Bear food

[Grizzly_Adams]

First off Hello, I know this is a washington board but..... oh well BTKR brought me over from another sight. I don't know how it happened but, the bear bug got me good. I started carrying bear repellent(a tag) during Deer season 3 years ago cause I always saw at least a few during season. That's stopped now that i would be legal to take one  .

So this off season, the last few months for some reason I just can't get enough info on bears to satisfy my curiosity. I'm trying my hand at calling and will give that a try this season. I got a hot date with a Blondie I've seen on our property, if i can get the calls to sound right. This particular bear has been sighted in the same area on 2 occasions in as many years so I got a pretty good idea where I'm going to set up. my questions are...

Right now the only calls I've got are a jack distress and a turkey (probably won't focus too much on the latter) I intend to get more soon and start practicing as much as possible, so far all the neighborhood dogs love the jack call. I was thinking fawn or cub distress. is there a brand or member you would recommend over other options?

I know this one will be a bit off as most of what I've seen of WA is a lot well wetter then my hunting area but, in dryer parts of your state whats the best bet for food for bears? we don't have any of the blues and hucks you guys seem to love to steak out. So other than the cat kills and grass what do they eat or should i say what will they be eating from mid Sept to Dec (assuming the quota doesn't fill as early as last year)

also I've heard different things about after the shot. I know the size of the bear and temp will change this a bit but, whats the time frame on getting em un dressed and de-boned? is it totally necessary to de-bone them on the spot. how long do you hang bears? deer we have always done basically as long as we can get the locker to hang em, they usually will get kinda fussy if i ask them to hang it more than a week.

Thanks in advance I look forward to extracting as much info from the collective brain as possible and hopefully before too long hunting up there. (my in laws live on the peninsula) always need an excuse to let the wife visit her folks.

[BULLBLASTER]

can you bait in Cali?

[Kain]

Here is a thread that has my collection of links about bear calling.  There are also other members that have provided links.  Good luck.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,27890.0.html

[Machias]

Acrons and manzanetta nuts are big in Northern CA.  I have a good friend in Burney who knows all the good bear foods and when they are in, I'll see if he can shed some information on it for you.  I go down every Oct and run bears with him, north of Burney.  The bears in CA have a wide variety of foods.

[elkaholic]

Fred,

Just played tha u tube vidoe for bear calling. Scared the *censored* out of my lab laying next me       

[Grizzly_Adams]

Bull, no we can't bait anything here this is liberalafornia. they want it to be as hard as possible for us. i need to go into DFG and talk to some one live to get a horses mouth translation on some of the perticulars. the only loop whole i can think of is you can technically put out bait but if you shoot anything within 400yds of the bait it becomes illegal take. and you can not "stalk" something from said bait to the line of 400yds. so if my property wasn't 4 1/2 hrs drive from here i could do my homework and get an idea where there coming and going from the "bait" and just pop one before or after the they visit.

Kain, thanks ill add that to all the info from BTKR

Machias, thanks that would be awsome. i know this was probly not the greatest question for a WA sight but there seems to be more activity here then the other pred. forums i have found/joined. you say run, im guessing dogs or you guys are just real fast? is your buddy a member here? regardless of my tag being filled or not if it's not a huge trouble i would love to tag along im more of a hands on learner then a read about it kinda guy.


our land has got plenty of the acorns and manzanetta and a good portion of it burned with the fires last year so there is no shortage of tender greens for all critters to enjoy. Im looking forward to a healtyh harvest for the freezer this season.

thanks for the quick replys and with usefull info even, I like this place already

[Machias]

Yes we run them with the dogs....I walk to the tree.     No Randy Oller is not a member here, but I can get you his contact information, he is extremely knowledgeable about bears and particularly about bears in CA and I'm sure he would be more then happy to have you tag along.  This is a bear we treed just north of Burney a couple of years ago.

[billythekidrock]

Glad to pull in another bear hunter. There is a lot of good info here and we really do have one of the most active bear forums around.

Cali F&G / Bears
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/bear/biology.html

Some food source info for Cali bears.

“Bears commonly consume ants and other insects in summer, but prefer nut crops, especially acorns, and manzanita berries in the fall. As omnivores, black bears and will eat whatever seems edible. Mostly they are plant eaters, but they have been reported catching and consuming young deer fawns.”

“Grass, leaves, nuts, berries, buds, twigs, roots, corn, fruits, insects, plant sprouts, invertebrates, fish, carrion, fruit, succulent plants, eggs, birds, small mammals, and human garbage. Bears will dig up underground wasp nests to eat the insects, nest and all.”


After the shot.

There are a few posts here about how individuals handle this so I will just type a quick rundown.
Obviously getting the guts out quickly is important, but if it is really warm then you will want to get it cool or at least get the hide off. Some of us throw them hide and all in a creek when possible and sometimes we butcher them in camp. Skinning and quartering in the field helps with cooling, but deboning in camp and putting on ice is a great way to ensure quality meat.

I don't recommend hanging bears. Their fat can go rancid very fast and it affects the flavor. If we hang them we butcher the next day.

[Grizzly_Adams]

Thanks BTKR, yeah no joke on the most active bear forum but, what should you expect from a sight for the state with the highest estimated bear population. (ive been reading) thanks also for the not hanging info. Ill hafta keep the creek thing in mind as all of our property is steep, so 1/4ing and butchering at camp or at home next day will probly be the ticket.

hah i didn't think Ca DFG's sight had anything at all on there that was in english, who'da thunk

[billythekidrock]

GA - Your welcome.

Yes, I see you have been reading. Washington does have a few bears and our little site has some bear hunters with great knowledge.

Here is a link to a story where we quartered a bear in the field then butchered in camp the same day.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,10915.0.html

[Grizzly_Adams]

Machias yeah if you could put me in contact with your buddy that would be greatly appreciated. it would be like a 4fer. a bit of a working education with bears, a chance to see some awsome country, first time hunting with dogs bigger than beagles and a chance to meet some good folks.

[Grizzly_Adams]

BTKR yeah i saw that on one of the other forums "Bear dead asleep" from the title i expected a rodeo of some kind. I've only seen 1 bear dispatched and man what a rush that was. Don't get me wrong i get the buck fever after the shot every time, jello knees and all. theres just something about seeing your partner shoot a predator (that you are still not 100% sure exactly where it is) some where about 30 yds above you on a pretty good slope. then hearing it thrash and still not knowing where exactly it is. kinda makes me relate to the people that "see" bigfoot/aliens. i thought i saw a/the bear run after the shot and all i could think was lets get the hell outa hear. all ended well but, i was a bit jumpy. i about shot my beagle when he came chargen in to see what we had down, luckly for him that white tip on the tail is a dead give away he aint no bear.