Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Oregon Fall Bear Strategy (vs Spring Bear)

Joined
Jul 2, 2022
Messages
36
Most of the information I've gleaned about bear hunting has been almost exclusively about spring bear. Specifically in [western] Oregon, the advice was always find the greenest grass in south-facing timber cuts. Is the strategy for fall significantly different? Or is it just swap out green grass for berries?
 
I can’t speak from experience, as I’ve never hunted bear, and I’m new to hunting in general. That said, at the June emerald valley OHA meeting, the guest speaker was a local guide who was giving tips on hunting bear. Like you’d mentioned, it was mostly focused on spring, but he did pepper in some fall advice. The biggest take away I got was, in the coast range, scout for clear cuts with huckleberry and blueberry growing in them and focus on those spots. Also, bears are lazy and don’t like bad weather, so don’t bother getting up super early, or going out in nasty weather. I imagine a predator call might work ok.


Again this all secondhand knowledge, but I did see a bear while hunting blacktail last fall, not far from town either. It was late afternoon on a warm clear day in early October.

Welcome to hunt talk!
 
I can’t speak from experience, as I’ve never hunted bear, and I’m new to hunting in general. That said, at the June emerald valley OHA meeting, the guest speaker was a local guide who was giving tips on hunting bear. Like you’d mentioned, it was mostly focused on spring, but he did pepper in some fall advice. The biggest take away I got was, in the coast range, scout for clear cuts with huckleberry and blueberry growing in them and focus on those spots. Also, bears are lazy and don’t like bad weather, so don’t bother getting up super early, or going out in nasty weather. I imagine a predator call might work ok.


Again this all secondhand knowledge, but I did see a bear while hunting blacktail last fall, not far from town either. It was late afternoon on a warm clear day in early October.

Welcome to hunt talk!
thanks for chiming in... seems to be the theme of bear hunting... "find the feed, find the bears" ... I was out in Tillamook State Forest this past weekend and came across quite a bit of fresh bear scat... still all grassy though. Berries seem to just now be popping at lower elevations (sub 1100ft).
 
From what I’ve heard, they don’t go too far, so if you’re finding scat that’s a good thing. Looking over my notes from that meeting, some other take away so had written down were that bears are pretty skittish, and road noise will scare them off, so you’ll want to walk closed roads. Their noses are pretty good, so you’ll want to watch the wind, but their ears aren’t all that great so sound discipline isn’t as important as it is with other animals. They’ll be more solitary in the fall. Don’t spend a lot of time glassing in one area, rather move from spot to spot, checking every angle of a clear cut and then move on to the next one.

That’s about all I’ve got for handmedown info on the topic. I’m considering getting a bear tag for fall myself, just in case I happen across one again.
 
From what I’ve heard, they don’t go too far, so if you’re finding scat that’s a good thing. Looking over my notes from that meeting, some other take away so had written down were that bears are pretty skittish, and road noise will scare them off, so you’ll want to walk closed roads. Their noses are pretty good, so you’ll want to watch the wind, but their ears aren’t all that great so sound discipline isn’t as important as it is with other animals. They’ll be more solitary in the fall. Don’t spend a lot of time glassing in one area, rather move from spot to spot, checking every angle of a clear cut and then move on to the next one.

That’s about all I’ve got for handmedown info on the topic. I’m considering getting a bear tag for fall myself, just in case I happen across one again.
awesome! you definitely should grab a tag. at $16.50 why not... during this past spring season I had the SW tag and saw 4 bears, but didn't get a shot opportunity. Learned a lot and had a ton of fun... pretty sure I'll be a bear hunter for life!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
110,814
Messages
1,935,401
Members
34,888
Latest member
Jack the bear
Back
Top