Your best tip, for the new bear hunter?

[syoungs]

Anyone care to share their favorite tip for the new bear hunter?

Ive never targeted them before seriously, this will be my first real go at it come September 1st. Gear is going through a shakedown run this weekend, rifles are ready to run, ammo is loaded, "no bait just bears" has been read more then once, Map from Bearpaw is on the way....

Now I just need some wisdom 

[DOUBLELUNG]

Find food sources, usually berries in early fall but can be cornfields, fruit orchards, acorns.  Find fresh bear poop.  Be very, very patient, find a good vantage and grid it out with good quality binoculars.  Look at every dark spot, even if you've looked at it 10 times already.  Shoot for the top of the heart, be sure you can locate the exact spot where the bear was when you shot.  Get to that spot, preserve the location (GPS, flagging, etc).  If you don't find any blood or hair, keep looking!  Bears often don't leak much blood, and they can auger into the most obscure thick patch of vegetation imaginable to die.

[sled]

I like to walk/sit then repeat on logging roads with blackberries on the sides.  If there is a bear feeding in them nearby you will hear, or see the bushes on top moving.  They are very loud when feeding.  I can't sit still very long, but I also like to sit over a clearcut for a while.

[cooltimber]

When you see does with fawns,pay attention,My best time's have been 8;30 and 3;30. they can see better than you think,watch the wind. move slow..
    high heart shot is correct.

[RadSav]

Pigeons!

[syoungs]

Pigeons!

Hmm... will 3 cut it?

[justyhntr]

Pigeons!

Look for the birds , if the berries are in then there will be a ton of birds , if your early or late there will be less birds. Also taste the berries , the better the taste the more likely the bears will be there . We found an area last year that had a ton of berries but they tasted terrible , there were no birds or bear but just over the hill the berries tasted great , lots if birds and lots of bear .

[syoungs]

Ok, pigeons make more sense now! Thanks for the tips so far!

[bracer40]

I was stumped by the pigeons reply. Thanks for clarifying.

[Bofire]

They can be very hard to see, the slightest shadow hides them. Try calling one in. MAKE SURE OF YOUR SHOT and watch closely they almost always run a little then hide out.
Carl

[kellama2001]

tag

[h20hunter]

Go slow, listen, then listen some more. In my exp they are shy but noisy buggers. Be ready and make the shot count. Personally,  i go for bone, high shoulder base of neck if you can.

[JimmyHoffa]

tag

yeah, let's hope they get a bear tag. 

[hoytem]

If you smell the strong odor of wet dog stop look and listen for a few minutes.

[huntingaddiction]

Get high in the evenings.  Most bears I have seen are feeding up into the clearcut not down.

[elkfins]

Get high in the evenings.  ...

Doesn't that make it hard to aim straight?

[L8NITE]

Be patient...Be patient...Be patient...So far in the last couple weeks seen two different sows with (small) cubs!!! If you dont get a good clean shot right away dont rush it! Bears are really cool animals as said previously they are really curious as well. You can watch them walking down old logging roads and they will go in and out of the brush numerous times! So if you dont get a shot right away sooner or later he will present himself for a good clean shot. I have seen guys rush the shot to many times and make a bad shot...nothing worse then trying to track down a poorly hit bear in the thickest brush you can imagine.
Good luck this season

[huntingaddiction]

Get high in the evenings.  ...

Doesn't that make it hard to aim straight?

Lol Probably makes you scope with a rifle

[RadSav]

One of my favorite methods, and likely my most successful, is to show up at a berry bowl around 11:AM.  Find a nice vantage point, throw out a small pad and take a nap.  It is my belief that your mind listens while you sleep.  Because when I wake up and there is a bear in the bowl it seems to be the very first thing I look at when I wake up.

Your scent pool is smaller, your quieter (unless you snore), and you aren't moving around.  Complete peace in the surroundings seems a real benefit when dealing with med to late fall bear.  When calves and fawns are dropping that can be different, but once the berries become the main food source absolute serenity becomes high on the priority list.  And no better way I know than to get there early and sleep.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

 
Seems like a page right out of Ralph Flowers book..

[Eli346]

I get some of my best naps in the woods!

[7mmfan]

  Always sleep like a baby in the woods. Better than I sleep at home in my own bed often!