Oregon sw spring bear

[ChrisHanson]

Unless you jumped em I doubt you blew em out for days. I've seen bears cut the trail I walked up a couple hours earlier and turn and walked away, but bolt like a greyhound when they catch a surprise whiff. I'd be inclined to mt. bike the roads and glass morning and evenings, and hike behind gates in the thicker areas mid day. Keep at it you're in a good area.

 

[7718Sallee]

I don’t know about bears completely leaving an area due to human interaction but I will say from personal experience that they often go nocturnal for some period. I highly doubt that is separate bears taking a crap at the same time and place I don’t think mom and cub have synchronized bowels, to me that just looks like a reasonably sized bear going while slowly taking a step or two.

Quantity wise it was 3x what I typically see. The little pile was different diameter. But idk I just try and analytically read the signs I see. But with limited bear experience trying to get some other perspectives.

 

[7718Sallee]

Also the moon was fullish and very bright all night. How does that affect them?

 

[Oregon]

Found my little guy last night within sight of the terrific Pacific. 62 degrees and sunny. Walked in a whopping 1/2 mile, and he was kind enough to roll all the way down clearcut to middle of logging road. Batch of grass sticking out his mouth. About an hour and a half before dark. Pack out was brutal. 1/2 mile downhill.

 

[HuntWyld]

Solid work!!!

 

[Oregon]

Just got back from wilderness hunt with my son. We found 1 great food source with tons of sign but ended up walking through it on the trail on the way in to our onyx map destination which tuned out to not be a good. So we camped and glassed. Spent the whole next day glassing and still hunting our way up into the top of the nice area riddled with bear sign. And watched it till about 730 pm. But no bears came out. Do you guys think if you walk through an area they will blow out for days? It is the best food source around for quite a ways. I also want opinions on these scat piles we found. 3 of them all the same age 2 extremely large piles side by side almost touching and then what I would call a cub pile 8” away. Seemed weird like 2 large bears and 1 cub. Idk?? Is it bears or deer that eat all the new leaves off the rhododendrons?

If you find sign in the spring, hunt the heck out of it. I very rarely find any sign spring hunting. I hunt exclusively areas where I’ve seen sign in the fall while deer, elk mushrooming. That area looks great, and I’d sit on it every chance I had.
Granted, I never leave roads. I don’t bail off, or walk creek bottoms ever for bear. By the time fall rolls around, enough sign has been dropped on roads to point me to my spring hunt. They don’t go far.

 

[7718Sallee]

Found my little guy last night within sight of the terrific Pacific. 62 degrees and sunny. Walked in a whopping 1/2 mile, and he was kind enough to roll all the way down clearcut to middle of logging road. Batch of grass sticking out his mouth. About an hour and a half before dark. Pack out was brutal. 1/2 mile downhill.
View attachment 98144View attachment 98145

Congratulations beautiful bear

 

[7718Sallee]

Crossed off allot more areas this last weekend. 27 mile hikes and I am almost about to just watch clear cuts.

 

[slick]

Been going out in the evenings. Buddy has shot at a bear and jumped it another time, same bear, same basin, bear keeps on coming back.

Ran into another hunter at the parking spot last night. Guy was hunting with his wife and two kids. Was real nice and shared info and a ridge line with us. Think it’s just a matter of time. Had a sow and cub run across the road in front of me, and a boar all while at work. They are out and about, just gotta catch them in the open.

 

[7718Sallee]

So I tried clearcuts Saturday 4- dark and 5am- 4pm Sunday found a closed road system with 6 miles of Ridgeline 10+ clearcuts some brand new but several huge beautiful green ones with 2-6’ tall reprod. Mostly Great wind seen a dozen deer. Some cuts had timber bottoms some just side timber it was so damn hot . I glassed a few of the best ones well over an hour and checked them again on the way out. Still have only seen the one sow and cub. I’m over 70 miles on foot this season I think I might just start looking for squatch instead, seems like my odds are about the same in seeing one of these mythical beasts.

 

[HuntWyld]

So I tried clearcuts Saturday 4- dark and 5am- 4pm Sunday found a closed road system with 6 miles of Ridgeline 10+ clearcuts some brand new but several huge beautiful green ones with 2-6’ tall reprod. Mostly Great wind seen a dozen deer. Some cuts had timber bottoms some just side timber it was so damn hot . I glassed a few of the best ones well over an hour and checked them again on the way out. Still have only seen the one sow and cub. I’m over 70 miles on foot this season I think I might just start looking for squatch instead, seems like my odds are about the same in seeing one of these mythical beasts.

Keep it up and you’ll find one eventually. Also make sure there is fresh water near by and that the clear cuts have nice green foliage and grass for them to eat. Just being a clear cut doesn’t necessarily mean bears. Like all critters they need food, water, shelter. Good luck man keep up the perseverance!!!

 

[7718Sallee]

Keep it up and you’ll find one eventually. Also make sure there is fresh water near by and that the clear cuts have nice green foliage and grass for them to eat. Just being a clear cut doesn’t necessarily mean bears. Like all critters they need food, water, shelter. Good luck man keep up the perseverance!!!

Ya

Keep it up and you’ll find one eventually. Also make sure there is fresh water near by and that the clear cuts have nice green foliage and grass for them to eat. Just being a clear cut doesn’t necessarily mean bears. Like all critters they need food, water, shelter. Good luck man keep up the perseverance!!!

ya there was water in the bottom of the drainages and a few were super green. I only have 1 more weekend to hunt so I think I’m going to take the long drive and go waaaay sw to the area I found all the bear sign a few weeks ago.

 

[slick]

I’ve seen more bears just driving the work truck. Had a boar on the road yesterday.

Jumped into the Kalmiopsis this weekend.. backpacked in 4ish miles, dumped 6Ls of water and turned around and hiked right back out. Place is a wasteland.

Sat some meadows/cuts near Grants Pass. Pile of deer, no bears.

 

[Oregon]

Keep it up and you’ll find one eventually. Also make sure there is fresh water near by and that the clear cuts have nice green foliage and grass for them to eat. Just being a clear cut doesn’t necessarily mean bears. Like all critters they need food, water, shelter. Good luck man keep up the perseverance!!!

Well said. Only thing I can add is walk slowly up the logging roads. Catch them eating grass in those roads frequently. I basically still hunt to where I’m going to sit the last hour. I killed my bear this year doing this very thing. Kinda goose necked around a bend of a road and he was about 25’ up an older cut munching away

 

[7718Sallee]

Well said. Only thing I can add is walk slowly up the logging roads. Catch them eating grass in those roads frequently. I basically still hunt to where I’m going to sit the last hour. I killed my bear this year doing this very thing. Kinda goose necked around a bend of a road and he was about 25’ up an older cut munching away

Ya that was the thing I found most strange. The roads I was walking had some very tall green grass and there were 0 bear signs. From the other areas I have been hunting this was the greenest.

 

[mmitc120]

I’ve heard some people have had success blowing a fawn in distress call on the edge of a thick reprod. Patience and persistence seems to be key with this tactic.

I’ll be heading down to the Rogue area Memorial Day weekend. Fingers crossed the bears are out and about then. Since moving to Oregon I’ve hunted the mt hood area with varied success. Looking forward to actually being able to glass something!

 

[7718Sallee]

I’ve heard some people have had success blowing a fawn in distress call on the edge of a thick reprod. Patience and persistence seems to be key with this tactic.

I’ll be heading down to the Rogue area Memorial Day weekend. Fingers crossed the bears are out and about then. Since moving to Oregon I’ve hunted the mt hood area with varied success. Looking forward to actually being able to glass something!

Look very closely at the burned areas some are moonscapes and some are pretty nice I’ve had a hard time discerning the 2 on onyx and google earth, compared to actual boots on the ground. My friend is going to bring his foxpro and we will give it a try.

 

[mmitc120]

Look very closely at the burned areas some are moonscapes and some are pretty nice I’ve had a hard time discerning the 2 on onyx and google earth, compared to actual boots on the ground. My friend is going to bring his foxpro and we will give it a try.

Thanks for the tip! I agree it's tough to tell how hot some of the burns got without boots on the ground. Good luck!

 

[7718Sallee]

Thanks for the tip! I agree it's tough to tell how hot some of the burns got without boots on the ground. Good luck!

Thanks for the tip! I agree it's tough to tell how hot some of the burns got without boots on the ground. Good luck!

Well took the 6 hour drive Wednesday night after work got to trail head at 3 am set the alarm for 5 got up and still hunted through the burn area my son and I found about a month ago that had lots of bear sign had a good steady wind in my face. Glassed a bear at 455yards in front of me watched it about 15 min feeding over into the next little drainage it looked pretty good but at that distance and it being only the 3rd bear I seen this year I wasn’t sure. So I hiked uphill to try and gain a bit of elevation on it and side hilled so I could see over the fold. Stood and watched for awhile and he fed out of the fold so I could see him. Took off my pack and watched another 10 min. I think you all are right you can try and talk yourself into making a small or medium bear big but when you see a big one it’s obvious. His belly was barely off the ground his ears were wide and small he swayed when he walked. I double lunged him at 185 yards. He ran 20-30 yards uphill then turned and started running downhill so I shot again like ppl say keep shooting until they go down. Thanks for all the ppl who put out knowledgeable info that helped me become successful. Paw is just over5” skinned out he was over 6’ biologist said he was pretty old one of his canines is broken off and most of his molars are missing

 

[Oregon]

Outstanding. That’s a good one!