OTC Bears

[dogz]

Sorry if I missed the time of year. Spring bear hunting keeps the same prime times and big bear routines but the best place to hunt them is on south facing slopes that green up quickly. Spring bears head right for the lush grazing. The high country bears are out later because the snow hangs around but they have nicer hides and seem to me to be physically superior bears. If you can find an open green patch surrounded by snow in the timber it's a good place to check out. Bears usually follow well travelled trails, so go down a few and look for muddy spots to see what the tracks look like. If you get in the thick stuff and are surrounded by sign but can't see bears try a dying rabbit call or a fawn distress call and one might appear. Not recommended for solo hunting though.

Calling bruins, can and does work. I've been calling bruins since the early 90's. I've called in over 60 of them (think the actual number is 66 would have to look at my notes).

Personally, I wouldn't reccomend cold calling (calling without seeing them first) for them especially in tight cover. Main reason being, from my studies on it I've found that 75% of the time the sow will put the little dudes up a tree and then...come looking. Too darn easy to put the hurt on Mom and leave orphans.

I've found that about 1/3 of the bears will pay absolutely zero attention to the call (I use mouth calls and I hit it hard), 1/3 of them will sort of mosey this way and that in the direction of the call and the last 3rd they'll get the positive flow going as they will come Mach 4 with their hair on fire.

I like to call with a partner, for one we can watch more territory, and two soon as I'm gassed then my partner takes over. I call with a lot of intensity so I can only go 45-60 seconds before I need a break. And when you're calling it's my experience that you want to call non stop. Once you stop....they stop.

Just some food for thoughts

 

[Grandpa]

Calling bruins, can and does work. I've been calling bruins since the early 90's. I've called in over 60 of them (think the actual number is 66 would have to look at my notes).

Personally, I wouldn't reccomend cold calling (calling without seeing them first) for them especially in tight cover. Main reason being, from my studies on it I've found that 75% of the time the sow will put the little dudes up a tree and then...come looking. Too darn easy to put the hurt on Mom and leave orphans.

I've found that about 1/3 of the bears will pay absolutely zero attention to the call (I use mouth calls and I hit it hard), 1/3 of them will sort of mosey this way and that in the direction of the call and the last 3rd they'll get the positive flow going as they will come Mach 4 with their hair on fire.

I like to call with a partner, for one we can watch more territory, and two soon as I'm gassed then my partner takes over. I call with a lot of intensity so I can only go 45-60 seconds before I need a break. And when you're calling it's my experience that you want to call non stop. Once you stop....they stop.

Just some food for thoughts

Dogz,
I noticed on another thread that you mentioned that the best time to do a Spring bear hunt in Montana is between May 13th and the 21st. As I mentioned earlier on this post that there are a couple of us going on a Spring hunt and would appreciate any info that you can provide us. We are going to be stopping and visiting with a friend of the other guy that I will be hunting with and he stated that we can hunt in his area. He lives near Three Forks. Originally I had planned on hunting near Hamilton. The one nice thing about hunting near Three Forks is that we will have access to private land. I'm not sure about the bear numbers there, but it is a starting place and we can always move on further west to hunt on BLM land. We can be flexible on time so that helps especially considering weather. But a good starting date would also be very helpful. I would appreciate any help and information that you can provide this old timer as I would like to down a black bear before I go meet my maker.
Thanks
Grandpa

 

[dogz]

G-pa, fell free to sent me a private message and we can talk if you like

 

[Grandpa]

G-pa, fell free to sent me a private message and we can talk if you like

Will do that as soon as I figure out how. As you can see this is the first time I have posted. Just watched a few threads in the past.