So I have spent several years now really getting to know the area I hunt for bear and deer and managed 2 close calls on bear and 1 bear tag filled.
There are a ton of bears in the area. Any decent camera set I put out always gets plenty of bear activity, more than a couple cams busted or ripped off the tree as well. Between July and the end of September I get a lot of bears on my cameras. The problem is that I can never seem to find anything that concentrates them. The food is just so plentiful of all sorts all over the place. This is all sub 2500 feet elevation. Berries of all sorts seem to be scattered and ripen throughout the season depending on location and never seem to have enough in any specific spot to draw in and hold animals. There is an enormous amount of rotten logs and such all over. In aged clearcuts I can never seem to find a single stump or log that has not been torn into by bears. Every draw has a stream and along those streams are always periodic marshy areas with plenty of feed. However these types of locations are replicated ever quarter mile or less. More or less it just seems to be that wherever the bears want to be, there is food and water and cover from elements. My cameras produce bears regularly. The one thing I have noticed is I rarely get pictures of different mature bears on the same camera. I will get very young bears wander through here and there, but when I get mature bears on the cams, it seems to be the same 1 or 2 bears every time. It is like every drainage has a couple bears that claim it and they dont cover much ground otherwise. I had a bead on a huge boar several years back because of this. Haunted that area in my treestand. Missed a chance and he winded me. Never saw him again on cam or in person. For miles around, this area is also not great for glassing. There are a few older cuts that provide some glassing opportunities, but most situations are watching over an area only 200 yards wide at most. Between cuts are very thick green lush overgrown draws and stands of timber. Some areas further up the slopes have plenty of gated logging roads to walk, but a mass amount of the bear sign and pictures come from further down slope where a skinny deer trail may be the only path around at most.
Does anyone have experience hunting in places like this? I have bounced around between methods, trying to pattern a spot and sit it, bounce around and call, glass anywhere I can find a decent view. I have had 1 chance while glassing a clearcut, 1 chance while sitting a stand over an area I managed to pattern (only by accident while monitoring the spot for deer), and then tagged one by randomly wandering logging roads between clearcuts behind a locked gate and keeping wind in my favor, sitting at decent places for a bit and moving again, more listening than anything else as it was bone dry and everything was loud.
It becomes almost frustrating sometimes. Knowing this area is just loaded with bears, but cant seem to get eyes on them. The combination of lack of glassing opportunities and so much scattered feed EVERYWHERE seems to be a huge challenge. I know 3 opportunities over 6 years or so might seem great to some, but I just know that I can do better given the bear population in the area.
This is SW Wa.
Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.
