ho much time left before the bears will be hard to find?

[shorthair15]

my son has a bear tag and wants to get a bear. i know it is getting late in the season. we have tried hunting bears the last 2 years. any units you think may be better in sw washington to try? thanks we are learning on the go and what we have read here on the forum. thanks

[high country]

It's peak right now. Find food, find bears. Once hunt pressure hits it will get tougher......

[shorthair15]

i think i will take a look at some maps because the areas i have hunted i have not seen any berries. i think i need to find a area higher up. i called in a bobcat yesterday. i have been hunting mainly gmu's. maybe should hit more of the national forests. thanks

[ydeardorff]

Is there any info out there on what daily behavioral pattern bear exhibit? Valley hunting can be a bit overwhelming, as there are so many food sources. As soon as I have started hiking up off the valley floor, I immediately start seeing fresh cougar scat. Would the bear and the cougars stay away from each other?
Like shorthair mentioned, at what point will bear become VERY hard to find?

[grizzlyadams]

1 week....2 weeks max and then there out of sight for the winter....

[BULLBLASTER]

I have gotten into bears well into November. I have tracked them in snow also.
Like said already. Find what and where they are eating.

[sirmissalot]

The berries up high are still around but not much time left. Down lower there are red huckleberries and blackberries still but you're running out of time. Bears are really active right now... about time for them to take a nap and they know they need to eat as much as they can.

Has anyone ever found a den? I'm constantly keeping my eye out for them, never seen one yet that I know of.

[grizzlyadams]

The berries up high are still around but not much time left. Down lower there are red huckleberries and blackberries still but you're running out of time. Bears are really active right now... about time for them to take a nap and they know they need to eat as much as they can.

Has anyone ever found a den? I'm constantly keeping my eye out for them, never seen one yet that I know of.

Find them all the time. I know where several are. Look for digouts under the root systems of fallen trees. Seems to be a popular place. I know one area that has 6 of those kind of dug out dens in the same general area. I don't believe bears use the same dens, they like fresh clean ones every year.

[BOWHUNTER45]

I have gotten into bears well into November. I have tracked them in snow also.
Like said already. Find what and where they are eating.

yeah me too .. especially on the westside ..it depends on how bad the winter is ...when its a good salmon year they stay awake threw December ,,,,I have seen and tracked a few bears in late archery season in the snow a few times ...Of course the season is closed then but its cool seeing them that late when they are all fluffed up ...

[sirmissalot]

The berries up high are still around but not much time left. Down lower there are red huckleberries and blackberries still but you're running out of time. Bears are really active right now... about time for them to take a nap and they know they need to eat as much as they can.

Has anyone ever found a den? I'm constantly keeping my eye out for them, never seen one yet that I know of.

Find them all the time. I know where several are.

Are they just burrows dug into a side of a hill? Are they usually in mature timber or reprod? Just curious.

[bobcat]

The one bear den that I have found was in an old hollow, stump.

[grizzlyadams]

I have run into several types. Bears are super opportunistic. Some I have found are digouts under boulders, slashpiles ect. Like I said, the most of one type have been digouts under a fallen trees root system on steep slopes at the top treeline of clear cuts.

[ydeardorff]

The berries up high are still around but not much time left. Down lower there are red huckleberries and blackberries still but you're running out of time. Bears are really active right now... about time for them to take a nap and they know they need to eat as much as they can.

Has anyone ever found a den? I'm constantly keeping my eye out for them, never seen one yet that I know of.

When I went back to where I recently spotted a bear, I saw a huge hole dug in the ground next to the base of a 15 foot douglas fir tree. i think it was a night time temp spot rather than a den, or he/she was just diggin for something. I t was about 3 foot deep and about 4 foot wide. a local clear cut has made huge pile of logs some over ten feet high. i bet there are dens in those.

[Helix]

I came across a den a few years ago on a SAR mission.  A guy was missing on Pilchuck and my team was tasked to follow a likely wrong way rout off the back of the mountain.  It was dark and we were hiking by headlamp.  I turned around and looked back up the hill after stepping off the front of the den.  it went in about 8-10 feet that I could see and was pretty wet and yuck inside.  The opening was about 4 to 5 feet wide and 2 to 3 feet high and the top was held together by tree roots.  The soft dirt/mud had fresh tracks all over it in and out.  No bear in it that I saw. 

[kbdavear]

I am curious about this myself as I have not gotten to Hunt this year. I am on the westside in Marysville. I know the Salmon are running pretty thick. I have always been told that once the Bear get into the rivers, the meat tastes crappy. Any thoughts on this??