How to Summer Scout for Fall Bear

[knob221]

I'm looking for advice on what to do during summer to scout for fall black bear in the cascades. I'm trying to find areas that I can glass a lot of ripe huckleberries. What should I do to find these kinds of areas? It seems really straightforward, but after two years of bear hunting I still don't feel like I have great spots. I have shot two bears, but both were about 10 miles hike in, and neither were great for glassing.

I was thinking I e-scout to identify potential areas, then go hike into the areas I would be glassing and see if there are a lot of huckleberries (the plants, not the berries yet of course). Obviously I will tick the boxes of figuring out access, glassing spots, camp spots, water, etc. as well.

Anything else I should be thinking about?

[Boss .300 winmag]

Unfortunately unless we get lots of rain in the mountains this summer we’ll have another failed berry crop making your quest much harder due to lack of snow pack.

I’d be looking for north slope snow fields that could possibly hold long enough to supply a good water source to berry patches.

[ganghis]

In my experience, hucks tend to be in a bit more shaded spots that make them difficult to glass.  I'd focus in on areas that have blueberries, sometimes mixed with mountain ash.  There are a lot of places that have those two things, and not all of them have bears... so scouting (and hunting) in August should serve you well. Hopefully the crop this year is better than last - seemed like it was a total failure in the Cascades in places I was hunting.  Never seen it that bad.  Bears were still cruising around but I think they disappeared from high alpine meadow areas earlier too.  Your plan of e-scouting and checking them out in person sounds good.  If you're just interested in the meat, you can get away with a decently long pack out early season.  Meat + hide = closer.

[huntnnw]

There is 0 reason to hunt bears 10 miles in unless that’s the experience you are striving for.

[knob221]

There is 0 reason to hunt bears 10 miles in unless that’s the experience you are striving for.

Mind giving me some of your bear spots, then? 

[knob221]

In my experience, hucks tend to be in a bit more shaded spots that make them difficult to glass.  I'd focus in on areas that have blueberries, sometimes mixed with mountain ash.  There are a lot of places that have those two things, and not all of them have bears... so scouting (and hunting) in August should serve you well. Hopefully the crop this year is better than last - seemed like it was a total failure in the Cascades in places I was hunting.  Never seen it that bad.  Bears were still cruising around but I think they disappeared from high alpine meadow areas earlier too.  Your plan of e-scouting and checking them out in person sounds good.  If you're just interested in the meat, you can get away with a decently long pack out early season.  Meat + hide = closer.

Could you please differentiate for me what you consider to be a blueberry vs a huckleberry? Common names are confounding. I call all wild blueberries huckleberries. They are all under the genus Vaccinium. I'm assuming you're referring to Vaccinium deliciosum, which grows at our higher elevations. only grows to be a few feet tall, and is my favorite of the huckleberries to eat.

[knob221]

Unfortunately unless we get lots of rain in the mountains this summer we’ll have another failed berry crop making your quest much harder due to lack of snow pack.

I’d be looking for north slope snow fields that could possibly hold long enough to supply a good water source to berry patches.

Could you explain your reasoning here about the low snow pack leading to bad huckleberries? I don't quite follow. I do know that huckleberries get a lot of water from snow melt, but I also know that they don't really uptake water without leaves. So the way I see it, they're only actually uptaking snow melt during that short period of time between leaf out and the soil going dry from the snow melt. That snow melt hydrated soil period while huckleberry leaves are present should still happen the same regardless of whether the snow was 8 feet deep vs 20. So please explain to me if I'm missing something here. Last year we had a deep snow pack, and a very wet spring/early summer, yet a terrible berry crop. I don't quite have my finger on the pulse of what causes good huckleberry crops.

Regardless of the quality of this years crop, I am fairly certain that this year will be an early crop due to the early melt out caused by light snow pack.

[Skyvalhunter]

The berries need moisture to grow or get large as water is their main component. If there is little to no moisture existing then the plants in order to survive sacrifice the berry and it either dries up or isn't produced. Sure there are some areas that will have berries but if is a warm dry summer then most wont. If its that warm the bears will be down in the creek drainages trying to stay cool. So pray for some moisture

[Boss .300 winmag]

Unfortunately unless we get lots of rain in the mountains this summer we’ll have another failed berry crop making your quest much harder due to lack of snow pack.

I’d be looking for north slope snow fields that could possibly hold long enough to supply a good water source to berry patches.

Could you explain your reasoning here about the low snow pack leading to bad huckleberries? I don't quite follow. I do know that huckleberries get a lot of water from snow melt, but I also know that they don't really uptake water without leaves. So the way I see it, they're only actually uptaking snow melt during that short period of time between leaf out and the soil going dry from the snow melt. That snow melt hydrated soil period while huckleberry leaves are present should still happen the same regardless of whether the snow was 8 feet deep vs 20. So please explain to me if I'm missing something here. Last year we had a deep snow pack, and a very wet spring/early summer, yet a terrible berry crop. I don't quite have my finger on the pulse of what causes good huckleberry crops.

Regardless of the quality of this years crop, I am fairly certain that this year will be an early crop due to the early melt out caused by light snow pack.

Last year the snow pack melted off rapidly due to way higher temperatures in early spring leaving little to no snow pack for the berries to have water. Plus the nights got really cold. Our area of the valley lost 30% or more of its hay production due to the weather drying out the fields then cold temps at night.

That’s why having a steady rain fall this year in the summer might help out the berries, I really don’t think the snow pack is gonna be around long enough to give us a good berry crop.

[hunter399]

Last year we picked huckleberry around July 1.
They popped about a month early, normally around august 1.

[ganghis]

[/quote]
Could you please differentiate for me what you consider to be a blueberry vs a huckleberry? Common names are confounding. I call all wild blueberries huckleberries. They are all under the genus Vaccinium. I'm assuming you're referring to Vaccinium deliciosum, which grows at our higher elevations. only grows to be a few feet tall, and is my favorite of the huckleberries to eat.
[/quote]

Yeah common names often lead to confusion, ha ha.  I think of huckleberries as the ones that grow on larger bushes (typically 3-6 feet) with berries that are sparsely distributed so take more work to pick than the powdery blue "blueberries" that are lower to the ground and more common out in open meadows. 

https://mountainflamingo.com/your-primer-on-berry-picking-in-washington-state/#:~:text=Cascade%20blueberries%20are%20closely%20related,are%20a%20powdery%20bright%20blue.

[huntnnw]

There is 0 reason to hunt bears 10 miles in unless that’s the experience you are striving for.

Mind giving me some of your bear spots, then? 

Bears are going to be where the food source is for that time of year. It’s knowing what bears are targeting at the time when you are hunting a given area. There is so many bears in WA and so little pressure that there is 0 reason to have to pack in to hunt them. I’ve shot or helped wife and friends kill around 30-40 bears and none have been over a mile from truck. Most under 1/2 mi from rig. Lotta bears are spotted glassing from truck and then making a plan to get into range.

[Pathfinder101]

We hang trail cameras in areas where there is bear sign.  If you get a bear showing up fairly consistently on a trail, set up to watch that area from a distance with a decent prevailing wind.  You may have to sit for several days before seeing him, but eventually, he'll probably show up.  A predator call helps raise your odds as well. Good luck.

[pickardjw]

There is 0 reason to hunt bears 10 miles in unless that’s the experience you are striving for.

Mind giving me some of your bear spots, then? 

Bears are going to be where the food source is for that time of year. It’s knowing what bears are targeting at the time when you are hunting a given area. There is so many bears in WA and so little pressure that there is 0 reason to have to pack in to hunt them. I’ve shot or helped wife and friends kill around 30-40 bears and none have been over a mile from truck. Most under 1/2 mi from rig. Lotta bears are spotted glassing from truck and then making a plan to get into range.

In the Cascades or Eastern WA?

OP is talking about the Cascades which can be very different, especially the west slope.

[knob221]

There is 0 reason to hunt bears 10 miles in unless that’s the experience you are striving for.

Mind giving me some of your bear spots, then? 

Bears are going to be where the food source is for that time of year. It’s knowing what bears are targeting at the time when you are hunting a given area. There is so many bears in WA and so little pressure that there is 0 reason to have to pack in to hunt them. I’ve shot or helped wife and friends kill around 30-40 bears and none have been over a mile from truck. Most under 1/2 mi from rig. Lotta bears are spotted glassing from truck and then making a plan to get into range.

In the Cascades or Eastern WA?

OP is talking about the Cascades which can be very different, especially the west slope.

To clarify further, I'm talking about cascades near or east of the crest. I don't like hunting the west side much.

[dilleytech]

It’s pretty easy to see where bears were last fall by finding old hard poop. It will still be around this summer. If you find an area a bear was living in last fall you will know it.

[Dreaded Archer24]

It’s pretty easy to see where bears were last fall by finding old hard poop. It will still be around this summer. If you find an area a bear was living in last fall you will know it.

Yeah but that doesn’t guarantee they are still living in that area.


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[bearpaw]

Thick berry patches with trees are far more likely to have bear in daylight hours than wide open berry patches, bear prefer to stay in cover during daylight hours. The other key thing is to hunt where the berries are ripe, they don’t eat berries until they ripen and the sugar content increases. The berries might ripen a month or more earlier on southern exposure than some northern exposure areas. Don’t be solely focused on one type of berry, as the summer and fall progress bear move from one type of feed to another.

It’s a very good idea to get acquainted with the areas you hope to hunt, but I would concentrate putting time in during hunting season. Show up a couple days right before season opens to locate areas the bear are currently using.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

There is 0 reason to hunt bears 10 miles in unless that’s the experience you are striving for.

Mind giving me some of your bear spots, then? 

Bears are going to be where the food source is for that time of year. It’s knowing what bears are targeting at the time when you are hunting a given area. There is so many bears in WA and so little pressure that there is 0 reason to have to pack in to hunt them. I’ve shot or helped wife and friends kill around 30-40 bears and none have been over a mile from truck. Most under 1/2 mi from rig. Lotta bears are spotted glassing from truck and then making a plan to get into range.

.
I'm nit a bear expert.
But I have seen more bear when I wasn't looking for them than when I have looked for them.
Most of my "spot and stalk" attempts have turned into "spot and spook"
.
I see bear every year, actually it is becoming more frequent.
And usually while I am not even thinking about them..
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Blackberries seem to be better for lowland bear.
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I love blue huckleberries, both high bush and low.
.
But in the area I hunt it is mostly high bush..
Scattered patches and not an actual "food source"..
More of a convenience snack.
..
But main trails over saddles on ridgelines between drainage are good places.
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Drive logging roads, walk logging roads, get out of the truck at every gate.
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Mark any place you find sign.
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Look at the trees alongside the road.
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I don't know what they are eating up some of them, but if you see trees with a bunch of broken branches..
Pay attention.
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Cascara trees that have a lot of broken branches?
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Wild plum trees, abandoned orchards?
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I don't know where you are hunting, but a bears home range is bigger than you can walk in a day.
.
.but..
It is still it's home range.
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If you find a marker tree, or other sign that a bear visits the same spot more than once...
.
Your scouting will pay off.
..





.

[dilleytech]

There is 0 reason to hunt bears 10 miles in unless that’s the experience you are striving for.

Exactly correct. There’s basically zero Pressure on bears so long walks are completely unnecessary.

On the point of scouting for fall bear. Bears poop a lot in the areas they spend time in. Going for a walk in suspect spots close to a road for convenience looking for old dried up piles is a good idea. Also I would focus more on calling in a bear then glassing for one. Or a combination of both.  There’s more bears in thicker areas that are tough to glass.

[Dreaded Archer24]

There is 0 reason to hunt bears 10 miles in unless that’s the experience you are striving for.

Exactly correct. There’s basically zero Pressure on bears so long walks are completely unnecessary.

On the point of scouting for fall bear. Bears poop a lot in the areas they spend time in. Going for a walk in suspect spots close to a road for convenience looking for old dried up piles is a good idea. Also I would focus more on calling in a bear then glassing for one. Or a combination of both.  There’s more bears in thicker areas that are tough to glass.

Yeah that’s true but calling in bear during fall is pretty futile they may stand up but they’re not running towards the call at that time of year


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[dilleytech]

It’s pretty easy to see where bears were last fall by finding old hard poop. It will still be around this summer. If you find an area a bear was living in last fall you will know it.

Yeah but that doesn’t guarantee they are still living in that area.

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It’s highly likely a bear will be there again as the food should be there again.