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Bear Hunting: Still Hunting
The key to still hunting is knowing that bears are near. If you know bears are around, still hunting - walking slowly, hoping to catch a bear at close range - can be an unnerving, addicting and a very productive thrill. I won't still hunt a location unless I know bears are using it, for the odds of blindly stumbling into a bear in the woods is slim. Finding a food source is to the hunter's advantage here.
If blackberries remain on the vine, bears may congregate at these sites. Walking logging roads teeming with ripe berries is a solid bet. My best still-hunting success has come amid blackberries, where my partner and I closed in on four bears in as many hours one morning.
If blackberry production is waning, berries growing at higher elevations are where you want to search. Huckleberries, elderberries and salmon berries are some of the fruits feasted upon by bears early in the fall. The key is finding where groves of berries have been mowed over by bears. You'll know bears are frequently visiting the site if massive amounts of foliage are torn up with bear droppings from several consecutive days scattered about.
Inspecting droppings can be critical to hunting success. Examine fresh bear scat to determine what they've been eating. I once found loads of scat in an area loaded with blackberries, but the scat contained huckleberries, not blackberries. Moving our bear search to higher elevations where huckleberries thrived, we found bears.
Still hunting along logging roads affords one of the better opportunities for success. Here, hunters can cover good chunks of real estate in a day, hoping to locate a feeding bruin. Utilizing fleece boot covers to muffle each step over gravel, dry leaves and twigs can play a huge part in a still-hunter's success.
Article Source: Scott Haugen of www.ScottHaugen.com
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