Time of day for spot & stalk black bears

[Red Dwarf]

When do you guys prefer to spot & stalk black bear?
Do you find that there is more activity in the morning or afternoon/evening?

Red Dwarf

[dakota tim]

Only a Smeghead would ask that!

Sorry, couldn't resist!

[Red Dwarf]

Is that you Holley.....or just a hologram?

[dakota tim]

Hey Martyn,

I couldn't resist...what a great show eh!  My son got the set for Christmas & it's his favorite.

[Steve H.]

Afternoon is usually best and most consistent to spot black bears BUT I am seeing them more early too when I look.  I saw one about 1200 feet up in an avalanche slope (Alaska) yesterday morning before 8 am.

[Hopewell Tom]

I've wondered the same thing, but here in Nova Scotia, baiting seems to be preferred as our cover is pretty thick. I saw a bear this summer in a blueberry field at 2:30PM. Good looking bear that I thought could be stalked, BUT season a month away. I thought that was abnormal. I mostly see them early AM or later PM. Saw a nice one in Northern BC last week, early evening in a grain field. Looked like a perfect setup. We were just driving by...

[Geezer]

Here in Colorado, my opinion is that they'll stick to the dark stuff most of the day May to early August.  Once the mast comes on, about late August, or when they really start moving around looking for searching for food, I've seen them foraging at any time of the day.

[pruiter]

When do you guys prefer to spot & stalk black bear?
Do you find that there is more activity in the morning or afternoon/evening?

When we guide for spring bear, We leave camp first light, return last light. Early morning and late afternoon would have to best time, But have Seen bears anytime of day..

 Weather plays a big roll, We've been hunting in late season snow storms and had great days, Cold rainy days also very good all day long.

 How close you are hunting to where bear have contact with Human maters as well, Bears that are being bumped by people are more shy. Where as,  hunting 200 miles away from the nearest road, bears are much less secretive.

 Here in the Yukon, We hunt  spring bear on south west facing Hills sides near water, Mostly along rivers or large lakes, Its not uncommon to see bears laying on the frozen lake or rivers edge in the heat of the day. Very hard stocking a bear on a open lake, but we did manage to call a few with the fox pro.

 In fall when bears are eating berries, Again anytime of day is good,  Fall is a great time to stock bears, their nose is on the ground, If a bear has a good berry patch they don't move as much as bears will in the spring

[manfromthepast]

I've killed a couple on spot and stalk hunts in BC.  We slept in most days and had a good breakfast and concentrated on afternoon and evenings for the hunt...and I don't think it was because the guides didn't want to work that hard.  Hunting sunrise to sundown makes for a long, long day...probably 15 hours of daylight each day during the Spring season.  Hard to maintain your edge after a couple of days of that.  Seems like we mostly saw Booboos early in the afternoon anyway and then saw the biggest bears come out of the thick stuff just before dark.  We were hunting mostly pipelines, powerlines, and old logging roads during spring green up and rut.

[D.Ellis]

Here in central BC I seem to see more bears in the late afternoon..........and the big ones often come out just before dark. I very seldom see spring bears until at least mid morning.
Darcy

[saltwatertom]

First light here. I do hunt all day tho.
Last light is good too, but I don't like tracking in the dark ( especially for something black!       )

[damascusdave]

Fresh spring grass along the ditches in the spring in the evening in Northern Alberta where we hunt...my buddy shot his at about 6 yards that way last spring

DDave