AM or PM Bear Hunt

[versa-06]

OK you hunters; Do you see more bears during the morning or the evening hunt? From what I have been hearing, it seems the PM hunt is more productive. I really would like to kill one this year. What is your experiences? Thanks for all input & opinions. -06

[quilbilly]

In my neck of the woods (Olympic Peninsula), this month they are active all day long getting ready for winter. The one I got yesterday was dropped at about 11 AM. Our trail cams during early summer show them mostly at night but now we see them anytime. For anyone interested, the rifle was a 444 loaded with a 240 gr SWC-GC from the Lee mold over 12.5 gr of Red Dot for an MV of about 1450. It was a "bang flop" DRT at 45 yards.

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, I really think it matter where and what method of hunting you are doing. Spot and stalk out west probably doesn’t matter but hunting over food or bait, definitely PM.

[versa-06]

--Here in Va. we're not allowed to use bait, so it's more of a spot & stalk or a still hunt & hope you're in the right place at the right time. We have very few bears in my area & it seems they move around in a very large travel area. -06

[GhostHawk]

When you see them does not matter.

You shoot a bear in the morning you have the rest of the day to find and recover that bear.

You shoot a bear at night and you are out in the woods at night looking for a wounded bear.
A person I knew did this, and almost lost his face when he came to a tree that was split into a big Y.
He went to look over the Y and the bear stuck his face through the Y.

He collected the bear about 10 seconds later with a 12 ga and a slug at super close range.

When we asked him about what he saw all that came out was "It had a brown face and a white spot on its chest, less than 10 feet away and moving closer"

Daylight is much preferred to darkness for finding game.

[white eagle]

anytime to hunt bears is good however being a bait sitter evenings seems to be the best time
although anytime hunting beats work hands down

[sixshot]

We've taken them in the morning & the evening, all spot & stalk, never hunted them over bait although it's legal in some parts of Idaho. Between me, my 4 son's & some grandson's we've taken 26 bears & I would guess most have been in the afternoon.
I've never really understood wounding one in the evening as being a reason to not hunt in the evening. If you plan on wounding one, don't shoot, same as in the morning. I like evenings because it's getting cooler, morning are getting hotter & you can end up with a lot of work on your hands in the heat of the day.
It's really up to the hunter, just keep it simple, make a good shot & that makes them easy to find.