Mountain Bears

[teej89]

This weekend I'm scouting for my first western bear hunt, it's filling in the time to be in the mountain with a rifle before September as our season opens 8/1.

I've never hunted them and obviously not in the Backcountry either. What type of terrain am I looking for, avalanche chutes, rock slides?

What's too steep of terrain? I found what looks nice but damn the hillside looks steep for bears, not knowing much about bears that is.

The hillside I'm looking at glassing is a 1200' elevation gain in 750yds. Seems steep but it looks great.

 

[Gerald Martin]

What kind of berries are prevelent in the area? Berries = Bearies.

Also, bears love to use wallows/waterholes at that time of year.

 

[kwyeewyk]

What kind of berries are prevelent in the area? Berries = Bearies.

Also, bears love to use wallows/waterholes at that time of year.

Second this, huckleberries are a favorite, and seems like most of the bear sign I see in general is near some water source or marshy area, especially in August. Haven't spent a ton of time glassing for them, but my guess would be you'd be more likely to find them lower on the slopes closer to the creek bottoms than up on ridges, unless there's good berry patches up there.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Huckleberries or apples, that’s where this guy was

 

[teej89]

Would you say they are as sensitive to human presence as deer? One of the areas im looking at has a hiking trail going up the bottom and one on the ridge

 

[Irrelevant]

Would you say they are as sensitive to human presence as deer? One of the areas im looking at has a hiking trail going up the bottom and one on the ridge

No, at least not in general, large ones may be more sensitive. And this time of the year you should be focusing on either huckleberries (hey were ripe in the 2-4k foot range this last weekend), or if you're further east, serviceberries and chokecherries. Serviceberries are over and dry at my house (1.2k feet) but chokecherries are just about ripe. East/dry and high you might also find dense patches of grouseberry right now they could be feeding one or in another month the kinnikinnick berries should be ripe. I've found bears feeding on those as well.

High mountain bears aren't really in the high mountains right now, they're down a little lower grubbing on huckleberries. By Sept and Oct they'll move higher to eat bilberries/bogberries. Those are still flowering up high.

 

[Irrelevant]

Also, don't bear hunting an area you want to high buck hunt. You will drive the deer into hiding.

 

[teej89]

Also, don't bear hunting an area you want to high buck hunt. You will drive the deer into hiding.

I'm going to be in a completely different wilderness unit than where I'll be hunting the high buck.

For the august bear hunting the places I was looking elevation wise, the valleys were 3k and ridges at 5500'. Would you say that's too high for them for in august?

Great info, thanks!

 

[Irrelevant]

I'm going to be in a completely different wilderness unit than where I'll be hunting the high buck.

For the august bear hunting the places I was looking elevation wise, the valleys were 3k and ridges at 5500'. Would you say that's too high for them for in august?

Great info, thanks!

Possibly, but berries should move up the mountain during August. Like @Gerald Martin said, just look for berries.

 

[David Gough]

Adding on to berries and waterholes, oaks dropping acorns in lower country will bring in the bears. Food, food, food. Bears put up with humans much more than deer, until they smell you. They also don't stop and give you the "look back" a couple hundred yards away like a mule deer. Learned that from personal experience...