Black bear -spot/shoot -spot/stalk ?

[ol mike]

I live too far from the bear hunting grounds to bait them in.

What advise would you give for scouting -what do bears eat in the spring when they come out of hibernation ?

What type of terrain to look for ?

Basically any tips will help..Thanks Mike

 

[norsepeak]

Bears are omnivores. They will eat almost anything, but most of their diet is grasses, forbes, roots and berries. That being said in the spring time I usually see them at higher elevations, usually close to the snow line and almost always on south facing slopes that are snow free. In the fall they like to move into the berry patches. Around my house there are hundreds of acres of wild huckleberrys and wild strawberries that they really like. Bears have huge home ranges that they travel constantly. If you see a nice bear in one particular area, chances are that he'll be back in a week or so. Two years ago I patterned a really nice boar and was able to intercept him...long story short I ended up shaving some hair off of his back with a broadhead, but that was all I got.

 

[norsepeak]

Just a follow-up. Went out scouting for elk last tues. Decided to walk up this narrow brushy draw to look for elk sign. Started noticing a lot of wild raspberry bushes along the draw. Started thinking that this looks like a good draw to find a bear....about 10 seconds later a nice black came bustin out of the brush up on the opposite hill and I drill him with my 25-06....I'll get some pics....

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

Nice!

 

[ol mike]

Super nice..

Can't wait -i'm a big 25-06 fan..

 

[johnnyk]

What bullet would you recommend with the .25-06?....I have one and it really shines with the 115gn Bergers. I have never had the chance to shoot a bear but that may be changing soon. JohnnyK.

 

[ol mike]

I'm going to see if i can get my 25-06 to shoot the 115gr bergers.

Many people on a few different boards love them.

 

[royinidaho]

I'm going to see if i can get my 25-06 to shoot the 115gr bergers.

Many people on a few different boards love them.

From my porker tests I wouldn't hesitate a moment to use the 115 VLD. The ones that hit the porker left the muzzle @ 3060 FPS.

I haven't seen a Poke or is it Polk Berry since I left Pennsylvania. The bear would much em down in the spring as a laxitative.

Maybe if you started to see plenty of exlax wrappers around you might be getting close to ol' Ephriam.

But be careful there are no bells in the scat.

 

[slymule]

Roy, my personal favorite way to hunt em' is to take you a little backpackers stove, a can of sterno, and fill a can with honey....oh, don't forget a loaf of bread. Light the sterno and go to cooking that can of honey. Find you a high point where you can watch it from and just wait til they roll in, works everytime. The loaf of bread is in case a game warden strolls by.........you're just fixin' yourself lunch.