Hello: I just swallowed a chunck of pride. How the heck do you effectively hunt blackbear in Oregon without dogs or bait. I'm pretty good at calling critters but I swear I can't get a bear interested. Fox, coyote, bobcat, but no bear. If anyone out there has some ideas I'm certainly willing to try. One thing though, I'm in my mid 50's and the mountains grew steeper around here. I thank all you friends for making this chat room great. Good luck and good shooting. Jim Lawrence

------------------

Good luck. It's the same here in Pennsylvania. What will work though, is to scout (think ridges, marshes) find out travel routes and try to determine where the animal is spending the most time (feeding) and how it is getting there. DO NOT HUNT where you have determined the animal to be spending the most time. Black bears are mostly nocturnal, they feed at night, and unless baited, will not be there when the sun comes up. Find an observation post that allows you to cover a large area on the travel route (well away from the feeding area). I have not been to the West Coast. Here, bears love acorns, frogs, and berries. Find some oaks near a marsh with a few mountain blackberry bushes and you will probably find bears. Get into the woods well before light and hunt the morning, maybe walking a ridgeline, and hunt the evening. The afternoon is fairly worthless as bears tend to hole up or bed down. Most bears in PA are taken on organized Drives through the thickest (Laurel, briar, deadfall), and rockiest terrain. Without bait, bear hunting is mostly luck.

What are you guys using for bait, may I ask?
Have you tried old pastries, from the local bakery? Better than horse and easier too.
By the way fellas ... Welcome to the Forum!

I nearly forgot to mention that Pick-a-nick baskets work best, but I did see, once, a smallish black bear pull an obviously used disposable diaper from a trash can and run away with it. Hmmmm?

The only bear I shot stumbled upon me while I was elk hunting.
The preferred method for spring bear is spot and stalk early and late. I drove the logging road along Hungry Horse resevoir in Montana glassing the clear cuts. After three days I finally spotted a bear at the top of a ridge 3K feet up. I went down the ridge a half mile, climbed over the top and worked my way back up the ridge. When I came over the top and finally located the bear again, I was only 30 yards from a grizzly! That -06 felt awful small!

------------------
To be old and wise.....first you have to be young and stupid!

Jim, bears can be called. First, you have to be calling in an area with a high bear density. This is where scouting pays off.

Second, you have to call aggressively, no more than 30 second pauses. A bear will stop moving when you pause. You should be using a gravelly sounding varmint call such as the Circe jackrabbit. Carry plenty of spare reeds.Your voice should be hoarce after a day of calling.

Third, location is everything. I favor ridgelines or vantage points overlooking a canyon or basin which is filled with manzanita(berrys present) or oaks(acorns present-white variety)or whatever the bear's primary forage is in your area. I once shot a bear out of an oak tree below my vantage point-the sucker was in a tree eating the acorns off the branches! Make sure the wind is always in your face as always when you call, I admit this is easier said than done.

Last, stay persistent. Bears are like other animals. Some days they won't respond.

A final tip, if you don't succeed in calling a bear always remember deer season. The seasons usually overlap, if you or someone bangs a buck go back and sit downwind of the kill site(gutpile or boned out remains). A bear will show up, this is not considered baiting; you did not intentionally set out an attractant for the sole purpose of attracting a bear. You are merely capitalizing on an existing situation.

Good luck and may the hunting gods smile on you someday!

sure-shot