creepingdeath
New member
Hey guys cool site!! I'm heading into the Mt. Adams wilderness on Aug 1st!! Never been there. Anyone have and info that might help me out? Thanks CD
washington bear
- Thread starter creepingdeath
- Start date
Moosie
Grand poopa
Creepin', 3 things.
1. Welcome to the Internets best hunting site.
2. There are several people from Washington here that can help.
3...... Uhhhhhh DAM, I only had 2 coments. I hate it when that happens
Check out some of the Other bear hunting stories, there are alot of good ideas and comments in them too.
Serriously though , God to see a new face, Tell us about ya bud !
1. Welcome to the Internets best hunting site.
2. There are several people from Washington here that can help.
3...... Uhhhhhh DAM, I only had 2 coments. I hate it when that happens
Check out some of the Other bear hunting stories, there are alot of good ideas and comments in them too.
Serriously though , God to see a new face, Tell us about ya bud !
creepingdeath
New member
about me
Well I love to hunt biggame,biggame,biggame!!!!!!!
I'm a loghome builder out of Kalama WA.!!! Sports, hunting a little fishing!! I'm going on my first High buck hunt for Mulies this sept 15 th!! Kill it, grill it, and don't spill it!!!!!!
Chuck
www.MountainHomesKalama.com
Well I love to hunt biggame,biggame,biggame!!!!!!!
I'm a loghome builder out of Kalama WA.!!! Sports, hunting a little fishing!! I'm going on my first High buck hunt for Mulies this sept 15 th!! Kill it, grill it, and don't spill it!!!!!!
Chuck
www.MountainHomesKalama.com
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Cool looking homes. Welcome.
Krustyklimber
New member
CD,
Are you going to be calling for bears, tree sitting, or just spot and stalk?
There's a book called The Education of a Bear Hunter, by Ralph Flowers (arguably the best bear hunter this state has ever seen), that is exactly what the name implies. A pretty good education.
If you can't find a copy on Amazon, you can get a copy from one of the Duffy's Restaurants (in Aberdeen), I believe they'll even ship you a copy.
Keeping a bear from going bad on you, will be your biggest challenge (in August).
If you get a bear you'll need to get it cooling immediately, gutting it as soon as possible (maybe even skinning it, if it's got a lot of fat), and getting it someplace cool.
Weighting it down in a creek, and going back for a game cart and a couple big ice chests is a good plan, and butchering as much as needed to pack it out.
That's a big job... get help.
If you do have to go into the brush after a shot bear, a sidearm can make you feel a lot more confident, and is infinitely better suited for "close work" than a rifle.
The Adams Wilderness doesn't strike me as prime bear country?
If I were you, I'd consider calling country like that, because you're probably just as likely to punch your lion tag (or bag a coyote) there. And because I like callin' best.
Bears are everywhere anymore, so don't get me wrong, Adams is as good a place as any.
You'll have long views over miles of "non tree farm" forest, huge blueberry and huckleberry fields, and alpine and sub-alpine meadows. GOOD glass will be your biggest advantage, both in a rifle scope and in your spotting scope (or binoculars).
Using this mix of open and thick country (and the wind) well, will be your other opportunity for an advantage.
In this heat, you'll need to be in the woods early, set up and ready, in the pre-dawn.
You don't need to stay on stand all day either, bears get hot and look for someplace cool, and a siesta, about the same time you do.
Try to take the heat, and the beating sun, into mind as you plan your day and place to be (find/make/use shade if you can, or have to).
After your own nap, go back out and stay until it's DARK, no matter how bad the bugs get.
If I had to choose between morning, and afternoon, I'd pick morning.
The last piece of advice is;
Place your shot well.
The shoulder blade, and the upper arm bone are a tough chore for (just about) any bullet.
After your first shot, be ready to give 'em another, and another, and another, until they stop moving.
Best of luck,
Krusty
Are you going to be calling for bears, tree sitting, or just spot and stalk?
There's a book called The Education of a Bear Hunter, by Ralph Flowers (arguably the best bear hunter this state has ever seen), that is exactly what the name implies. A pretty good education.
If you can't find a copy on Amazon, you can get a copy from one of the Duffy's Restaurants (in Aberdeen), I believe they'll even ship you a copy.
Keeping a bear from going bad on you, will be your biggest challenge (in August).
If you get a bear you'll need to get it cooling immediately, gutting it as soon as possible (maybe even skinning it, if it's got a lot of fat), and getting it someplace cool.
Weighting it down in a creek, and going back for a game cart and a couple big ice chests is a good plan, and butchering as much as needed to pack it out.
That's a big job... get help.
If you do have to go into the brush after a shot bear, a sidearm can make you feel a lot more confident, and is infinitely better suited for "close work" than a rifle.
The Adams Wilderness doesn't strike me as prime bear country?
If I were you, I'd consider calling country like that, because you're probably just as likely to punch your lion tag (or bag a coyote) there. And because I like callin' best.
Bears are everywhere anymore, so don't get me wrong, Adams is as good a place as any.
You'll have long views over miles of "non tree farm" forest, huge blueberry and huckleberry fields, and alpine and sub-alpine meadows. GOOD glass will be your biggest advantage, both in a rifle scope and in your spotting scope (or binoculars).
Using this mix of open and thick country (and the wind) well, will be your other opportunity for an advantage.
In this heat, you'll need to be in the woods early, set up and ready, in the pre-dawn.
You don't need to stay on stand all day either, bears get hot and look for someplace cool, and a siesta, about the same time you do.
Try to take the heat, and the beating sun, into mind as you plan your day and place to be (find/make/use shade if you can, or have to).
After your own nap, go back out and stay until it's DARK, no matter how bad the bugs get.
If I had to choose between morning, and afternoon, I'd pick morning.
The last piece of advice is;
Place your shot well.
The shoulder blade, and the upper arm bone are a tough chore for (just about) any bullet.
After your first shot, be ready to give 'em another, and another, and another, until they stop moving.
Best of luck,
Krusty
shoots-straight
Well-known member
UHHHHHHHHHHHH Did I miss somthing? Isn't CD going after Mule Deer. The advice to hunt Bears must be appreciated but what do you have for hunting high mountain mulies?
Curly
Member
shoots-straight said:
Yes, apparently you missed his first post.
He was asking about bear hunting in the Mt. Adams wilderness. His second post in this topic he mentioned going for deer on the high hunt, but didn't ask for any tips on deer.
Krusty gave out some great info on bear. My brother also highly recommends the Ralph Flowers book. I think he's read it multiple times.
We called in a few bears a year ago in the spring. They came to a fawn distress call; I've heard they come in to the call in August, too.
I've never hunted bears in August, so I really can't give much advise but my brother (Washington Hunter) has hunted them in August and maybe he'll give you some tips. One thing I've heard him say is that if you can find an area with cascara trees......you can sneak in close to the area and listen for the bears knocking over the trees to get the berries. If you hear them knocking over the trees, then they are preoccupied foraging for berries and you'll have a good chance of getting a shot.
Curly
Member
BTW, CD...........welcome.
shoots-straight
Well-known member
Diddo on the topic duhhhhh. I must have macular degerneration or somthing like that.
Krustyklimber
New member
...what do you have for hunting high mountain mulies?
Besides utter disdain
, a question mostly, aren't most "mountain deer" blacktails?If I were looking for a high mountain mulie, I'd try the Pasayten Wilderness, or (more likely) the Lake Chelan Recreation Area... pretty much everything else open for high buck hunts, is in blacktail country (isn't it?).
No matter though, all high buck hunts are pretty much the same, and much of the advice I offered for the bear hunt will apply.
If you get a deer you'll have to keep it from going bad.
Good glass, good shooting (sometimes involving rangefinding and compensating for wind and/or distance), and use of the wind and the "edges", are what will gain you an advantage.
In some places, and some years (if winter is early), you might find yourself in the rut so even calling in your quarry (by grunting and rattling) could be part of the game...
Deer won't be as keyed to just the early morning and late afternoon schedule that bears will, your going to hunt all day if you can. So that's the only real difference.
I don't hunt deer, but that's what I got.
Curly, great advice on the cascara.
Bear "shreds" (logs and stumps torn apart) are another important sign, and natural bait stations. Fresh ones can be spotted from a mile away or more on the hillsides, and those are good places to glass (not so much for a return to the same shred, but because shreds tend to be along pathways, and many downed logs in an area are the same age and state of decay that supports insects).
In general, you'll know when bears are feeding in an area, and you don't need to have a Phd in Poopology to figure out what they are feeding on.
Krusty
Ten Bears
New member
Sounds like lots of good advise to me. Welcome....
creepingdeath
New member
cascara trees!!!!
Hey curly, I found some of them ther cascara trees you talked about!!! I was out early this morning looking for bear and doin some elk scouting!!! Didn't see any bear but did see some elk and deer!! Saw lots of bear sign!!
Long story short--- I stumble into an area this mornin and noticed some broken tree branches. Upon further reveiw( yes my dad was just sent to the washington state referees hall of fame after 55 years of officating football and basketball in the division 1 and highschool leagues.) I noticed that the trees had berries in the upper reaches!! The berry it self right now is a dark purple almost black in color.. It looked like a twister had ripped through the area!!! I found my monster cascara patch!!! Accually a very large canyon full of them!!
I wonder if cascara berries are red in color early in the summer? I'm going to do some internet reasearch today on cascara trees!!! Right now the blackberries in the area are getting ready to explode so I thinking the bears might focus on an easier food source?? The cascara berries did not taste sweet or good at all. I just had to try one to see why a bear would like them!! But they did have between two and three seeds in them.. I have noticed some bear shit the last couple of weeks that had seed that looked like apple seeds. They were cascara seeds.(tore into some scat in the area today) I set up my tree cam in the area so maybe I'll get some pics!!!
I have not made it to Mt. Adams yet but hopefully soon!!! I have only seen one bear this fall and it was the day before the opener. A 200 pd dink!!
CD
Hey curly, I found some of them ther cascara trees you talked about!!! I was out early this morning looking for bear and doin some elk scouting!!! Didn't see any bear but did see some elk and deer!! Saw lots of bear sign!!
Long story short--- I stumble into an area this mornin and noticed some broken tree branches. Upon further reveiw( yes my dad was just sent to the washington state referees hall of fame after 55 years of officating football and basketball in the division 1 and highschool leagues.) I noticed that the trees had berries in the upper reaches!! The berry it self right now is a dark purple almost black in color.. It looked like a twister had ripped through the area!!! I found my monster cascara patch!!! Accually a very large canyon full of them!!
I wonder if cascara berries are red in color early in the summer? I'm going to do some internet reasearch today on cascara trees!!! Right now the blackberries in the area are getting ready to explode so I thinking the bears might focus on an easier food source?? The cascara berries did not taste sweet or good at all. I just had to try one to see why a bear would like them!! But they did have between two and three seeds in them.. I have noticed some bear shit the last couple of weeks that had seed that looked like apple seeds. They were cascara seeds.(tore into some scat in the area today) I set up my tree cam in the area so maybe I'll get some pics!!!
I have not made it to Mt. Adams yet but hopefully soon!!! I have only seen one bear this fall and it was the day before the opener. A 200 pd dink!!
CD
Curly
Member
CD, good luck finding a decent bear to put down. Sounds like you're on the right track.
The cascara trees on my property have had the berries dropping for a few weeks already. It seems like the berries have gotten ripe earlier this year. I don't think the berries were red earlier in the summer.
The cascara trees on my property have had the berries dropping for a few weeks already. It seems like the berries have gotten ripe earlier this year. I don't think the berries were red earlier in the summer.
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