bear calls?

[BIGINNER]

I'M GONNA TRY HUNTING EVERY GENERAL SEASON  SPECIES THIS YEAR.  WELL SINCE I HAVEN'T HUNTED ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR COYOTES,  I WAS WONDERING,  WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD FOR BEAR HUNTING, (SOUTH CASCADE AREA).  WILL MY COYOTE CALLS BE EFECTIVE FOR BEARS? (DESTRESS CALLS,  NOT HOWLS).   OR AM I BETTER OFF DOING SOME SPOT AND STALK HUNTING?  OR BOTH?     I HAVE A COUPLE CAMPING TRIPS PLANNED TO GET TO KNOW THE AREA I'M GONNA BE HUNTING A LITTLE BETTER.   SO.... ANY ADVICE/TIPS WOULD BE VERY APRECIATED, 

[rasbo]

feed areas and cool spots are my choice,then calling.Calling in a bear can take many many tries..as fawns age and an abundance of berries and other food become plentiful odds decrease on bears responding to calls

[BIGINNER]

feed areas and cool spots are my choice,then calling.Calling in a bear can take many many tries..as fawns age and an abundance of berries and other food become plentiful odds decrease on bears responding to calls

HEY.  THAT MAKES SENSE.  ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE COMMON SENCE,  LOL

[carpsniperg2]

we have great luck with the fawn bawl/and distress. also had bear cub distress,jack rabbit distress,elk calls in the right areas. and a few others. hope this helps

[jcswamp]

I am going to try calling in a bear this year for the first time so no advice from me. Good luck and hopefully it works for both of us! I tried spot and stalk last year and didn't get one, so i figure combining the two styles cant hurt.

[bearmanric]

i'll be hand calling. find there food and you will find bear's. i'll be using deer,elk and bear cub also Distress. i call in early agust after sept 1st many people in the wood's. i have had some fun time in the berrys on the coast. listen for stuff breaking and movement watch closely. Rick

[grundy53]

the first bear i ever killed came in to a cottontail distress call (i was hunting yotes) that was early august. side note: a bear running as fast as it can right towards you in the thick westside brush can be a life changing experiance... lol

[ML_Hunter]

I've used calls for bears, but only after first seeing the bear.  Bears seam to have short attention spans and I have found that one really can not over-call a bear.

Typically what I do is find where I think a bear might be.  This start in Mid May for me.  I look for does and cow elk who are dropping there young-ins.  If I find an area with a lot of new fawns I then know 2 things.  1) the area has a high buck population and 2) bears and other predators are likely to be in the area for this is the time of year when really they start on there protein diet.  So, this will be the area where I will both deer and bear hunt (elk move too much , but I'll try to keep tabs on where there moving to).  Now lets fast foward to late July. 

Now I'm looking for where I think the bears will be.  I'm in the same areas where I found the high fawn population and looking for bear sign and there food source.  For the most part, I'm watching south to south west facing slopes that have berries and border a thick bushy area.  And in the evenings I will spend hours watching these areas to find and critters.  In August, I'll first go to area where I have spotted bears.

Calling Bears
Typically I am about 100 to 500 yds away from them when I first see them....not always, but that the norm for me.  If its a bear with in about 250 I won't bother with calling and take the shot UNLESS I don't want to go to where the bear is at, prime example is looking at a clear cut and having much debris in the gully between me and the bear or a small creek...something like that.  If I see one farther out I'll start calling, the farther out I see him, the louder and more frantic my calling.  Often, if a bear is out past the 350 yds mark, I'll have to use two different calls and sometimes 3.  As I mentioned they have a short attention span.  Often times they will start coming in and then stop eating something else or just start to wonder a direction I don't want him to go, so i'll change calls and start over and MOST of the times, he'll snap right back to me.  Once he's in range, we'll pop em.  I've taken two bears over the past 3 years but have helped several of my friends get onto a bear taking 7 total using these tools .  I strongly suggest having both a range finder and spotting scope with you. They can be fun to watch and addicting to hunt.

This has proven to be a good technique for me  , hope at least some of this helps!!
Bearmanric, does this sound about right to you??

[ML_Hunter]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,30467.0.html
Watch the 3rd video down...good example of mixing calling with bear hunting.

[bearmanric]

you hit it dead perfect. i do alot of dry calling. i know the bear's are there. help's to see them. like you said is fun watching. i mainly hunt flat's lot's of blueberry's, Huckleberry's and cascara. brushy now. hunt the food sources. fun hearing them then trying to locate them. sold my Foxpro Hand calling only. called more predators in with call's.  making a couple for my self this week. going to use crotch walnut, black walnut. crotch cherry. crotch maple and maple burl. walnut should sound great. there's sounds you do as you go into these feed area's that work. ask billythekid. he has that down. and Rasbo. scout find the food sources. they have to eat or they wont make it through winter.. Rick