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Speaker 1: As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days

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Speaker 1: in the field. This show is about translating my hard

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Speaker 1: won experiences into tips and tactics. They'll get you closer

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Speaker 1: to your ultimate goal success in the field. I'm Remy Warren.

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Speaker 1: This is cutting the distance. As the spring bear season progresses,

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Speaker 1: I figured it would be a great time to expand

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Speaker 1: on some more bear hunting tactics. While spotting from a

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Speaker 1: distance and stalking in is a great way to hunt,

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Speaker 1: what about those areas where that's not possible, those vast

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Speaker 1: areas of bear country we're having a look, Even maybe

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Speaker 1: a hundred yards away would be a tough feat. My

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Speaker 1: bear hunting is often split between hunting, timber and glassing.

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Speaker 1: This week, we're going to cover all things thick country

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Speaker 1: bear hunting by breaking down food, terrain, sign and effectively

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Speaker 1: covering country. But before we do that, I want to

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Speaker 1: share the story of my best Montana bear. So I

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Speaker 1: actually kind of told this story not that long ago

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Speaker 1: episode ninety um I briefly mentioned the story of this bear.

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Speaker 1: I kind of got into detail. But because the last

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Speaker 1: story was predicated on a couple of clients that I

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Speaker 1: had and getting her a bear but at the beginning

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Speaker 1: of that story, I talked about a bear that I

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Speaker 1: ended up shooting, which was my best Montana bear. And

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Speaker 1: even though I kind of already told the story, I

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Speaker 1: feel like it's skipped out on a lot of details

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Speaker 1: because I didn't want to make it too long. So

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Speaker 1: I figured, well, today I might as well tell the actual,

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Speaker 1: like full full length version, because I think it's pretty good. So,

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Speaker 1: like I talked about earlier, I was guiding father and

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Speaker 1: a daughter, Jason Mica, and we've been hunting for most

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Speaker 1: of the week and and got on some bears, and

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Speaker 1: and that week is a little bit later in the season,

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Speaker 1: so my tactic kind of switched from you know, actually

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Speaker 1: in the mornings, we're going up some big canyons glassing

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Speaker 1: and doing that little glassing thing, and it just we

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Speaker 1: we spotted some bears, but by the time we got

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Speaker 1: there and it just didn't work out, the bears had disappeared.

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Speaker 1: As one of those where we're seeing bears but we

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Speaker 1: just aren't getting within range to get a shot. So

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Speaker 1: I decaid, all right, we're gonna switch our tactics. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna go hunt some more covered areas. We're gonna and

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Speaker 1: and actually kind of start targeting some places where fawns

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Speaker 1: are dropping because it's calving time for elk and fawning

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Speaker 1: for deer. So we would go into those kind of

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Speaker 1: timbred pockets where I had hunted a lot in the past,

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Speaker 1: I knew a lot of bears concentrated in I'd had

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Speaker 1: a lot of success there over the years, and so

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Speaker 1: just hunting these areas, doing a various different tactics, cruising,

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Speaker 1: logging roads and other things, still hunting through timber, picking

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Speaker 1: some good ridges and other things, and then just really

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Speaker 1: kind of king in on where some of the fawns

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Speaker 1: and calves are dropping. And it is later in the season,

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Speaker 1: so it's also kind of the rut where the bears

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Speaker 1: start mating, so you kind of get that as well,

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Speaker 1: where you get higher concentrations of bears and then you

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Speaker 1: might get more movement throughout the day. So figured, all right,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna go hunt this a little bit thicker stuff.

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Speaker 1: And towards the end of the hunt, we're in one

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Speaker 1: of my favorite areas. We've seen some bears in a

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Speaker 1: couple of different places, but just no shots, nothing close,

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Speaker 1: nothing great, And so on the last podcast, I said,

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Speaker 1: we're just sitting there bs and which is true. We're

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Speaker 1: just kind of talking, joking around, and normally, like when

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Speaker 1: I'm guiding, you know, I take the deposits, all the fees,

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Speaker 1: everything's taken care of before the hunt. But Jason hunted

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Speaker 1: with me a lot and good friend by this point,

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Speaker 1: and he still had like some of his hunt deposit left,

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Speaker 1: and he had it in a check in his pocket.

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Speaker 1: So we're sitting there just joking around. He's like, oh, man,

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Speaker 1: I said. He's like, this check has been burning a

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Speaker 1: hole in my pocket this whole week. I've been meaning

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Speaker 1: to give you the rest of the payment for the

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Speaker 1: guiding services. And I was like, oh, yeah, whatever, man,

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Speaker 1: and sot of just joking back and forth, and so

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Speaker 1: he reaches into his wallet and pulls out a check

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Speaker 1: that he had for the remaining balance of the hunt

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Speaker 1: and hands it to me. And the second it hits

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Speaker 1: my hand, I look over and I'm like, there's a bear.

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Speaker 1: And this bear is like seventy yards away. So Michael

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Speaker 1: lines up, I kind of told this story, already, shoots missus,

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Speaker 1: bear gets away, and unfortunately they couldn't stay another day

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Speaker 1: to hunt it. So I was like, all right, but

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Speaker 1: I actually had, I had some plans. I had to

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Speaker 1: be somewhere. I think that was like a Thursday. So

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Speaker 1: the next day is a Friday, and I'm thinking to myself.

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Speaker 1: I was like, man, that was a big bear I

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Speaker 1: gotta get. I gotta get back out there and just

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Speaker 1: give it a look. I mean, but I'm thinking about it.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, I gotta i gotta be somewhere this weekend, man,

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Speaker 1: And if I get a bear, I have to check

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Speaker 1: it in and sometimes it can be really hard to

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Speaker 1: track someone down and I'm gonna be gone, so I

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Speaker 1: was like, I have to get it checked in before

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Speaker 1: I leave. So I'm thinking to myself and I'm like, man,

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Speaker 1: I really have to shoot this bear first thing in

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Speaker 1: the morning. I gotta stop hunting by like midmorning because

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Speaker 1: I have to pack it out. I have to take

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Speaker 1: it in. I have to get checked and I have

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Speaker 1: to drive back. So I'm like, man, I don't know

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Speaker 1: if I'll be able to track someone down on the weekend.

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Speaker 1: So I've got to drive about two hours to a

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Speaker 1: regional Fishing Game office to get this bear checked in.

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Speaker 1: So I'm like, Okay, this is just before I even

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Speaker 1: go out. So I'm just thinking all the like all

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Speaker 1: the planning in my head. I'm like, well, I'm just

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Speaker 1: I just can't not go. Look in the worst case scenario, Okay,

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Speaker 1: maybe I'll just like change my flight my trip. I

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Speaker 1: think I was flying to the that time of year

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Speaker 1: it would have been. I can't remember where I was going,

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Speaker 1: probably Rena rodeo, because if it's that time here, that's

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Speaker 1: something I generally don't miss. So I go out and

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Speaker 1: I just leave super early, like wait before set up

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Speaker 1: night go And I'm like, what are the odds that

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Speaker 1: I'm actually gonna find this bear again? So I'm I'm

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Speaker 1: going through and I'm slowly going around the corner. It's

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Speaker 1: like kind of like this logging road and um, there's

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Speaker 1: been this like spot where it's kind of cleared out

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Speaker 1: a little bit, like a more cleared area, and that's

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Speaker 1: where I've been seeing the bears because of the elk

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Speaker 1: were just dropping their calves and these little bit more

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Speaker 1: open areas. So I come around the corner and I'm like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: just thinking like oh, this would be sweet. It's kind

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Speaker 1: of foggy, kind of rainy this morning, and I look up,

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Speaker 1: I see a bear. I'm like, bear cool, it's not

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Speaker 1: the bear that we saw the day before, but I thought, death,

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Speaker 1: that doesn't really matter. It's a bear. So it's about

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Speaker 1: fifty yards away, and I put the gun up. I'm like, sweet,

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Speaker 1: I want to get a good look at it first.

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Speaker 1: You don't make sure's you no cubs around. I look

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Speaker 1: at it. I'm like, it's definitely a sou It's got

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Speaker 1: like a pretty small head on it. It's kind of

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Speaker 1: a scrawnier, smaller sound like, not a big bear, not

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Speaker 1: a real mature animal. I'm like, I'm like, I don't

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Speaker 1: see any cubs, but I'm thinking to myself, not a

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Speaker 1: bear I want to take I'm like, man, bummer. Well,

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Speaker 1: I was like, that was pretty cool. At least I

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Speaker 1: saw a bear. And it's pretty close to where that

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Speaker 1: bear was the other day, not right in the same place,

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Speaker 1: but so I'm looking and just kind of like keep watching,

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Speaker 1: and there's this it's it's like in this little dip

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Speaker 1: below me, this little dip, and there's like this little

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Speaker 1: ridge just past it, maybe fifty yards past it. So

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Speaker 1: the bears just below me, and I look up and

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Speaker 1: this bear comes just starts to walk over the rise,

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Speaker 1: and I'm like, yep, that's the bear, a big chocolate

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Speaker 1: colored boar, and he gets on that ridge, and the

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Speaker 1: smaller bear is actually just right below me. I mean

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Speaker 1: probably at this point thirty yards or less. I can't

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Speaker 1: actually even see it because it went on the ridge

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Speaker 1: right below me. And that board gets on the ridge

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Speaker 1: and it must have been following the center that that

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Speaker 1: sal to either breeder or whatever. And he gets up

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Speaker 1: on that ridge and he just stands up, and I

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Speaker 1: don't know if he saw me or if he's just

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Speaker 1: now trying to like he smells that other bear in there,

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Speaker 1: and he's like, where's where the bear go? But I

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Speaker 1: feel like he kind of like pinned on me, like

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Speaker 1: what's that and stands up on his two hind legs.

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Speaker 1: And at this point I'm already ready, so I'm like, oh, yep,

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Speaker 1: that's the bear. It's sweet laying up the crosshairs. And

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Speaker 1: he actually had like a perfect, i don't know, like

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Speaker 1: white chevron on his chest, just centered right there. Squeeze

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Speaker 1: the trigger less than hundred yards away. I don't even

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Speaker 1: I think it was actually off hand maybe or maybe resting.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I can't remember. I think I was standing

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Speaker 1: and um because I was trying to look at the

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Speaker 1: bear down below me. When that bear popped up, and

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Speaker 1: that's probably why he saw me and got a little hinky.

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Speaker 1: So I threw the gun up, shot, squeeze the trigger, boom,

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Speaker 1: looked good. Bear disappeared, so I'm like, sweet, walk over,

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Speaker 1: give it a few seconds, kind of go over to

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Speaker 1: the ridge, go down, and sure enough, there he is

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Speaker 1: in the bottom. I was like, whoa cool go up

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Speaker 1: to him, and it was the biggest bear I had

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Speaker 1: taken him Montana. I end up, you know, skinned him out,

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Speaker 1: just actually case skinned him because I tanned to the

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Speaker 1: hide and then packed out all the meat, and I

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Speaker 1: didn't have a super large pack on me. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I had like my normal pack, but it wasn't my

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Speaker 1: big frame pack. I'm like, you know, because normally spring

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Speaker 1: bears aren't that big, even big spring bears. And in

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Speaker 1: order to get everything into the pack, I was like,

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Speaker 1: I gotta get out one trip because I gotta hustle.

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Speaker 1: So I got the hide in there and then all

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Speaker 1: the meat. I ended up having to bone out some

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Speaker 1: of the meat and pack the bearer back and I

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Speaker 1: can't I'd have to. I was trying to look before

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Speaker 1: I did this. I took a picture of the scale

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Speaker 1: of the boned out meat. I think it was like

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Speaker 1: a hundred and seventy hundred and sixty seventy pounds boned

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Speaker 1: out meat, some hundred sixty pounds something like that of

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Speaker 1: boned out meat on a spring bear. That's a pretty

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Speaker 1: substantial size bear for Montana. I mean it was. It

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Speaker 1: was a pretty good size bear. A lot of meat

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Speaker 1: I ended up making mostly I did have quite a

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Speaker 1: few polish is a little bit of summer sausage, and

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Speaker 1: then one of my favorites like I like to do

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Speaker 1: like slow cooker pulled bear stuff do like brisket style.

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Speaker 1: But that was the story of my largest bear, and

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Speaker 1: it was it was a kind of a rush hunt,

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Speaker 1: the end of another hunt, and probably should have been

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Speaker 1: someone else's bear. And it was one of those things

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Speaker 1: where I'm like, all right, should I text the picture

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Speaker 1: of this bear or not? And then I thought to myself, yep,

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Speaker 1: I should definitely text the picture the bear the see

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Speaker 1: what you missed out on text. But that is the

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Speaker 1: that's the story there of my largest Montana spring black bear.

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Speaker 1: When it comes to hunting thicker country in terrain where

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Speaker 1: you can't really see, I think that it comes down

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Speaker 1: to four main things. So it comes down to food,

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Speaker 1: the type of terrain, the ability to detect sign, and

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Speaker 1: then the most important covering country. So let's start with

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Speaker 1: the first one. Food. I know, in every bearer podcast

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Speaker 1: or anything I've talked about, I always say it, you

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Speaker 1: got a key in on the food, and it's no

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Speaker 1: different whether you are hunting the fall, whether you're hunting

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Speaker 1: the spring, whether you're hunting open country, or whether you're

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Speaker 1: hunting the timber. Food is going to be the key.

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Speaker 1: Actually got quite a few questions after the Last Bear podcast,

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Speaker 1: which is what kind of inspired me to continue talking

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Speaker 1: about bears. A lot of them were what do we

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Speaker 1: do in the fall? And then quite a few like

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Speaker 1: I'm from Pennsylvania or areas where it's more thick, more timbered,

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Speaker 1: how do I kind of go about locating bears on

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Speaker 1: the regular? And you have to remember, like bears, they

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Speaker 1: they need that food, especially in the fall they're really

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Speaker 1: starting to bulk up, but they're building that weight in

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Speaker 1: the springtime as well, So I think that this is

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Speaker 1: a good like this podcast is not necessarily for spring bears,

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Speaker 1: but this is a lot of my fall bear hunting

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Speaker 1: tactics as well. And that food is actually easier to

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Speaker 1: hone in on in the fall because you've got different

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Speaker 1: kinds of high protein food sources. So I look for

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Speaker 1: that food source that's at the top of the list. Um,

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Speaker 1: if you're in an area like maybe further east or

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Speaker 1: central part of the US, maybe not even out west,

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Speaker 1: or like places like New Mexico where you've got mass

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Speaker 1: crops of eggcorns, you know you can look at the trees,

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Speaker 1: look at the type of terrain and say, like, what

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Speaker 1: what's producing right now? A thing in Montana or other

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Speaker 1: like more mountain areas, berries are always good. You've got huckleberries,

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Speaker 1: You've got blueberries. Some places have like good raspberry growth

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Speaker 1: or blackberries. Anything that has just a lot of sugar,

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Speaker 1: a lot of protein, a lot of carbohydrates. Bears are

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Speaker 1: completely sucked in by so in the springtime. There's a

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Speaker 1: couple of different food sources that I would say are

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Speaker 1: primarily things you can focus on in that more timbered country.

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Speaker 1: One of them is just that early grass. And that

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Speaker 1: early grass if you think about in an area that's

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Speaker 1: really forested, you've got really good grass that actually grows

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Speaker 1: on roads that aren't being used to like abandoned logging roads,

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Speaker 1: gated roads. Um, maybe there's some areas that are a

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Speaker 1: little bit thinner timber that actually have more grass. Most

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Speaker 1: of the forest canopy blocks out a lot of that grass.

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Speaker 1: But any of those open areas, it's not open where

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Speaker 1: you could glass it from a distance, but it's open

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Speaker 1: enough where the sun is gonna get in. It's gonna

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Speaker 1: hit the ground, and you're gonna get some of that

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Speaker 1: green up. That is what you're looking for in those

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Speaker 1: more spot and stock type things. Some great stuff to

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Speaker 1: look for. I mean, I look for clover, dandelions, those

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Speaker 1: kind of things. Those start to pop up. That's a

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Speaker 1: really good favored food source of early spring bears. So

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Speaker 1: walking those gated logging roads that can get a little

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Speaker 1: bit of sun, you start seeing that green up in

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Speaker 1: that green grass. That's a place to key on on.

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Speaker 1: Start to look for. Other things that I look for

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Speaker 1: in the springtime are elk calving areas. Deer calving areas

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Speaker 1: areas where you're like, okay, the animals are dropping, they

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Speaker 1: might be closer together. It's like a safety and numbers

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Speaker 1: thing you can smell, Like where elk have calves, It's

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Speaker 1: just like it's this area that reeks. Think about how

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Speaker 1: good a bears noses. It takes not very much for

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Speaker 1: a bear to stroll in and munch on some some elk, calves,

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Speaker 1: some deer calves, whatever. Every year I find multiple I mean,

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Speaker 1: I don't even know if I could count the number

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Speaker 1: of chewed up carcasses from calves, fawns, even those that

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Speaker 1: have tried to protect their young from bears that time

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Speaker 1: of year. It's like taking candy from a baby. They're

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Speaker 1: laying there, they're defenseless, and while their scent isn't as strong,

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Speaker 1: and that's kind of part of their defense. A bear

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Speaker 1: can easily detect a young deer, a young elk, So

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Speaker 1: it's it's pretty much a pretty steady, easy to find

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Speaker 1: food source. And me personally, in areas that I hunt

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Speaker 1: elk a lot, it's like, hey, if I'm going to

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Speaker 1: hunt the spring, I might as well hunt in areas

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Speaker 1: that bears are targeting future crops of mule dearer elk.

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Speaker 1: Kind of balance out the equation a little bit, But

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Speaker 1: you've got to kind of think of those food sources

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Speaker 1: and then the other thing to think about, like, well,

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Speaker 1: even fall or springtime winter kills areas where it's like, hey,

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Speaker 1: this is a winter range, this is where the elk winter.

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Speaker 1: But think about that, there's a lot of animals that

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Speaker 1: aren't going to survive the winter, especially in harsher winters.

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Speaker 1: I'll kind of go in those areas where it's like

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Speaker 1: animals were wintering there because I know that there will

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Speaker 1: be winter kill. A lot of that will freeze over.

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Speaker 1: It might not have been eaten by coyotes or other things,

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Speaker 1: but a lot of it will. And there are quite

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Speaker 1: a few winter kills that actually happened later in the spring.

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Speaker 1: They make it all the way through the winter, and

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Speaker 1: then if you get a really wet spring and then

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Speaker 1: cold nights, that kills probably more ungilous than just the

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Speaker 1: winter itself. They they've got kind of that prepared for winter,

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Speaker 1: but it's those really wet, cold springs that do a

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Speaker 1: lot of the killing. So those times a year you

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Speaker 1: can actually find where maybe some animals that die off

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Speaker 1: from harshness severity of weather, and the bears will hone

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Speaker 1: in on that and that will be another good food source,

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Speaker 1: especially in the fall as well. Anything where you've got

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Speaker 1: a good protein source like salmon streams or those like

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Speaker 1: some kind of kill, whether it's a wolf kill that

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Speaker 1: a bear is moved in on something maybe a hunter

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Speaker 1: shot and couldn't find. You never know. That's always a

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Speaker 1: good food source for bears as well. Now, one thing

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Speaker 1: to think about in this step is when you find

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Speaker 1: the food. Bears aren't like other animals where they need

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Speaker 1: to move a lot once they've got their food. If

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Speaker 1: they've got a good food source, they're gonna keep hitting

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Speaker 1: it till it's no longer good food source. So depending

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Speaker 1: on the type of food source you find, if you're

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Speaker 1: finding some kind of sign, then you're gonna know, oh, hey,

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Speaker 1: this is a food source that they're hitting. And those

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Speaker 1: are the kind of places that you want to keep

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Speaker 1: going back to and keep keeping track of. And as

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Speaker 1: you kind of look at it through a broader scope,

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Speaker 1: you go, this is an area that's heavily timbered. There's

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Speaker 1: not a lot of food here. Where is the food?

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Speaker 1: So it might be in more creek bottom areas with

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Speaker 1: more water later in the year, and it maybe it

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Speaker 1: will be in areas that are just like the first

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Speaker 1: places to get some sun and get some green up

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Speaker 1: earlier in the year. So that brings us to our

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Speaker 1: next point. Kind of looking for that sign. So one

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Speaker 1: thing I think about. You know, bears are very solitary there.

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Speaker 1: Population densities are probably a little higher than you think.

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Speaker 1: But also it's not like there isn't a herd of

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Speaker 1: bears walking through the woods generally. I mean, I think

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Speaker 1: the most I've seen in one like little group is

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Speaker 1: probably three or four. And that's not like not cubs.

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Speaker 1: That was just like a couple of breeding. It was

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Speaker 1: actually a salad walked across the meadow, then a boar

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Speaker 1: walked across the meadow behind her, and then another boar,

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Speaker 1: and then a third boar, and then the second boar

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Speaker 1: turned around and actually ran toward the first board and

346
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Speaker 1: they start fighting. It's pretty cool, um back up on

347
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Speaker 1: their hind legs, hair flying everywhere. It's like claws and

348
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Speaker 1: teeth and hair. It's a pretty sweet thing to witness.

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Speaker 1: But one thing I try to hone in on, especially

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Speaker 1: in more timbered areas, is starting to look for that sign.

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Speaker 1: So sign can be very difficult to find. What I'm

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Speaker 1: talking about is either scat tree markings like sometimes bears

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Speaker 1: will like, especially later in the spring, the kind of

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Speaker 1: mark their territory just like any other animal, um rubbing

355
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Speaker 1: where they kind of like rub some of that. Maybe

356
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Speaker 1: they've got their growing out there, they're losing some of

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Speaker 1: their winter coat for the summer. They're preparing for summertime,

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Speaker 1: so they're rubbing on the trees to try to get

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Speaker 1: some of that hair off. They get a little bit

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Speaker 1: itchy seeing that hair in places and then tracks. One

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Speaker 1: thing that I do like to do is you go, Okay,

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Speaker 1: there's a huge forest. Now I gotta see if a

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Speaker 1: bear actually ships in it. And that can be hard

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Speaker 1: to do. So what I like to do is I

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Speaker 1: like to target places where it's easier to find sign

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Speaker 1: for me. Generally that is some kind of like non

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Speaker 1: driving logging road or areas that hold good dirt where

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Speaker 1: I can find tracks. Other places that I look for

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Speaker 1: signing around watering areas, so where it's like maybe something

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Speaker 1: that's limiting that they need. So maybe there's a limiting

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Speaker 1: food source that I'm gonna really kind of scan those

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Speaker 1: areas where the food sources are. Maybe there's a good

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Speaker 1: calving area where it's like really reeks of elk in here.

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Speaker 1: Now I'm going to kind of treat it like I'm

375
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Speaker 1: looking for shed antlers. And half the time I do

376
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Speaker 1: pick up sheds doing this, I'll kind of grid that

377
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Speaker 1: area out on foot and say, okay, look here's some

378
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Speaker 1: bear sign. I know bears are using it. I know

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Speaker 1: it's fresh. This is an area that I need to

380
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Speaker 1: keep checking because once you found that sign, you can

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Speaker 1: go okay, I'm checking things off the list. I've got

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Speaker 1: the food source, I've got the sign. I know there's

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Speaker 1: bears here. Now I just have to intersect that. I

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Speaker 1: have to intersect when the animals are going to be

385
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Speaker 1: in this spot. And that's what you're doing when you're

386
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Speaker 1: um as opposed to like glass and where you're sitting

387
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Speaker 1: and letting your eyes do the walking. In the timber,

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Speaker 1: you really have to let your feet do the walking.

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Speaker 1: And that's what comes to our third kind of main

390
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,560
Speaker 1: thing here, and that is going to be covering country.

391
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Speaker 1: And the way that I cover country in thick terrain

392
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Speaker 1: is what I like to call cruise. The more ground

393
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Speaker 1: that I'm covering physically, the more effective I'm gonna be.

394
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Speaker 1: So I cover ground in various different ways. Um it

395
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,600
Speaker 1: could be walking, riding, driving, I've done a combination of

396
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,520
Speaker 1: all of them. Some of the more effective ones are

397
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Speaker 1: ones where you're going to be able to You've got

398
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:30,359
Speaker 1: to think about like it's thick cover, and so the

399
00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:33,320
Speaker 1: bear is probably gonna be in very close proximity when

400
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Speaker 1: you are like able to even actually physically see the animal.

401
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,040
Speaker 1: So I think that the two most effective ways would

402
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,000
Speaker 1: be like the walking or riding. But sometimes it's like

403
00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,359
Speaker 1: really good to just cover country and understand, like, okay,

404
00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:48,399
Speaker 1: where is bear sign? Maybe by driving an area that

405
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,600
Speaker 1: doesn't really get a lot of traffic. You could drive

406
00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:52,520
Speaker 1: that road. You could look for tracks, just kind of

407
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,000
Speaker 1: like you would if you were hunting with hounds. You're

408
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,040
Speaker 1: just the hound. You you can drive, you can look

409
00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,320
Speaker 1: for tracks, you can look for sign you can cover

410
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,520
Speaker 1: country and get areas where it's like, oh here, this

411
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Speaker 1: is a good hillside. This might have a good orientation

412
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Speaker 1: to the sun. There's maybe not as much snow right here.

413
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Speaker 1: Let's go walk out this way, Let's go check this out.

414
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Speaker 1: I think one of the probably best additions I've added

415
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Speaker 1: to my spring Bear setup is an e bike. I

416
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Speaker 1: guess I got it last year. I got a back

417
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Speaker 1: to um. I think it's the Mules e bike. And

418
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Speaker 1: what I'll do is also I'll have my truck. I'll

419
00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,080
Speaker 1: cover ground like in the timber in a vehicle to

420
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Speaker 1: get to a different logging road that's like a gated

421
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Speaker 1: logging road, and these were Now I will preface this

422
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Speaker 1: because I think one of the things with e bikes

423
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Speaker 1: is people think that it's like, oh, you're using a

424
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Speaker 1: motorized vehicle in it on motorized area. But what I

425
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Speaker 1: do is I use them on motorized like areas where

426
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Speaker 1: you can use a four wheeler UTV whatever, but I

427
00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:50,199
Speaker 1: just don't have to bring a trailer, so I can

428
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:51,919
Speaker 1: have a bike in the back of my truck. I

429
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:53,840
Speaker 1: can drive my truck on a logging road to a

430
00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,320
Speaker 1: logging road that really gets zero traffic vehicular traffic unless

431
00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,920
Speaker 1: somebody wants to bring a four wheeler there. But it's

432
00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:01,800
Speaker 1: way easier because it's not like I can get a

433
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,000
Speaker 1: trailer there, and it's super quiet. So I'll get on

434
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,600
Speaker 1: my ebike on a road that I could drive any

435
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,760
Speaker 1: other kind of motorcycle whatever, but it's a lot more silent,

436
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,720
Speaker 1: so I can cruise that logging road out and I

437
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,560
Speaker 1: just pick. When I go to pick a road that

438
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:18,400
Speaker 1: I'm gonna walk or an area that I'm going to cover,

439
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:20,680
Speaker 1: I always base it off of the wind. I want

440
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,040
Speaker 1: to be walking into the wind. Bears have such a

441
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,040
Speaker 1: good sense of smell. I don't want them to smell

442
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,560
Speaker 1: me two miles away and be that extra. I mean,

443
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,840
Speaker 1: even if they run off fifty to a hundred yards

444
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:33,400
Speaker 1: from where I'm cruising through and checking areas, that's gonna

445
00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,359
Speaker 1: be enough for me to not see them. So I

446
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,720
Speaker 1: pick an area. I'll use my truck to drive to

447
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:39,879
Speaker 1: the other side of the mountain to get to a

448
00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,399
Speaker 1: like an old gated logging road, a road that's not

449
00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,639
Speaker 1: used um by like regular traffic, and then I'll get out,

450
00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,440
Speaker 1: I'll get my ebike, I'll jump on that trail whatever

451
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,439
Speaker 1: that I'm allowed to drive, and then I cruise that

452
00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 1: into the wind. And sometimes although ten plus miles and

453
00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,720
Speaker 1: what I'm doing is I'm just looking for those spots

454
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,440
Speaker 1: that I think have that food source, and then I'm

455
00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,120
Speaker 1: also obviously looking for bears. M One thing that I've

456
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,480
Speaker 1: liked about that e bike or just like walking, is

457
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,480
Speaker 1: instead of like if you're cruising it on a four

458
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,240
Speaker 1: wheel or something, you're scaring everything, whereas if you're a

459
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,880
Speaker 1: little bit more stealthy, I'm not blowing out, Dear, I'm

460
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:17,720
Speaker 1: not blowing out elks, so I kind of get a

461
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,399
Speaker 1: good picture of this is where something's halving, this is

462
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,040
Speaker 1: where these animals are. Then I go and I cover

463
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,400
Speaker 1: that ground. And then if I see something like let's

464
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,879
Speaker 1: say I see some sign, let's see I maybe I

465
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:30,640
Speaker 1: see it get lucky and see a bear or whatever, um,

466
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:32,879
Speaker 1: then I kind of make note of that area. And

467
00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 1: those are the areas that I then start to still

468
00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: hunt on foot. So I'll pick an area, I'll focus

469
00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,280
Speaker 1: on it, stalking into the wind and then just glassing

470
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,760
Speaker 1: and moving, glassing and moving and really honing in on

471
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,399
Speaker 1: those areas. There's places that I hunt like consistently, and

472
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,879
Speaker 1: I find that let's say it's a ten mile long route,

473
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 1: I probably only see bears in three spots every time,

474
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,159
Speaker 1: and it's like those same three spots, there's something about

475
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,280
Speaker 1: those particular areas that the bears like. Whether it's food,

476
00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:03,200
Speaker 1: whether it's it's something else, but there's something about those

477
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,960
Speaker 1: areas that they like. So every time after then I

478
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 1: can kind of hone in on. Okay, I get to

479
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,359
Speaker 1: that spot, and instead of just going past that spot,

480
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,160
Speaker 1: I effectively hunt that small area or that area by

481
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,880
Speaker 1: still hunting one thing that I think gets overlooked when

482
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,679
Speaker 1: it comes to hunting covered country is analyzing the terrain.

483
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,560
Speaker 1: So I've found that in covered country, and it's very

484
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 1: similar for other animal movements, other animal patterns. But they

485
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:32,159
Speaker 1: like the ridges and then they like the the valleys,

486
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:34,720
Speaker 1: like they like to be in those creek bottoms, and

487
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 1: they also like to be kind of on those ridges.

488
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,520
Speaker 1: And what I found is it's it's actually more or

489
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:43,439
Speaker 1: less they like more level terrain. Um bears, Yes, they

490
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:47,600
Speaker 1: will absolutely be in some steep, gnarly, nasty stuff, but

491
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 1: they're also trying to pack on a lot of weight

492
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:51,719
Speaker 1: if they've got food, and they don't have to like

493
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,439
Speaker 1: strenuously walk up something all the time, they're gonna do it.

494
00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:01,160
Speaker 1: They like those easy like long wide um long wide ridges.

495
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:02,720
Speaker 1: I mean, elk do the same thing a lot of

496
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,920
Speaker 1: animals do. And maybe it's because that time of year

497
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 1: I'm focusing on on elk and those are the places

498
00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 1: that elk like to have. So that's something to think about.

499
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:14,200
Speaker 1: But when I'm looking at terrain, I generally find most

500
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,800
Speaker 1: bears like if I'll go into an area, I'll pick

501
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,879
Speaker 1: a nice, good grassy ridge in the timber. It's a

502
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,639
Speaker 1: little bit higher, it sometimes grows that that gets that

503
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:25,440
Speaker 1: good green up because the sun can hit a little

504
00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 1: bit and I'll like walk that ridge down and then

505
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,159
Speaker 1: walk the next ridge up, or in that valley like

506
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 1: a little bit wider valley areas where it kind of

507
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,440
Speaker 1: flattens out, maybe you get some wallows or some other things.

508
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,639
Speaker 1: Some areas where water sits. That's always good too, because

509
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,439
Speaker 1: you get that water. If it gets hotter later in

510
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,280
Speaker 1: the season, they're gonna be hitting that water. Also. It's

511
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,520
Speaker 1: kind of that area where you might get some more

512
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,080
Speaker 1: flat areas where the sun can get in, you can

513
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:52,920
Speaker 1: get that grass, and it's easy for the bears. Yeah,

514
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,920
Speaker 1: bears can be in some like the most crazy steep

515
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,520
Speaker 1: cliffs imaginable. But when I'm hunting the timber, it's really

516
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,480
Speaker 1: hard to effectively kind of like target those areas. You're

517
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,160
Speaker 1: covering ground, and yeah, you gotta walk up and down them.

518
00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,400
Speaker 1: But it seems to be that I find the majority

519
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: of I would say maybe the bears that I spot

520
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,639
Speaker 1: in Timber are probably like just up off a small

521
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 1: creek in a more gradual like area, or up on

522
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:21,960
Speaker 1: a ridge is I'm like going up, so you've got

523
00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 1: like steep on both sides, but they're on that easier

524
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 1: to travel ridge and that seems to be kind of

525
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 1: universal in places that I've hunted bears across the country.

526
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,040
Speaker 1: With all that in mind, I would say that one

527
00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,880
Speaker 1: thing to think about over the years is bears in

528
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,920
Speaker 1: many ways can be very patternable, and it's because of

529
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:41,800
Speaker 1: that ability of you know, they aren't going to get

530
00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:43,480
Speaker 1: far from that food source if you find that good

531
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:45,680
Speaker 1: food source, once you find that sign, and you find

532
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,360
Speaker 1: that type of topography and terrain that they like, then

533
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,480
Speaker 1: you can keep focusing in and hunting that. And the

534
00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 1: way that I hunted is through still hunting. It's getting

535
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: the wind right, it's going quiet, it's moving slow, and

536
00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 1: just constantly head on a swivel, looking, taking a few

537
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:03,200
Speaker 1: steps looking. I'll even throw my binoculars up and when

538
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,919
Speaker 1: I'm in that timber and i will like scan with

539
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,840
Speaker 1: my binoculars and then I'll actually even just roll the focus.

540
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 1: What that's doing is just saying like, okay, it's changing

541
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 1: that depth that that focus is. So I'm looking at

542
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,000
Speaker 1: everything from fifty yards and then I'm zooming in out

543
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,160
Speaker 1: to a hundred yards or as far as I can see,

544
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 1: and then I'm moving again, you know, you've got to

545
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,480
Speaker 1: cover a lot of country when you're chasing bears. So

546
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 1: if you're doing it by glassing, you're covering a lot

547
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:29,359
Speaker 1: of country with your eyes. If you can't glass, so

548
00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 1: you've gotta cover a lot of that country with your

549
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 1: feet or some other way if your mobility impaired. Maybe

550
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: that way is in a vehicle, or maybe that way

551
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,159
Speaker 1: is on a horse. I've actually done quite a bit

552
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:42,879
Speaker 1: of spring bear hunting on horseback. It's actually pretty fun

553
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:45,480
Speaker 1: um or on a mule or whatever going up canyons

554
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 1: and then you know, I've seen quite a few just

555
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,879
Speaker 1: like cruising up the trail on a horse, especially in

556
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,680
Speaker 1: the summertime after the season's closing, that happens a lot more.

557
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:58,920
Speaker 1: But um, you know, being able to cover country effectively

558
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 1: is going to be the us the way that you

559
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 1: can be successful in that thicker timber, but also covering

560
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,639
Speaker 1: country that's the most efficient. So figuring out where the

561
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 1: bears are, what food they're hitting, and then still hunting

562
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:14,840
Speaker 1: through that is going to be a really good way

563
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 1: to find consistent success in the timber. I hope you

564
00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:22,399
Speaker 1: guys enjoyed this week's podcast, and I hope that it

565
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,439
Speaker 1: kind of answered a few questions. I did get a

566
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,879
Speaker 1: lot of questions after last The Last Bear podcast. I

567
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:29,439
Speaker 1: think the bear hunting is one of the things that

568
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:32,160
Speaker 1: people ask a lot about because it is very difficult

569
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 1: and there's so many different tactics and ways to hunt

570
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,240
Speaker 1: different times a year in different types of terrain. But

571
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 1: I think a lot of the things are universal. So

572
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,679
Speaker 1: I hope that this helps answer some of the questions

573
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 1: for the people talking about or wondering about fall bear hunting,

574
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 1: as well as a lot of people saying, hey, I

575
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,520
Speaker 1: don't live in an area where glassing is possible. What

576
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,879
Speaker 1: can I do? And how can I be consistently successful?

577
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 1: So by focusing in on these key things, I think

578
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,680
Speaker 1: that you'll find a lot more success next week. Um,

579
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,600
Speaker 1: anytime I talk about bears, this question also comes up,

580
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:03,600
Speaker 1: and like I always, I say it every time, but

581
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:05,520
Speaker 1: I'm like, I always kind of want to tailor a

582
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,879
Speaker 1: lot of what the podcast topics are based on the

583
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,000
Speaker 1: kind of feedback I'm getting. So if you're like, this

584
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,640
Speaker 1: is not the feed this is not things I want

585
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,159
Speaker 1: to hear, then start sending me more messages. Uh, mostly

586
00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 1: via Instagram at Remy Warren m or You can also

587
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:24,080
Speaker 1: email Remy at the mediator dot com, but to be honest,

588
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:28,160
Speaker 1: I don't check email that often. So next week it's

589
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,200
Speaker 1: going to be I think it'd be cool because I

590
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,520
Speaker 1: got a lot of questions on this as well, to

591
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:36,840
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about large predator awareness and defense. Um,

592
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,440
Speaker 1: there's a recent story probably most of you heard of

593
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,720
Speaker 1: a lady in Colorado getting killed by a black bear.

594
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,040
Speaker 1: That's a horrible I mean, I hate to hear any

595
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:49,000
Speaker 1: kind of bear attacks. You know, one in Montana this

596
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 1: year from a grizzly bear. I think he was actually

597
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 1: a guide. I don't know, hunting guide or just a

598
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,800
Speaker 1: mountain guide. But um, of course I'm not actually sure,

599
00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,680
Speaker 1: but god, man, that sucks, and my heart goes out

600
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 1: to their families, and I know that that's something that

601
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,840
Speaker 1: people that maybe aren't familiar with hunting the West, or

602
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 1: even people that are. It's it can be a real

603
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,880
Speaker 1: concern what what should I expect out there? Or it's

604
00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 1: a fear of a lot of people. It's something that

605
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 1: holds a lot of people back. So I think we

606
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:16,320
Speaker 1: did talk about I think it was even an episode

607
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,920
Speaker 1: two of the podcast Bear Defense. Bear Best Practices for

608
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,040
Speaker 1: large bears, mostly grizzly bears, but what about those other

609
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: things mountains, black bears. Um, I mean I've actually I've

610
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 1: been charged by a coyote. I've been like when I

611
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: was a kid, a bobcat actually stalk to me. Now,

612
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:37,120
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like, there are other things out there.

613
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,000
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say it's something that, um, you need to

614
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 1: be afraid of, but I also think it's something that

615
00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,000
Speaker 1: you know, maybe you should you should think about. So

616
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,440
Speaker 1: I'll give you kind of a whole rundown of what

617
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 1: to look out for, things to think about, and then

618
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 1: possible ways to just keep yourself a little bit safer

619
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,280
Speaker 1: out there in this country where you're you're just recreating,

620
00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,640
Speaker 1: you're doing something else, but there are other large predators

621
00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:02,680
Speaker 1: out there that who knows things can happen. So until

622
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 1: next week, keep I don't know what we gotta we

623
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,480
Speaker 1: gotta find where. That's like we're in almost an episode

624
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 1: podcast one. We still haven't even come up with a

625
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:17,800
Speaker 1: sign off yet. I need help. No, So until next week,

626
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,440
Speaker 1: keep stalking that timber God. Pet you guys later,