What to do in WA Bear Country?

[Black Bare]

I live in AZ and do most of my hunting here.  I got a wild hair and decided to fly up to WA to hunt bear for four days.  I threw a dart at the map and decided to hunt in the twisp, winthrop, chelan area.

Hunting in AZ is all about binoculars and calling.  Is this the case with WA?

Also, should I try to hunt as high as possible?  Near timberline? or down low?

Not looking for anyones top secret bear hunting methods just some general information for an out of stater.  With only four days I will need to do something right.

If you can point me in the right direction PM me.

[bearmanric]

When are you hunting Here. i've hunted the san carlos apache Rezervation several time's in Jan Feb. for cougar and other predator's. you have great bear calling in Arizona. chelan might be ok  havnt hunted the other's only deer. there better area's. i'm on the coast opening weekend august 1 the best bear calling in eastern washington doesnt open till september . then later in the week will head to collockum area. should be great bear calling with all the elk carcase's. Rick

[saylean]

there is also a ton of "how to" hunt bears in washington threads throughout the bear forum.

Just read through a few and you should get the idea.

Spot and stalk, call, find cool places with water, etc.

good luck!

[tlbradford]

You pretty much have it figured out.  I think high up at the beginning of August is going to be the ticket this year.  It looks like the berry crop is a little late so they will probably be about 1/2 berry and 1/2 grass still.  Find deep canyons with water and shade.  Try to locate recent sign to call over.  I don't know particulars about the areas you are hunting, but I hunt the Okanogan which is similar.

[Ray]

I would hunt where the food sources are. That could prove to be hard to figure out from Arizona. If you can locate ripe berry patches it will help. I don't hunt that area.

[rasbo]

cool spots with food nearby

[boneaddict]

Depends greatly on when you are coming.  Bear are pretty low right now as there isn't any food up high but lots low.  Find the food, find the bear.  Doesn't matter which drainage you end up in.  

[PWN Kurt]

Depending on when you're coming out and how hot it is will determine where and when you'll find bears.  They obviously don't like the heat of the day, but they might move to the areas that get the most shade, cool breezes, etc.  There's also a lot of micro-climates that will effect how lush the food sources are.

You're method of glass and stalking should work pretty well out here.  We have tons of varieties of berries out here so picking up a basic NW plant book might help you identify what they might be feeding on.

Enjoy our wonderful state.  Good luck, have fun and be safe!

Kurt

[littletoes]

Unless your blessed with luck, your screwed.

Like everyone else has been saying, cold. Shall we say it again? COLD. Bears hate the heat, and this year is a warm one. Deep dark cool canyons with water, and SKEETERS. It always seems when I find such a place, there are plenty of skeeters.
The bears don't seem to be very active during warm-daylight hours, but they know the cold is coming, and want FOOD, heck huckleberries are thicker/juicier in cooler areas, so bears may just be there also.

I've never hunted that area, so I can't help you there.

Good luck!

[Black Bare]

Thanks all for the heads up!  It sounds like I may have picked the wrong place to hunt being that nobody seems familiar with the area.  Oh well.... I'll just take a chance and hope for the best.

Thanks again.

B.A. Bare

[Gutpile]

Got any pics of bears from AZ. We like pics.

[Black Bare]

Speaking of hot temperatures... the bears here in AZ will sit in the wide open in temperatures over 100 degrees and eat pricly pear cactus fruit for hours.

I spent a two weeks in the hot weather searching for them last August, but because of the higher than normal rain fall there was a bumper crop of acorns so the bears never showed up.  They stayed in the deep, cool canyons (like you guys have mentioned) and ate acorns instead.  It took me a while to get after them.

I'll post a few pictures tomorrow Gutpile.

[littlebuf]

Thanks all for the heads up!  It sounds like I may have picked the wrong place to hunt being that nobody seems familiar with the area.  Oh well.... I'll just take a chance and hope for the best.

Thanks again.

B.A. Bare

thers a lot of bears in that area, my buddys got a few and i hunt a little south of there for bear in sept. the bears there follow the food (like any where) kinda hard to figure there pattern from AZ but its a good area so ya never know

[billythekidrock]

Welcome.

Can't wait to see the pics and hopefully read some bear calling stories.

Keep us posted on your plans and I am sure someone will be able to help you out.

[Black Bare]

Here is another thread were I posted a picture of one of last years AZ bears:  http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,29556.msg355780.html#msg355780

I don't know what pictures you all might like, but here is just a couple from last year.

[Huntbear]

Very cool pictures....  nice bears.

[tlbradford]

I love the ones of the hunter sighting in on the bear before the shot.  I am going to have to try that.  Thanks for posting these up.

[PWN Kurt]

In that 3rd pic down it looks like you might shoot the rock.

Very cool pics.

Let us know how you do out here!

Kurt

[saylean]

PM Sent dude. Good luck. Nice looking bears...


This is my first bear and was taken in the area your headed. She was small (only a two year old) and had some ground shrinkage, but the hide was incredible.

[littletoes]

Looks to me like your a dedicated bear hunter Black Bare. Those are some nice pics, thanks for sharing with us.

[Black Bare]

Thanks All.  I appreciate all the help and kind words.

For the sake of Full Disclosure:  I am not the shooter in all of the pictures I have posted.  After having my own bear hunting success over the years my interests changed.  I found myself enjoying capturing the hunt on film and watching other people tremble with excitement at the sight of a bear in the wild. 

I took all of the pictures, called every bear, and subsequently caped and quartered out every bear.  Only a few of the pictures are of bears I have shot.

I've cropped some of the pictures out of respect to the shooter.  Just for everyone's information...