Black bear hunting start on next Friday?

[colin_chen323]

Hi everyone, spring hunt of black bear will open on April 1st? Whitecourt area still good to go?

[Shawnw]

No better way to find out then put some miles on the tires

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by colin_chen323

Hi everyone, spring hunt of black bear will open on April 1st? Whitecourt area still good to go?

You're at least a month early before the Bears will start moving. Normally we start our hunts on May 10th or so and some years that is early. This year it will be right on time

[C & C]

Originally Posted by Torkdiesel

You're at least a month early before the Bears will start moving. Normally we start our hunts on May 10th or so and some years that is early. This year it will be right on time

You think that applies down south too? I have seen many bears in the fall while deer hunting but this is the first year I will be out looking for bears in the spring.

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by C & C

You think that applies down south too? I have seen many bears in the fall while deer hunting but this is the first year I will be out looking for bears in the spring.

We hunted down south of Nordegg one spring on April 25th one year hoping to catch some early bears before guiding season started. 5 days of nothing lol

If you're far enough south, with this year being so early you'll likely find bears before May 1st. But you can also waste a bunch of time looking for bears that just aren't there.

A good rule of thumb is if there is no green grass along the roads in the bush, the bears won't be out yet. Bears will not come out and starve unless they have to, they'll just lay low.

[Shawnw]

A guy at work shot one last year by Nordegg April 18th

[arrow_baron]

Originally Posted by Torkdiesel

We hunted down south of Nordegg one spring on April 25th one year hoping to catch some early bears before guiding season started. 5 days of nothing lol

If you're far enough south, with this year being so early you'll likely find bears before May 1st. But you can also waste a bunch of time looking for bears that just aren't there.

A good rule of thumb is if there is no green grass along the roads in the bush, the bears won't be out yet. Bears will not come out and starve unless they have to, they'll just lay low.

We had bears on our baits in 348 April 9th last year. No big boys until mid-end may but still had bears every night on bait by the last week of April. Since i started hunting bears we always had bears before May.

We're not going to bother baiting at all this April, Going to go hard in May and hit it hard the last couple weeks of season when they go into rut

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by arrow_baron

We had bears on our baits in 348 April 9th last year. No big boys until mid-end may but still had bears every night on bait by the last week of April. Since i started hunting bears we always had bears before May.

We're not going to bother baiting at all this April, Going to go hard in May and hit it hard the last couple weeks of season when they go into rut

I should have been more clear about not seeing bears. I meant shootable bears more then bears overall.

Always kill the biggest bears between May 10 to June 5 overall. Some years a little earlier but overall not.

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by colin_chen323

Hi everyone, spring hunt of black bear will open on April 1st? Whitecourt area still good to go?

Up to 3 feet of snow and not a hint of it going anywhere 3 weeks ago when i was sledding between there and Fox Creek. Buddies went back since and said they had some fresh snow on top of that.

[muzzy]

Owned/ Ran a bear outfitting business in manitoba for 7 years and hunted them for 47 years now. Tork is right, there will always be the occasional exception of an early bear out and about and or taken but the action really doesnt ramp up till early mid May. My rule of thumb that has proven remarkably accurate all these years is as soon as the poplar buds start to break open the action picks up in a hurry. That is usually around May 8th give or take. One thing I learned is you dont need to darn near give yourself a heart attack slogging thru deep snow carrying heavy bait bags just to get set up early. Lots of time to get the bait out as the snow disappears. Good stinky scent bags hanging near the bait in sunny openings ( not necessarily right at bait) are key to quick success

Gord

[reloader]

Before this last cold snap we had afew days of 10 -11 -12 C and found that a few had come out for a look see as we noticed tracks in the mud. They must have retired back to the den as no further sign has been found. Way too early, no grass- they will sleep unless starving then anything goes.

[Butch1911]

went last week and there is 2' of snow at least and no grass
anywhere