About what time do the bears wake up?

BullsBucksandBoars · Feb 28, 2015

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

You're killing me, John! I didn't even put in this year. #2 is scheduled to arrive 6/16 and wife was 2 weeks early with #1 so being 2hrs away and out of cell service for the month of May would go over like a fart in a space suit.

salmonriverjohn · Feb 28, 2015

Congratulations! That's as about as good of a reason to miss a hunt as a man needs Will. There's a loooong fall hunt so we'll just nail em then.

We just welcomed our newest addition to the clan on Wednesday when my daughter gave birth to her first child,, a little girl. That makes seven of seven and no boys yet, no worries though, if they're anything like their mothers they'll be elk, deer and bear hunting machines.

BullsBucksandBoars · Mar 1, 2015

salmonriverjohn said:
Congratulations! That's as about as good of a reason to miss a hunt as a man needs Will. There's a loooong fall hunt so we'll just nail em then.

We just welcomed our newest addition to the clan on Wednesday when my daughter gave birth to her first child,, a little girl. That makes seven of seven and no boys yet, no worries though, if they're anything like their mothers they'll be elk, deer and bear hunting machines.

That's awesome and congrats to you too Grampa! Elk deer and bear hunting machines or not, 7/7 has gotta be tough lol we got lucky William "Liam" Hunter-Crenshaw. His big sister loves to carry my old bugle around the house and make elk calls she can bugle, chuckle and mew, knows the difference between elk and deer antlers and jumps up and down cheering when we watch hunting shows, and she's only 18mo! I can stand to miss one season, wife agreed we won't have any from Sept-Nov and I get a pocket of out of state tags as a reward so to speak lol, Montana last year, Wyoming next year... Ok ok I can't complian about missing one spring bear season

salmonriverjohn · Mar 1, 2015

Pdrake, your 100% correct. I live in bear country and when not on the river or working I can usually be found out and about in it and that's just about what I could ascertain.

They do dig a lot of dens under old red rot stumps and banks though around here, but during mild winters I've encountered them in every month of the year.

pdrake · Mar 1, 2015

salmonriverjohn said:
Pdrake, your 100% correct. I live in bear country and when not on the river or working I can usually be found out and about in it and that's just about what I could ascertain.

They do dig a lot of dens under old red rot stumps and banks though around here, but during mild winters I've encountered them in every month of the year.

John, I used to think that bears naturally hibernated in the wintertime. I guess this was a result of brainwashing films I saw in public school as a kid (Nanook of the North type films). I was always taught that bears hibernate, case closed. However, where I live (NW peninsula WA) bears are out and about all through the winter, and this caused me to rethink conventional wisdom. After having such doubts (and doing research), I came to the realization that bears will hibernate not because of the cold but because of the lack of food---it is simple, really: If there is so much snow they cannot forage, then they are better off just sleeping and waiting. Thus, food (lack of it) is the impetus to hibernate, not cold.

Where I live we are snow free except 3 to 7 days in the winter (this year, zer0). There is just no need for the bears to sleep, as they can forage on many types of food. To get back to the OP's question, if he/she is hunting in the lowlands (say, below 5,000-feet mark), I think the bears are already active. In a normal heavy snow year, the strategy of following the melting snow line up the ridge is effective in the higher elevations (such as the Blue Mountains), but even that strategy is not going to work this year, I am afraid.

There is a gentleman in NE Oregon who seems to really know this stuff. I follow his posts on many different websites, and have learned a lot from him. PM me if you would like to know more, as I can't claim any original knowledge on this matter.

doggitter · Mar 1, 2015

We're way down on snow here this year also, and I've been thinking the same thing about food and hibernating. But, I have nothing to back it up. I'll start riding up and scouting the areas where my tag is and see what I find in the next few weeks. Season opens in a month so I'm already behind in my scouting, dang it! I thank you guys that put in actual helpful info here.