Bear hunting for newbies

[jstamp]

I have been asked recently by several of my friends, who hunt but  don't bear hunt, where to find bears. they always seem to be astonished when i tell them how many bears i see (in hunting season) every year. for those of you that know where I bear hunt (jackalope) know what i'm talking about... my advice is to hunt where the food is and get far away from the trails and motorcycles. you will see plenty of bears. also focus your hunt in late august til the first 2 weeks in sept.

Now, judging a bear is tough, look at the ears, and overall size. I like to look at things around the bear and try to judge off of that, since i'm familiar with the area. I'm sure most guys on here will offer up some good suggestions about how to judge bears. if not just research some posts, there are several.

[jstamp]

this bear scored 19 5/8 and was roughly about 300lbs.

[Black Bare]

Why do you suggest focusing your hunting during late august/early sept?

[KillBilly]

Why do you suggest focusing your hunting during late august/early sept?

More abundant food sources....

[hoytem]

nice pice... kind of strange how there is a barb wire fence and road in the background.

[saylean]

probably his yard.

[Alan K]

LOL 

I'm one of those newbies.  I've never actually hunted specifically for bear aside from a spring bear tag I drew last year, but I still buy a tag every year incase I happen on one while deer and elk hunting. 

The ones that I've seen have been feeding on grasses. This past year there was a sow and two cubs about 400 yards from my tree stand during archery elk season, and we had a sow and two cubs dart off grassy road one time while we were driving through some black reprod in Vail.

I'd love to get into actually hunting for them.  It'd be another season to take advantage of in the fall.

[saylean]

Dont do it alan..its boring.

Actually, I like hunting bears more than anything at the moment.

[Timmybob]

Thanks for the post..I am a lot like Alan K..I always buy the bear tag with my deer/elk tag, but never get a bear. This year will be my first year actually "Bear hunting". So my question is, What type of food sources should I be looking for in Aug/Sept? Thanks.....Tim

[cascademountainhunter]

oh man all this talk about bear hunting I CANT WAIT FOR AUGUST!!!!!!   

[Huntbear]

ok, i am watching this thread, am wanting to learn everything I can, keep the info coming.

[jackelope]

nice pice... kind of strange how there is a barb wire fence and road in the background.

yep he was obviously hunting a high fenced bear ranch.

not sure why the guy even tries helping folks out.
 
whats a pice?

[billythekidrock]

Why do you suggest focusing your hunting during late august/early sept?

I also suggest that time frame but because there are less people in the woods. You get an opening week rush of bear hunters and then it slows down before the archery season in September.

[billythekidrock]

Thanks for the post..I am a lot like Alan K..I always buy the bear tag with my deer/elk tag, but never get a bear. This year will be my first year actually "Bear hunting". So my question is, What type of food sources should I be looking for in Aug/Sept? Thanks.....Tim

Where will you be hunting?
Obviously orchards can be great. Berry patches should be coming on as well. Grubbing activity is high at that time of year so really old cuts are a good place to look. It just depends on where you are at.

[lewy]

I love hunting the blue hucks, they come in at a little different time every year depending on weather, but the end of aug. puts you real close. One peice of advice that i would give is to watch the bear for as long as you can before deciding to shoot it, not simply to judge its size but to make sure there are no cubs-they can be tough to see in the berries and might not even be close to the sow. You will also learn alot about them by watching. 1 more month!!