Tips?

[rugerm77]

Ive been wanting to get into bear hunting this season for early bear was wondering if anybody has any pointers on doing so.. as in location how to tell if there in the area when would be better morning or evening and any other helpful tips would be greatly apreciated.  Thanks

[wellsley]

I could give you a bunch of tips but since I've never shot a bear myself I'm less than an expert.

[Doc]

One thing you probably won't find in NYS is an expert bear hunter. Anyone who has gotten one here has probably done it accidently while actually hunting for deer.

Doc

[Daveboone]

Ya ya to what Doc says.

No matter what region, (Alleghany, Catskill or Adirondack), not being able to bait or hound bears, almost all taken are stumbled onto by luck. Some folks live in areas with native neighborhood bears, of course, but they usually arent going to tell you about them.  Many Adirondack campsites though, are frequented by bears, and if you could figure out regular routes of bears to the parks, I would think it would be an edge.

[Lexingtonlegend]

There's no obvious signs like trails that they tend to favor for food sources. Early in the season like bowhunting keep your eye to the ground and look for shit....LOL

Seriously its looks like human shit except for its coarse and you can see what they ate last like corn for example. They are nocturnal in the early part so the only one's I've been in contact with were at just before dawn and right at dusk. Late during gun season they're harvesting before hibernation  so you might see one during the day, but once they guns start going off you won't seem them wandering for food much like big bucks. Ohh they sleep in caves and holes as you expect so hunt mountains and ridges for better chances

[sbuff]

was camping in the cranberry lake area a week back  and we saw atleast one bear every day....I have never hunted that area,but after what i saw I would sure start around there.

[HounderEmily]

Bears aren't too delicate about where they walk--they just sort of plow through the brush.  If you're patient, they are pretty easy to track by the mess of knocked over stuff they leave behind.  They do like to leave scratch marks on trees in their territory, and the higher the scratch marks the bigger the bear.  

Bears also like to leave scat on trails, logging roads, and power lines, especially near the edge of their territory..  

If you want to know where the bears are nesting in your hunting area, start scouting now.  Find a nice big blackberry patch--bears love blackberries. Look for scat.  Look for trampled down areas. If you can, backtrack on the trail to their night nest. Nests tend to be under rock overhangs, big fallen trees, etc.  In season, set up near where you've found the nests. 

[SteveMcD]

Having some experience bear hunting I would recommend looking for places with plenty of Ridge Top Beech trees. Bears will be devouring beecnuts like no tomorrow in the early season.

[Karpteach]

Last year hunted for deer by some serious amount of berries, never saw a deer but had shots at 3 bears in 4 days. Didn't shoot any 'cuase they taste funky.

[Mr VJP]

Bear tastes great if you know how to take care of the meat from the moment you kill the bear to the moment it hits your plate.  Skin it right away and cool that meat off as fast as you can.  That's very important.

[ADKSasquatch]

was camping in the cranberry lake area a week back  and we saw atleast one bear every day....I have never hunted that area,but after what i saw I would sure start around there.

I'm 45 minutes from there and keep meaning to hunt it, but never do... :

[woodsdweller]

guys its just like hunting anything look for sign. once you know there in the area key in on mast crop. right now they are in the black cherries and apples, wont be long and they will start to hit the nuts, the eat them all. hickory.accorn.beech.

[builtright716]

Hey SBuff,

Where did you camp around Cranberry Lake? I was at Moose River Plains last year for bear season, but heading out to Cranberry with my son this weekend. Hoping to find a nice bear and have fresh backstraps.