Best hours for bear hunting ?

[gerald strine]

I am new to bear hunting and have been told that morning hunts are not really productive .
What have the Bear hunters out their found to be the best times for Bear sightings ?

[DuckHunt]

I'm interested in feedback on this question as well.

I've got this thing roaming around my stand and captured him twice on cam in late morning in June, then these evening shots last week.



For you bear hunters, how much would you guess this one weighs? Can you tell the sex from photos?

We can't bait here, so I'm stuck with the good old fashioned waiting game. But most of the time luck is being in the right place at the right time. Location matters, but timing is crucial. I've got three weekday afternoons in late September I can chase him with a rifle, then he's also on the hit list throughout my October archery buck season.

[Normous]

In my black bear hunting experience with a number of lads here on this forum most bears we arrow are taken in the last 1.5 hours before sunset according to my mental notes.

Nice photo Duckhunt!

[Carnivorous]

1hr before sunset has been go time most seasons for me.

Last year we had a bear taken in the morning.

Let the game cams tell you the best time for your particular bait location...

[munch]

Every one I’ve shot has been in the last hour as well . I’m not a fan of walking back into a bear bait in the dark . But have lots of pictures of bears coming during the day and some several times during the same day

[janesy]

I'm still the new guy on the block, but through watching our game cameras, there is definately action in the morning. Whether we get off our butts and hunt them in the AM is the question.

We regularly see them in the morning, one was taken in the morning hours. And on at least three occasions now I have pushed them right off the baits in the morning to rebait between 8-11 am. All of which were back in minutes of me returning to my truck.

This is a loaded question... If most bear hunters hunt the evening hours and not the morning, then more hunters will be successful in the PM hours and never know about the AM. I would say, the PM is definitely the productive hunt, but I would not pass up a morning hunt if you have the time to be there. Because they are definitely there

For reference, I've only taken 2 bears. One at 12:50pm and the other at 7:26 PM. And I passed on one in the morning hours in 2020.

[janesy]

I still owe you and email, sorry I forgot. I'll get some details over to you today.

[Eck]

Please also indicate if you are shooting over bait. Some of us aren’t allowed to bait bears, so am curious what impact that has.