Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: demontang on July 06, 2008, 09:02:57 PM

Title: Calling in bear
Post by: demontang on July 06, 2008, 09:02:57 PM: I was out hunting coyote's near rimrock and called in a big black bear. Do you think the bear could be called in again? I would love to and a black bear to the list.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on July 06, 2008, 09:09:53 PM: Check out this article. . .

http://hunting-washington.com/calling-bears.htm
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: coonhound on July 07, 2008, 12:06:26 PM: Absolutely, in the last 3 years I've called in 3 different bears. I had a bow in my hands so I didn't get the shot I needed but if I would have been rifle hunting all three would have been less than a 40 yd shot. In all three circumstances I was blowing an elk reed like a distress call.

Coon
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Machias on July 07, 2008, 12:10:42 PM: It depends, did you spook him? How did he leave when you were calling? How close did you get him to come in?
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: bearmanric on July 07, 2008, 01:24:46 PM: they travel with the feed. all you can do is call the area. watch for for for track's ,tore up log's. i went up there for the first time last year. alot of elk there. try elk sound's too. find a nice canyon were you can see a way's. good luck. i might be up there or blewitt pass. going to call more open country. Rick
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: billythekidrock on July 07, 2008, 04:28:33 PM: I agree with the above posts. If you didn't spook him, and you can come across him while he is feeding you should have no problem getting him to come in. They are very curious creatures.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: demontang on July 07, 2008, 07:28:07 PM: We both scared the hell out of each other he only ran a little bit then turn and look back as he walked away. I didnt hear or see him tell he was to close for comfort, He showed up out of a swap when I was playing woodpecker in dist. I got so nervus that I had to stand up. If I would have had something bigger the a .223 then I wouldnt have moved but man its not a nice feeling when something that big shows up out of now where :o
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Timberstalker on July 07, 2008, 07:48:42 PM: Sounds to me like you may have needed a change of underwear. :chuckle: :chuckle:
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: demontang on July 07, 2008, 10:39:08 PM: Not that time. It scared my dad when it took off thought the trees he didn't see it tell after it took off, he yelled "what the hell was that" :chuckle:. I have never seen him get up that fast.

Its kind of nerve racking to think they are that quite.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Machias on July 08, 2008, 08:21:55 AM: I would change the call then and location. I wouldn't call from the same area witht he same call. Bears are not stupid. Mix up the sound and the location and he will come in again, but probably come in slow and downwind. Pretty exciting huh!?! :)
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Intruder on July 08, 2008, 10:33:23 AM: Got some questions about callin myself. I've hunted and killed bears before but the majority of my experience is just glassing (also over bait during a hunt in Alberta 1 time). I've read Billy's article but I have some specific questions:

- How do you go about selecting particular call. Not brand but rather what it's supposed to mimic. In Billy's article he references rabbit/cow/fawn. Are there others that I should have? Or does the actual call really make that much of a difference?
- Assuming I've verified that there are bears in the area and have a good gauge on the wind, are there any specific things to look for when choosing you setup position?
- Would you recommend using a decoy?
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Machias on July 08, 2008, 12:04:33 PM: I have had good success with two calls, an older Circe three in one call and a Javelina call. I personnally like a coarser call, but as you can see above a woodpecker call worked. I like something coarser and with good range.

Some place you can see/have protection from behind if your calling by yourself. They seem to approach easier if they can come in from cover. Wide open doesn't seem to appeal to the big boys.

Several guys have had success with fawn decoys, I don't use one, but I know guys who have used them and they do work.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: bearmanric on July 08, 2008, 12:04:57 PM: i use a fawn decoy.i use a english walnut call. it put's a nice sound out. it is tuned Raspy cource sounding. i just call with alot of emotion using your chest give it feeling. i can do cub in distress, deer in distress. too. i also use a openreed axis's call for elk sound's. i like the wind at me or cross wind. i also have a FX5 Foxpro. with alot of bear, deer and elk sound's. i havnt been calling the last few year's like i like to. going to be serios this year. Rick

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv68%2Fbearmanric%2FP1000786.jpg&hash=c5a640ab29fda43dca8cceecbb548f008cb22802)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv68%2Fbearmanric%2FP1000787.jpg&hash=28e6d8893c2e7213813f15c0d9f4ca265eb75c60)
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Intruder on July 08, 2008, 12:44:26 PM: It almost sounds like its the distress sound in general of a call that's important more than actually sounding like a particular critter. If Machias was using a Javelina call in the NW and getting results its kinda hard to believe a bruin was comin in expecting to find a wounded pig.

What about mixing in crow calls?

Is it also good to make some kind of noise like there's a fight or some kind of attack in progress?
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: bearmanric on July 08, 2008, 01:18:28 PM: you dont have to make a javalina sound like one. the call has a nice course sound to it. actually people have called in bear's with the foxpro javalina distress. the goat sound's close to a deer. you woulnt believe the sound's that have worked. on predatormaster's. there have been several bobcat's called in when guy's were Howling. that is pretty wild. i use crow and Raven sound's later on when i'm calling. trying to liven thing's up. Rick
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Machias on July 08, 2008, 02:16:56 PM: Rick is right on, emotion and distress are extremely important. Lots of fun and even when nothing is responding it is exciting stuff knowing that any second you can swivel your head and be staring face to face with a big ol slobbering 350 pound boar!! Just remember, the hot breath on the back of your neck is not a good thing. :drool:
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: billythekidrock on July 08, 2008, 05:07:58 PM: There is alot of good info above. The comments on location and emotion are spot on.

Intruder - Let my try to explain my thoughts. I truly think any distress sound can call in any predator at any time, if the animal is curious or hungry. I also think that distress is distress to a large degree. This would explain why a bear comes to a Javelina distress sound when there are no Javelinas around. To expand on this, I bet my cottontail distress sounds a bit different then Rick's and my cow calling will sound different then the next guy, but yet they work.

As for selecting a call. I won't pretend that any one call is the best, but I do have a few tones or sounds that I prefer. They have worked for me and it makes me feel confident. Sometimes that confidence can mean the difference in staying or leaving and I have had more then a couple bears come within minutes of my decision to stay.

Most of the large commercial companies have great rabbit or fawn calls and we have a couple of great custom guys right here that are tuned in to both call making and the distress sounds that will work. You can try crow calls or other types of "ambiance" sounds to make it more real if you like. I started using a decoy last spring but more for keeping the bobcats interested for picture taking and for killing yotes.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on July 08, 2008, 06:48:04 PM: I've been listening to a CD I have and from what I am understanding is that you can't call bear hard or loud enough. Does this apply to cold calling only or bear over a certain distance from you?

Another thing the mentioned is that he prefers calls that have a real loud squal and real raspy?
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: demontang on July 08, 2008, 08:45:19 PM: I weird thing is the fox pro was set on a lower volume when it showed up. I have called in deer/elk with a dist. calls, I think that they are curious as to what the noise was. Predators are the same way, if they hear a dist call they will come in and check it out, but normally try to be down wind though.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: billythekidrock on July 08, 2008, 10:36:15 PM: You can call too loud if the bears are near. I spooked one at 30 yards one morning with loud distress and he took off like a scalded cat. But he was feeding in the same place later that evening and he feed around me long enough to get the shot. I like to start out with quiet fawn distress then work my way to a higher volume.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Skyvalhunter on July 09, 2008, 06:41:36 AM: Little Bear treed
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: Intruder on July 10, 2008, 08:04:47 AM: Great info guys.... thanks!!

Billy... your comments regarding confidence are so universal to hunting and fishing. I know I have certain turkey calls that I am way more confident in as well as certain steelhead flies. In reality however, they probably don't out perform others as much as I'd like to believe. It just comes down to that confidence factor making you try a little bit harder.... which is probably what really makes the difference.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: DeKuma on July 10, 2008, 08:24:27 AM: I notice this too. I have gear that is better than some of my others, but becauseI am confident in it, it seems to work better or force me to work longer and harder.
Noticed it the last few days with my arrows. I have nice, new nano arrows that were not cheap and supposedly very good, but I shoot my old cheap arrows way better. I know what will be in my quiver this season based soley on my confidence in shooting them. Since I suck at all my calls, I do not think they will matter much. I just hope they work on the bears!
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: demontang on July 10, 2008, 09:32:05 PM: Thanks for the info. It might be the year I get my first bear :dunno:
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: billythekidrock on July 11, 2008, 07:32:20 PM: Quote from: Intruder on July 10, 2008, 08:04:47 AM
Great info guys.... thanks!!

Billy... your comments regarding confidence are so universal to hunting and fishing. I know I have certain turkey calls that I am way more confident in as well as certain steelhead flies. In reality however, they probably don't out perform others as much as I'd like to believe. It just comes down to that confidence factor making you try a little bit harder.... which is probably what really makes the difference.

Yep, calling and fishing are alot alike and if you are confident you will stay longer and be ready when the action starts. I know there have been many times fishing that I wasn't confident and my mind would wander and I would be late on the hookset when the strike happened.
Title: Re: Calling in bear
Post by: demontang on July 16, 2008, 08:08:09 AM: Only 15 days tell I can go try and call it in again, I'm kind of excited I haven't shot a bear yet.