Fall Bear Questions

[SDS14]

I am a hunter from Utah. I drew a Limited Entry Bear Spot and Stalk only Bear tag for the South Manti Unit. The hunt runs from Sept. 25- Oct. 28 and I am trying to learn as much about bear hunting in the fall as possible.

If I may, I have a few questions about fall spot and stalk bear hunting:

1. I've heard of guys calling in bears in the Pacific Northwest so I thought why not give it a try. What kind of calls do you recommend for a beginner? I want to practice now and have confidence when my hunt starts.

2. Am I wasting my time glassing early in the morning and late in the evening or should I be calling bears early in the morning?

3. What’s your thoughts about hunting near domestic sheep herds? Will bears hang around domestic sheep herds? I plan on talking to the Local sheep herders to see if they have seen bears in the area.

4. What grain of bullet do you recommend? For deer and elk hunting I shoot a 7mm Rem. Mag
loaded with a 150 grain TTSX Barnes bullet? Do you recommend a heavier bullet for my 7mm?

Thanks for your help and sharing your knowledge with fellow hunters.
Happy hunting,
SDS14

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Congrats on the tag!

If I may, I have a few questions about fall spot and stalk bear hunting:

1. I've heard of guys calling in bears in the Pacific Northwest so I thought why not give it a try. What kind of calls do you recommend for a beginner? I want to practice now and have confidence when my hunt starts.
I've had luck with, with distressed deer/elk... essentially just using your standard elk mouth call and making really whiny plaintive sounds. I wouldn't rely on calling, it's not the best method. I would focus on fall food sources.

2. Am I wasting my time glassing early in the morning and late in the evening or should I be calling bears early in the morning?
The afternoon's are definitely the peak time for bears... but I've seen them all day long, I've killed mine at 2pm, 10 am, 7:30pm, and 5:40pm. I've seen bears and had them come into early morning archery elk hunts, so right at first light. I would hunt all day, but make sure that I was posted up on a good glassing spot at 3pm and then stay there till the sunset.

3. What’s your thoughts about hunting near domestic sheep herds? Will bears hang around domestic sheep herds? I plan on talking to the Local sheep herders to see if they have seen bears in the area.
Wouldn't be my method... yes they do, and you definitely could, Shepard in CO hammer bears the number of depredation tags they fill is absolutely staggering so they might have already cleaned out any bears near their flocks earlier in the summer.

4. What grain of bullet do you recommend? For deer and elk hunting I shoot a 7mm Rem. Mag
loaded with a 150 grain TTSX Barnes bullet? Do you recommend a heavier bullet for my 7mm?
Your setup is perfect. I shoot a .264 win mag used 140 grain swift A-frames on 3 bears and a 120 etip on my latest bear on POW. No matter what you shoot do yourself a favor and get as close as possible, in my experience bears can't see or hear worth a crap and as long as you play the wind it's pretty easy to get close. I've never had to take a shot over 100 yards on a bear.