Eastern big woods bear hunt-food sources

[md126]

Planning a hunt for bear in the fall and due to logistics won’t be baiting. I’ve been told the best strategy is to locate and focus on food sources.


While scouting, either physically or Google Earth/maps etc, what’s the best way to ID food sources/locations?? Thanks in advance, Mike

 

[eamyrick]

I hunted Western NC this year. Was told White Oak. I hiked for 10-15 miles a day and saw tons of bear sign but no bears. Spot and stalk is tough. In October it’s still warm in the day and I suspect the bears were moving all night. I’ll be back there giving it another try this year.

 

[adkhunter]

eamyrick - Sounds like you are moving too fast/covering too much ground. They spook very easily and are gone.

MD126 - We have killed several in our camp, usually one per year. I killed a sow in '10 while I was still hunting and missed an opportunity at a big boar in '17 while standing watch on a drive. Most often we see them on drives as we are not allowed to bait by law. Don't plan on hearing them moving unless they are pushed. They walk downed logs and are surprisingly quiet and fast. If pushed they sound like a train coming through!

If there is a good crop of mast they will tear up the forest floor, no mast and they travel quite far and quite quickly. I tried to keep up with one in November of '17 and again this past Nov and there was no way i could.
That track is about 5" in length and i followed it several miles and never caught sight of the bear.

If you can find a good patch of acorn or beech nuts you may have luck sitting there. You may want to try calling them as well, have had them come in to a predator call. Also, a small pump spray bottle like you find in the travel section at wall mart with real vanilla extract may work if sitting on a mast source...

I have actually seen far more bears than bucks in the area I hunt, southern Adirondacks. We have lots of beech, no oaks and a good amount of cherry. They will bust the tops out of the cherry and beech trees.

They tend to hang out in the rock ledges and are a blast to listen to in the evening during the mating period. Our area is "big" woods, probably last cut in the 30's and can be quite open under story so you can see very well. They will run the thick stuff and then come out to feed in the open where the mast is.

Good luck and hope this helps a little. Oh, and if ya shoot one it is like dragging a bag of jello. I'll never do it again, skin and quarter and pack out is the way to go if you are more than 100 yards to the road!

 

[BAKPAKR]

I agree with what adkhunter said. I hunt in West Virginia and have taken a few using the techniques he suggested. I did track my first WV bear in the snow.

If you live anywhere near where you are planning on hunting, get out now, cover the ground, try to find concentrations of scat, and figure out what they were eating. Once you know that, you might be able to ballpark what time of the year the bears were there. In West Virginia, it is usually the cherries first, then the hickory nuts and then the acorns. One year when the cherries were particularly heavy, I did see a couple of bears in trees eating. One was right above me and I only looked up because of all of the cherries that were falling around me.

When is your bear season?

 

[md126]

Thanks for the info fellas I appreciate it

BAKPAKR, Depends on zone but usually early bow season starts around 9/14

 

[Trial153]

Beech.

 

[timekiller13]

Bear season opens Mid October in NC. Most berries are gone by then. There will be some muscadines around, bears will hit those. You will mostly be looking for hard mast. Beech, Hickory, and Oaks. Spot and stalk is very difficult here in the east. There are not may open areas for glassing long range. There are some balds along the NC/TN border, but many of them are heavily trafficked due to the Appalachian Trail running through there. I have seen bears in these areas out feeding, but usually it's when the blueberries are thick, which is late June-August, depending on elevation. I have hunted bears in the Appalachian here in NC, spot and stalk style. We would climb high and glass old logging roads and rail road tracks. The bears would sometimes use the railroad tracks as travel corridors. Can't hunt/shoot on the tracks, but spot them walking down and then go and intercept them. Also, if you can find a kudzoo patch, then watch it. The bears seemed to love hanging out in them.