Bear 2011

boardbysled · Aug 2, 2011

Anyone kill one yet? With the late snow, my usual spots have some snow now and probably won't have berries ripe until late if at all this fall. But, i do have new found access... All the bear I have seen this summer were grazing alongside grassy roads.

TB-F · Aug 3, 2011

I've only seen them down low. Too much snow up high still, berries are barely there at around 3k ft, I usually wait til end of september anyways, may be even later this yr. no point in going out for a scrawny bear now

boardbysled · Aug 3, 2011

Well, I went hunting this afternoon at about 3500-4500 feet, still a bit of snow, but quite a bit of bear sign, no bear, but seen about 8 grouse and a porupine.

FastEddy · Aug 3, 2011

A Dink i saw on opener, going out tommorow though. blackberries will be here in 2 weeks and its on! oh and Im chuckin arrows :fawkdancesmiley:

preacherman · Aug 3, 2011

Saw a fatty out by baker lake two weeks ago, going up friday to see if I can whack-em!

Bscman · Aug 4, 2011

I've witnessed two taken so far. LOW elevation.

I'm getting into them every night, but this low elevation SUCKS with all the brush. Called one in about an hour ago into a clearcut that was cut early last spring...but the fireweed and ferns were just tall enough not keep from getting a good glimpse...even at 50yds. Man, stuff grows quickly around here.

I mostly hunt these critters just for the adrenaline rush.
Personally, I wouldn't waste my time hunting over ~2k feet...the food is about a month behind at the higher elevations.

preacherman · Aug 4, 2011

Well, this will be my first time bear hunting and I don't really have any experience with them. I just saw a bunch of them, and thought that I have a shot at it. Where would you recomend I go(PM me don't post specifics up)?
I have heard that if you get early enough the meat is similar to pork, but if you let it get too far into the year it is pretty rank.

dventoza · Aug 4, 2011

Me and a family member of mine each got one opening morning! We only hunted for about 2 hrs before running into these two. They were probably right around 3k to 4k feet in elevation

Bscman · Aug 5, 2011

preacherman said:
Well, this will be my first time bear hunting and I don't really have any experience with them. I just saw a bunch of them, and thought that I have a shot at it. Where would you recomend I go(PM me don't post specifics up)?
I have heard that if you get early enough the meat is similar to pork, but if you let it get too far into the year it is pretty rank.

Spring bear can taste pretty nasty.
Fall bear is generally better, but it depends on what they've been eating up until the point you took them. A garbage dump bear is a garbage bear...and high elevation blueberry field bear will obviously taste much better. I seem to take a lot of bear in late august and early september and they've been just fine.

The biggest concern is how you treat the meat. With thick hides and often times 1-2+" of fat surrounding the meat, it doesn't cool well. On top of that, bear season opens in the middle of summer when temps often see 80+. You need to get the hide of and start the cooling process ASAP. With a bear, even 4 hours between shot and recover, in typical summer heat, can really work against you.

The reason so many people don't think highly of bear meat, is because what they ate was mis-handled from the very beginning...

Boonie Buster · Aug 6, 2011

Saw a nice 250lb+ black bear on a gravel road out riding motorcycles in an undisclosed area yesterday. :awesomework: Too bad I don't have my tag....:booo:

Muddchelle · Aug 6, 2011

I saw a big black bear run out right in front of me a couple weekends ago about 8:30 am on jensen rd, out in Eatonville.

preacherman · Aug 7, 2011

Man we covered literally every road/trail up from baker and shanon lakes very few ripe berries (still), and not one fresh pile of scat! I have even heard a few rumours that they might be pushing to the rivers for fish already since our late spring has goofed up the berries at 4200+ fresh blooms no buds even!

Jaydog · Aug 8, 2011

preacherman said:
Man we covered literally every road/trail up from baker and shanon lakes very few ripe berries (still), and not one fresh pile of scat! I have even heard a few rumours that they might be pushing to the rivers for fish already since our late spring has goofed up the berries at 4200+ fresh blooms no buds even!

Pink salmon run is expected to be 6 million, but won't be in until late August or early Sept. :awesomework: