I'm new here, spending this season walking and learning. Concentrating on learning about bears because it's the something we couldn't hunt on a regular basis back in Michigan, and seems like Washington has some great opportunities for it.
My starting point is learning about food sources. Ive covered a lot of ground this summer and fall so far, and have been pleased with the amount of sign I've found. Have yet to actually see a bear, but haven't been doing any actual hunting. One thing I'm curious about that doesn't seem like it's been covered here much is snowberry. There's a particular area on the east side I've found that isn't particularly high - around 3000ft. I don't think its high enough for blueberries or hucks, and not low enough for blackberries. One thing that does seem to grow is snowberry. I've found some fresh crap with a lot of the berries in it, but they don't seem to be very well digested, almost the entire berry is visible rather than just the seeds. When I've picked some of them (from the plant, not out of the crap) and smushed them up, they don't seem to be a very high quality berry. So my question is - are these a low-quality bear food? Obviously they are eating them, but is it more because that's the only thing around, or will bears focus on them at certain times?
Thanks for any help.