Fall black bear tips

[TX_Eric]

Things are coming together for my first spot/stalk hunt. A friend and I will be hunting in western Wyoming for black bear this year. We have the unit it picked out and have been doing as much research as possible, including reading the Ultimate Guide to Black Bear Hunting by Douglas Boze. I've been using OnX and Google Maps for e-scouting and have some places picked out to start with. There is not nearly as much information for hunting fall bears as there is in the spring, so any tips will be helpful. We will be hunting at elevations primarily between 6500-8000 ft. Hoping to get there the day before the opener to get a feel for things.

So far our plan is to:
1: Find food sources, primarily looking for berries, along drainages.
2: Glass drainages and north facing slopes.
3: Focus on areas with recent burns/clear cuts bordered by heavy timber in areas listed above.
4: As a last ditch effort we may try walking logging roads if there are any.

I have considered using a predator call, but being there are grizzlies in the area I don't know its a risk I am comfortable taking. As a side note, we will both have rifles, bear spray and I will be carrying a revolver as a last resort. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Werty]

If you have a rifle and bear spray, I'd leave the pistol. The extra weight gets old.
Try and find kill sites of elk and deer.
Take a predator call, just use it in an area that you feel comfortable with. Also learn how to make an elk calf distress call or fawn. Contact the Forrest service people in that area " if there are any" they can be a wealth of information.
If you can legally, set up a honey burn or bacon burn " be careful with fire in the fall". Good luck

 

[WyoDoug]

Hunting in Wyoming you can set up a bait site but you have to get a permit and register the grid coordinates with Game and Fish. However, any bait you leave behind might attract grizzlies too if they are in the area.

Suggestions I would do to make it easier:

Look for meadows and berries. Fall bears will be focused on fattening themselves up for the winter.
Look for bear sign - scat. If fresh it should be black in color generally.
Rubs - bears of both sexes rub their scent on trees, fences and sign posts, just about everything they can to mark their territory. Look for hair left behind after rubbing.
Bears will always be near a water source of some type so look for that.
If you find patches of oak brush, they eat the nuts off them.

 

[TX_Eric]

Thanks for the tips. I went ahead and ordered elk cow/calf call. We wont be setting up a bait site, but I have considered some type of attractant. I will have to see if a honey burn is considered baiting or not there. Might be helpful if we find sign but aren't seeing bears.

 

[ntodwild]

If you have a rifle and bear spray, I'd leave the pistol. The extra weight gets old.
Try and find kill sites of elk and deer.
Take a predator call, just use it in an area that you feel comfortable with. Also learn how to make an elk calf distress call or fawn. Contact the Forrest service people in that area " if there are any" they can be a wealth of information.
If you can legally, set up a honey burn or bacon burn " be careful with fire in the fall". Good luck

You would be surprised how many black bear I have seen in popular Elk hunting areas. Like scavengers they will flock to easy elk kill carcass like a vulture. It's not instinct for us hunters to want to be in "popular" areas with other hunters BUT it's a good strategy.

 

[WyoDoug]

Leaving a gut pile and carcass after you remove the meat is legal. So is setting up on a gut pile or carcass and watching for bear to come in. They can smell that for miles and it works on both mountain lion and bear. A strategy I use. I verified the legality of this tactic with more than one game warden.

 

[Rzrbck918]

I know baiting is illegal in New Mexico, does anyone know about the legality of hunting over gut piles in NM?

 

[TX_Eric]

Leaving a gut pile and carcass after you remove the meat is legal. So is setting up on a gut pile or carcass and watching for bear to come in. They can smell that for miles and it works on both mountain lion and bear. A strategy I use. I verified the legality of this tactic with more than one game warden.

We will probably be out the second week of archery elk season so i will have to keep an eye out for successful elk hunters. Will bears scavenge off of other dead bears?

 

[Werty]

Will bears scavenge off of other dead bears?

Yes

 

[WyoDoug]

We will probably be out the second week of archery elk season so i will have to keep an eye out for successful elk hunters. Will bears scavenge off of other dead bears?

I don't think so. I have never seen it and I don't know of any evidence of bears being cannibalistic. But if they are hungry and desperate for food, maybe this could happen.

 

[ccc23454]

Pm me if you want some advice, depending on areas i might be able to help a lot

Added: baiting is probably not realistic (other than burns/attractants type stuff) and may even be illegal depending on area. Read bear regs!

 

[rustneversleeps]

I don't think so. I have never seen it and I don't know of any evidence of bears being cannibalistic. But if they are hungry and desperate for food, maybe this could happen.

Boars kill cubs all of the time

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Will bears scavenge off of other dead bears?

Definitely.

 

[WyoDoug]

Boars kill cubs all of the time

That was not the question. Question was would a bear feed on a dead bear. Answer was I have never seen it and no evidence that bears are cannibalistic. Boars kill cubs so they can play with mama.

 

[Werty]

But if they are hungry and desperate for food, maybe this could happen.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bear-eats-bear-central-bc-1.4833151

 

[WyoDoug]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bear-eats-bear-central-bc-1.4833151

Yup if they are hungry enough. I just have never seen it and I seen a lot of bears in the wild over the years. I have never seen evidence myself that they could be cannibalistic. Not that they were not. I never googled it either.

 

[WyoDoug]

I sent an email to the state chief game warden I sometimes deliver files to on my job in the past. I should have a more definitive answer within a few days. The field wardens where I am hunting at see no problem in it. It is illegal to hunt over bait without a permit but what about gut piles. That is the question I asked the big guy. I asked specifically as it applies to bear and mountain lion hunting.

 

[WyoDoug]

OK, official from the chief game warden for Wyoming. The regional game wardens gave me incorrect information. Below is a cut and paste of his response to my email.

"No, that is illegal. Prohibited bait includes any big game animals, small game animals, game birds, game fish, protected animals, protected birds or parts thereof placed for the purpose of attracting a bear. Baiting is not allowed at all for mountain lions."

However, nothing says you can't hunt where you know gut piles are likely to be. You just can't place them for the specific purpose of attracting a bear or mountain lion. But what do you do when the areas you hunt have gut piles all over the place. He suggested that it is illegal when placed specifically to attract bear or mountain lion. There are gray areas of that law that I don't want to get into that might be unenforceable. It might be hard to prove you knew the gut pile was there.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

He suggested that it is illegal when placed specifically to attract bear or mountain lion.

When I field process an animal, I am doing so specifically to salvage the meat, not attract a bear or mountain lion.

 

[WyoDoug]

When I field process an animal, I am doing so specifically to salvage the meat, not attract a bear or mountain lion.

Exactly. I think it would be hard to prove a hunter placed a gut pile there with specific intent as bait. Not sure I would deliberately hunt over a gut pile knowing what I know now and knowing that game wardens are inconsistent when asked. But not sure I would turn down a bear or lion that is in the vicinity of one.