STIKNSTRINGBOW,in addition to the good advice above,I think this first year,you are just going to have to devote a good portion of your time scouting-getting to know your country and how the bears use it.You will learn more every year but before you can hunt,you have to have enough information to form a game plan.
I would start out,trying to cover as much of that as possible,moving fast but not too fast that you miss sign.You may have 7 drainages but the bears may favor 1 or a few over others.They may like all 7 equally, but you need to find out.You also have to figure where the most hunting pressure from other hunters is so you can work around that.
Where bears are feeding,they will be leaving droppings.Keep moving till you find them.Santiam's picture above shows typical droppings from Spring bears feeding on grass.If they get into meat,it may be black and runny,looking entirely different.
Keep your eyes open for subtle signs.Sometimes on hard packed trails,where tracks won't register,you may see places where the bears pads pressed the dirt,but you can't make out details of a track.It may just be a small spot like you pressed the dirt with the heel of your hand.Easy to overlook but a sure sign.
Some times you can make out footprints going through lush green grass,if they are fresh.These may not last long once the sun or rain get to them.
Keep your eyes open for trees that bears rub and claw on.These may be very obvious or very subtle.They may reach up and claw as high as possible and sometimes even bite a chunk out of the tree or bite the top off smaller trees.You can judge freshness of claw and bite marks.They also rub on trees and always leave some hair when they do.This too,can be very obvious or sometimes it is just a few fine hairs-again,very easy to overlook.
I keep my eyes open for these trees when traveling trails.Sometimes it is a smaller tree but often it is a large,prominent tree right next to the trail.The bark may be obviously rubbed or not but look for hair in the bark.This hair evidence is about impossible to judge for freshness,but whenever I can,in areas I will return to,I try to remove the hair so I can tell if it has been used again.
A couple years ago I hunted a big boar that was traveling with a sow in heat,during the second week of June.During that period,that boar would stop at almost any small tree along the trail and rub his back.I found dozens of these trees that week.The only reason,I noticed,was,I saw bare dirt at the base of one and after brain storming a second and checking the tree with my reading glasses and finding a few fine hairs,I realized he was rubbing his back and the dirt was disturbed by him shifting his hind feet as he did.
Like I say,you just have to get in the area,cover a lot of ground and keep your eyes open.Bear sign may be very obvious or it may be very hard to see,but if bears are there,the sign will be there.
Certain places,bears will have their own trails.You will notice right away,that the trail is smooth and not cut up,like one that deer or elk use.You may also notice that the animals are walking under low hanging limbs that elk would have to walk around.That's a bear trail.
You may have too much water but if there are not too many watering places or it is a dry year,keep in mind bears have to drink more than once a day.They still have there winter coats on and they will want to submerge themselves on hot days,if they can.They can roll in a seep if that is all they have but if they can,they like to dunk themselves completely.
Forget days with high winds or violent storms.Bears won't move much.The less wind,the better a bear hunting day it is.5 or 10 MPH winds aren't bad but 20-25 MPH and up probably won't be good.Light dizzling days could be good all day but a violent rain probably won't be.
Get out and learn your country.It is a great time to be in the woods and there is a ton to see and learn if you keep your eyes peeled.Have fun and take lots of pictures.
Topic: Spring Bear (Read 356 times)
