Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: dgh1994 on August 24, 2025, 08:19:46 PM
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First year bear hunting. I live in Washougal, so unit 568 is my back yard. I have put in close to 30 miles over the course of 5 day-hunts (so not a ton of effort) and have only glassed one bear that was too far away for me to do anything about. Went back out today after two weeks and found that most berries in the 1000-3000 foot elevation range are dried up. This unit does not have much elevation above 3300ft. Will bears migrate out of the area to chase the berry wave up or do I need to spend my time in cooler, wetter places down low? Having a tough time deciding where to spend my time since there is not a ton of glassable land and im not sure they even hold berries anymore. Also not sure where to start in the heavily timbered areas. In general what are you looking for when you are e-scouting the lower elevation cascades? Most info online is about finding open, glassable cuts and basins but not a ton about the other 90% of the public land in this type of unit. Would appreciate any insights this group can share on western washington bear. do I need to start hunting somewhere else with mor elevation to get into the berries or am I not hunting my unit right?
On a separate note, I have been considering Mt Adams Wilderness area, but don't know if last year's fire needs to age a bit before the forage returns and bears are back. Any insight here as well? I am not opposed to putting in the miles. Thanks in advance.
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No expert here as I dont hunt bears much, but I know they do drift into populated washougal outskirts this time of year. Lots of fruit trees to eat from.
So my advice would be don't look for them too close to town, the local ones move into populated areas this time of year.
I am sure other know more to advise, just something I have learned from aqauntices who are close to wild areas, this is when the bears show up on properties.
In gifford pinchot area see lots of dug up hornet nests this time of year from bears when they are not eating berries, not sure what else they are focused on
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Not much advice to add, as I’m in the same boat as you. Living in Washougal and trying to find bear in 568. I glassed one a dandy at 350 before we got this heat wave, but haven’t seen anything since. I did see 4 fresh piles of poop this morning, which gives me a little hope. If you can find some northern facing slopes they may be holding onto berries a little longer.
I’ll pm you with some more specifics
