Western WA Spring Bear

[billythekidrock]

Been a little slow over on the coast. Heard of a few bears moving in the unit closest to me, but I do not have a permit for that area. I am hunting a unit that is new to me (Copalis). It is supossed to have alot of timber damage, but we have yet to find much old damage, let alone a live bear. We know they are there, but where, we don't know.

Some of you have seen the pic of the bobcat (and two yotes) I called in opening day, but other than a couple critters I did not see (bobcat and deer sized critters), we have been drawing blanks on our stands.

After looking at maps and aerial photos I did identify a small area that looked good. After calling this area, we noticed that there were some recent peels along the timber line. These looked to be about a week old.








Here are a couple more pics from this weekend.






Things should heat up soon...

We do know that at least 70 of the 100 access permits have been picked up. The good thing is we have not seen alot of hunters. We talked to a Rayonier Engineer and he told us of a 400 plus lb bear killed opening weekend as well as another wounded by the same party. He also told us they are speculating that they were baited. This engineer told us the trash in the unit was from the brush pickers who work for companies that lease plots to pick brush. We also talked with a lady in the main office who told us that the large garbage piles on the landings are from the cedar salvage crews. They don't get paid until it is cleaned up.

[bobcat]

Peeled trees...that's good!  At least you know there is at least one bear around. Hopefully they'll start moving around more soon, when/if the weather warms up.

[bowhunterty]

Headed down just for Saturday.  Have two or three areas i'm  going to try. Found old peelings in the ares last time i was down there.  Billy, what type weather do you prefer to hunt.

[billythekidrock]

BHT - Let me know what you find.
For bears I prefer nice weather. I hate it when it is real dry and noisy, but 50 - 70 degrees and dry have worked great for me. A heavy mist is ok, and right after a rain when the sun comes out.

[actionshooter]

I have a couple of guys who I work with who have Copalis tags and they are very disapointed in the amount of sign they ahve seen. I have been doing OK over in capitol peak.  Saturday morning my daughter and I saw a sow and cub and watched them for over 45 minutes. They were within range the whole time 
 I have seen what is going to be a monster buck on 2 seperate occasions also. Pretty good for being early still.We need the warm weather and the salmon berries   

[billythekidrock]

Too bad you didn't take any pics of the sow & cub.

Yes, I agree....it is a tad early.

[bowhunterty]

Hunted on Saturday 5-12 over on the coast.  Finally found some bear sign.  One fresch pile of scat on the road.  Then later on found some peelings (over 30).  One section along the road i saw 18 peelings.  Went and tried some calling but it was pretty windy, don't really know how much it affected my calling.  I will post some pics when i figure out how to.

[billythekidrock]

Wish I could have caught up with ya this week...I am going up after work and not sure where to start.

[bearmanric]

seen three bear's yesterday capital forest. two were mating roaring and grunting. and a smaller bear running down the road. Rick

[actionshooter]

My buddy saw a sow with 2 cubs, this years stock, a couple of days ago at Capitol Peak. Unfourtanatley I am working major hours right now and I'm only going to get a few more days before season is gone.

[bowhunterty]

Pictures from my last hunting trip.

[bowhunterty]

Billy i plan on heading down in the morning to try my luck once again.  If you don't make it pm me and i will give you a starting point for your next trip.  I drive a 07 Tundra tan in color.  Good luck.

[Ghost Hunter]

OK guys, We've hit the CF every weekend this year.  Your killing me with this seen 3 bear stuff.  Lot's of sign, but no cigar.  We finally seen one bear last weekend, when in the truck and not ready.  May have only one weekend left, and then let someone else have em.  Bearmanric, I keep calling in deer with your call,  I think I'll use it this fall.   They are peeling now.

[billythekidrock]

Well we endured some crappy weather for three days, but we had a good time. I saw a cub cross the road and one evening my buddy saw a bear stand up then disapear when I started calling. He thought it was coming to me. I never saw it, but did hear some noises in the direction it should have been coming from.

We found one recently peeled tree and a few piles of scat that were about a week old. We covered alot of area and have not seen much sign. We also talked with another timber company employee who told us that there was no need for a "damage" hunt in this unit, but that they relented when F&G approached asking to let hunters in.

I did call in a vulture of sorts, an owl and an angry doe. She was snorting and blowing as well as stomping her feet. I could not see her even though she was only twenty yards away. I also called in another bobcat.

This guy showed up after a few minutes of calling and hung around for about ten minutes. He was about 180 yards away. Looks to be pretty good size.



and one more.


This little critter was not happy when I tried to move him.

[high country]

if it makes you west side guys feel any better, i took a buddy who has only seen 2 bears in his life, out this weekend....we saw 7 bears on saturday! all within 500 yards of the same spot.

good luck over there!

[billythekidrock]

High Country....no, it does not make me feel any better.....lol  Are you still after the big BIG one?

[bobcat]

Great bobcat pictures...again!!!  At least you know where to go when bobcat season opens.

[high country]

High Country....no, it does not make me feel any better.....lol  Are you still after the big BIG one?

No monster................yet

[billythekidrock]

Still pretty dry over here. Found a couple more fresh peels and a few good areas. Even found a spike elk shed where I set up my tent. I did get a shot at a small bear on Saturday morning at about 9 am. I shot a little high, right over it's back. Oh, well. Then I got locked behind a gate. That really sucked. Luckily I found a brush picker/bolt/shake cutter way back in the road system that had a key. Apparently there were a couple crews working in there and one of them left the gate open, then locked it when they left. Could have been a long weekend for me back there. Still a couple more weekends to go.

[high country]

we saw 11 bears this weekend and the only "big" bears were sows. not gonna shoot a girl, so no shootin' but still a bit of time here....one or two days.

good luck.

[Ghost Hunter]

Thinkin' about another trip to the CF this weekend.  Stayed home over the holiday to give the wife time to mow the lawn, and me chop wood.  Might be our last chance.  Anybody heard of any going down on the west side?

[Ghost Hunter]

Tried the Capitol again.  Seen a good bear Friday evening crossing a road.  No luck calling.  Did see a couple of brand new fawns.  And a young grouse that thought it was tough enough to keep a Dodge Ram at bay.  Funniest thing I've seen in a while, strutting back and forth across a paved road for more that 5 minutes, 10' in front of our truck.  Times running short now.

[billythekidrock]

Well at least you are seeing a few. I have about given it up to start scouting for deer closer to home. If you can send me a pm with the location of the bear so I can add it to my map.