Back Country Bear

[milldozer]

Planning on doing a few day bear trip in August with buddy of mine.  Have never gone specifically after bear before.  Any tips as far as hunting tactics and how hunting bear may differ from deer? 

[2MANY]

Depends on where you are going.

[CAMPMEAT]

Predator calls work great. Any crazy sound I've made brings them in if they are in ear range.

[X-Force]

Bear wont necessarily bed down in the middle of the day. The will be cruising toward or already in shaded areas that have food. Northern and western facing slopes probably closer to the creek bottom then the ridge line. If you have your trip planned and on the way up you pass tons of berries and when you get to your destination and there are no berries, turn around and get to the lower area that is holding food.

[couesbitten]

If berries are ripe and you're in an area where you can glass open hill sides, I would recommend spot and stalk.  Last August 23-24, I backpacked about 10 miles into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and saw 13 bears, a couple of them were BIG!  The berries were ripe and the bears were all nose down eating without a care in the world, looked like cattle grazing in a field.

[milldozer]

Thanks for the replies guys.  I will keep that in mind.

[heronblu]

Your technique is going to depend a lot on where you are hunting. If you are E side and you can see for a mile its a glassing game. If you are on the W side among the reprod and the slash (where I hunt), scouting is crucial. Find a good food source (berries will certainly be happening). Also look for cambium feeding on young trees. I haven't had good luck calling in my area, so tracking has been my method of choice. Bears have insane sense of smell so pay attention to the wind and your scent. Their vision is about as good as ours so if you are stealthy you can get close enough to get a shot off.

[Jonathan_S]

Hunting tactics aside, you need a darn good plan for getting a bear out in time before the meat spoils.  They go quick.  Especially in warm weather.  They aren't like deer or elk.

[shanevg]

Here's some good videos to give you an idea:

list=PL84D433C91089479E&index=5

list=PL84D433C91089479E&index=2

[Jonathan_S]

Eh, what do you know about back country bear hunting Shane?

   Good stuff 

[heronblu]

Hunting tactics aside, you need a darn good plan for getting a bear out in time before the meat spoils.  They go quick.  Especially in warm weather.  They aren't like deer or elk.

I usually wait for a spell of cooler weather before harvesting if I can.

[milldozer]

I'll be on the east side, and running pretty high.  Went on a scouting trip a few weeks ago and saw a really good bear.  And I believe there will be berries when the time comes.  How long is not long to get a bear out?  If I wasn't able to get it out same day, or needed two trips, I'm thinking of bagging and stashing in a creek to keep cool.  Any reason that wouldn't work?

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Creek will work or shade near a creek!

With two guys you shouldn't have any issue getting a bear in one trip.


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[xXLojackXx]

Creek will work or shade near a creek!

With two guys you shouldn't have any issue getting a bear in one trip.


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[sirmissalot]

We packed a bear out 9.9 miles in one trip last year, me and a buddy and that was with camp and all, but it wasn't fun! Swore I'd never do it again...  we'll see about that.

I had a bear bone sour on a 90 degree once. Two of us got it out and to the truck relatively quickly, to town skinned quartered and in a cooler and it was still too long.