Hey guys, l've been a full time resident at Tahoe since last year. I spent 20 days trying to call in a bear between the archery and general seasons last year. I managed to call in a couple during archery but couldn't get a shot, but then the call seemed to stop working when general season started in the fall, so I decided to just hike next to creeks and got lucky by coming across one in early October (attached photo). I drew a premium zone archery deer tag this year so I wasn't focused on bear this archery season, but I did see a lot of fresh sign and one large bear this August in the same area I was hunting last year.
What I'm noticing is their scat is full of grass in August, and the bears seem to be around areas that have creek beds and lots of green growth. I actually hunted an area this August that had bear scat every 20 feet, almost as if a bear was living in that area through that time of year. So I definitely feel confident of where to look at that time of year, but I have this feeling that there are much less bears in the areas I hunt once fall comes around.
What I'm stuck on right now is understanding what their food source is in the fall when their grass and greenery food sources seem to disappear. I read the The Ultimate Guide to Black Bear Hunting and dug around online, and acorns seem to be a common food source, but I don't think I've ever seen acorns in the areas I've hunted around Tahoe.
These areas are within 20 miles south of Tahoe, so it's all mountainous timber and sage brush. Am I just not finding the acorns, or if there really aren't any in the immediate vicinity, what food sources do they look for?
What I'm noticing is their scat is full of grass in August, and the bears seem to be around areas that have creek beds and lots of green growth. I actually hunted an area this August that had bear scat every 20 feet, almost as if a bear was living in that area through that time of year. So I definitely feel confident of where to look at that time of year, but I have this feeling that there are much less bears in the areas I hunt once fall comes around.
What I'm stuck on right now is understanding what their food source is in the fall when their grass and greenery food sources seem to disappear. I read the The Ultimate Guide to Black Bear Hunting and dug around online, and acorns seem to be a common food source, but I don't think I've ever seen acorns in the areas I've hunted around Tahoe.
These areas are within 20 miles south of Tahoe, so it's all mountainous timber and sage brush. Am I just not finding the acorns, or if there really aren't any in the immediate vicinity, what food sources do they look for?
