Bears-How close?

[jsweka]

It probably also depends on the bear.  I was 8 yards from the bait this past bear quest and flirted with a big boy all week who kept picking me out.  When I did finally get a shot opportunity, he caught me drawing and away he went.  I guess they don't get big by being dumb.

[Holm-Made]

How many bear hunters here believe that the Bears know your there but do no feel your a threat since your in a submissive position in the tree?

   This was my take during my three spring bear hunts in Canada.  

I'm undecided about my Fall bear hunts in MN as I haven't observed very many bears.  The ones I did see seemed to be much spookier of human intrusion.

[Tim Finley]

We had a theory in our camp that was 8 yd shot no more than 8 feet high, 9 yards no more than 9 feet high, 10 yards 10 feet high we never went more than 10 feet after 10 yards. This created a good angle to easily get both lungs.

[Fletcher]

Originally posted by Holm-Made:
How many bear hunters here believe that the Bears know your there but do no feel your a threat since your in a submissive position in the tree?

   This was my take during my three spring bear hunts in Canada.  

I'm undecided about my Fall bear hunts in MN as I haven't observed very many bears.  The ones I did see seemed to be much spookier of human intrusion.

I've heard that theory before.  My one bear hunt was on Bear Quest II and I shot a nice boar on the second night.  He never acted like he knew I was there, but was never spooky either.  He was close for 20 min and with swirly wind and a thermacell running I can't imagine that I was a secret to him.  Bait was 20-25 feet from the stand and he was standing five steps from the tree base when I shot.  At 5'6", I could stand and lay my bow on the platform.

 

[Possum Head]

Is bear vision poor or is it as some have mentioned that they don't feel intimidated? I always assumed folks were higher up the tree. We have no bears here so I'm clueless. Good thread!

[PV]

Originally posted by Holm-Made:
How many bear hunters here believe that the Bears know your there but do no feel your a threat since your in a submissive position in the tree?

   This was my take during my three spring bear hunts in Canada.  

I'm undecided about my Fall bear hunts in MN as I haven't observed very many bears.  The ones I did see seemed to be much spookier of human intrusion.

Most of the bears on my fall hunts in NH are much spookier than most of the bears I've encountered in Canada in the spring, Chad.
Over the last decade bear hunting has become increasingly popular in my area and I imagine in MN as well.
 I used to get between 15 and 25 hours of bear video in NH while on stand for the season. Last year I got less than an hour with roughly the same time spent on stand.The bear population in my area is stable to increasing as evidenced from the night time cam pics.
Conversely on a spring hunt in MB in an area where the bears seldom see a human every one of the 17 bears I saw that week walked between ladder and the tree I was sitting in.
They all saw me and none of them spooked.

Of the few bears that have tried to get in the tree with me over the years they all, with the exception of one dominant sow, have been young boars whom either where the dominant bear on the bait or had been driven off the bait by larger bears. This would tend to support the subordinate theory but with the keenness of a bears nose I don't see how they couldn't make the distinction between human and bear.
As my one of my hunting partners says" They're bears who knows what they're thinking"
Baits went out today so perhaps this year will give us another clue.