Berry timing

[7mmfan]

I'm planning a trip up into the alpine where we hunted with great success last year in September. The berries were in full force, even on the downslide at 5400' where we were in mid/late September. My only weekend in August to get out is the weekend of 8/9 so I wanted to head up that way but I'm pretty sure that berries will either just be starting, or maybe not even in yet at that point. There are some places in the area that we could see berries down to about 4500', but they're fairly difficult to access.

So I guess the question is, is it worth heading to my high spot that early, or will it just be a vacant lot at that point? Side note, I did see bears at this elevation 2 weeks ago, but they were clearly eating something other than berries. Do they migrate downslope as berries start to ripen?

[bearmanric]

Huckleberrys is red on the Coast. Lots of cascara Berry’s this year should be great in august.

[7mmfan]

But those are significantly lower elevation correct? I'm thinking blueberries above 4500' elevation. Exposed south/east faces. Am I realistically looking at Sept 1 as the real kick off date for berries at that elevation?

[Jonathan_S]

I wouldn't say kickoff, probably decent berries still particularly with this being a later year. Depends on where though. Some years "my" berries at 6500+ are all dried up by Sept 1

[mountainman]

Huckleberries should be prime. Blueberries more into September. Down lower the chokecherries late August and elderberries early September. But sure hitting stumps now! Saw 3 sunday

[jstone]

What side of the mountains do the berries grow better?

[Moe the Sleaze]

8/9 is one week too early, IMO. They'll JUST be getting started. 4,200'

[7mmfan]

I wouldn't say kickoff, probably decent berries still particularly with this being a later year. Depends on where though. Some years "my" berries at 6500+ are all dried up by Sept 1

I think you're berries go a little earlier than Cascade berries. I was up in this area 2 weeks ago and there was still several feet of snow in a lot of places.

[jstone]

North South Slopes?

[7mmfan]

In general south slopes. North slopes I would expect to come on a little later by the nature of their aspect. I read some good trail reports from the area I'm hunting where people began finding berries about that time, August 8/9/10, but people that got there more around August 20-25 found ample berries. Guess the 8/9 trip will be a good scouting trip and maybe we'll get lucky and see a bear.

Next question, what are those bears eating at high elevation before the berries come in? I saw them up there a couple weeks back at nearly 5000'. 5 bears all on one hillside chowing down. They just eating grass or is there something else they focus on? The underlying part of that question is, for meat quality, would it be wise to just wait until closer to September when I'm confident they've been eating berries for a couple weeks?

[Jonathan_S]

Stumps (bugs), digging mice and marmot dens or whatever rodents are around, grass, sometimes roots etc. It's funny to watch bears go from terrorizing every mouse den they find to becoming docile berry pickers in about a week's time.

[7mmfan]

Those of you that have killed a lot of bears, is there a noticeable difference in meat quality between a stump/grass bear in early August and a berry bear in September?

[Ghost Hunter]

Big year for service berries in NE.  Not sure if bears like them?

[jrebel]

There is a number  bumper crop of service berries this year. They are ripe now and will be a great early august food source.   Only bad thing is they are everywhere so bears don’t have to congregate in any specific area. 

[HoopsNHorns]

There is a number crop of service berries this year. They are ripe now and will be a great early august food source.   Only bad thing is they are everywhere so bears don’t have to congregate in any specific area.

Yep.  Huge crop of service berries in the NE this year.  They are ripe and in the lower elevations (~2000 ft), bears have started to hit them. 

[tgomez]

Berries are very ripe in my spot at 2,000 ft to 3,000 feet. Usually start drying up towards the first week of September and the bear feed on the hazelnuts.

[3nails]

 On the west side, especially to the north, you'll have a very hard time finding berries until MAYBE mid September. Most likely zero berries on the north slopes of ridges this year. If you can find a good south slope that produces berries this year it will be a gold mine. Bear hunting, however, is like bass fishing.

[7mmfan]

On the west side, especially to the north, you'll have a very hard time finding berries until MAYBE mid September. Most likely zero berries on the north slopes of ridges this year. If you can find a good south slope that produces berries this year it will be a gold mine. Bear hunting, however, is like bass fishing.

That's good info. I'll be treating this trip on the 8th/9th as a scouting trip for both bears and berries. Will give me a good idea of where to spend my time later on.

[RobinHoodlum]

Heck of a salmon berry crop right now including relatively high elevation (i.e.3000'). Where they're concentrated the bears are on them pretty good.  Also seeing high bush hucks coming in now in forested areas at the same elevation.

2 observations - 1) Whether the sub alpine and alpine berries are ripe or not, some bears still follow the green up and snow is not a deterrent. 2) If there is a good crop of berries in treed areas and small pockets, they seem to prefer to forage in these areas and it takes more work to catch them in the larger open meadows.

You'll learn a lot about what they're doing if you hike and glass in bear rich areas at various elevations. Hard to do in western WA with all the frigging gates and fee access BS though!

Good luck!

[RobinHoodlum]

Do they migrate downslope as berries start to ripen?

Sorrry i didnt respond to your original question. My opinion is no, they're not going down slope this time of year. Staying put or going up with the receding snow.

[Bango skank]

Big year for service berries in NE.  Not sure if bears like them?

They definitely do

[3nails]

Do they migrate downslope as berries start to ripen?

Sorrry i didnt respond to your original question. My opinion is no, they're not going down slope this time of year. Staying put or going up with the receding snow.

What are you referring to in "migrate"? A bear may feed on salmonberries on a sand bar in the river at '1,000 elevation in the morning and then decide to dine on some fresh greens that evening at '5,500 10 miles away.

[7mmfan]

Do they migrate downslope as berries start to ripen?

Sorrry i didnt respond to your original question. My opinion is no, they're not going down slope this time of year. Staying put or going up with the receding snow.

What are you referring to in "migrate"? A bear may feed on salmonberries on a sand bar in the river at '1,000 elevation in the morning and then decide to dine on some fresh greens that evening at '5,500 10 miles away.

I guess that's the question. Do they travel long distances for food daily? I've always pictured them camping on food in a given area and not really moving around much until the food moves. The reason I ask is I spotted half a dozen bears 2 weeks ago at 5000' on a wide open ridge grubbing on something. They were all diligently eating. Berries hadn't even flowered yet and there were huge snow drifts/fields nearby. My main question would be, as berries start to ripen at lower elevations, will those bears at 5000'-5500'-6000' move downhill to the "berry line" so to speak, and start following it uphill as they begin to ripen at higher elevations? I'm confident that I'm WAY overthinking this, but that's kind of my M.O. What I'm gathering is this time of year, the bears are where you find them until there is a large enough concentration of berries up high to draw them there.

[3nails]

Do they migrate downslope as berries start to ripen?

Sorrry i didnt respond to your original question. My opinion is no, they're not going down slope this time of year. Staying put or going up with the receding snow.

What are you referring to in "migrate"? A bear may feed on salmonberries on a sand bar in the river at '1,000 elevation in the morning and then decide to dine on some fresh greens that evening at '5,500 10 miles away.

I guess that's the question. Do they travel long distances for food daily? I've always pictured them camping on food in a given area and not really moving around much until the food moves. The reason I ask is I spotted half a dozen bears 2 weeks ago at 5000' on a wide open ridge grubbing on something. They were all diligently eating. Berries hadn't even flowered yet and there were huge snow drifts/fields nearby. My main question would be, as berries start to ripen at lower elevations, will those bears at 5000'-5500'-6000' move downhill to the "berry line" so to speak, and start following it uphill as they begin to ripen at higher elevations? I'm confident that I'm WAY overthinking this, but that's kind of my M.O. What I'm gathering is this time of year, the bears are where you find them until there is a large enough concentration of berries up high to draw them there.

The answer is: All of the above. A bears range can be huge. The bear himself doesn't know what he is going to do until his nose and stomach tells him. A '5,000 elevation gain hike is nothing but a stroll to him. There are actually far more bears down low eating berries at any given time than there is up high. It's just that they are easier to see up there. If you find a good berry meadow up high this year you may see 6 or 7 in it one day and zero the next. But this year in particular if you find a good patch sit on it with the wind in your favor and something will show up.

[WSU]

The last bear I shot was within rifle range of highway 2 in August down around sultan/startup/goldbar.  Tons of bears in the area eating black berries.  I've shot bears in the same time frame at 4-5K eating huckleberries.  In either case it's obvious there are lots of bears around.  I think find a good source and you'll find bears, high or low.

[konradcountry]

Saw plenty of berries at low elevation yesterday.

Lot of thimbleberry and wild strawberry.

[huntingaddiction]

We have been finding bears on huckleberries and salmon berries already.

[jk78]

The northern cascade units have blue berry sized and ripe around the 3000 , 3500 hundred elevation. They seemed to be next to creeks and a bumper crop this year.  These were way above average size and tasted great! I wonder if the moist weather has something to do with the amount of snow and rain this year or just the area? I came out of the hills with the stains on my hands and face when returning to the truck. Plan on picking a couple gallons plenty around. Just stay in the lower land and follow them up as they ripen. The berries up high are tiny and a long way from ripe.

[birdshooter1189]

The northern cascade units have blue berry sized and ripe around the 3000 , 3500 hundred elevation. They seemed to be next to creeks and a bumper crop this year.  These were way above average size and tasted great! I wonder if the moist weather has something to do with the amount of snow and rain this year or just the area? I came out of the hills with the stains on my hands and face when returning to the truck. Plan on picking a couple gallons plenty around. Just stay in the lower land and follow them up as they ripen. The berries up high are tiny and a long way from ripe.

Thanks for the report.  I'm hoping to find a spot to pick a couple gallons of berries this season.  My family used to pick at a couple spots near Stampede pass.  One spot got overgrown with trees and another became popular with commercial pickers.  I'm scouting for a new spot near Snoqualmie pass, Chinook Pass, or the olympics.  I'll hopefully be able to do some exploring this weekend.

[7mmfan]

The northern cascade units have blue berry sized and ripe around the 3000 , 3500 hundred elevation. They seemed to be next to creeks and a bumper crop this year.  These were way above average size and tasted great! I wonder if the moist weather has something to do with the amount of snow and rain this year or just the area? I came out of the hills with the stains on my hands and face when returning to the truck. Plan on picking a couple gallons plenty around. Just stay in the lower land and follow them up as they ripen. The berries up high are tiny and a long way from ripe.

That's a great berry report, thank you.

My Dad did a long hike last weekend, got up to around 5500' or so. Said there was tons of berries, but obviously far from ripe. Where we're going on the 8/9 I can glass openings along a creek bottom down to about 4000' so hopefully one or two might make themselves visible. Then I just have to figure out how to get them out of there! 

[jstone]

So when it’s hot out will they be in the creek bottoms in the berries keeping cool

[Jonathan_S]

If there is adequate feed like good berries, they spend a surprising amount of time in the sunlight.

[RobinHoodlum]

We confirmed today that the bear(s) that were previously feeding on south facing slopes and on top of the ridge around 2,500 -3,000' have shifted to the north facing slopes to a large degree. Plenty of berries there with shade and slightly cool downslope breeze. Several piles all just below the ridgetop and had a small one stroll by at 50ish yards. I fully realize this is site specific, but hope this helps you in your quest.

[7mmfan]

Got up high last weekend. 5500' or so. Lots of berries that are 3+ weeks from being ripe. Found ripe berries in the timber at 4000', both blueberries and huckleberries. There were a few bears up high, they were on the move though and not sure what they were eating on.

[7mmfan]

Anyone up high this last weekend? Hoping to get out next weekend and trying to get a berry report. Specifically in the 4500+ elevation zone.

[ganghis]

I was up @ 4200-5000 this weekend on W side of Cascades.  There were some ripe blueberries and huckleberries, but not that high of densities and clustered into microclimates (like the top of cliffs or specific openings).  I think peak berry is still 3-4 weeks off. 

Only found one pile of bear crap in two days (that one clearly had been eating blueberries) and didn't actually see a bear.  Maybe they're down lower in the timber (2000-3000 feet) munching on salal berries?  Those seem like they'd make for better nutrition right now since they're much more plentiful.  Less mosquitoes down there too!

[3nails]

 Covered about 8 miles of ground in the 4,000 to 6,000' range on the westside. Saw a handful of ripe berries in one 20 square foot area. Everything else I saw was just barely past the blooming stag. Extremely late year. Peak is a month out.

[Rainier10]

3,500-4,000 is starting to rippen up a bit, elderberries and choke cherries.  Saw a nice sow with two cubs this weekend.

[7mmfan]

Might just postpone until after Labor Day then. Free weekends come at a heavy price :-)

[Bango skank]

Well, finally getting out to hunt.  Hope the berries are still going.  Guess ill see shortly. 

[Jonathan_S]

Still plenty of berries up higher than 4000. Still really good picking.