The Berry Situation

[okie john]

I've seen a couple of people mention issues with berries this year. Pretty sure they're hunting on the west side.

It was a weird season for berries though, maybe that was part of the problem.

I’ve got a spot I’ve seen a bear both times I’ve been in the area in the morning, I’m thinking I need to do some calling. Especially since the berries failed up here this summer, has to be a little extra hungry.

Anyone else seeing this? If so, then how might it affect bear behavior?

Thanks,


Okie John

[pianoman9701]

It's always sad to see the berries go.

[logola512c]

I hunt the west side (I-90) corridor, almost exclusively in the snoqualmie ree farm, and I think the berries and the bears were weird this year.  Lots of bear activity early in the season, but I haven't seen a bear or much bear sign in about a month.  I think the blackberries dried up early, except the ones in the thick jack firs, and now they're probably deep in the timber eating oregon grape. Either way, they've kind of been unhuntable for a while.  Still have a second tag to fill.

[7mmfan]

I hunted 3 areas up high this year that usually have massive blue berry crops. All 3 of them this had virtually none. The few that were on the bushes were very small. These were high elevation exposed South and SE faces. The north faces and places where snow held longer had ok amounts of berries. It seems that maybe the May heatwave scorched them somehow? Not sure, our summer in general seemed very normal other than that initial hot start.

[Oncorhynchus spp.]

Same in my experience. I've been out a handful of times on the west side and only saw a sow with a cub in mid Sept. Black berries from my outing last weekend had a mix of dry crusty, ripe, and even still green. Didn't make it into the alpine/hucks this year.

[okie john]

I hunt the west side (I-90) corridor, almost exclusively in the snoqualmie ree farm, and I think the berries and the bears were weird this year.  Lots of bear activity early in the season, but I haven't seen a bear or much bear sign in about a month.  I think the blackberries dried up early, except the ones in the thick jack firs, and now they're probably deep in the timber eating oregon grape. Either way, they've kind of been unhuntable for a while.  Still have a second tag to fill.

I'm also seeing this. In June, I found several clear cuts that should have been choked with blackberries, but I missed the first few weeks due to fire danger and everything looked like raisins when I got back to them in September.


Okie John

[knob221]

I hunt central cascades, both west and east. I couldnt get my finger on the pulse. From what I did see I would speculate that hucks were 2 or 3 weeks ahead of schedule from what I anticipated. Also, not very good densities to begin with in most areas. Although I did find one area that had good density (both hucks and bears), it just seemd significantly ahead of schedule. That was mid august near 6k feet and the hucks were already secluded to shaded areas and north slopes (late stage in the progression).

If I could do it over again I would have hit alpine areas early to mid august then transistioned to deer scouting.

Hiking trip reports also indicated a poor berry crop in the central cascades. Based on these reports the southern cascades and eastern peninsula might have had a better crop.

[GreenCoastie]

I hunted the West side of Highway 2 and the East side of 90 and had an unusually hard time nailing last years berry season.