About what time do the bears wake up?

[doggitter]

Wanting to do some spotting and watching them, what time of year western and eastern Oregon do they come out so we can find them?

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[salmonriverjohn]

In much of the area of their range in western Oregon they don't truly hibernate. They tend to pop out on warm days to forage on grasses and take advantage of any available carrion found.

This last Friday a young spike buck was killed on hwy 101 south of Cloverdale. On Saturday morning as I was driving north I noticed the deer had disappeared. Being the curious kind, I went back and found a medium size bear around 250 lbs. had taken it about 20 yards into the alders. He/she? Quickly departed towards camp winema on the west. It had already consumed about 2/3 of the 80 lb. deer.

One odd thing I noticed, the area all around where the deer had been eaten was covered with fresh Elk tracks, almost as if they were attempting to drive the bear off? The semi resident elk were in their usual place about a half mile south of there later when I returned heading south. Man I just love the mysteries of critters!

 

[308]

One odd thing I noticed, the area all around where the deer had been eaten was covered with fresh Elk tracks, almost as if they were attempting to drive the bear off? The semi resident elk were in their usual place about a half mile south of there later when I returned heading south. Man I just love the mysteries of critters!

The name of the show escapes me right now, but it was on Netflix . A documentary of a man who had intimate knowledge of Mule deer and how they accepted him, allowed him into their herd, would come up to him and allow him to pet them...really amazing. At any rate, he observed the deer to be very curious when another died. They would stay near the carcass, smell it, watch it and even appear to mourn the loss. This may be a reason you saw the Elk tracks near the carcass.

BTW...I think it's pretty cool how you went back and looked around for the bear.

 

[jbett98]

His name was Joe Hutto and he first raised a brood of wild turkeys in Florida.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...jDtBu1pLCQ&bvm=bv.83640239,bs.1,d.cGU&cad=rja

 

[doggitter]

I think this will be a good year. Last year I got a bike with the intention of accessing areas that a shiny truck shouldn't try. I spent all year sidetracked into just riding with minimal hunting. It seems like I'll be
able to spend more time scouting and hunting this year, and picked up a single shot pistol to pack easier. Yeah, cool.

 

[scrandall01215]

About late Mid-Late March they start coming out more. One good sign is when grass starting to grow in the mountains it helps get the their stomach digesting food better.
That's what I found through yrs. of hound hunting for Bears.
Stacy

 

[jbett98]

I don't know about a black bears waking habits, but if you wake up my wife before she's ready, you have a real ticked off grizzly bear to deal with.

 

[doggitter]

That grass fact makes sense, that's the tidbits I'm after. Thanks.

My wife is the same, def not a morning person either.

 

[bolus]

Just imagining the headlines now
"Doggitter tragically was eaten by a bear after trying to wake it up by poking it with a stick. he was last seen on NWFA asking where to find one"

Be careful out there.

 

[doggitter]

Lol it gets worse. Probably hunting alone, and plan on calling them in. Maybe. If I can find a setup that doesnt look like it needs to include toilet and spare shorts.

 

[U201491]

Wanting to do some spotting and watching them, what time of year western and eastern Oregon do they come out so we can find them?

They don't hibernate in Western Oregon Per Se. We used to exercise the dogs and tree and release them all yr long. Only thing that stopped us was access due to snow in the upper elevations. They go down for a month or so if even that long, when the cubs are born but that's about it. The cubs get pretty furred up though and look like little black brillo pads in the late winter, early spring when they come out. Cuter than hell. Brillo pads with eyes and a nose.
Just not severe enough weather here. Don't know about East Side of the state.

 

[U201491]

I think this will be a good year. Last year I got a bike with the intention of accessing areas that a shiny truck shouldn't try. I spent all year sidetracked into just riding with minimal hunting. It seems like I'll be
able to spend more time scouting and hunting this year, and picked up a single shot pistol to pack easier. Yeah, cool.

They tend not to like chainsaws or motorcycles... LOL
We almost got run down when someone started up a chainsaw up in copper creek area and one came straight up hill getting out of there. Splittin the alders and anything in its way. I don't think there is an animal that can run uphill as fast or as long as our black bears can... damn they have stamina and power. It went by us and I doubt it even knew we were there. It passed within about 15 ft of us and I swear it would have gone right over the top of us had we been in its path. It had already come over a mile straight up the canyon and didn't stop for another half mile where it went over the top. We watched that thing in amazement at the steepness and distance. Small too, maybe 250 to 300 lbs, but just pure power.

 

[doggitter]

Saw a vid a couple days ago that showed one down in a very steep, rough, logged canyon with slash everywhere. When it decided to leave it went almost straight up faster than we can run level, clear ground. Half the first 50 feet didn't even touch the ground but climbing on logs like they were a sidewalk.

 

[jbett98]

I was driving up a national forest service road with my wife and Doberman when we came around a corner and surprised a black bear taking a dump in the middle of the road.
We were heading towards a large huckleberry patch and I suspect that the bear was just leaving it.
His back was towards us as we flew around the corner in a hopped up vw bug.
I was drifting around the corner and had goosed it a little to straighten out the car when all of a sudden I was on him.
The look on his face as I was interrupting his business was pretty comical, but he went from hunched over squat to full race mode in a split second.
He ran down the road for a 1/4 mile until he could exit stage left up and out of the steep hillside cut we were in.
My Doberman really wanted a piece of that bear and was growling like I've never heard her before.
We stopped and could hear the bear clear the top of the steep hillside in an unbelievable short amount of time.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

Just like I always said jbett, a bear doesn't always dump in the woods! They poop where ever they dang well want to.
I clocked one at a solid 35mph once and he maintained it for about a half a click ahead of my Toyota.

 

[Classic]

About 10 minutes before they Sheeet in the woods

 

[44mag2ndamend]

About 4:15, 4:30 or so, right after the first batch of donuts is done.

 

[BullsBucksandBoars]

An old timer once told me that when you start seeing buzzards soaring it's time to get after bears

 

[salmonriverjohn]

And as a matter of fact my friend I just saw the 1st turkey vulture of the year last Thursday in PC!

 

[pdrake]

It is my understanding that bears in the NW (WA and OR) will only hibernate if they can burrow deeply into snow. This is because shallow snow becomes wet rain too easily, and they can easily die from hypothermia, especially because of the very low heart rate. If so, lowland bears (especially those close to urbanized areas) will not hibernate, but stay active all 12 months.

This has been another terrible snow year for WA and OR, and I really wonder if bears have been able to hibernate even at the highest elevations. I would suspect the bruins are already foraging for food, which shouldn't be hard, given that I smelled my first Skunk Cabbage today.