How do you still/slip hunt?

[PotScratcher67]

Hey fellas, new bear hunter here looking for some advice from all the pros I've read from on this forum. When y'all are slip hunting looking for sign how do you go about it? Typically for deer I would have a terrain feature I would have pinpointed and work my way in with the wind in my favor scouting the whole way in. For bear though it seems like you're really just hunting their bellies and not features when you're hunting fall bear. Do you scout out acorns ahead of time and slip hunt your way to those with the wind in your favor, walk ridges looking for sign?

 

[chrislibby88]

Man most of us plot the path of least resistance, happens that bears often also follow this same path. They generally want to move in the most calorie efficient way possible, this isn’t a rule, just a generalization. I plot a path, maybe that shoots up to a ridgetop either through a drainage or up a finger, I run that ridge spine crossing a few saddles, and maybe shoot back down a finger or drainage, cross a creek, then up to the next ridge. I’m not exactly “slip hunting” until I hit very dense sign: scat everywhere, ripped up limbs and acorns littering the ground, trails and trampled underbrush. This is when I really slow down. If I’m not in sign I’m usually moving fast enough to cover ground efficiently, but still trying to move quietly and stay alert.

Good points to mark along your loop are saddles, benches, logging roads, flat ridge spines, bluffs or any kind of harsh topography transition. These are obviously meaningless features unless there is good sign there, but good places to check along the way. The best spots I’ve found are flatter areas where the acorns won’t roll straight downhill that are directly adjacent to some really harsh terrain. I’ve also ran into bears in areas with basically no sign, so always stay sharp.

If you aren’t finding sign on a loop check a new area, or elevation.

Good luck.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Hey fellas, new bear hunter here looking for some advice from all the pros I've read from on this forum. When y'all are slip hunting looking for sign how do you go about it? Typically for deer I would have a terrain feature I would have pinpointed and work my way in with the wind in my favor scouting the whole way in. For bear though it seems like you're really just hunting their bellies and not features when you're hunting fall bear. Do you scout out acorns ahead of time and slip hunt your way to those with the wind in your favor, walk ridges looking for sign?

All of the above. Don't be afraid to sit and watch for a good while in a good spot, too.

 

[PotScratcher67]

Thanks for the suggestions Chris already stated to look at my map to plot out a loop going through a few shallow saddles and acorn flats. Up here there are a few "gaps" that are big elevation change on each side and pretty wide bottoms between mountains with creeks running through them. Have you ever had much luck with those? I'm conflicted on it since it's so big I imagine it gets hammered by the people that do hunt that area.

Hillbilly, to your point I plan on packing in a saddle and posting up once I find some screaming hot sign. Our still hunt bear season is only a week long so I'm gonna be on the search for the good stuff haha.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Thanks for the suggestions Chris already stated to look at my map to plot out a loop going through a few shallow saddles and acorn flats. Up here there are a few "gaps" that are big elevation change on each side and pretty wide bottoms between mountains with creeks running through them. Have you ever had much luck with those? I'm conflicted on it since it's so big I imagine it gets hammered by the people that do hunt that area.

Hillbilly, to your point I plan on packing in a saddle and posting up once I find some screaming hot sign. Our still hunt bear season is only a week long so I'm gonna be on the search for the good stuff haha.

The problem with it here is that dogs are legal all bear season. You see them all over the week before, but they get nocturnal really quick after opening day.

 

[PotScratcher67]

The problem with it here is that dogs are legal all bear season. You see them all over the week before, but they get nocturnal really quick after opening day.

Luckily dogs are only legal the week after here. Just have to worry about them effecting the deer at that point.

 

[splatek]

Maybe I missed it, but were ya hunting at?
If they run dogs, make friends there dogs will tell you a lot about bears.
Then use that Intel for spot and stalk.
Just one idea.

 

[PotScratcher67]

I'm in upstate SC. They run them after the still hunt week. May have to find a crew to tag along with for sure. I have one buddy that used to run hounds for them but not sure if he does any more or not.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

I'm in upstate SC. They run them after the still hunt week. May have to find a crew to tag along with for sure. I have one buddy that used to run hounds for them but not sure if he does any more or not.

Look up Russ Cassell , he’s in Sunset Sc. He’s “the guy” you need to talk too.

 

[chrislibby88]

Thanks for the suggestions Chris already stated to look at my map to plot out a loop going through a few shallow saddles and acorn flats. Up here there are a few "gaps" that are big elevation change on each side and pretty wide bottoms between mountains with creeks running through them. Have you ever had much luck with those? I'm conflicted on it since it's so big I imagine it gets hammered by the people that do hunt that area.

Hillbilly, to your point I plan on packing in a saddle and posting up once I find some screaming hot sign. Our still hunt bear season is only a week long so I'm gonna be on the search for the good stuff haha.

I don’t spend a lot of time down on the creeks because the wind is usually pretty swirly down low, and most of the creeks where I hunt are steep and choked out with laurel. Bears absolutely use the low areas if there are acorns there. They are gonna be where the white oaks are dropping. So scout everywhere until you find acorns.

 

[KentuckyHeadhunter]

Preseason scouting helps a lot. @chrislibby88 pretty much nailed everything. And get some good boots. And pack. And...........

 

[NCHillbilly]

Maybe I missed it, but were ya hunting at?
If they run dogs, make friends there dogs will tell you a lot about bears.
Then use that Intel for spot and stalk.
Just one idea.

If you're talking to me, the Smokies in western NC. I hound hunted myself for years. It's a family tradition, grew up doing it. I loved it. I have a bazillion friends already who bear hunt with hounds. I still wish we had a week or two of bear season without dogs. From the first hour of the first day they turn the hounds loose, the bears are then nocturnal for the rest of the year. You can spot and stalk all you want, but it's all stalking and no spotting.

 

[splatek]

If you're talking to me, the Smokies in western NC. I hound hunted myself for years. It's a family tradition, grew up doing it. I loved it. I have a bazillion friends already who bear hunt with hounds. I still wish we had a week or two of bear season without dogs. From the first hour of the first day they turn the hounds loose, the bears are then nocturnal for the rest of the year. You can spot and stalk all you want, but it's all stalking and no spotting.

I thought he said they had a week or so without dogs and my thinning was that he’d have to burn a season following dogs to try and learn a bit about bears.
I’m no expert so appreciate the correction

 

[NCHillbilly]

I thought he said they had a week or so without dogs and my thinning was that he’d have to burn a season following dogs to try and learn a bit about bears.
I’m no expert so appreciate the correction

Yeah, following hounds and paying attention to them will teach you a lot about bears, for sure.

 

[PotScratcher67]

I thought he said they had a week or so without dogs and my thinning was that he’d have to burn a season following dogs to try and learn a bit about bears.
I’m no expert so appreciate the correction

Yeah that'd be the case this year. Would have the still hunt season the week before the hound season.

 

[jbogg]

I have never been very good at still hunting. I guess I tend to move a little too quickly through the woods, and always seem to bump game. As a result, I will usually scout throughout the summer, looking for white oaks that are holding acorns, and then focus on those areas in early bow season looking for feeding sign. Once I find super fresh feeding sign I will usually climb a tree and wait on the bears to come to me.

This year may be different however. Looks like we may have a bumper crop of Whites, so I will likely leave all the climbing gear in the truck to lighten my load, so I can cover more ground to find the sign. Once I do, I will brush in a ground blind and as usual, wait for them to come to me.

 

[splatek]

I’ma relatively new hunter, adult onset. So take what I saw with a big grain of salt.

In four seasons I’ve killed one thing from a tree. Now I’m not a killer like some others on here but I put a few critters on the ground, almost exclusively from the ground. All but three with a stick bow.
I think @Buckman18 once told me you can pretty much walk up on and pet a bear so long as he don’t smell you. I think he’s right. They are curious critters. But once they smell your sweat, they gone. I think they actually like the smell of laundry detergent.

My main issue is limited time to scout and hunt plus ADHD. I just can’t, or don’t want to sit still for very long and I’ve yet to find a tree stand that comfy enough for me to sit in for a long period of time.

When I finally stop moving I usually try to make sure the wind is in my favor and I’m concealed by a train feature or something like that. And that I’m not eye level with whatever in hunting. I only have a few camo pieces and I’m certain they make me stand out more than my solids and just being still.
My two year old and I had a doe walk right up to us one day. He was in a bright blue Mickey Mouse clubhouse hoody and I was in blue jeans and a red t shirt.
I had a bear brush up against my ghillie suit one day, that’s the only camo I swear by.
I’ve heard a few guys say they slip hunt by doing intervals. Literally run to a spot. Sit for half hour or more, run to next spot. Never tried it but gonna this year. Jk I don’t run unless chased.

 

[PotScratcher67]

Jbogg, agree that if possible scouting a ton before season would be the way to go. We have a 3 month old right now though so trying to add up my brownie points at home to use my time away during season haha.

Splatek, I've noticed through reading a lot of the forums that a ton of people have said the same about bear as far as if they are eating they're pretty preoccupied as long as they don't scent you. That's going to be a nice change from turkeys!

My plan right now is to create a few 3-5 mile loops going through ridge systems with good saddles and flats that would keep me safe from their noses for a majority of it on some variation of a NW or NE wind similar to how Chris was saying at the start of the thread. If i run across a bunch of scat that's still smoking or fresh sap on any trees from claw marks I'll find a good tree and post up in the my saddle until I either see one or run out of time.

 

[PotScratcher67]

I’ma relatively new hunter, adult onset. So take what I saw with a big grain of salt.

In four seasons I’ve killed one thing from a tree. Now I’m not a killer like some others on here but I put a few critters on the ground, almost exclusively from the ground. All but three with a stick bow.
I think @Buckman18 once told me you can pretty much walk up on and pet a bear so long as he don’t smell you. I think he’s right. They are curious critters. But once they smell your sweat, they gone. I think they actually like the smell of laundry detergent.

My main issue is limited time to scout and hunt plus ADHD. I just can’t, or don’t want to sit still for very long and I’ve yet to find a tree stand that comfy enough for me to sit in for a long period of time.

When I finally stop moving I usually try to make sure the wind is in my favor and I’m concealed by a train feature or something like that. And that I’m not eye level with whatever in hunting. I only have a few camo pieces and I’m certain they make me stand out more than my solids and just being still.
My two year old and I had a doe walk right up to us one day. He was in a bright blue Mickey Mouse clubhouse hoody and I was in blue jeans and a red t shirt.
I had a bear brush up against my ghillie suit one day, that’s the only camo I swear by.
I’ve heard a few guys say they slip hunt by doing intervals. Literally run to a spot. Sit for half hour or more, run to next spot. Never tried it but gonna this year. Jk I don’t run unless chased.

Also, I'd be interested to hear the story behind that one brushing up against you!

 

[splatek]

Also, I'd be interested to hear the story behind that one brushing up against you!

I’ve posted it on here somewhere. Total code brown