I was lucky enough to draw a spring Bear Permit here in Washington State.
The area I will be hunting is in Southwest Washington and has no snow (elevation 0-1500 feet)
It has a lot of creek bottoms, and a few beaver ponds....
I am not allowed to use scents or baits, and plan on trying some calling, but with as thick as the woods are, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to locate "travel corridors" or other tips on figuring out the best places to intercept a bear.
I have read everything I can on the subject and think I got a grasp, but realize that there is always something to learn.
Beavers. Find the Beavers and you should find some Bears. Up here in Alberta I often find their tracks on and around Beaver houses. A foolish Beaver kit makes an easy meal.
Find the FOOD SOURCES and then key in on the travel corridors between them... Deadly on spring bears..
Let us know how it goes.
John III
That is the main problem with everything I have read...
I am looking for that stuff, but it is everywhere!!!
This area is considered "coastal" Washington (even though we are 40 miles from the coast) and I was hoping for some way to narrow it down, as I only have 59 days and 100's of areas like that!
I wont be able to hunt everyday either, so I figure...15-20 hunting days...some of those will only be half days.....so that brings me to approx 7 drainage's to spend 2 days each....
Do you see my dilemma ?
You will know a bear trail when you find one.. Hunt the "country" first and you will find bears. Look for creek crossings and any structure that will force movement. Clear cuts, logging roads, bluffs, pipelines,, ect. ect..
You should be glued to the FIRST GREEN grass/plants you find sprouting.. The bears will be there! They will be grazing like horses.
Its not magic it will take a bit of work... Spring bears are LAZY and hungry.
John III
Mike, if you have maps drive or bike the roads looking for sign (tracks, scat and game trails). Set up a trail cam in the mostly likely spot, one that is open so you can see what is in the picture. Try to spend a couple days covering as much ground as possible.
You said, it is low elevation, so it is going to be thick cover. Look for recently logged area, facing south were bears will be eating. Check north slopes for cover and bedding, look for travel routes between the two, valleys or draws. Remember to watch for tree damage, as their digestive systems allow they will eat cambium layer on young firs. The reason for the control hunts is due to damage, from bears stripping the outer layer of bark, to get at the inner layer, which ends up killing the trees. Look for areas with recent damage.
If your going to be calling, plan to stay for 45 min., watch down wind, setup so the bear has to come across the wind, or get up in a tree stand. You might get some help from the game biologist for that area and from locals, that might see them early or late.
I can tell you how I am going abuut it...I am hunting the central Oregon coast...Thick,steep and the same regulations as Washington...No bait..
Bears here eat mostly grass in the spring...I am hunting a little grassy ridge road....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/Santiam/IMG_0895.jpg)
I hiked this road the last week of March and found several piles of sign...They are no doubt working this road...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/Santiam/IMG_0892.jpg)
Hung a tree stand and took several practice shots...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/Santiam/IMG_0917.jpg)
Sat in it last Saturday afternoon,but as you well know,the weather has not been good the last couple weeks...About 6:00 I finally got tired of getting rained,hailed,snowed on and was pretty well froze out...Hiked back to the truck and only got about a 1/4 mile and saw a bear running ahead of me and then down and off the road..There was a grassy turnout along the road and he was in it grazing when I drove up...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/Santiam/IMG_0937.jpg)
I have been waiting for the weather to get better before I go back...I have a fair amount of confidence that my grassy road will pay off if I sit long enough..
Thats my plan for what its worth...I don't have a lot of faith calling early in the season..It works fairly well in June and calving time,but season here is closed by then...LOL
Good luck and looking forward to some bear reports...
congrats on the spring bear tag, i've been hoping for one of those myself. I can't offer much advice aas I've never hunted spring bears, but I wish you luck and I'll look forward to hearing about your hunt.
Here are my 2 personal favourite & most sucessful way's to hunt spring bear here in New Brunswick besides over bait.
#1 In feilds or any areas that grow heavy amounts of dandelions, as soon as they pop up, they love them.
#2 Find a beaver dam with fresh bear tracks, find a tree & simulate the sound of a beaver cutting a tree down. If there is a bear within ear shot......get ready. I use a 4" piece of a band saw blade with a wood handle I made for the sound, it will help if you can listen to a real beaver cutting a tree to get it right.
These have been my 2 most effective methods by far.
**************************!!!WARNING!!!**************************
If you decide to try #2, be warned that the bear will be HUNTING YOU!!! & can end up in your lap in a heartbeat. I've learned this from personal experience...........more than once, no joke!!! Might not be something you would want to try with a stick & string. :archer2:
**************************!!!WARNING!!!**************************
I agree with all that's been said so far. One other place is find one of those wet swampy places where skunk cabbage is growing. Bears love it. You will find where they dug out the roots which is pretty tasty to humans also.
Man... I REALLY want to go on a bear hunt someday... been thinking about spot and stalk in MA, but its pretty expensive to get the license and I don't know any farmers or landowners up there where I could hunt... I'd do a guided bait hunt, but those cost too much money right now...
someday...
STIKNSTRINGBOW,in addition to the good advice above,I think this first year,you are just going to have to devote a good portion of your time scouting-getting to know your country and how the bears use it.You will learn more every year but before you can hunt,you have to have enough information to form a game plan.
I would start out,trying to cover as much of that as possible,moving fast but not too fast that you miss sign.You may have 7 drainages but the bears may favor 1 or a few over others.They may like all 7 equally, but you need to find out.You also have to figure where the most hunting pressure from other hunters is so you can work around that.
Where bears are feeding,they will be leaving droppings.Keep moving till you find them.Santiam's picture above shows typical droppings from Spring bears feeding on grass.If they get into meat,it may be black and runny,looking entirely different.
Keep your eyes open for subtle signs.Sometimes on hard packed trails,where tracks won't register,you may see places where the bears pads pressed the dirt,but you can't make out details of a track.It may just be a small spot like you pressed the dirt with the heel of your hand.Easy to overlook but a sure sign.
Some times you can make out footprints going through lush green grass,if they are fresh.These may not last long once the sun or rain get to them.
Keep your eyes open for trees that bears rub and claw on.These may be very obvious or very subtle.They may reach up and claw as high as possible and sometimes even bite a chunk out of the tree or bite the top off smaller trees.You can judge freshness of claw and bite marks.They also rub on trees and always leave some hair when they do.This too,can be very obvious or sometimes it is just a few fine hairs-again,very easy to overlook.
I keep my eyes open for these trees when traveling trails.Sometimes it is a smaller tree but often it is a large,prominent tree right next to the trail.The bark may be obviously rubbed or not but look for hair in the bark.This hair evidence is about impossible to judge for freshness,but whenever I can,in areas I will return to,I try to remove the hair so I can tell if it has been used again.
A couple years ago I hunted a big boar that was traveling with a sow in heat,during the second week of June.During that period,that boar would stop at almost any small tree along the trail and rub his back.I found dozens of these trees that week.The only reason,I noticed,was,I saw bare dirt at the base of one and after brain storming a second and checking the tree with my reading glasses and finding a few fine hairs,I realized he was rubbing his back and the dirt was disturbed by him shifting his hind feet as he did.
Like I say,you just have to get in the area,cover a lot of ground and keep your eyes open.Bear sign may be very obvious or it may be very hard to see,but if bears are there,the sign will be there.
Certain places,bears will have their own trails.You will notice right away,that the trail is smooth and not cut up,like one that deer or elk use.You may also notice that the animals are walking under low hanging limbs that elk would have to walk around.That's a bear trail.
You may have too much water but if there are not too many watering places or it is a dry year,keep in mind bears have to drink more than once a day.They still have there winter coats on and they will want to submerge themselves on hot days,if they can.They can roll in a seep if that is all they have but if they can,they like to dunk themselves completely.
Forget days with high winds or violent storms.Bears won't move much.The less wind,the better a bear hunting day it is.5 or 10 MPH winds aren't bad but 20-25 MPH and up probably won't be good.Light dizzling days could be good all day but a violent rain probably won't be.
Get out and learn your country.It is a great time to be in the woods and there is a ton to see and learn if you keep your eyes peeled.Have fun and take lots of pictures.
Bears have shredded this trail marker.I had some hikers once tell me how senseless it was that people would vandalize these markers.I took them back to the marker and showed them the black hairs caught in the splintered wood plus the claw and teeth marks.I also showed them a fresh bear track in the trail that they had just walked over.They thought that was pretty cool.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a140/jbrandenburg/Scan0004-7.jpg)
This is an ancient,makeshift water trough,back in the mountains.It consists of two 2X12 planks shoved in the mud of a seep.They are only 12" apart but this mother old mother bear gets as much of her in it,as possible during hot weather.
When the boars are looking for her,this is one spot they always check.
This spot is also late to green up-about late May,so for a couple weeks then,it is a little oasis in otherwise dry woods.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a140/jbrandenburg/Trough07064-1.jpg)
In the above picture,yu can see she fogged the lense before taking her bath.
This is rut week.She is going up the trail in the upper left.He is right behind.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a140/jbrandenburg/Trough08023_edited.jpg)
Nice looking boar!
Gents,
Just wanted to say that I am learning so much from this thread... keep it coming and thanks!!