late october bear hunting advice

[uplandhunter870]

so i only have one bear season under my belt, and i did not get to hunt during August because i asked my boss to give me all the work he could find so i could pay tuition for this school year and i was bow hunting deer all this month on top of fall classes.

a friend of mine asked if i would take him out bear hunting if i were going at all this year, hes never been big game hunting let alone bear hunting.  i have some free time open during the mid to end of october and plan on going out.  so heres where i need help, last year when in was hunting yogi during August i found where a trail lead to the river bank, sat upstream and waited for one to come to get water.  my train of thought is that being late october a bear will be changing its behavior some to prepare for hibernation. so do i take the same approach as hunting during August of waiting for them to come to water or do i need to rehash my attack plan for the late season changes and onset of cold weather?

any and all help is deeply appreciated
thanks,
steve

[saylean]

I would do some calling for bears. Berries by that time should be all but gone, but if you can find some patches that are hanging on somehow, that would be a place to start.

They will be busy looking for calories...call into thick brush if possible. If not, I would find some bowls or gulleys and glass....then stalk.

Good luck. They should have some decent hides by then!

[uplandhunter870]

thanks Saylean, what kind of call does one us to call bears with?

thanks,
steve

[saylean]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,430.0.html

Thats a good read for you. I have called them in with Rabbit distress...calf elk (lost sound..not really distress), and coyote distress (this one really came in arunnin).

Good luck, hit the snow level if you can and track as well.

[Navyhunter]

Spot and stalk worked for me over the weekend, saw three...a chocolate early in the morning, a 6' jet black tubby bugger mid day and a 200 pounder right at dusk.  Right now they seem to be out all day packing on calories and don't seem to care much who's around or doing what.

[uplandhunter870]

great read Saylean thanks for pointing it out.  Thanks Navy glad to hear they are still out and about.

Steve

[croix]

Navyhunter- high or low elevations? Based on what i've seen recently I feel like they are in the ravines.

[MtnMuley]

Lots of bears still down low!