Bear hunting info help please

dilly

dilly

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Hey experienced bear hunting folks, I need some suggestions. I will be up in the Folyet area (WMU 31) during the first week of May. I will have some time on my hands and would like to get a crack at a bear if possible. I have never hunted bear exclusively and never in the Spring. I do not have any opportunity to set up and manage a bait site in advance. What I am wondering is, what are the odds of connecting with a bear in a hunt situation like this? Is there any effective method that I should use to up my chances? Should I bring a tree stand with me? What about a ground blind? Is there any real benefit to things like a "honey burn"? Is a week too short a time to have a bait pile produce? Is "spot and stalk" an option, and are there certain covers in the spring that bears tend to attend during the day?

I plan on using a rifle for this hunt. Any help and info is appreciated.
 
I'd argue that while your chance may be low, it is zero if you don't go. Get something that smells and tastes sweet. Some people have had luck with dog food and molasses. I've read the MNR uses sardines to tempt bears in for hair samples.

Walk around, look for bear sign (poop), set-up a ground blind 100m or less from from a bait pile, sit and wait. One of my buddys called in a bear (in the fall) using coyote predator calls (rabbit, mouse, etc).

Our group has shot 5 bears in 5 years near Sudbury. We don't go early to bait. Show up, bait, and sit in ground blinds or trees for about a week (both spring and fall). Don't always see bears, but when we do, the excitement is there!

Good luck and stay warm!
 
I have hunted the area, and many others like it... your chances are good... normally the first week of May is too early for stalking the cuts and green-ups, but this is an early spring and I suspect you will be alright. I have taken many bears by spot and stalk in cuts... what you are looking for are south facing cuts that are 3-5 years old. Call the local MNR and ask which companies have the timber rights, call those companies and ask to speak to their forestry manager or the biologist, if they have one on the payroll, most companies contract out biology services when necessary... ask for areas, that were cut 3-5 years ago, also ask if they have had bear issues in any particular location. Short of that, it is driving around and finding likely cuts to spot feeding bears, of course concentrate early and late in the day, but the first week of May, bears often feed all day long. You can shorten your scouting endeavors by getting topo maps of the area and looking for long southern facing slopes, preferably that end in a drainage with creek, river or swamp, and cross reference those with the forestry cut data to maximize your on-the-ground efforts.
 
I have no experience in bear hunting ..... but I was wondering.

Has anybody ever tried calling in a bear .... and with success?

Like a hare in distress call ..... or a moose calf in distress call ... ?

Something like this ....


 
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i would start making a bait barrel 2 weeks before you head up there so it gets nice and stinky. when you get to the area you would like to hunt drop off the barrel in a nice quiet spot. if theres bear sign even better. their noses are 10x better than a dogs so if your bait is stinky enough and the wind is wafting it they will find it. you can check in on your barrel during the week and sit at it if you want especially if theres sign of bears coming in and out. you'll know if a bear have visited. Spend as much time as you want at it. personally i wouldn't sit on it until i'm sure a bear has been coming to see it. they will return if its easy food.

spot and stalk seems like a good option. i live in BC where baiting is illegal so spot and stock is all i do. try and find nice green hills and fields (usually south facing are best). early morning and in the evenings are high in bear activity. play the wind, if he can smell you its game over, they like fields with clovers and dandy lions, get a good shot on it, bears aren.'t built like dear, familiarize yourself with what the kill zone is on a bear. all my bears have come from spot and stalk, Power lines, cut blocks, are good locations to start looking. Google maps helps,

best of luck
 
0faustus0 said:
I have no experience in bear hunting ..... but I was wondering.

Has anybody ever tried calling in a bear .... and with success?

Like a hare in distress call ..... or a moose calf in distress call ... ?

Something like this ....


Click to expand...

I have called in several bears and taken two, while calling... BUT, I have spent hundreds of hours at it... it is definitely not a high success technique... where I have used calling effectively is over a bait to get larger boars in that would normally wait until after dark... and also while spot and stalking to position bears to where a shot can be taken. I also got virtually run over by a large boar that ran right past me, brush by my sleeve... so it can be adrenaline packed at moments, but largely a lonely endeavor.
 
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If you are going to give baiting a try, I wrote a tutorial a few years ago for a CGN thread, if you PM your email address, I will send it to you... it may have some useful info for you.
 
0faustus0 said:
I have no experience in bear hunting ..... but I was wondering.

Has anybody ever tried calling in a bear .... and with success?

Like a hare in distress call ..... or a moose calf in distress call ... ?

Something like this ....


Click to expand...

I always sit with my back to a tree when doing predator calls, there are good reasons for that, here at least. :redface:

Grizz
 
0faustus0 said:
I have no experience in bear hunting ..... but I was wondering.

Has anybody ever tried calling in a bear .... and with success?

Like a hare in distress call ..... or a moose calf in distress call ... ?

Something like this ....


Click to expand...

bear call using a predator can work but there is a but here we do not do that alone as we cant predict if it will be a grizzly or black bear ...
 
Sardines work well for me to get a new bait started. Also get a cheap sprayer bottle and cheap vanilla and spray the entire area. Puts out a lot of good smelling scent.

I agree with the above that it’s a bit early but your odds are better if you try and it’s a great time of year in the woods
 
I've actually had some luck with honey burns. There's also a company that makes "buck bombs" also have bear scents. You depress the button on the pressurized can and it sends the scent out all at once and the scent travels far. You could also walk around and see if you can find a natural bait site, like winter kill or something. If there's bears around, there will be one close by if you're lucky enough to find winterkill.
Good luck.
 
Thanks a bunch everyone. I have much more confidence now and a plan in mind.

Keep the tips coming if you please. I’m sure others are benefiting from this info.
 
Having lived and worked in the area I can tell you that if the grass is greening up and leaves just starting to bud, you will have good spot and stalk opportunities, especially if you hunt west of Foleyet along Highway 101 towards Chapleau.

Each spring, there is considerable emigration by sub adult males out of the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve as they are run out of the sows home range. The bear density in the game preserve is 4x that of the hunted population, so hunting adjacent the CCGP will enhance your opportunities. There are numerous road systems off of highway 101 heading north / west towards the CCGP, so do some research on google earth in advance.

That being said we are having an extremely mild weather this year and green up may be considerably earlier this year than normal.

Good luck
 
I usually go up in 21b but the lake my buddies camp on is always last ice out in the area, With this year early spring I think we’d be to late to wait for ice out vs green up. We might go to top end of 39 instead
 
hoytcanon said:
I have hunted the area, and many others like it... your chances are good... normally the first week of May is too early for stalking the cuts and green-ups, but this is an early spring and I suspect you will be alright. I have taken many bears by spot and stalk in cuts... what you are looking for are south facing cuts that are 3-5 years old. Call the local MNR and ask which companies have the timber rights, call those companies and ask to speak to their forestry manager or the biologist, if they have one on the payroll, most companies contract out biology services when necessary... ask for areas, that were cut 3-5 years ago, also ask if they have had bear issues in any particular location. Short of that, it is driving around and finding likely cuts to spot feeding bears, of course concentrate early and late in the day, but the first week of May, bears often feed all day long. You can shorten your scouting endeavors by getting topo maps of the area and looking for long southern facing slopes, preferably that end in a drainage with creek, river or swamp, and cross reference those with the forestry cut data to maximize your on-the-ground efforts.
Click to expand...


make sure you listen to Hoyt. here is the forest management maps i use to narrow down cuts by year.

https://www.efmp.lrc.gov.on.ca/eFMP/home.do

i'll be going 2nd or 3rd week of May to try my hand as well in the spring. past couple fall hunts have not worked out for me. in my limited experience, bear hunting is not easy
 
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