WEBVTT - Ep. 94: Locating Bears in Thick Country 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.639 As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:13.760 in the field. This show is about translating my hard 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:17.600 won experiences into tips and tactics. They'll get you closer 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:21.360 to your ultimate goal success in the field. I'm Remy Warren. 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:29.440 This is cutting the distance. As the spring bear season progresses, 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:31.680 I figured it would be a great time to expand 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:34.800 on some more bear hunting tactics. While spotting from a 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.200 distance and stalking in is a great way to hunt, 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:40.440 what about those areas where that's not possible, those vast 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:42.720 areas of bear country we're having a look, Even maybe 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:45.640 a hundred yards away would be a tough feat. My 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.720 bear hunting is often split between hunting, timber and glassing. 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.080 This week, we're going to cover all things thick country 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:56.400 bear hunting by breaking down food, terrain, sign and effectively 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.240 covering country. But before we do that, I want to 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:10.440 share the story of my best Montana bear. So I 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:13.039 actually kind of told this story not that long ago 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:16.520 episode ninety um I briefly mentioned the story of this bear. 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.240 I kind of got into detail. But because the last 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.000 story was predicated on a couple of clients that I 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:26.160 had and getting her a bear but at the beginning 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.240 of that story, I talked about a bear that I 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:30.920 ended up shooting, which was my best Montana bear. And 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:32.920 even though I kind of already told the story, I 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:34.919 feel like it's skipped out on a lot of details 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.040 because I didn't want to make it too long. So 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:39.360 I figured, well, today I might as well tell the actual, 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.960 like full full length version, because I think it's pretty good. So, 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:47.360 like I talked about earlier, I was guiding father and 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:50.560 a daughter, Jason Mica, and we've been hunting for most 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:53.160 of the week and and got on some bears, and 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:55.760 and that week is a little bit later in the season, 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.880 so my tactic kind of switched from you know, actually 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.560 in the mornings, we're going up some big canyons glassing 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.040 and doing that little glassing thing, and it just we 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.200 we spotted some bears, but by the time we got 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:08.920 there and it just didn't work out, the bears had disappeared. 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:11.120 As one of those where we're seeing bears but we 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:13.920 just aren't getting within range to get a shot. So 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:16.240 I decaid, all right, we're gonna switch our tactics. We're 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.280 gonna go hunt some more covered areas. We're gonna and 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.160 and actually kind of start targeting some places where fawns 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:25.800 are dropping because it's calving time for elk and fawning 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.360 for deer. So we would go into those kind of 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.280 timbred pockets where I had hunted a lot in the past, 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.720 I knew a lot of bears concentrated in I'd had 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:35.960 a lot of success there over the years, and so 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.560 just hunting these areas, doing a various different tactics, cruising, 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.519 logging roads and other things, still hunting through timber, picking 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:44.560 some good ridges and other things, and then just really 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.720 kind of king in on where some of the fawns 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:49.760 and calves are dropping. And it is later in the season, 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.919 so it's also kind of the rut where the bears 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.680 start mating, so you kind of get that as well, 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:57.920 where you get higher concentrations of bears and then you 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.720 might get more movement throughout the day. So figured, all right, 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:02.840 we're gonna go hunt this a little bit thicker stuff. 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:05.560 And towards the end of the hunt, we're in one 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.160 of my favorite areas. We've seen some bears in a 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:10.880 couple of different places, but just no shots, nothing close, 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.040 nothing great, And so on the last podcast, I said, 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.000 we're just sitting there bs and which is true. We're 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:20.160 just kind of talking, joking around, and normally, like when 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.040 I'm guiding, you know, I take the deposits, all the fees, 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:26.680 everything's taken care of before the hunt. But Jason hunted 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.000 with me a lot and good friend by this point, 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.640 and he still had like some of his hunt deposit left, 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:34.280 and he had it in a check in his pocket. 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:36.680 So we're sitting there just joking around. He's like, oh, man, 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:38.360 I said. He's like, this check has been burning a 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:40.920 hole in my pocket this whole week. I've been meaning 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.280 to give you the rest of the payment for the 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.920 guiding services. And I was like, oh, yeah, whatever, man, 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.320 and sot of just joking back and forth, and so 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:51.280 he reaches into his wallet and pulls out a check 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:53.400 that he had for the remaining balance of the hunt 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.960 and hands it to me. And the second it hits 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.280 my hand, I look over and I'm like, there's a bear. 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:02.800 And this bear is like seventy yards away. So Michael 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:06.000 lines up, I kind of told this story, already, shoots missus, 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:11.280 bear gets away, and unfortunately they couldn't stay another day 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.800 to hunt it. So I was like, all right, but 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.440 I actually had, I had some plans. I had to 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:18.680 be somewhere. I think that was like a Thursday. So 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.600 the next day is a Friday, and I'm thinking to myself. 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:23.240 I was like, man, that was a big bear I 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:25.080 gotta get. I gotta get back out there and just 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.720 give it a look. I mean, but I'm thinking about it. 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:32.160 I'm like, Okay, I gotta i gotta be somewhere this weekend, man, 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:33.760 And if I get a bear, I have to check 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.279 it in and sometimes it can be really hard to 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.800 track someone down and I'm gonna be gone, so I 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:40.279 was like, I have to get it checked in before 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:42.800 I leave. So I'm thinking to myself and I'm like, man, 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:45.680 I really have to shoot this bear first thing in 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.880 the morning. I gotta stop hunting by like midmorning because 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.240 I have to pack it out. I have to take 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:52.760 it in. I have to get checked and I have 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.120 to drive back. So I'm like, man, I don't know 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:57.000 if I'll be able to track someone down on the weekend. 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.479 So I've got to drive about two hours to a 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.680 regional Fishing Game office to get this bear checked in. 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:05.440 So I'm like, Okay, this is just before I even 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.760 go out. So I'm just thinking all the like all 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:09.400 the planning in my head. I'm like, well, I'm just 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:13.240 I just can't not go. Look in the worst case scenario, Okay, 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.880 maybe I'll just like change my flight my trip. I 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.560 think I was flying to the that time of year 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.120 it would have been. I can't remember where I was going, 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:22.680 probably Rena rodeo, because if it's that time here, that's 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:25.120 something I generally don't miss. So I go out and 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.760 I just leave super early, like wait before set up 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:30.400 night go And I'm like, what are the odds that 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:34.000 I'm actually gonna find this bear again? So I'm I'm 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:37.200 going through and I'm slowly going around the corner. It's 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:40.640 like kind of like this logging road and um, there's 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:42.960 been this like spot where it's kind of cleared out 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.600 a little bit, like a more cleared area, and that's 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.080 where I've been seeing the bears because of the elk 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:50.000 were just dropping their calves and these little bit more 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:53.800 open areas. So I come around the corner and I'm like, yeah, 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:55.920 just thinking like oh, this would be sweet. It's kind 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.360 of foggy, kind of rainy this morning, and I look up, 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.480 I see a bear. I'm like, bear cool, it's not 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.720 the bear that we saw the day before, but I thought, death, 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:07.279 that doesn't really matter. It's a bear. So it's about 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:11.480 fifty yards away, and I put the gun up. I'm like, sweet, 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:13.040 I want to get a good look at it first. 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:14.600 You don't make sure's you no cubs around. I look 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.600 at it. I'm like, it's definitely a sou It's got 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.760 like a pretty small head on it. It's kind of 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:22.560 a scrawnier, smaller sound like, not a big bear, not 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:25.920 a real mature animal. I'm like, I'm like, I don't 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:28.760 see any cubs, but I'm thinking to myself, not a 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.400 bear I want to take I'm like, man, bummer. Well, 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:32.760 I was like, that was pretty cool. At least I 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.200 saw a bear. And it's pretty close to where that 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:37.520 bear was the other day, not right in the same place, 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:41.520 but so I'm looking and just kind of like keep watching, 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:44.200 and there's this it's it's like in this little dip 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.559 below me, this little dip, and there's like this little 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:49.520 ridge just past it, maybe fifty yards past it. So 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:53.159 the bears just below me, and I look up and 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.320 this bear comes just starts to walk over the rise, 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:00.440 and I'm like, yep, that's the bear, a big chocolate 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:03.919 colored boar, and he gets on that ridge, and the 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:06.200 smaller bear is actually just right below me. I mean 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.520 probably at this point thirty yards or less. I can't 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:11.600 actually even see it because it went on the ridge 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.880 right below me. And that board gets on the ridge 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:17.560 and it must have been following the center that that 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:21.520 sal to either breeder or whatever. And he gets up 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:23.520 on that ridge and he just stands up, and I 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.120 don't know if he saw me or if he's just 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:27.800 now trying to like he smells that other bear in there, 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.840 and he's like, where's where the bear go? But I 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:32.880 feel like he kind of like pinned on me, like 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.040 what's that and stands up on his two hind legs. 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.800 And at this point I'm already ready, so I'm like, oh, yep, 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.600 that's the bear. It's sweet laying up the crosshairs. And 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.040 he actually had like a perfect, i don't know, like 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:49.160 white chevron on his chest, just centered right there. Squeeze 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.600 the trigger less than hundred yards away. I don't even 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.280 I think it was actually off hand maybe or maybe resting. 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.200 I mean, I can't remember. I think I was standing 0:07:56.920 --> 0:07:58.720 and um because I was trying to look at the 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.360 bear down below me. When that bear popped up, and 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.800 that's probably why he saw me and got a little hinky. 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:08.200 So I threw the gun up, shot, squeeze the trigger, boom, 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:13.880 looked good. Bear disappeared, so I'm like, sweet, walk over, 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:16.040 give it a few seconds, kind of go over to 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:17.920 the ridge, go down, and sure enough, there he is 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.960 in the bottom. I was like, whoa cool go up 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:22.760 to him, and it was the biggest bear I had 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.400 taken him Montana. I end up, you know, skinned him out, 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.440 just actually case skinned him because I tanned to the 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:30.880 hide and then packed out all the meat, and I 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.720 didn't have a super large pack on me. I mean, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.640 I had like my normal pack, but it wasn't my 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.720 big frame pack. I'm like, you know, because normally spring 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.520 bears aren't that big, even big spring bears. And in 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:44.600 order to get everything into the pack, I was like, 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:47.320 I gotta get out one trip because I gotta hustle. 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:49.400 So I got the hide in there and then all 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.040 the meat. I ended up having to bone out some 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:54.680 of the meat and pack the bearer back and I 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.319 can't I'd have to. I was trying to look before 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.800 I did this. I took a picture of the scale 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:01.240 of the boned out meat. I think it was like 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:07.480 a hundred and seventy hundred and sixty seventy pounds boned 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.559 out meat, some hundred sixty pounds something like that of 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.640 boned out meat on a spring bear. That's a pretty 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.280 substantial size bear for Montana. I mean it was. It 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.840 was a pretty good size bear. A lot of meat 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.640 I ended up making mostly I did have quite a 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.600 few polish is a little bit of summer sausage, and 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:26.960 then one of my favorites like I like to do 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.079 like slow cooker pulled bear stuff do like brisket style. 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.440 But that was the story of my largest bear, and 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:36.559 it was it was a kind of a rush hunt, 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:38.360 the end of another hunt, and probably should have been 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:40.520 someone else's bear. And it was one of those things 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.440 where I'm like, all right, should I text the picture 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:47.880 of this bear or not? And then I thought to myself, yep, 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.320 I should definitely text the picture the bear the see 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.680 what you missed out on text. But that is the 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:59.600 that's the story there of my largest Montana spring black bear. 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:11.400 When it comes to hunting thicker country in terrain where 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:14.520 you can't really see, I think that it comes down 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.079 to four main things. So it comes down to food, 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.880 the type of terrain, the ability to detect sign, and 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.640 then the most important covering country. So let's start with 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:28.360 the first one. Food. I know, in every bearer podcast 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:30.480 or anything I've talked about, I always say it, you 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:32.559 got a key in on the food, and it's no 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.920 different whether you are hunting the fall, whether you're hunting 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.640 the spring, whether you're hunting open country, or whether you're 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:41.439 hunting the timber. Food is going to be the key. 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:45.880 Actually got quite a few questions after the Last Bear podcast, 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.319 which is what kind of inspired me to continue talking 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.400 about bears. A lot of them were what do we 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.800 do in the fall? And then quite a few like 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:58.640 I'm from Pennsylvania or areas where it's more thick, more timbered, 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:01.720 how do I kind of go about locating bears on 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:05.080 the regular? And you have to remember, like bears, they 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.320 they need that food, especially in the fall they're really 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:09.480 starting to bulk up, but they're building that weight in 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.040 the springtime as well, So I think that this is 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:14.960 a good like this podcast is not necessarily for spring bears, 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:16.559 but this is a lot of my fall bear hunting 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.880 tactics as well. And that food is actually easier to 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.880 hone in on in the fall because you've got different 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.000 kinds of high protein food sources. So I look for 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.480 that food source that's at the top of the list. Um, 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:31.480 if you're in an area like maybe further east or 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.400 central part of the US, maybe not even out west, 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:38.559 or like places like New Mexico where you've got mass 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.079 crops of eggcorns, you know you can look at the trees, 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:42.880 look at the type of terrain and say, like, what 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.680 what's producing right now? A thing in Montana or other 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.080 like more mountain areas, berries are always good. You've got huckleberries, 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.680 You've got blueberries. Some places have like good raspberry growth 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:57.640 or blackberries. Anything that has just a lot of sugar, 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:02.160 a lot of protein, a lot of carbohydrates. Bears are 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:07.480 completely sucked in by so in the springtime. There's a 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.920 couple of different food sources that I would say are 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.600 primarily things you can focus on in that more timbered country. 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.000 One of them is just that early grass. And that 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.040 early grass if you think about in an area that's 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.400 really forested, you've got really good grass that actually grows 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.520 on roads that aren't being used to like abandoned logging roads, 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.280 gated roads. Um, maybe there's some areas that are a 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.280 little bit thinner timber that actually have more grass. Most 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.040 of the forest canopy blocks out a lot of that grass. 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:36.680 But any of those open areas, it's not open where 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:38.720 you could glass it from a distance, but it's open 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:40.480 enough where the sun is gonna get in. It's gonna 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:42.440 hit the ground, and you're gonna get some of that 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.600 green up. That is what you're looking for in those 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.520 more spot and stock type things. Some great stuff to 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.760 look for. I mean, I look for clover, dandelions, those 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:54.400 kind of things. Those start to pop up. That's a 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:58.640 really good favored food source of early spring bears. So 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.040 walking those gated logging roads that can get a little 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:03.200 bit of sun, you start seeing that green up in 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:06.280 that green grass. That's a place to key on on. 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:08.920 Start to look for. Other things that I look for 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.880 in the springtime are elk calving areas. Deer calving areas 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:16.560 areas where you're like, okay, the animals are dropping, they 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.600 might be closer together. It's like a safety and numbers 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:23.160 thing you can smell, Like where elk have calves, It's 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.920 just like it's this area that reeks. Think about how 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.760 good a bears noses. It takes not very much for 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:34.680 a bear to stroll in and munch on some some elk, calves, 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:38.880 some deer calves, whatever. Every year I find multiple I mean, 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:41.040 I don't even know if I could count the number 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:47.320 of chewed up carcasses from calves, fawns, even those that 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:50.360 have tried to protect their young from bears that time 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.400 of year. It's like taking candy from a baby. They're 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:57.080 laying there, they're defenseless, and while their scent isn't as strong, 0:13:57.440 --> 0:13:59.560 and that's kind of part of their defense. A bear 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:04.520 can easily detect a young deer, a young elk, So 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:08.000 it's it's pretty much a pretty steady, easy to find 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.520 food source. And me personally, in areas that I hunt 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:12.559 elk a lot, it's like, hey, if I'm going to 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:14.480 hunt the spring, I might as well hunt in areas 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:18.720 that bears are targeting future crops of mule dearer elk. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.760 Kind of balance out the equation a little bit, But 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:23.920 you've got to kind of think of those food sources 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:25.720 and then the other thing to think about, like, well, 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:29.480 even fall or springtime winter kills areas where it's like, hey, 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.720 this is a winter range, this is where the elk winter. 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:35.400 But think about that, there's a lot of animals that 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.960 aren't going to survive the winter, especially in harsher winters. 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:39.800 I'll kind of go in those areas where it's like 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:43.320 animals were wintering there because I know that there will 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.760 be winter kill. A lot of that will freeze over. 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.920 It might not have been eaten by coyotes or other things, 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:51.640 but a lot of it will. And there are quite 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.200 a few winter kills that actually happened later in the spring. 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:56.240 They make it all the way through the winter, and 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:58.600 then if you get a really wet spring and then 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:02.240 cold nights, that kills probably more ungilous than just the 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:05.440 winter itself. They they've got kind of that prepared for winter, 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:07.800 but it's those really wet, cold springs that do a 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.480 lot of the killing. So those times a year you 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.160 can actually find where maybe some animals that die off 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.120 from harshness severity of weather, and the bears will hone 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:18.520 in on that and that will be another good food source, 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.520 especially in the fall as well. Anything where you've got 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:25.320 a good protein source like salmon streams or those like 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.560 some kind of kill, whether it's a wolf kill that 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.080 a bear is moved in on something maybe a hunter 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.880 shot and couldn't find. You never know. That's always a 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.560 good food source for bears as well. Now, one thing 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.040 to think about in this step is when you find 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.120 the food. Bears aren't like other animals where they need 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.040 to move a lot once they've got their food. If 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.680 they've got a good food source, they're gonna keep hitting 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:50.160 it till it's no longer good food source. So depending 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.240 on the type of food source you find, if you're 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:57.160 finding some kind of sign, then you're gonna know, oh, hey, 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:58.960 this is a food source that they're hitting. And those 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:00.520 are the kind of places that you want to keep 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.440 going back to and keep keeping track of. And as 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:05.280 you kind of look at it through a broader scope, 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.560 you go, this is an area that's heavily timbered. There's 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.000 not a lot of food here. Where is the food? 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.600 So it might be in more creek bottom areas with 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:14.920 more water later in the year, and it maybe it 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.480 will be in areas that are just like the first 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:19.560 places to get some sun and get some green up 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:25.920 earlier in the year. So that brings us to our 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.080 next point. Kind of looking for that sign. So one 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.200 thing I think about. You know, bears are very solitary there. 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:35.280 Population densities are probably a little higher than you think. 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.440 But also it's not like there isn't a herd of 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:41.400 bears walking through the woods generally. I mean, I think 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:43.400 the most I've seen in one like little group is 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.480 probably three or four. And that's not like not cubs. 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:48.400 That was just like a couple of breeding. It was 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:52.000 actually a salad walked across the meadow, then a boar 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:55.280 walked across the meadow behind her, and then another boar, 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.360 and then a third boar, and then the second boar 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.360 turned around and actually ran toward the first board and 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.280 they start fighting. It's pretty cool, um back up on 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.959 their hind legs, hair flying everywhere. It's like claws and 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.400 teeth and hair. It's a pretty sweet thing to witness. 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.919 But one thing I try to hone in on, especially 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:16.440 in more timbered areas, is starting to look for that sign. 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:18.760 So sign can be very difficult to find. What I'm 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:23.159 talking about is either scat tree markings like sometimes bears 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:25.879 will like, especially later in the spring, the kind of 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:29.080 mark their territory just like any other animal, um rubbing 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.679 where they kind of like rub some of that. Maybe 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.600 they've got their growing out there, they're losing some of 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.600 their winter coat for the summer. They're preparing for summertime, 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:39.760 so they're rubbing on the trees to try to get 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:41.320 some of that hair off. They get a little bit 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:45.400 itchy seeing that hair in places and then tracks. One 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:47.080 thing that I do like to do is you go, Okay, 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:49.600 there's a huge forest. Now I gotta see if a 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.320 bear actually ships in it. And that can be hard 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:53.760 to do. So what I like to do is I 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.560 like to target places where it's easier to find sign 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:00.200 for me. Generally that is some kind of like non 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:04.240 driving logging road or areas that hold good dirt where 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:06.760 I can find tracks. Other places that I look for 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:10.160 signing around watering areas, so where it's like maybe something 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:12.960 that's limiting that they need. So maybe there's a limiting 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.520 food source that I'm gonna really kind of scan those 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.280 areas where the food sources are. Maybe there's a good 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.080 calving area where it's like really reeks of elk in here. 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:22.960 Now I'm going to kind of treat it like I'm 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.000 looking for shed antlers. And half the time I do 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.800 pick up sheds doing this, I'll kind of grid that 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.280 area out on foot and say, okay, look here's some 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:33.840 bear sign. I know bears are using it. I know 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.119 it's fresh. This is an area that I need to 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.520 keep checking because once you found that sign, you can 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:40.960 go okay, I'm checking things off the list. I've got 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:43.280 the food source, I've got the sign. I know there's 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.879 bears here. Now I just have to intersect that. I 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.119 have to intersect when the animals are going to be 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:50.640 in this spot. And that's what you're doing when you're 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:52.960 um as opposed to like glass and where you're sitting 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.919 and letting your eyes do the walking. In the timber, 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:57.960 you really have to let your feet do the walking. 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.320 And that's what comes to our third kind of main 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.560 thing here, and that is going to be covering country. 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:07.119 And the way that I cover country in thick terrain 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.600 is what I like to call cruise. The more ground 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:14.080 that I'm covering physically, the more effective I'm gonna be. 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:18.040 So I cover ground in various different ways. Um it 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:22.600 could be walking, riding, driving, I've done a combination of 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:24.520 all of them. Some of the more effective ones are 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.880 ones where you're going to be able to You've got 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:30.359 to think about like it's thick cover, and so the 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.320 bear is probably gonna be in very close proximity when 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:38.120 you are like able to even actually physically see the animal. 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.040