no bait black bear?

[Bear Heart]

Drew a spring bear tag in coastal WA. No bait or dogs allowed.  Very flat and brushy area.  Calling? Scent attractants? Any tips?

[woodslinger]

Never hunted WA for bear this way but have done it in Maine plenty of times. find the food and you will find the bears.

Along the coast I would be hunting the shoreline and any stream inlets. In the spring I am thinking new green growth and maybe some fish runs would be what they are looking for.

[Daz]

Look for edge areas that are south facing where grasses and sedges grow. Dandelions are a great attractant mid-May, and anywhere that clover has been seeded as part of forestry work.
Spring bears tend to rely heavily on a herbivore diet until calves/fawns begin to drop, so they are grazing.

Spot and stalk is a blast.

Calling works great (fawn/rabbit in distress), but i usually call AFTER i've spotted a bear and confirmed that it's not a sow with cubs (sows with year old cubs will often run them up a tree prior to checking out a call).

Once rut hits, another option is a bear call. It imitates a cub in distress (being attacked by a boar). I won't use it anywhere where grizzlies are, and be prepared for a fast aggressive bear (usually a boar looking to chase off another boar to breed the sow) coming in.

I can't remember WA State's definition of bait, but here in BC anything scent based that is an attractant is not legal for bears (honey burns, etc.).

[Ulysseys]

In Montana I stuck to Dandelions as Daz said, in PA I stick to campgrounds.

[Blackhawk]

I would try the tactics used in Alaska for spring bear.  Get yourself a boat, cruise the shoreline as mentioned above, and do the spot/stalk tactic.

I enjoy the September bear season in northeast WA when they are eating berries getting fat for winter.

[saltwatertom]

What Daz said,….

Predator call. Just be sure you have your back protected as you may have more than one customer!  

The scared, helpless, "I want my mama" cub call works great. Problem with that is you will get mostly sows, and oh yea, watch your back. ;-)

[calgarychef]

Dig a big pit and start a campfire in the bottom, roast some weenies, cook bannock etc.  keep doing this as long as possible and be sure to let the ashes build up nice and deep.  Then set up a ground blind with a door that opens towards the pit, this is important.  

Now wait patiently and eventually a bear will show up, wait until he wanders over to the edge of the pit then open the door of the blind and get out....then......kick him in the ash hole!  

Sorry I couldn't resist, and it's not my joke but I don't mind having stolen it.

[Bear Heart]

Can't use any edibles.  Scents have to be strictly scent only.

[boznarras]

Originally posted by Blackhawk:
I would try the tactics used in Alaska for spring bear.  Get yourself a boat, cruise the shoreline as mentioned above, and do the spot/stalk tactic.

I enjoy the September bear season in northeast WA when they are eating berries getting fat for winter.

This just what I have done.
When you spot the bear, you can go ashore at the best spot for being downwind and having cover to stalk. After you get the bear, it is a short pack to the boat. You do either need a quick quiet way to secure the boat or a driver.
If you dont have a buddy minding the boat, the tide plays a big part on how you can leave the boat and for how long and not be stranded for hours. Have to have anchor and retrieval line rigged and ready.
It may seem like you are hunting a narrow strip, just the beach, but you can cover a lot of ground this way in a day. Much more than you can walk.

[Bear Heart]

I believe this hunt is limited to the timber company property for tree damage

[wingnut]

Well scouting is going to be key.  I used to hunt timber property back when we could bait and we ran dozens of test sites to locate the bears.  Find the food source and you will find the bears.  Should be plenty to choose from.

mike

[timbermoose]

i used to live in washington, up in the cascades, concrete, rockport, marblemount area. we used to use alot of different techniques to get them to us. honey burn worked pretty good, puts a scent out for a long time. though i had the most success with calls. primarily, fawn distress calls. just seems to work best for me. just got to set up right and watch your back, i've called in cougar, bobcat, and coyotes as well as a couple worried does.

couple useful sites for bear hunting;
 http://www.blackbearkingdom.net/black-bear-calling.html
 http://www.callingbears.com/callingbears.html

if you already have a deer grunt tube, you may be able to tune it for a fawn in distress. still playing with one i got from J. Holden on here. but it's looking promising.

[Daz]

So the bears are hitting the Pines for cambium under the outer bark. Look for south exposure that has transition into dark timber with ridges/funnels for travel into areas with Pine that are between 14-24" at the butt. Confirm with the Chief Forester of the company that the bears are hitting that age group of trees (they may like younger/older).

[Bear Heart]

Thanks for all the insights.

[cch]

DAZ has a good idea. Steve Gorr has a great video that he got last year of a good bear that was covered in pitch. He was licking the branches of small trees. I also heard that they strip the bark on the trees to get to them cambium layer. This kills the trees. Your best bet is to do lots of glassing and put in many miles.

[Tree Killer]

If it's timber land with clearcuts, find a vantage point and glass the edges and bottoms that are greening up...especially in the afternoons and evenings. I'm no expert on hunting bears on the westside, but that's what my friends here in Oregon do and kill a lot of bears. Most of them hunt with rifles, but if you can spot a bear in the same location several days in a row, then you might be able to set an ambush for him.

The bears are really grazing on grass and other forbes when it starts greening up.

Good luck and have fun!

[Warden609]

Sounds like it is going to be a great hunt. Good luck!

[Bear Heart]

Going to put in as much boot leather as work allows.  Finding vantage points sounds like it will be tough. Thinking about a self climber.