An abundance of black bears

[carsonmcdonald]

Hey all,
Last weekend I took a scouting trip into an area that I have been e-scouting and dreaming about all year. I have hunted the lower elevations of this area before with some success, but in search of a mature buck I wanted to get away from the pressure and into the bigger back country. I saw some sign, but this is a low population area so I was not surprised to not spot any bucks on the trip. It was also 100+ degrees so maybe that had something to do with it.

Anyway, while I only spotted one deer I did spot 5 different black bears in the immediate vicinity I plan on hunting. My question then, is does the presence of so many bears in the area indicate a lack of deer in the area?

Robby Denning's book gives me confidence that I need to give this area at least a few years of intense hunting and scouting to truly know for sure whether or not its a spot worth returning too. Bonus, now I know where I will be come August 1st to try and take my first bear.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Although it’s not an ideal situation, bucks and bears live side by side in the high country without issues from my experience. I hunt an area with some of the highest bear density in the lower 48 (my own anecdotal evidence) and the bucks seem to just keep their distance when a bear comes out feeding in the same drainage.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

May primarily be an issue during fawn season. Have seen plenty of black bear and Coues in the same general area.

 

[carsonmcdonald]

Cool, thanks guys.

 

[jeddi03]

I will have to find the photo, but two years ago I was glassing a draw in D7 zone in CA and there were two does and a smaller forky eating brush leaves and 20ish yards away a bear munching on choke cherries. Didn't seem like they cared too much about each other being there. However, I have noticed over the past 5 years or so that I am seeing more and more bears each outing, just no desire to take one or pack it out.

 

[downtownbrown0610]

Not sure where you spent the weekend, but I was also out scouting on the E-side of WA this last weekend. It was HOT! I spent a lot of time at pretty high elevation for WA. I did not see bears this trip but it is also pretty early for them to be that high. With that being said I have seen black bears and Bucks during the high hunt in Sept both within 150-200 yards of each other both feeding and not paying any mind to each other. During some of the later Sept and Oct hunts it is very possible to be into deer and bear in my experience.

I saw 3 legal bucks a couple forkys, lots of sign and does. Wish you the best this season. WA can def be tough but some really nice bucks are taken each year.

 

[TURNER208]

In my preferred hunting grounds in Idaho there has been a few times when I have gone in scouting and seen more bear than deer, in my experience it really hasn't been a big issue as there are still bucks that hangout in those same areas. I had the same trouble with the really hot weather scouting last weekend, which made things tough to find, but gotta go look to find em! Good luck out there!

 

[Huntnnw]

only time Id be worried about bears is during fawning and calving season which you wouldnt be hunting deer anyways. I ve seen lots of bears and deer near each other without a care

 

[carsonmcdonald]

Great feedback thanks everyone. That puts my mind at ease.