New bear hunting area ?

[huntnfmly]

Hey everyone I’m going to be that guy
My daughters boyfriend has never been hunting and they do a lot of wheeling in the little Naches  and have some quads if he’s not done doing some upgrades on his wheeler and I was thinking that would be a good place to take him up to for bears to get his feet wet on hunting and looking for some pointers or some jump off points

Southeast facing slopes ?
Berry patches? And old burns?
Any help would be appreciated
I have some Info on  areas in eastern wa for white tails that I wouldn’t mind swapping
I don’t see us heading over there for awhile
PMs work great

[huntnfmly]

To everyone who responded
I appreciate the info

[D-Rock425]

I'm no expert on hunting bears in that area but I'd bet it's a tough hunt.  Don't think to many bears are killed in the area.

[trophyhunt]

Hunted a lot in the unit, mostly down lower country, don't ever see bears, but we aren't targeting them either.  I'd go high in that country if I was looking for bears. 

[D-Rock425]

Only 3 bears reported killed last year.

[Stein]

I saw one in there hunting elk several years ago, the shot was blown when the bear bolted due to a quad driving up the closed road.

They are in there, probably not the best area to hunt them but if you can get away from the motors and glass clearcuts you have a fighting chance.

[jrebel]

Head to the norther most part of the unit the boarders the Taneum.  Find a north / northeast facing slope and find berries.  Lots of bear in that country. 

[Timberstalker]

Jrebel:
Have you killed the majority of your bears on North Facing Slopes?
Just curious and don’t mean to thread jack, but most if not all that I’ve seen/taken are on South Facing Slopes.

Thanks,

[jrebel]

Jrebel:
Have you killed the majority of your bears on North Facing Slopes?
Just curious and don’t mean to thread jack, but most if not all that I’ve seen/taken are on South Facing Slopes.

Thanks,

I'm no bear expert by any means.....but.....in that specific area the berry fields (huckleberry to be specific) I know of are all on north / north east facing slopes.  I've hunting that area off and on for the last 15 years and have had multiple trail cameras with bear all over them during August / Sept.  It is very thick and dense vegetation which likely contributes to the smaller bear harvest numbers. 

The area we kill most of our bears (NE corner) is on private land and is almost exclusively on north facing slopes.  It is sub 5K feet and the south facing slopes get sun baked this time of year leading to absolutely no berries.  We hunt thick draws that have wild plumbs in them as well as water and overall do very well.  I have only been (actively) hunting bears since 2012.  In that time my family and friends have killed 15-20 bears.  I have never hunted the alpine / above tree line bears, so I can't speak to that style of hunting.  I imagine in that country the south facing slopes do very well with berries.  I have also never hunted the west side so can't speak to that. 

Last week a buddy / first time bear killer, killed his nice boar on a north west facing slope.  The bear was traveling on a more open hillside moving down to the service berries and water lower in the draw.  First time I have seen a bear on that specific hill, though I know they work the draws below it. 

The bears you are finding on the south slopes, are they at higher elevation in the berry fields?  I would imagine wherever the food is, the bears will be there.....at least that's my experience.   

[huntnfmly]

Thanks guys lots of good info

[Skyvalhunter]

Going to be warm there for a while

[huntnfmly]

Hello all we didn’t make it out to bear hunt but wanted to say thanks again for all the info