Dedicated spot and stalk bear trip.

[Pro953]

Bears have always been Incidental as part of deer season. I want to start chasing them intentionally.

I glasses up a bear on a mule deer hunt last weekend and it brought up some questions.

Are black bears traditionally on the move night to night or will they return back to bedding and feeding areas over days. It was last light and I could not get a shot I was comfortable with. I was curious if I stayed in the same spot for the next day or two, would a bear likely stay in the area, or are they more nomadic?

I was focused on the deer tag so did not want to sit for a couple days as I had not seen any bucks in that area and not much in the way of sign.

I assume feed is the driving factor if they stick around, but curious what more experienced bear hunters think.

If anyone is an experienced California or south Oregon Bear hunter I would really appreciate the chance to ask a few questions about feeding habits in the area.

Thanks
Phil





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[CApighunter]

Im my experience from running half a dozen trail cams in northern CA for about 5 years, bears are very difficult to pattern. During the summer and early fall I saw the most activity between 8am and noon. Never saw moon phase impact bear behavior much either. It was like they just kinda wandered wherever I they felt like and I rarely got the same bear on camera more than a couple days in a row. Hunting pressure will push them out of an area though, but it won’t take them long to move back in.

 

[Pro953]

Yeah, I have a few on my cams as well they arrived on the area two years ago and seem to have settled in, they always hit the cameras when the “wild” grapes start to ripen.

I am thinking of heading up the b-zone in November to an area where I usually chase black tails and see lots of bears.

I am just wondering if they move down lower that time of the year as things get wet and some snow starts to drop. This area is around 5.5 - 6K so not a ton of snow but some.




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[idahohikker]

Do a spring bear hunt in Montana, Idaho, or Wyoming. Get on a ridge and glass openings and you’ll find bears. They’re a lot easier to hunt in the spring than in the fall.

 

[ChrisHanson]

You're probably in one of the most underrated bear hunting spots in North America. My experience has been the action starts to slow down in mid Oct. (I think they're more triggered by light cycles than temps) but you can certainly keep finding em into Dec at that elevation. They seem to stay closer to their denning sites the later you go, and are less likely to blow out if they cut your sent. I personally live to catch them in the acorns in September, but cutting tracks in the snow is a lot of fun too!