Spot & Stalk Black Bears?

[Roger Norris]

I'm thinking about hunting plans for 2013. Has anyone done spot & stalk black bear here in he lower 48? I would love to know the detais of where, when,etc.

I have nothing against baiting for bears, but I can do that here in Michigan. Looking for something different...thanks!

[Biathlonman]

Leaving in two weeks for Montana.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Licenses were about $400, over the counter, but they have some squirrelly archery education/license requirements.

[Roger Norris]

Hey thanks!

[Longbowz]

Going this Saturday, Cascade mountains.  Bears in the berries right now which means finding a good vantage point and glassing likely spots.  

I try to break down the area I'm glassing into a grid so nothing (hopefully) is missed.  After sweeping an area I'll go back and check anything that looks interesting, especially something that's very black in color.  Bears aren't tall and can easily hide behind a huckleberry bush. So a second pass while glassing is important.  That's the spotting part.

Stalking is the harder part.  Trying to sneak into the same location as the bear without being detected isn't easy.  First everything looks different because you likely spotted them from a different ridge then the one bear is on.  It helps to pick out a couple land marks.  Second bears move a lot when they are eating berries.  In fact they can be eating machines and are very random in their movements.  They also can cover a lot of ground in a short period of time.

Getting into a shooting position most often means simply getting in front of where they're going.  But because of their randomness this is often a matter of luck.  

A better situation is when a bear is trying to defend his berry patch.  Usually this is a big bear.  I've seen them run off anything that comes close including deer, elk and other bears.  It can make stalking them easier because if you're detected and they aren't sure what you are they may try and run you off too. This can make getting a shot easier since they're coming to you.  This is also where you get to test your nerve.  You must hold your position or risk getting discovered.

Bottom line is they are lots of bears in Washington at least.  You have to believe they are there and you will find them.  I usually see more bears then deer for instance when the huckleberries are ripe.  

Hope this helps

[Roger Norris]

Longbowz, thank you. That is exactly the hunt im looking for.

[Longbowz]

Good luck and have fun.    

[mark land]

Have killed them here in GA spot and stalk as that or stand hunting are your only options.  Typically we scout out and find the best producing white oak trees and bears will be climbing and eating them when our season comes in.  They are very easy to find and notice the damage to the trees and have even shot bears that were still up in the tree, just had to wait for a shot.  But we look and listen for broken limbs and leaves all over the ground and when they are in the trees they can make some serious noise breaking those limbs and shaking the tree around.  But scouting is everything as the bears will favor certain trees over others and will return to that tree for awhile.  Good luck

[Terry Green]

Tuff hunting, but very rewarding just sighting the critters.

He's what little I know.....

Hunt white oaks....big ones. Try and find some on a Mt. top, knoll, ridge or long slopping lead. Personally, I haven't had as much luck hunting IN the bottoms. I think they must work their way down, and get in the bottoms after dark. I have had luck with major leads that end up in the bottoms.

The bears will most likely be climbing the white oaks the 1st two weeks of the season, then gathering underneath the rest of the season.

Try your best to find white oaks with claw marks and white oak groves with lots of scat and other bear sign. If more than one bear is using the area, then your odds of a sighting are increased dramatically.

Travel funnels between two oak groves is also a great place to set up if you can't decide which tree they are bound to hit. Look for trails twice as wide as deer trails, and a bear trail will have a 'packed down' texture vs the crunched up of a deer trail.

Pre scouting a week or days before the season opens is much more productive than 2 weeks before.

The best tip I can give you is to hunt a single tree with lots of scat near it....BUT!!!, you must find at least one fresh pile....how fresh? With flies on it!!!...if a pile aint got flies on it, I keep a walking.

Sparse acorn crop?...gotta wear out some boot leather to find the few trees that are producing. Can be tuff to find, but once you do, the bears will be there.

Normal acorn crop?....sign will be easier to find since the bears are moving a lot from tree to tree, and scattered about a bit more.

If we have a drought?...and all the acorns fall just before the season?....then I don't commit to any trees or groves, I walk and walk and walk, cause the bears will not have to move for food, you will have to find them. Walk travel routes like mentioned before, but try to walk those with known running water near by, since water will be scarce during a drought as well.

Afternoons are better than mornings, but that don't keep me from hunting mornings. I've seen them as late as 10 am.

While walking in, pay attention to 'loud squirrels' in the trees...they may be a bear. If so, stalk the tree from down wind, and wait for the bear to climb down. Now, pay attention to the tree, you may need to get cross wind. If the tree is straight with no obstructions, there's no telling where he'll climb down. But, if the tree is leaning, or on the side of a steep ridge, or has some obstruction to one side, the bear will take the easy route down at the base.....clear from obstruction, up hill side, or least steep side if the tree is leaning. So, set up accordingly the best you can with the wind still in your favor.

The early season seems to congregate bears in higher elevations, and they work there way down in elevation, since the acorns will mature earlier up hi. Now bear in mind, that some times there is a late freeze in the spring, so those higher elevations will be void of sign due to the buds getting nipped. If that is the case, then move down the mountain a 1/3 of the way, and scout your way down. However, I have seen bears low the 1st part of the season, so the higher elevation is a guideline, not written in stone.

Two weeks before the season will be the tailing end of the last 'patten' before the acorn feed, and might be tempting, but don't fall for it. If you scout early, you will possibly find sign in berry patches, around wild cherry trees, and in dead pine groves the pine beetles devoured because of the grubs in the rotting pines. Unless you are in the highest elevations in GA, this should be what you will find. If you are in the highest elevations, then you should find them already on the acorns unless of course there was a late freeze in that area.

I need to add that I hunt wilderness bears, so I don't know much about the food plot 'source'.

Another thing to look for is saddle ridges between two tops....or connecting leads. The right ones will have a trail suddenly appear as the knoll narrows thought the saddle, and then it will disappear just as quick as it nears the next knoll or lead.

Seems the bears pilfer around these ridge tops, and use the 'spines' to travel to the next 'pilfering' area.

These trails can be 100 yards long, or 1000, but the trails will be packed down, not 'crunched' up like deer trails....and, most likely, it will meander by every mature white oak along the way.

One more thing.....

If you do decide to hunt in the Morning....and you have a REALY hot spot....don't go 'into' it while its still dark.

Lay back a little distance till dawn, and ease in there.....that way you wont' blow em out...and you will have the added thrill of an early morning stalk.

Once again I'll reinstated the most important thing you can do is hunt over fresh sign....meaning fresh scat...so fresh it has flies on it...or like my bear a couple of years ago, so fresh it doesn't even have flies on it yet.

If you aren't on fresh sign....KEEP WALKING!!! You will have better luck bumping into a bear by walking and looking for fresh sign than just hunting an area that 'looks good' with a bit of old sign.

Also learned that year....when you have a lot of rain all summer, the acorns will hold onto the trees longer....we never heard it 'raining acorns' this year. I usually run bears out of trees the 1st two weeks of the season...but I killed my bear this year the last day of the season in a tree. So, pay attention to whether they are dropping or holding while scouting/hunting.

[Roger Norris]

Thanks Terry...thats darn near an article! Thank you.

[Mike Bolin]

Roger, I have been looking for the same kind of hunt. Have done quite a bit of research on Arkansas and have compiled some info. License is very reasonable and it includes deer as they have a Big Game license. If you are interested in Arkansas, just drop me a pm and I'll send you what I have. In the meantime, Good Luck! Mike

[PTLMG]

Someday I will get to go bear hunting.

[oldskool]

I'm heading out first thing in the morning

[Steve O]

Roger,

There is a group of PBS guys planning a group hunt like that in Montana.  If you are not a member, you a definitely a guy who should be...

[RC]

Trad archers in Ga. Wore the bears out this past year in North Ga.on public land. I know of several that were killed.

[Roger Norris]

The most suprising thing in this thread is the guys in the Southeast, and Arkansas talking about spot and stalk....that tells me it can be done here in Michigan. Thanks.

Steve....yep, I'm an associate member. I would be interested in hearing more about that hunt.

[Steve O]

Roger,

Check the PBS website under "Membership Hunts" section in the message board.  There are group hunts this fall in Nebraska (deer and turkey), Virginia (deer and bear), and Utah(elk).  Next spring's bear hunt is in the planning stages there as well.

[arrow flynn]

I live on the edge of a large tract of timberland privately owned a chance to hunt it was offered to me but bear only with bow only no guns or. Dogs Kt is plenty thick in a lot of it.I know well enough not to go into the brush after hogs. There are 4 to 5 pet square mile. And california os going to outlaw hound hunting for bear.