all hunt your bears? Are you breaking brush walking around through all that junk making tons of noise? I was thinking of just setting up on stretch of that old dirt road and overwatching it waiting for a bear to cross. Is that a good idea with all the sign we found there? Or would setting up in that clearcut be a better idea, even though we only found one old pile of bear scat? I feel like we are on the right track. Just would like to get y'alls input. Any input is appreciated.

Thanks

[LittleHunter]

 I'm no expert but in years past when i have found that much bear scar in a area i would set up a few trail cams in the area to see if i could get some kind of pattern on them. I usaly dont go braking brush when i hunt for them. They have really good hear and sence of smell but there eye sight ain't the best and pulse there a little weary anyways. If at all possible i would try to get to a place you could glass the area. The more area you can see at once the better. That's what use to work for especially when you find fresh scat and sign. Theres something in there that's keeping him there but having said that I'm no expert and having a really hard time this year finding fresh sign. Hopefully the guys that know way more then me will chime in and put their two cents in. But its sounds like you found a good spot. I'm still trying to shoot my first bear after hunting for them for 9 years and I'm really bad at judging the size of them. Good luck to you and hope to see a bear pic.

[CAMPMEAT]

Get a predator call, either hand held or electronic and use it. Be patient when you use it. They're sneaky and slow at times, to come into the call.

[h20hunter]

I'm no expert either but I'll share what helped, got me, my first bear. Persistance, patience, and boots on the ground. I hunted for two seasons with the intent of shooting bear. I wasn't deer hunting with a bear tag just in case. One morning, third season,  it just came together. I was walking and listening, heard something, had the wind right, kept quiet, the bear came out, I got the shot and ended up with a bear. It was some what luck, some what being in the right place right time, conditions just came together, and it pretty much seemed to easy. Sounds like you are clearly in some good area. I'd just keep hunting, put those boots to work, and move very slowly. My ears have helped me with bear hunting just as much as anything. I've been told, and believe it, that the first is the hardest. Heck, I've only got two so please don't consider me any type of expert but I hope that helps.

[liljozie495]

Park a mile or 2 away and walk in to that clear cut in the dark and sit and wait eventually I'm sure it'll make it into that clear cut

[tyrant27]

Thanks for all the tips. Went back out today after work. Set up on that clear cut until sundown and only saw doe coming out.

I'm thinking about trying out a predator call. Any sounds that work better than others? Fawn distress, rabbit distress, cubs? Might get an electronic one on Amazon or something.