Pe Ell South and other coastal range areas for bears

[will_law]

Hello,
I got a Weyerhauser permit this year for pe ell south and am hitting up my scouting for early season elk every chance I get in August. Assuming the 2021 stats are somewhat accurate, the numbers aren't great, but it does look like there are bears in the area.

506 - Willapa Hills   9   3   12   319   4%   3,551   296
530 - Ryderwood   12   3   15   350   4%   3,482   232

I've never hunted bear before, but I plan to use early mornings and evenings for bear hunting and devote the rest of the time to elk scouting. With the heat was planning on trying to identify some north-facing slopes with huckleberries coming in and glassing those areas.

If anyone has any other suggestions or doesn't think this area would hold many bears, I'd love to hear the opinions from folks with experience.

Thanks!

[Alan K]

This entire state is crawling with bears, the problem is visibility and being able to actually see them. The area you mention is no exception, plenty of them there. Obviously hunting spots you can see into is step number one, but from there just find the berries like you mentioned.  Where I'm at the berries are still mostly green, some of the more exposed berries are starting to pinken up a bit but it's looking like it won't be until mid August anyway before the berries are on in force.

[grundy53]

Lots of bear girdled trees in there this year. More than normal.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[will_law]

Thanks guys. Good point on the visibility. I am not sure what the status of the clearcuts will be outside of what I see on satellite on onx, but I identified a few ridges that look on other ridges that look exposed. Not sure what the berry situation will be in those places.

Thanks for your input and time.